Vegan Baby-Led Weaning: what my 8 month old baby eats in a day

Sharing a full day of plant-based meals for my 8 month old baby!

Axel is now 8 months old and eating 3 solid meals per day! We started vegan baby-led weaning when he was almost 6 months old, and I shared all the details on how we started the process in this post. By 7 months we were up to 2 meals, and after about a month and a half of eating solids things really clicked, then we added a third meal around 7 and a half months! His motor skills have improved SO so much, it’s been so fun to watch him grow to love eating independently. When we first started out I regularly checked this amazing online database from Solid Starts to be sure I was cutting/serving the foods in the safest and age-appropriate way.

So today I’m sharing what my 8 month old baby eats in a day! Hopefully his plates give you some inspiration + fun ideas if you’re looking to change up your babe’s meals.

These meals are in addition to breastfeeding + his daily supplements. As always, make sure to consult with your pediatrician + a dietitian as needed to make sure your babe’s nutrition needs are being met.

Meal planning

At 8 months, my meal planning + prep process is really simple. Each week I sit down and decide what he’ll have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner the following week. I add anything we don’t already have to the grocery list for our Saturday trip, then prep any food + make any full recipes on Sunday.

As of right now he eats the same breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a full week, then I change each meal for the next week. Doing it this way keeps meal prep + grocery shopping simple, and I know he’s getting a variety of foods not only in a day but that each meal will be different the next week.

I usually include one mashed component and a few foods for him to pick up himself at each meal, so that he can practice both eating with a pre-loaded spoon I hand to him and picking foods up to feed himself.

I like to keep a good balance of not overwhelming myself with preparing tons of different, complicated meals, but also being mindful of the variety of foods he’s getting and of course making sure we’re covering important nutritional bases.

Foods + nutrients of focus when building a plate

When thinking about each meal, I have a few specific nutrients and foods of focus. Not every meal has every single one, but over the course of a day I make sure to include as many as I can for each meal.

• Fruit + veggies: I include at least a fruit or vegetable in each meal – as he gets older and is able to eat even more of a variety, I’ll work to include one of each at every meal. His current favorites are banana, strawberries, broccoli, cauliflower and sweet potato.
• Whole grains + starches: these foods provide tons of nutrition as well as calories – some of his favorites right now are sweet potatoes, oatmeal pancakes, and bread.
• Iron-rich foods: iron needs are very high for babies at this age, so I make sure to include an iron-rich food like beans, tofu, nut butter, or iron-fortified oat cereal at every meal.
• Vitamin C: foods that are high in vitamin C optimize absorption of iron from other foods on the plate. Axel loves strawberries and tomatoes.
• Healthy fats: babies need a lot of fat for nutrition + calories. Our favorites include nut and seed butters like peanut, almond, and tahini.

I try not to stress over making every meal “perfect,” but striking a balance between serving him nutrient-dense foods and getting a variety throughout the day. Breastmilk is still a huge component in meeting his nutritional needs right now, so I feel comfortable with our process and how I’m approaching building his meals at this age.

Alright, let’s get into the full day of eating!

Breakfast

On this day, breakfast was 2 mini oatmeal banana pancakes smeared with peanut butter. The pancake recipe is super simple, just a mix of rolled oats, ground flaxseed, and super ripe banana. I always add some healthy fats and he loves raw, unsalted, unsweetened peanut butter (it’s pretty thick so I heat it in the microwave for a few seconds to loosen it up and spread it on top in a thin layer, too thick and it can be a choking hazard). I prep the pancakes on the weekend and just pull a couple out in the morning, add the nut butter and they’re ready to go.

He also ate a whole banana – he’s a pro at picking these up and eating them now, it’s definitely his favorite food at the moment. Lately we’ve been adding berries too for vitamin C – strawberries are his favorite.

Lunch

Lunch was some mashed avocado on salt-free bread (I always get this bread from the frozen section) and a blended mix of black beans, rice, banana, steamed greens, and cumin. The mash is a recipe from this book and he absolutely loved it! I prepped a big batch on the weekend that he had for lunch all week.

He actually ended up eating 3 more strips of bread that I didn’t include in the photo, this lunch is one of his favorite combinations!

Dinner

I keep dinner pretty simple, since at this point in the day everybody’s getting a little tired and mama wants something quick + easy both for prep and clean-up time.

He has a mixture of baked sweet potato, mashed chickpeas, and tahini plus a few sticks of tofu. I bake a couple sweet potatoes on the weekend, then remove the skin and store them in the fridge for the week.

Since taking the photos for this specific day, I’ve actually started baking the potatoes and cutting off a big chunk for him to pick up and eat himself (rather than mashing it and handing him a spoon). He likes this a lot better and eats SO much sweet potato, definitely my child!

Practicing with an open cup

Since about 7 months we’ve practiced drinking water with an open cup after each meal. At first it was a hot mess, water EVERYWHERE, but after just a few weeks he’s improved so much! Don’t get me wrong, water still gets everywhere sometimes, but he’s definitely grasping the concept and getting better with it every day.

So that’s what my 8 month old baby ate today! I hope this was helpful and gave you some inspiration for healthy, plant-based meals for your little one. Let me know if you’d like to see more posts like this as he gets older!

Xo,

Sara