How many ounces of baby food for an 8 month old

How Much Baby Food Your Baby Should Be Eating- A Guide

You’re wondering about the above statement aren’t you? Ask the vast majority of pediatricians and they will all say, “Feed your baby as much as your baby will eat”.

One of the caveats when feeding your baby solid foods is that that you ensure that your baby is still receiving proper amounts of breast milk and/or formula. Solid foods in the early stage are meant for practice. Solids are not meant to provide for baby’s nutrition as breast milk and/or formula are.

How much solid food a baby will be eating depends on a variety of different things.

Don’t forget that your baby is a little human being, and like all of us, she has her own appetite. This will influence to how much solid foods she will be eating. As with adults, some babies will eat more than others due to their individual appetites. Below are a few key points to remember when feeding your baby.

A baby who began solid foods at 4 months of age will most likely be eating more solid foods than the baby who began to eat solid foods at 6 months old.
A baby who is eating soft diced foods as beginner foods may seem to eat less than the baby who is being spoon-fed purées.
A baby who is ill or teething may eat less than what has been typical for a few days and then suddenly the typical appetite comes roaring back.
An infant who is busy exploring the carpet or the new soft-book she has received may be miffed when she is put into a high chair and offered food.

The natural slow down of growth that babies go through will also influence how much they eat. They may be ravenous for a few days or a week or two and then suddenly, they are barely eating. Babies who are coming out of a growth spurt will tend to eat less than they were during the growth spurt.

How do I know if my baby is eating enough solid food?

As all pediatricians will tell you ” Your baby will never starve himself or herself! ” The majority of healthy babies will eat just the right amount of foods that they need. Resist the urge to offer “just one more bite” when baby indicates she’s finished. You do not want to accidentally override your baby’s developing ability to self-regulate his or her feeding by continuing to try and feed your baby. It is important to pay close attention to your baby’s cues as your baby’s feeding patterns will change daily and may be affected by the goings-on around him.

Offering a well balanced diet of solid foods will help ensure that your baby is eating the right amount of the right nutritious foods.

Example feeding “schedule” of solid foods

REMEMBER: 1 ounce equals approximately 2 tablespoons

Before 4 Months:

According to the CDC, babies before 4 months of age should not be fed solid baby foods. Infants should be able to sit up on their own and take food off the spoon before being introduced to solids
Why can’t we give baby younger than 4 months solids? According to Dr. Alice Kuo of UCLA, “Introducing solid foods early means that the baby gets less breast milk over the course of their infancy, and that decreases the ability to get optimal benefits, like protection against infection,”

What to Feed Baby:

Breast milk or formula
Breastfeed every 1-3 hours or Formula 18-40 ounces

4-6 Months:

If baby can sit up on their own and still seems hungry after breastfeeding, baby may be ready to start eating solids! Baby should be able to hold their head up, close their mouth around a spoon and “move” the food to the back of their mouth.

What to Feed Baby:

Breast milk or formula AND
1-3 tablespoons of food at 1 or 2 “meals”

Click here to learn what foods you can introduce to a 4-6 month baby

6-8 Months:

Formula and/or Breast Milk is still most important at this age and stage. Babies in this range may be just starting solids so the above for 4-6 Months would apply. Some babies may be eating up to 8 ounces of solid foods between 2-3 “meals” during a day.

What to Feed Baby:

Breast milk or formula AND
Foods in this chart for solids OK to give baby 6-8 months, 2-3 “meals” a day

Click here to learn what solid foods you can introduce to a 6-8 month baby

8 to 10 months:

Many babies will be eating 3 “meals” per day at this stage; including a grain, fruit, veggie and a meat or protein source such as eggs.

Again, pay close attention to your baby’s cues as your baby’s feeding patterns will change daily and may be affected by the goings-on around him. Your baby will eat just the right amount for YOUR baby.

What to Feed Baby:

Breast milk or formula AND
Foods in this chart for solids OK to give baby 6-8 months, 3 “meals” a day

Click here to lean what solid foods you can introduce to a 8 to 10 month baby

10 to 12 months:

Many babies will be eating 3 “meals” per day at this stage; including a grain, fruit, veggie and a meat or protein source such as eggs.

What to Feed Baby:

Breast milk or formula AND
Foods in this chart for solids OK to give baby 10-12 months, 3 “meals” a day

Click here to lean what solid foods you can introduce to a 10 to 12 month baby

Here are a few things to watch for to ensure that you are not over or under feeding your baby:

Signs that baby may want to continue to eat

Leaning in for the spoon
Opening the mouth
Grabbing for food and trying to put it in the mouth

Signs that your baby may be full

Closing of the mouth as the spoon comes close
Spitting out the food that is being fed
Turning the head away as the spoon comes closer

A healthy well-fed baby should be producing wet diapers regularly as well as producing a bowel movement or two during the day.

Ensure that you take your baby to the well-child visits as scheduled so that your pediatrician may weigh and measure baby to ensure that your baby has good sustained growth.

If you are ever uncertain about the foods and the amount of solid foods you are feeding your baby, always consult your baby’s pediatrician. Your pediatrician should be able to assist you in validating your feeding routines and also help allay your fears.

Remember, always consult with your pediatrician regarding introducing solid foods to your baby and specifically discuss any foods that may pose allergy risks for your baby.

No two babies will eat the exact same amounts (or foods!) The amount that each eats is just right for that baby!

Suggested Daily “Milk” Intakes for Babies age 0 to 12 months

0-3 Months of age:
Breastfeed every 1-3 hours or Formula 18-40 ounces
4-5 Months of age:
Breastfeed every 2-4 hours or Formula 24-45 ounces
6-8 Months of age:
Breastfeed every 3-4 hours or Formula 24-37 ounces
9-12 Months of age:
Breastfeed every 4-5 hours or Formula 24-31 ounces

Whole Cow Milk, as a drink, should not be introduced until 12 months of age. Learn about Introducing Yogurt and Feeding Cheese to your baby.

Table compiled from Merck Source

Follow Your Baby’s Cues When Feeding Your Baby Solid Foods

Following your baby’s cues during feeding time will ensure that your baby is eating the proper amounts of food for him or her.

There is no “set-in-stone” guideline or chart of exactly how many jars of baby food or how many 8 ounce bottles of formula each baby should be receiving. This is simply because each and every baby is different. Babies will eat as much food and drink as much breast milk and/or formula as they need.

For example: You may wonder how it is possible that your friend’s 7 month old baby is eating 2 whole jars of baby food (8-9 oz) in one day while your 7 month old baby barely manages to eat 3 or 4 baby food cubes (3-4 oz) of food per day. You may also wonder why your baby nurses every 2 hours at 7 months old while your friend’s baby may only nurse every 3 or 4 hours. Again, each baby has different food and milk needs and these needs are just right for the individual baby.

Sample Menu for a Baby 8 to 12 Months Old

Ages & Stages

Now that your baby is eating solid foods, planning meals can be more challenging. At this age, your baby needs between 750 and 900 calories each day, of which about 400 to 500 should come from breast milk or formula (if you are not breastfeeding)—roughly 24 ounces (720 mL) a day. Breast milk and formula contain vitamins, minerals, and other important components for brain growth.

At about eight months, you may want to introduce foods that are slightly coarser than strained pureed foods. They require more chewing than baby foods. You can expand your baby's diet to include soft foods such as yogurt, oatmeal, mashed banana, mashed potatoes, or even thicker or lumpy pureed vegetables. Eggs (including scrambled) are an excellent source of protein, as are cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, and avocado.

Sample menu ideas for an 8- to 12-month-old baby:

1 cup = 8 ounces = 240 ml
¾ cup = 6 ounces = 180 ml
½ cup = 4 ounces = 120 ml
¼ cup = 2 ounces = 60 ml

Breakfast

2 to 4 ounces cereal, or 1 mashed or scrambled egg
2 to 4 ounces mashed or diced fruit
Breastmilk or 4 to 6 ounces formula

Snack

Lunch

2 to 4 ounces yogurt or cottage cheese, or pureed or diced beans or meat
2 to 4 ounces cooked pureed or diced yellow or orange vegetables
Breastmilk or 4 to 6 ounces formula

Snack

Dinner

2 to 4 ounces diced diced poultry, meat, or tofu
2 to 4 ounces cooked green vegetables
2 to 4 ounces cooked soft-whole grain pasta or potato
2 to 4 ounces diced or mashed fruit
Breastmilk or 4 to 6 ounces formula

Before bedtime

Breastmilk or 6 to 8 ounces formula, or water. (If breastmilk or formula, follow with water or brush teeth afterward).

More information

Sample Menu for a One-Year-Old
Starting Solid Foods
Breastfeeding Mealtime Milestones
Ask the Pediatrician: Is it OK to make my own baby food?

Last Updated: 8/12/2022

Source: Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5 7th Edition (Copyright © 2019 American Academy of Pediatrics)

The information contained on this Web site should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances.

Ration: making a menu for a child at 8 months

6-12 months

Article

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The first year of a baby's life is full of discoveries. He almost daily learns something new about the world, in particular, gets acquainted with new products. At 6 months, the baby masters gruel, vegetable and fruit purees. The menu of a child at 8 months becomes more diverse. Sour-milk products, meat, lean fish and egg yolks appear in the diet. How to introduce new food into the baby's complementary foods? And how to make a tasty and healthy menu?

7 min. for reading Feb. 17, 2022

What can I give my baby at 8 months? What foods to add to the diet to ensure a balanced diet? Here is a rough list that you can take into account.

1. Egg yolks.

The polyunsaturated fatty acids and healthy cholesterol they contain are essential for the development of the nervous system. The yolk can be given to children from 7–8 months of age, starting with half a chicken or one quail. By this time, enzymes appear in the body to break down this product. Important!

Some people think that quail yolks are better digested and can therefore be given to allergic babies. But quail yolk can also cause a negative reaction. Therefore, eggs must be introduced into the diet with caution, starting with 1 teaspoon and monitoring the reaction.

2. Porridge.

At the age of 8 months, a child can already eat all kinds of cereals: buckwheat, rice, oatmeal, corn and wheat. By consistency, they should be quite liquid and homogeneous. To cook baby porridge correctly, see the instructions on the product packaging and follow all the recommendations.

Learn more: Gerber® Cereals

3. Meat.

Introduce solid foods gradually, giving your baby dietary varieties: chicken, veal, turkey and rabbit. The meat is rich in proteins, which are necessary for growth and development, and iron, and is also very useful for the circulatory system. The norm of meat is about 50-70 g per day.

Learn more: Gerber® Meat Purees

4. Lean white fish.

If the baby does not have a tendency to allergic reactions and your pediatrician sees no contraindications, let him try the fish. Due to the smaller amount of connective tissue, fish is an excellent source of easily digestible protein. It contains many minerals, amino acids, arachidonic acid, fluorine and iodine. The latter are minerals needed to strengthen bones and improve thyroid hormone production. In addition, there are a lot of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in fish, which are needed for the cells of the brain, vision, cardiovascular system and immunity of the child to develop normally. Start introducing fish into the child's menu at 8 months with a teaspoon and carefully monitor that there are no adverse events. If all is well, then give it no more than twice a week.

5. Fruit and vegetable purees.

Your little one has already become familiar with these products, but you can diversify the taste a bit by combining vegetables with meat or different types of fruits.

Learn more: Gerber® Vegetable and Meat Puree

6. Dairy products.

Kefir and cottage cheese are good for the intestines, but can cause bloating, colic or allergies. Therefore, first consult with your doctor and introduce dairy products very carefully.

See also: Why is cow's milk not good for babies?

7. Vegetable decoctions and light soups.

Start with vegetable broths made from potatoes and carrots, lightly seasoned with onions. For the first time, give 20-30 grams, and if the baby perceives the dish well, gradually increase the amount of soup and the variety of its ingredients.

8. Flour.

You can dilute the menu with baby biscuits, crackers and bread. But enter them carefully. In flour products there is a special protein of plant origin - gluten, to which the baby's fragile body can react with allergies and diarrhea.

Diet: when and how much to eat at 8 months

If the baby is breastfed, feed him about once every 3-4 hours.
If the baby is fed expressed breast milk, give him approximately 700 grams per day. With 5-6 meals a day, this is about 120 to 200 grams of milk per meal.
Formula-fed (IV) babies are given 170 to 230 grams of formula 4-6 times a day. To find out exactly how much mixture you need, be guided by the instructions on the package, the recommendations of the pediatrician.
Complementary foods are best included in the menu of a child at 8 months three times a day: it can be one teaspoon per sample or 50-180 grams of already familiar food.

Important!

The calculation of servings and the number of feedings depends on the individual characteristics of the development and needs of the child. Therefore, first of all, be guided by the recommendations of your pediatrician and the needs of the baby.

We form the basis of the diet for every day

At 8 months old, a baby needs a variety of foods with enough calories to ensure that the actively growing body receives sufficient nutrients. Divide the daily food intake, which is approximately 1000–1200 ml, into 5–6 doses at intervals of 3.5–4 hours: early breakfast, breakfast, lunch, dinner and feeding before bedtime. If the baby is not full on complementary foods, supplement with breast milk or formula if the baby is formula-fed.

Tip!

Do not salt or sweeten food. Introduce the baby to sugar and salt not earlier than 12 months, but better later.

The list of allowed foods at 8 months of age is quite extensive, which gives you room for culinary experiments. Use this table to create a menu for the week, changing types of cereals, alternating purees and juices from different vegetables and fruits, adding new foods or additional ingredients to dishes already familiar to your baby. For example, if the crumbs are already fed up with some kind of porridge or mashed potatoes, improve the recipe a little - add a spoonful of vegetable or butter, or pieces of fruit. And the child will eat again with pleasure.

Read also: Breastfeeding: first steps after childbirth

Important!

If the child is allergic, add something new to the diet with extra care. Especially food rich in animal proteins - cottage cheese, kefir, yolks, milk porridge, fish. Before offering them to your baby, consult a pediatrician.

Sample menu for a child at 8 months per day: table

Feeding time	Products	Serving Size
I feeding 6 hours	Breast milk or infant formula	200 ml
II feeding 10 hours	Gerber® Milk Oatmeal with Banana and Mango	170 g
	Butter	about ½ tsp
	Boiled egg yolk	½ pcs.
	Supplementing with breast milk or infant formula	50 ml
III feeding 10 hours	Gerber® Meat and Vegetable Puree "Tender Vegetables with Veal"	170 g
	Vegetable oil	about ½ tsp.
	Gerber® Clarified Apple-Pear Juice	½ pcs.
Supplementing with breast milk or infant formula	50 ml
IV feeding 18 hours	Gerber® Apple & Wild Berries Fruit Puree	70 g
	Baby biscuits	1-2 pcs.
	Kefir	40 ml
	Supplementing with breast milk or infant formula	100 ml
V feeding 22 hours	Breast milk or infant formula	200 ml

Sample diet for an 8 month old baby with cow's milk protein intolerance: table

Feeding time	Products	Serving Size
I feeding 6 hours	Breast milk or formula for infants with cow's milk protein intolerance	200 ml
II feeding 10 hours	Dairy-free Gerber® oatmeal with wheat	130 g
	Vegetable oil	about 1 tsp.
	Gerber® Apple & Peach Fruit Puree	70 g
	Gerber® Clarified Apple Juice	30 ml
III feeding 10 hours	Gerber® Cauliflower & Potato Puree	170 g
	Vegetable oil	about 1 tsp.
	Gerber® Gentle Rabbit Meat Puree	50 g
	Gerber® Broccoli Vegetable Puree	70 g
IV feeding 18 hours	Vegetable oil	about 1 tsp.
	Gerber® Tender Turkey Meat Puree	30 g
	Supplementation with breast milk or formula for infants with cow's milk protein intolerance	100 ml
	Breast milk or formula for infants with cow's milk protein intolerance	200 ml

Important!

To create a menu for a child, calculate the size of portions and the number of feedings, first of all, be guided by the recommendations of your pediatrician, the individual needs and characteristics of your baby's body.

FAQ:

1. How much should a baby eat at 8 months?

An 8-month-old baby needs a portion of food per day, which is equal to about ⅛ of body weight. This is 1000-1300 ml of food, excluding water, juices, children's tea. Divide this amount by about 5 feedings and you will get a single serving of 200-210 ml.

2. When can cow's and goat's milk be added to complementary foods?

Whole cow's and goat's milk should not be given to children until at least 9 years of age according to WHO recommendations.months, and possibly up to 12 months. In order not to deprive the baby of the benefits of dairy products, replace with milk-baby kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese. But before introducing dairy into the menu, consult with your pediatrician.

3. If the baby has allergies, what should I do?

Atopic dermatitis, redness, itching are all signs of intolerance to a substance or food. If, after introducing a new food, you notice any of these symptoms, you need to eliminate the allergen from the diet. If you experience severe symptoms: swelling, vomiting, diarrhea, difficulty breathing, consult a doctor immediately. The pediatrician will select the therapy for the baby: it can be a special diet or medication.

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Diet for an 8-month-old baby

Fish can be introduced into the diet of babies at the ninth month. Along with animal meat, fish is a source of complete protein with a well-balanced composition of amino acids, fat, vitamins B2, B12 and minerals. Compared to meat, fish contains 5 times less connective tissue, due to which it is quickly boiled soft, has a delicate texture after heat treatment and is easier to digest. Fish oil is characterized by a high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, including the ω-3 class. These substances are necessary for the child to mature the brain, retina, strengthen the cardiovascular and immune systems. Sea fish contains such important trace elements for the child's body as iodine and fluorine. The child should be given 1-2 times a week instead of meat, be sure to monitor how the child tolerates fish in general and its individual varieties. Preference should be given to oceanic fish, preferably white (cod, hake, pollock), red salmon can be recommended, river pike perch, carp.

Self-cooked fish is given to a child with boiled and mashed vegetables. You can also offer your baby fish and vegetable canned food, but they contain only 10 - 20% of fish.

At this age, when all the main food groups have already been introduced, special attention should be paid to the diversity of the composition of dishes. New, possibly combined products are introduced, for example, not only purees from various fruits and berries, but also their combinations with cottage cheese, cream, cereals, etc.

From the age of 8 months, the child's diet can be expanded to include fermented milk products (baby kefir, biokefir, bifidokefir, yogurt, bioyogurt, biolact). Fermented milk products are prepared using a special starter culture that breaks down milk protein, so that the baby can get an indispensable set of amino acids in a well-available form. Fermented milk products improve the composition of the intestinal microflora of the child, are rich in B vitamins and calcium. Their regular use favorably affects the functioning of the intestines, stimulates appetite, and increases the absorption of micronutrients. Children's dairy products are introduced into the baby's diet gradually, starting with 1 tsp. and with good tolerance increase their volume to 150-200 ml per day.

Sample menu for a healthy baby 8 months old

I feeding
6 hours

Breast milk or infant formula

200 ml

II feeding
10 hours

Dairy-free* or milk porridge
Butter
Boiled egg yolk
Fruit puree
Fruit juice

180 g
½ tsp
1/2 pcs.