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If you’re interested in baby led weaning foods for 8 month olds, you’re in the right place. As a Registered Dietitian and mom of 3, I’m sharing my 8 month schedule and routine, as well as easy 8 month old baby led weaning recipes.

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Disclaimer: While I am a Registered Dietitian, I am not giving specific feeding advice and always advise consulting with your pediatrician for your child’s specific needs. 

Baby led weaning is one of my favorite things. Giving babies the power to learn to feed themselves is just such a pleasure.

It’s the little things in life. Watching them get excited about eating and experience new tastes and different textures.

You can give them a baby spoon so they can start to figure out gripping, but it’s fine to still use their hands!

Even if your baby has no teeth at 8 months of age, you can still do baby-led weaning and offer so many healthy snacks for babies!

Here are some of my previous baby led weaning recaps:

• Baby led weaning foods for 6 months
• Baby led weaning beginner’s guide
• Baby led weaning foods for 7 months
• Baby led weaning at 9 months
• Baby led weaning recipes for 10 months
• What do 18 month olds eat?

Each month shows a little more variety and you can tell that your baby is getting more comfortable with his/her favorite foods.

I am still nursing (and living in this nursing hoodie and really any Kindred Bravely attire), which is Sawyer’s main source of nutrition.

That means, as a mom, I need to be fueling myself properly!

I rely on these easy breastfeeding snacks, and many of them are healthy enough to share with your 8 month old, too!

Beginning of Baby Led Weaning

While you may have been very nervous in the beginning of your baby led weaning journey (about choking, allergens, etc.!), it’s likely that you are settling into some sort of routine now and baby has been showing signs of readiness for a while.

While allergens can be scary, it’s important to introduce them, unless you have been told otherwise by your pediatrician!

The latest research actually encourages the early introduction of allergen foods (even the 2020-2025 dietary guidelines and American Academy of Pediatrics recommend this).

And don’t think you need to serve bland food – spices for babies are highly encouraged!

To this point, at 8 months old, Sawyer has tried 40+ different foods and is a pretty adventurous eater.

With two other kids running around, I’m happy with that!

While you can offer more than 1 food at a time to an 8 month old baby, I still try to keep it simple since eating is a new skill.

If I do offer more than 1 food, it’s either a combination food (a quiche with veggies), or an iron source paired with Vitamin C.

For example, bison meatballs paired with raspberries.

Baby Led Weaning at 8 Months

Baby led weaning at 8 months feels a tad easier than 6 months, and I feel much more confident.

At 8 months, breast milk or formula should still be the major source of nutrition for babies. Solid foods should just be complementary.

Here are some other key points to keep in mind for this age group:

• Exposure still counts if they aren’t swallowing – Most 8 month old babies are still beginners, so it’s okay if they aren’t eating (swallowing) all of the food. They are learning their tongue control and muscles, and of course, tasting flavor.
• Don’t provide pressure – A baby’s hunger may vary on different days and times of day, so it’s in your best interest to let them take the lead and experience hunger and fullness. They may push food away or turn their head if they aren’t interested.
• It’s okay if it’s messy – Especially if your baby hasn’t developed the pincer grasp yet, a lot of food may still end up on the floor. And because of this, you’ll still want to cut foods appropriately – mostly in long strips that are like finger foods and easy for them to pick up. All of this is practice for their fine motor skills.
• Start with one meal a day – It’s unlikely that by 8 months, your baby is eating three solid meals a day. It’s perfectly normal and okay to just feel comfortable offering 1 meal/day or small pieces of food, and then working your way up to 2-3 by 10-12 months. Developmental milestones take time!
• Know CPR – Any parent or caregiver will want to take a CPR course if you haven’t yet. Always supervise your baby closely during meals.
• Purees are ok! You can offer purees with baby led weaning, it doesn’t have to be one or the other! Here is more information on baby led weaning vs. purees. The most important thing is offering age-appropriate foods. While spoon feeding may work for your family, know that babies are capable of self-feeding!
• Eat with your baby – Include your baby in family meals whenever possible. Eating with the rest of the family has so many benefits for baby and for all of you that go beyond nutrition.
• Offer safe foods – Avoid foods that are a choking hazard, such as whole nuts, hard fruits like raw apple slices, and foods with small, round shapes. Our baby led weaning guide goes into more detail.

I want to learn more about baby led weaning!

8 Month Old Baby Led Weaning Foods

The following foods/recipes are great meal ideas and foods for an 8 month old doing baby led weaning to help meet nutritional needs.

• oatmeal (good iron source) – I like to cook it more so it’s easier for baby to chew, or make oatmeal balls or oatmeal cookies for babies
• raspberries – mashed, pureed or cut in half
• asparagus – a great finger food for 7 months old!
• avocado – There are no shortage of avocado recipes for baby led weaning!
• Acorn squash – so many ways to prepare, but we love acorn squash in the air fryer
• cantaloupe (we also love serving cantaloupe puree on a preloaded ezpz spoon!)
• baked carrot sticks
• baby led weaning meatballs & various other burger recipes (modified by slicing or cubing)
• sweetpotato (several recipes for sweet potatoes for babies and kids!)
• broccoli
• liver and other cooked/pureed meats for a good iron source
• bison or beef (also a great iron source) – We love these air fryer bison burgers and ALWAYS use Butcher Box organic meat.
• peanut butter and other nut butters (I like to blend with oats or yogurt)
• whole milk yogurt and other full fat dairy products
• baked parsnips or air fryer parsnips or blending into a parsnip puree for baby
• thinly sliced steak (great iron source)
• beans (great iron source) – Preloading with this ground turkey quinoa skillet is fantastic
• eggs (I like to mix them into several recipes, such as zucchini and sweet potato fritters)
• strawberries
• smoothies
• pesto (I love to make spinach pesto without nuts)
• soft grains – rice, cous cous, quinoa, barley, farro
• lentils – we mash or puree them. So many great lentil recipes for baby here!
• salmon (salmon patties can be great too)
• pasta – coconut milk chicken pasta is good for those healthy fats!
• chicken – These chicken meatballs are our favorite

The best thing to do is continue to offer new foods, every few days.

This is baby’s best time to get in a good habit of trying new foods and flavor.

Feeding Schedule

We usually do 1-2 meals/day. So, our 8 month old feeding schedule looks something like this.

7am – Wakeup and milk

730/8am – When serving breakfast, I would usually serve him oatmeal or eggs.

930/10am – Milk and Nap – Not all babies will need milk but for us, it’s more for comfort and to help him fall asleep.

12pm – Lunch. He may just sit with me at the table or suck on a breastmilk popsicle

2:30 pm – Nap

4:00-4:30 – Milk or Pouch

5:30 – Dinner. He will sit at the table with us and sometimes chew on a piece of steak or something.

6:45 – Milk and bed

Here’s a video of serving lunch to my 9 month old.

I hope this post is helpful for blw recipes for 8 months and beyond!