Baby food by age: 9 to 12 months

Approved by the BabyCenter Malaysia Medical Advisory Board

• When can my baby join in with family meals?
• When can my baby try new textures?

When can my baby join in with family meals?

At nine months, your baby is not quite ready to eat everything you can eat. But that doesn't mean to say she can't join in with your meals, as long as you take her needs into account.

Up to nine months, the goal has been to get your baby used to the idea of solid foods. Now your baby can be more adventurous with her meals, and she may love to try new flavours. But there are still some foods she should not have in her first year:

• Honey: this can contain a bacteria that can damage your baby's intestines, leading to a rare syndrome called infant botulism. Honey is also a type of sugar, which can be bad for her emerging teeth.


• Some types of fish: shark, swordfish or marlin may contain traces of mercury. This can affect your baby's growing nervous system. Also, don't give your baby raw shellfish, to reduce the risk of food poisoning.


• Uncooked or lightly cooked eggs: make sure eggs are cooked through until both the white and yolk are solid.


• Low-fat, low-calorie and high-fibre food: these are not suitable for for your baby. She needs high-energy foods.


• Whole nuts: don’t give whole nuts your child until she is five, because they could cause choking.

It's also important to keep the following to a minumum:

• Salt: don't add salt to your baby's food, because her kidneys can't cope with it. Limit the amount of salty foods that your baby eats, such as cheese, sausages and bacon. Check food labels. Babies should have less than 1g of salt (0.4g of sodium) a day.


• Sugar: sugary foods and drinks are bad for your baby's teeth and can encourage her to have a sweet tooth. Only add a little sugar to your baby's food if you really need to, for example, to stewed sour fruits, such as plums. Don't give your baby sugary puddings, ice creams, biscuits or sweets.

Having said all that, there still are plenty of meals you can prepare that your baby can share with you. See our article on family recipes. She'll love having the same as you. She's getting better at feeding herself all the time, too. At nine months, she's probably trying to feed herself with a spoon, though perhaps without much success. By the end of 10 months, however, she may get the spoon into her mouth some of the time.

Help and encourage her by letting her hold onto the spoon as you feed her. Give her plenty of finger foods as well, so that she can feed herself.

When can my baby try new textures?

Now is the time to start introducing minced or chopped foods. Your baby will be eating three meals a day, with healthy snacks, such as fruit, in between meals (FSA nd).

But breastmilk or formula milk is still an important part of her diet. If she's formula-fed, she'll need between 500ml and 600ml a day.

By the time she reaches her first birthday, though, baby food will make up a big part of what she needs. You may find that your baby has dropped a milk feed or two (FSA nd). It's easier for her to swallow food and she has more teeth.

Your baby won't have the molars to chew food properly until she's between 18 months and 24 months old. Even so, her gums will be surprisingly efficient at grinding foods to a pulp.

She may find it soothing to gnaw on harder finger foods. Do make sure you choose something that dissolves after gumming because of the risk of choking.

Be extra careful with small, round foods, such as grapes. It's better to wait a bit longer before giving them to your baby. Try hard-baked crusts of bread, peeled slices of apple, and lightly cooked carrot sticks.