Continue with iron-fortified Similac® Advance® or breast milk. It’s a good idea to offer juice from a cup only, so the baby’s teeth are not bathed with high-sucrose liquids. If your baby insists on taking a bottle at bedtime, plain water is preferred.

Infants at this age love to have foods that they can pick up and put in their mouths. By the time they are 7 months old, they may feed themselves crackers or pieces of toast. They begin to enjoy finger foods such as pieces of cooked vegetables or ripe banana. They are eating 3 meals a day now, and may gradually switch over from strained foods to mashed or chopped table foods. Good examples are mashed carrots, squash or sweet potatoes and regular applesauce. By the time babies are 9 months old, their milk intake will average around 24 ounces a day and they will be able to eat many table foods. Try pieces of cheese, ground meat and baked chicken when your baby handles other finger foods as well. It is not necessary to season or sweeten the food. Avoid honey until the baby is a year old. Most soft table foods are tolerated now. Your 7-9 month old may have strained meats. Combination meat-vegetable or meat-fruit dinners are fine if all the ingredients have been previously introduced.