Your child is not 6 months old anymore, but they are not 1 yet. Make sure you are still watching their diet and getting them ready to eat birthday cake. Is your child adjusting to the family diet?

There seems to be an abundance of information for the things you should do when your baby turns six months old and then again when they turn one, but what about the nine month old? This is an area of interest for many parents, especially new parents.

This is the time to start allowing more texture in your child's food. At 6 months old they are allowed to start trying your food. Now at 9 months old they are actually encouraged to start really eating this food. You still need to be aware of size and the ability for the food to dissolve. Fortunately and unfortunately every child is different in their unique ability to chew, suck or otherwise consume food, but variety should still be the necessity.

There is a big controversy over the whole dairy thing. It is allowable for a 6 month old to start eating yogurt and yet not allowable for them to drink milk. The reason is scientific not a conspiracy to force people to continue breastfeeding or using formula. The reason milk is taboo is the complex proteins that children of this age are not yet capable of digesting. The process by which yogurt and cheese are made actually brake down these proteins reducing and or even eliminating them altogether. Many people believe that the fat in whole milk is the deterrent and that 2% milk is safe, but this is false. Both of these milks still have the complex proteins. When children reach about one they are able to digest these proteins and then most pediatricians actually encourage whole milk primarily for the fat content that becomes essential for their bodies.

In our busy schedules nothing keeps up with us better and is safer than baby foods, and they should still be used. The children are going to grow up with you so start getting them used to the family diet. Taking the extra time to make your food baby safe by pureeing it or breaking it down into baby manageable pieces will pay off now, especially if the baby is a picky eater.

There will be foods that your baby prefers and that is good, but a balanced diet is more important than just getting them to eat. Be aware of foods that they like and sneak in foods they tend to ignore to help them build a variety of foods they will eat.

Fruits and vegetables are the best foods to make sure they eat now. Many fruits need to be processed as the skins are choking hazards and vegetables need to be softened usually by steaming.

Anything you eat is fair game, but be cautious about sodium and sugar intake as these are unnecessary even for you. I should rephrase the "anything is fair game" statement by saying that if you eat healthy than anything is fair game. If you don't eat healthy than shame on you.

Get excited because soon they will be one. Then they can start eating you out of house and home, and what a joyous day that will be.