At this age your baby will now be able to bite and chew and make attempts at feeding himself. Introduce your baby to as many new foods as possible so that he develops healthy and varied eating habits.

However, it is a good idea to leave a day or two between the introduction of each new food so that if your child has an adverse reaction to a food, you can pinpoint the cause directly.

Try not to offer your child only the foods that you enjoy. Allow him to develop his own likes and dislikes. Be aware of the fact that you can influence your child's eating habits by what you offer him now so don't be tempted to offer unhealthy, high fat, high sugar snacks such as crisps and biscuits over good, nutritional foods such as fruit and yoghurt. At this age, your child won't really know the difference between ice-cream and unsweetened yoghurt unless you teach him to!

Confectionery - even a small amount - can also fill your baby up and leave less room for good, nutritious food at mealtimes. So save sweets and biscuits for occasional treats only.

Self-feeding

At this age your child will also start making attempts at feeding himself. As any experienced mother knows, the average 9-12 month old will play with food as much as eat it. Remember that for your child mealtimes are another opportunity for learning and discovery and not just a time for eating.

Allow him some time to play but don't let it overtake eating as the main objective of mealtimes. Encourage your child's efforts at self-feeding but as he probably won't be that successful in getting much food into his mouth, continue to spoon-feed him as well and offer some finger foods, such as little sandwiches or pieces of cheese, which he should be able to manage at this stage. You would be advised to prepare for the fact that food will end up everywhere - place plastic mats or paper towels on the floor to catch any mess.

Which foods?

Dried fruit such as apricots and dates are great snack foods for babies of this age. They are also high in iron, which will help prevent against anaemia (caused by iron deficiency), a common problem in babies age 1-2 years. Some dried fruit can be quite tough in texture but you can soften it by first soaking in water. Sultanas and raisons are also a big hit with babies and are a great source of energy.

Small finger sandwiches or sandwiches in the shape of triangles are very popular with children of this age. Some healthy sandwich fillings to try are

• Ham;
• Cheese;
• Chopped chicken;
• Mashed egg;
• Mashed banana.

Breast milk or formula milk should continue to be the main drink until your baby is one-year-old. If you want to stop breastfeeding, you should start by leaving out one breast feed every three to four days.

Gradually reduce the number of breast feeds so that your milk production falls in line with the lower demand for milk. If your baby is less than one year, you should replace the breast milk with an infant formula milk. You may be baffled by the variety of formulas available such as regular or follow-on milk.

The main difference between regular formula milk and follow-on milk is that the latter contains more iron. It is not necessary to change your baby onto follow-on milk if he is eating a good variety of iron rich foods such as meat, chicken, beans and dried fruit. If your baby is not feeding well, you should ask for advice from your public health nurse.

For this age group, you could try giving the formula milk drink in a beaker rather than in a bottle.

Cow's milk can be added to meals to help correct the consistency of foods or to help cool a meal but should not be given as a main drink in a beaker or bottle until after your child's first birthday. Always use whole milk; low fat and reduced fat products are not suitable for babies or young children.

Food Safety Tips

• Never refreeze a meal once it has thawed.
• Be careful to remove fish bones when cooking fish for babies and young children.
• Only use pasteurised milk in cooking.
• Never leave a baby's bottle of milk in the sun or other warm place. Any milk left after an hour in a baby's bottle should be thrown out.
• Eggs should be cooked until solid for babies under 12 months.
• Honey should not be given to children under twelve months because of the risk of botulism. Although this is very rare, it is best to be cautious.
• Nuts should not be given to children until at least after age six years.

Suggested Recipes

Vegetable Medley
This makes 4-5 portions and freezes well. Ingredients:

• 2 carrots
• 1 parsnip
• 4 dessert spoons of chopped spaghetti
• 15g butter

Method

1. Steam all the vegetables together until they are soft and boil the spaghetti until soft in unsalted water.
2. Mash the carrots and parsnips roughly.  
3. Add the chopped spaghetti to the vegetables and finish off by adding a knob of butter.
4. For variety, add two teaspoons of grated cheese to each portion before serving. The heat of the vegetables should be sufficient to melt the grated cheese.

Butter Beans and Parsnips
This makes 4-5 portions and freezes well.

Ingredients:

• ½ can butter beans
• 2 small potatoes
• 1 parsnip
• 100ml milk
• 15g butter

Method

1. Clean and peel the parsnip and the potatoes. Cut them into large chunks and steam until soft. This will take about 20 minutes for the parsnip and 30 minutes for the potato.
2. Mash the potato with a little butter and milk.
3. Then add the steamed parsnips, butter beans and mash with a fork to a lumpy consistency. 
   

Chicken and peas
This makes 6 portions and freezes well.

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken breast fillet
• 2 small potatoes
• 4 dessert spoons of tinned peas
• 100ml milk
• 15g butter

Method

1. Clean the chicken fillet and place in a roasting dish.
2. Add 100ml of water and cover with foil. Cook at a moderate heat (gas mark 5) for 35 minutes. This cooking method ensures the chicken is very tender when cooked.
3. Peel the potatoes and mash with a little butter and milk.
4. Chop the chicken into very small pieces, add the tinned peas and potatoes and chop up roughly

Roast beef and beans
This makes 4-6 portions and freezes well.

Ingredients:

• 4 dessert spoons of finely sliced and chopped cooked beef
• Small tin baked beans
• 2 small potatoes
• 100 ml milk
• 15g butter

    
Method

1. This recipe is great for using up the last of roast beef.
2. Steam and mash the potatoes.
3. Add all of the ingredients together and freeze on the day of cooking.

Other family meals that will be enjoyed by your baby are shepherds pie, fish pie and Irish stew.