Last Updated: 21st Mar, 2018
As you have already started the solid foods for your 6 months baby. Now it’s time to explore new foods for your child. Baby Food chart helps you to get an idea of foods which you can introduce to your baby according to his month.
In the first year, breastmilk is the best food for your baby to meet all nutrient requirements.
Between 7 to 9 months, your baby will sprout his first tooth. A baby usually starts crawling by this time. Your baby is ready to enjoy more foods options from simple purees to exciting foods.
If you have not read the 6 months baby food chart yet then read it.
As physical activities like rolling, crawling of your child increase, his appetite will also improve.
It is always advisable to discuss with your baby’s pediatric regarding food plan before introducing any new food item to your baby.
[Click Here to Know the Items You Need to Start Solid Foods]
Growth milestones of 7 to 9 months baby
- Your baby can sit with minimal support or without support.
- It’s the crawling time for your child. Once baby starts crawling, it’s time for your baby to explore. This is the time when you need to be more alert and active. Don’t leave your baby unattended even for a second.
- By the time your baby has completed his 8 months, he will start rolling in both directions.
- Your baby’s hand-eye coordination will improve. He can grasp and hold an object firmly.
- Your baby’s first teeth will emerge.
- Your baby will start communicating with you through facial expressions, sounds, and gestures. You will hear his first laugh or giggles soon.
- Your baby can show that he is full by turning his head away from food or by not opening his mouth.
Keep these in mind while introducing the Solid Foods
- You can offer the three times a day meal to your baby.
- Food should be well cooked, soft and easy to digest.
- Remember to follow the 3 days-wait-rule
- Solid intake will increase gradually. Once baby starts eating proper solid foods, his milk intake will reduce. Don’t expect your baby to intake the milk as before.
- Sometimes, your baby doesn’t like the new food. He may take few days to adapt the food changes.
- Your baby’s digestive system is still developing so sometimes, introducing the solid foods can disturb his bowel movements.
- Feed your baby when he is sitting in a proper position.
- Always refrain your baby from distractions like watching Tv, playing some rhymes or cartoon on mobile while feeding.
- The consistency of food should be little thick.
- Offer the finger foods to let your baby start eating by himself.
- Every child is different and every parent is unique so don’t compare your child’s food intake with other babies.
- Don’t feed forcefully. Your baby might refuse to eat food as he is busy in exploring his new world like crawling, opening the kitchen racks.
- Sometimes, a baby has disturbed bowel movement when you introduce the solid foods. Few babies have the loose motions while others have constipation problem. It’s normal, no need to be panic.
- Increase the liquid intake and high-fiber diet if your baby has constipation problem.
- Give the water to your baby in a sipper that will help him to drink it by himself. Keep the track of water intake (Suggested quantity is 3 ounces a day).
- Consult the pediatrician if there are any symptoms of food allergies.
- As you introduce new foods to your baby, you can continue to breastfeed your baby.
- Always use stainless steel or glass cups and bowls for baby food. Avoid plastic material even it is of superior quality.
Foods that you can introduce in baby food chart (from 7 to 9 months)
I am sharing food options and ideas based on my experience of being a mom.
#1 Breastfeed or Formula Feed
- Continue to breastfeed or formula-feed to your baby as much as required.
#2 Grains, Millets, Cereals
- Rice
- Oats
- Amaranth (rajgira)
- Finger millet (ragi)
- Barley (jau)
- Semolina (suji)
- Wheat ( atta)
- Buckwheat (kuttu)
- Broken wheat (dalia)
- Yellow split gram (moong dal)
You can introduce Toor dal and Masoor dal, chickpeas when your baby has completed his 9 months.
#3 Fruits
- Apples
- Banana
- Pears
- Mango
- Plums
- Seedless Dates
- Papaya
- Avocado
- Grapes
- Kiwi
- Peaches
- Guava
- Litchi
- Chikoo
How to feed
- You can mix the two or more fruits and make a smoothie.
- You can peel and cut a fruit into small pieces and feed to your baby.
- You can boil the fruit like apple, pear and mash it before feeding.
- Make a puree of a fruit.
Don’t give the whole grapes to your baby. It’s a choking hazard fruit. Cut grapes into small pieces and give it to your baby. By the 12 months, You can introduce all fruits including citrus fruits as well.
#4 Vegetables
- Carrots
- Beans
- Broccoli
- Pumpkin
- Peas
- Sweet potatoes
- Bottle gourd
- Cauliflower
- Potato
- Tomato
- Spinach
How to feed
- You can cook or steam the vegetables before offering to your baby.
#5 Dairy
- Egg yolk
- Homemade Ghee
- Unsweetened yogurt from low-fat milk ( preferably home set)
- Small piece of tofu
- Small piece of Paneer (farmer cheese/cottage cheese)
- By the 9 months, you can introduce butter, pasteurized cheese
#6 Non-Vegetarian Foods
You can introduce fish (not shellfish) and chicken when your child completes his 8 months. But it is advisable to start with seafood (fish) first.
Few tips before introducing the non-vegetarian food to your baby
- Completely avoid the processed meats like sausages, salami, ham.
- Before cooking, wash thoroughly to remove all traces of impurities.
- Feed only home cooked non-vegetarian food to your baby.
- Non-vegetarian food should be cooked properly, try to cook it on the gas stove rather than a microwave.
- Talk to pediatric before introducing non-vegetarian food to your baby.
#7 Spices
You can start introducing the spices to your baby food after completion of 8 months. Following are the spices which you can introduce in your baby’s food.
- Fennel seeds (saunf)
- Asafoetida (hing)
- Carom seeds (ajwain)
- Cumin seeds (jeera)
- Cinnamon ( dal chinni)
- Cardamom ( elaichi)
- Turmeric (haldi)
- Nutmeg (jaiphal)
- Black Cardamom ( kali elaichi)
How to Feed
- Don’t add too many spices in the beginning.
- Start introducing the spices in his diet one by one.
Food Chart for 7 Months Baby
By 7 months, your baby will start eating the 3 times meal in a day along with breastfeeding/formula milk. You can introduce more food variations to his diet as compared to the 6th month ( first month of solid foods).
Food Chart for 8 Months Baby
It’s time to introduce the well cooked soft food instead of pureed or mashed food. By 8 months, Your baby has front teeth to grind the small chunks of food. Even if your baby doesn’t have the teeth till now, his gums are strong enough to chew the small-sized soft food. You can start offering one snack time during an evening. Now the baby food chart will have the
- 3 main meals in a day
- 1 snack time in the evening
Sample Food Chart for 9 Months Baby
In the 9th-month food schedule, your baby will have
- 3 main meals in a day
- 2 snack times (morning & evening snack)
It’s also the time to introduce the finger foods to your baby. You can start offering the small pieces of fruits, Steamed veggies as finger foods. Cut fruits and Veggies into long pieces and let the baby pick, mash, eat by himself. It will also improve your baby’s motor skills.
Sample Baby Food chart for introducing the Non-Vegetarian food to your baby’s diet.
What not to feed to your baby before 1 year of age
Following are the list of foods which you should not feed before one year of age as recommended by pediatrics & child care experts.
1. Cow Milk
You should always prefer the breastmilk or formula milk to your baby til one year of age. Cow’s milk contains proteins which are difficult to digest to your baby. Minerals available in cow’s milk can damage your baby’s still-developing kidneys.
2. Honey
Honey should be avoided till one year of age as it can cause infant botulism. You can use pureed fruit as a sweetener in a food.
3. Citrus Fruit and Berries
Citrus fruits like oranges, grapefruit are highly acidic foods which can cause diaper rash or upset bowel movements to the infants. All kinds of berries like strawberries, raspberries, blueberries contain a protein which is hard to digest for infants.
4. Sugar & Salt
An infant doesn’t need the salt & sugar content in his diet explicitly. A baby just requires less than 1 gram in a day which he gets from breastmilk and formula milk. Too much sodium is difficult to digest for still-developing kidneys
5. No egg whites
Egg whites are high in allergies. Babies are sensitive to egg whites. Boil the eggs and peel away the whites before serving. Don’t offer egg white until one year of age.
6. High Mercury Fish
Swordfish, shark, tuna or mackerel are high in mercury. Even pregnant and nursing moms to avoid high mercury fish. You can start offering the low mercury fish to your baby like salmon, oysters, catfish in a pureed or mashed form.
7. Hard foods
Avoid foods like popcorn, nuts, candies. These kind of foods are choking hazards and difficult to eat for babies.
8. Peanuts
Peanuts are one of the highly allergenic food. You should avoid peanuts and peanut butter till 1 year of age.
9. Limited Juices
You can start introducing the fruits but in limited quantity. It is recommended to give juice less than 4 ounces per day otherwise, it can cause diarrhea in babies.
10. Sticky foods
You must avoid the sticky foods like marshmallows, cheese which can cause the choking hazard to your baby
11. Whole Grapes
Avoid the whole grapes as it is one the common choking hazard fruit. Cut it into small pieces before feeding to your baby.
Disclaimer
Suggested baby food charts are the generalized charts for Indian babies. You can customize it based on your baby’s likes/dislikes, appetite, allergies or intolerance. Purpose of this baby food chart is to suggest the balanced nutritious diet.
You can leave a comment if you have a question or query related this chart.
It helpful
Hey.. thank a lots for all the information..
It’s really helpful…
We will be travelling in June-July and my baby will be 7 months old in June..
How do we plan her food chart?
It’s a 10 days trip and will be staying at hotel so cooking will not be possible..
Pls suggest
Travelling to Europe and Middle East
Thank you
Thanks a lot***
Hello Parveen,
As baby will just start solid foods so nothing much is required. You can carry cereals ( homemade / market) and prepare it easily. For cereals preparation, you just need the lukewarm water. And baby can have mashed fruits, yogurt, cottage cheese, biscuit as a finger food. In the 7th month also, breastmilk will be the main food for your baby. Happy Travel guys.
Thank you so much 😊
cottage cheese prepared with regular full fat milk ??
Yes, you can prepare using low fat milk or full fat milk.
Hi..
A couple of more questions…as mentioned earlier, my baby will be 7 months old in June..
-can I start adding home made ghee to her food?
-can you please share recipes of homemade cereals which can be prepared with warm water only while travelling?
-By when and how can I introduce dry fruits?
Thank you
For ghee, i would say to start introduce ghee in the eighth month. First two months, let the baby start with easy to digest foods like fruit pureed or mashed vegetables, porridges, upma, khichdi. Also start dry fruits after 7 months. Sharing the link of homemade cereals in different comment
Here is the link to homemade cereals recipe https://www.beinghappymom.com/homemade-cereals-for-babies/
Baby doesn’t want to drink milk.What can i do?please help me.
How old your baby is?
Hi your website is really helpful ,my baby is 7 months and on solids .suddenly he had puked loads of curdled milk yest so took him doc he said he has slight throat infection coz doctor had given Domstal syrup.i think my baby has gas problem can you pls suggest if I need to give gripe water daily ? Does apple purée coz this problem ?
Thank you Prav for your kind words.
The milk becomes curdled when mixed with the acidic stomach fluid. So curdled milk in itself is normal and not a problem. But curdled milk in combination with very frequent vomiting may be a sign that something is not completely right.
It may be because of milk protein intolerance, your child may suffer from acid reflux or some kind of indigestion.
As per my knowledge, domstal syrup is used for vomits, not throat infection. Gripe water which doesn’t contain alcohol or sucrose (which can cause tooth decay) is safe. But always check with your doctor before using it.
Apple puree generally can trigger constipation problem in some children.
Breastfeed your baby as soon as you can.
Hello…
Awaiting your reply on my comment mentioned above
Thank you
Really helpfull article and plz suggest me some 8 months baby food links and do you have any YouTube channel.?can I give curd to my baby i mean yougurt to
Thank You Mommy, We are not on Youtube yet. What kind of food are you looking for your baby?
Hello Neha,
My baby will 10 months old soon.
I can’t find food chart for 10 months on your web page.
What else can I add to add food list ?
Can sautéed onions be added now in the veggies?
Pls let me know
Thank you
Hello Parveen,
Yes, 10-month food chart is not available on the website.
But now you can start giving the most of home cooked food. just avoid the chillies.
Ofcourse you can add the sauted onion in baby’s food.
Have you started to give baby whole wheat roti?
Hi,
Yes I have started giving her roti/paratha soaked in dal.
So now i can give her what we eat (without chillies)???
Ginger garlic are usually added in our cooking.. is that ok ??
Anything else should I keep in mind ??
Your suggestions and food charts were really helpful…
Thank you so much
Hello Parveen,
Garlic sometimes creates upset tummy troubles for little one. So don’t give an excessive amount of garlic to baby.
Til 12 months, prefer to give easy to digest and simple foods to baby.
You can give foods like suji halwa, suji upma, rava idli, porridge, ragi porridge, vegetable khichdi, sabudana kheer, oats porridge, rice porridge, seasonal vegetable soups, pulao, plain khichdi, curd rice, pancake, egg, shakes, smoothies……….
Great… will keep that in mind…
Thank you once again
my baby is 8month…we gave her solid food like khichri, biscuit, fruit juice and breast milk. Is it enough for her? Can we gave her cow milk and apple soup? pls suggest me.
Which biscuits and fruit juice you give to your baby?
If its market packed fruit juice then please stop giving it. It is just sugar content nothing like real fruit juice.
Instead of biscuit, you can grind the half wheat roti in mixer, add the milk and feed to baby. Market biscuits are just maida and sugar, nothing healthy.
Hi Neha,
My baby is 8 months old and she refuses to have solid food. She only wants milk.Is it ok if she have only milk
.
Also I want to know how much quantity of food should I give to my baby each time from the food chart mentioned.
The quantity of the food completely depends upon your baby. each child is unique so their food intake as well.
You should stop feeding too much milk if you want your baby to start having solid foods.
Hi Nehagoyal,
First of all I really want to thank you for your wonderful articles. I’m not indian but since I’ll leave here for while that I have decided to raise my baby Indian way and I have start following what my Baby’s Dr. Telling me. Now my Baby Girl is 6 months & 20 days. As I have been told by her Dr. To start solid foods with salt and sugar by her 5th months and I started but now I got different information here and I’m shocked. But I’m happy as well that I read this, cause I believe it’s not late to start again. Please let me know if you have a link that can help me how to make baby foods Indian way.
Thank you 🙂
Thank You so much for liking my blog.
Regarding Salt and Sugar, you can do your own research on this before deciding so that you have a clarity about your decision.
Read this article in which I have shared few easy recipes for babies https://www.beinghappymom.com/baby-food-recipes-indian/
Great article. Very useful tips. Thanks very much for sharing. Keep up the good work!
Thank you.
What should be the quantity of solid food needed for the 7-8 month old baby?
After starting solid foods she is wake up in night on every 1 hours intervals and ask for feed.
What should we do??
hi,
my baby is 7 months old.whenever I start feeding him apple puree he starts crying loud and give vomit expression….At last he splits all the puree from his throat….is it normal , can I continue or stop giving him apple puree.
Thank you
Hello Madhuri,
You can feed him some other fruits, no need to exactly made purees for him now. You can explore more options than only apple puree.
Please share the Excel sheet or a printable copy of the diet chart.
Hi
I have a 7 month old bay girl
Can I give her mix two fruit puree in a day?
Which food I can give her for weight gaining?
I have 7month old baby ….this article really help me a lot…
This information helps me to take care my baby, thanks
Wow !!! nice post.. My baby is just 6 week old.. Going to follow so many things from this article… Thanks ,,,
Hi, my baby is 9 months old . She is not willing to take breast milk anymore. She loves to eat solids. So I have started giving her cow’s milk , she is getting loose motions with it
So I have switched to buffalo milk. And she is not having any problems. Is it fine to give buffalo milk to my little one?
Very helpful information. For new mom.thx
Hi,this is Akshatha here i want to know the diet & wigght gaining food chart for my 8 months baby,she is not put on weight ,she doesnt look like 8 months baby ,so plz suggest me
Hello Akshatha,
Please check this out: https://www.beinghappymom.com/weight-gain-foods-babies/