Introducing meat?

CYNTHIA - posted on 07/05/2009

well i just buy my meat from the grocery....... the beech nut kind............. its a good consistency already. you can mix that with whatever vegetables or fruits you puree at home.

Hadleigh - posted on 07/05/2009

One way to get the meat really fine is to use mince meat (chicken or beef). Then just mix it through some pureed vege.

Wendy - posted on 07/04/2009

Babies love to explore new foods, generally speaking. Little chunks shouldn't hurt, and it will be a start to learnign how to deal with chunkier foods, which needs to be learned eventually. My son is 9 months old and we have been giving him little chunks of most of the stuff we eat to find out what he likes and doesn't like for a few months now. The only pureed food he gets now is baby food we buy from a store (we have mostly moved on from the pureed baby food into 12month food now though), or some pureed banana before we add milk for milkshakes.

Minnie - posted on 07/04/2009

Purees are unecessary. Have you considered trying to give him a chicken leg with little bits on it that he can gnaw on? He's not going to choke- he'll play with it, fiddle with it, ignore it, but eventually he's going to pick it up and suck on it, which will lead to him getting bits of meat and mashing it with his gums.

Six month olds can indeed have meat, and table foods, in fat.

But why are you so concerned with his iron? Has he been found to be anemic? If you're breastfeeding, he should be good with your milk alone until he is ready to pick up food and feed himself.

I have never pureed food for my daughter. I just pick off bits from my plate and put it in her mouth if she wants them.

Mel - posted on 07/04/2009

i never pureed it but i cant remember what age i started giving it to her. at the reccomendation of our daughters dietitian we cut the sausages down the middle, gave her chicken drumsticks and pieces of steak cut into strips. i think it from around 6-7 months latest

Lynlee - posted on 07/02/2009

I wouldnt worry about adding meat to his diet until he's at least 9 months old but to get meat into small pieces just cook it really slowly in a pot or oven with water and it will be really tender. Then you can cut it into tinier pieces. Baby's get quite a bit of iron from milk so it's not even an issue if they don't start solids til they're about 9 months.

Laura - posted on 07/02/2009

Both my kids were introduced to meat when they were 6 months old. I just cut it into really tiny pieces, and they did just fine. My daughter loved the chicken noodle baby food. When my son turned 6 months he wouldn't eat baby food anymore, and he wouldn't take formula either so we started giving him table food instead. He had the chew thing down really well so I was worried too much. My daughter was scared of choking so I introduced table food slowly to her. Her thing was if she couldn't fit it in her hand than she wouldn't touch it, or if she couldn't see me or my husband make it or get she wouldn't touch it then either.

Kirsten - posted on 07/02/2009

I wouldn't worry so much about giving him lumpy stuff. I didn't start solid until 5.5 month and by 6 months my son was chewing Cheerios without any teeth even. If you're worried about giving him lumpy stuff then try toast or Cheerios or something that will dissolve and see how he does with mashing it up and swallowing. My son is very good still, if it's not small enough he won't even try to swallow, he'll just hold it in his mouth.

BJ - posted on 07/02/2009

I didnt introduce meat until my daughter was a year old.My dr.said she would get iron and all other nutrients from milk.Whether it be breastmilk or formula.But I did try chicken noodle baby food and it worked real well at first.If you cant get any of those to work you can also try something with beans.My daughter loved brown bean soup.But just not to much or it will give them diarreha..But dont worry if you cant get him to eat just yet!

Heather - posted on 07/02/2009

mix it with a favorite fruit or veggie to make it smoother. im not introducing meat anytime soon, but I am following a program called baby led weaning thatintroduces solids at around 6 months. check it out. i asked my ped and she says aslong as he is getting the right vitamins its alright. keep in mind that more than half his nutrition still comes from formula. http://babyledweaning.blogware.com/blog

Tiffany - posted on 07/02/2009

try spreading the pureed meat on a piece of toast and break it up in very small pieces, the toast will disolve. or try mixing the meat with fruit or veges. and if you can't get the meat smooth enough, buy baby food. and don't let other mom's tell you its too early! My daughter started cereal at 2months, fruits and vege's at 4 months, and meat shortly there after, by 6 months she was having gerber puffs and juice. she is not 10 months old and has been on whole milk since 9 months. she is healthy,growing and thrivnig!

Candice - posted on 07/02/2009

as far as i recall, 6 months is a bit early for meat. why are you worried about iron? he should be getting all he needs from formula or breastmilk. this stage of food is not for nutrition really, but for learning to try new foods and learning to chew.



that aside, my daughter HATED pureed meat, but once we introduced real meat (table food) she loves meat more than anything else. i wouldn't fret about meat until you get to the stage where you put them on real milk. that's when iron becomes an issue. and you may find that table food meat is more appealing. would you want to eat pureed meat? probably not. :)

Candice - posted on 07/02/2009

as far as i recall, 6 months is a bit early for meat. why are you worried about iron? he should be getting all he needs from formula or breastmilk. this stage of food is not for nutrition really, but for learning to try new foods and learning to chew.



that aside, my daughter HATED pureed meat, but once we introduced real meat (table food) she loves meat more than anything else. i wouldn't fret about meat until you get to the stage where you put them on real milk. that's when iron becomes an issue. and you may find that table food meat is more appealing. would you want to eat pureed meat? probably not. :)