Please help me with snack ideas

[lilybug25]

Lo is almost 9 months and I really should be more consistent with snacks but I really dont have any ideas for them or when to give them. her feeding routine right now is:
6:30am bottle
8:30 Breakfast
11:30  lunch
1:30  bottle
4:30  supper
6:30pm bottle
Her mobility is going in leaps and bounds, getting ready to crawl and she got her 1st tooth yesterday. As I am very conscious of what I eat in front of her If she wants a "bite" of what I'm eating then I give it to her; this is so far what shes had: homemade jam on whole wheat bagel/ beans on toast/all different types of fruit/non salted cracker/not buttered wholewheat toast/ banana with rice puffs ( no milk for her)/ baby yum yums.
I work better when I'm "told" what to give her then the "just give her what you what, within reasons", i think thats why I can't get this snack thing figure out and at what times.
Thanks

[~*Nicole*~]

As she gets a bit older, you'll find that it may be easier to combine her bottles/drinks with meal times so they won't be spaced out the way they are now. When that happens there will be a block of time in the morning and afternoon where snacks would fit in really well. Something like:

6:30-wake
7:00-bottle/breakfast
9:00/9:30-snack
11:30-lunch/bottle
1:30/2:00-snack
5:00-dinner
6:30-bottle

Of course she may want her bottle first thing for a long while....and while she is taking in calories spaced out the way she is now, she may not be that hungry for snacks. If you find there are times she IS hungry for snacks, some ideas are:

cheerios
pieces of cheese
yogurt
fruit as you said
and the rest of the things you mentioned are great.

[lilybug25]

At about what age will she start to combine her bottles/meals? A quess-ta-mate would be helpful

[~*Nicole*~]

Well once they are about 12 months.....the idea is to have liquids become beverages that accompany meals but the meals themselves provide a good deal of the nutrition toddlers need. This is in contrast to now, the liquid itself BEING a meal that provides most of the essential nutrition. SO as everything is a transition, it's something that you'll start working toward and eventually arrive at. It took us awhile, but I probably was able to do lunch first, then dinner and eventually breakfast. DD wanted milk right away so still had that first in the morning and breakfast later. It sort of happens as you work on transitioning to sippy cups as well.

Does that make sense?

[lilybug25]

yes it does thanks , we already do water in a sippy cup and are slowly starting to switch bottles of milk for sippy cups, at this rate will be there when she's 1 !!!!

[~*Nicole*~]

perfect!