Advice on Meal-Time

Bekki - posted on 12/19/2010

alfie has been eating solids since he was about 7 months old i took him from puree straight too solids because i found giving him lumpy food just confused and upset him as he did not know wether to chew or swollow he has a very healthy diet and will eat anything you give him hope this was helpful xx

Lise - posted on 12/17/2010

We started with table food - skipped baby food, purees, cereal, etc. She even ate solids without teeth. ;) I would just give them solids they can hold and go from there!

Brenda - posted on 12/14/2010

I started my 14 month old son on table food at approx 10 months (he had cereal in his formula at 3 months). Now he's eating everything we eat for dinner, from steak, potatoes, pork chops, peas, pizza, french toast, pancakes, waffles, grilled cheese, mac n cheese, pasta and sauce, chicken, meatballs, and sausage, just to name a few LOL. He's been off formula and baby food since 11 months. He just stopped using bottles. Only sippy cups. He's starting to eat with a fork/spoon with help of course. To be honest all i did was start putting table food that we were eating in front of him and he just started picking it up and eating it. He is a VERY EASY baby. I am truly blessed. Just some advise, dont wait to long to get them on table food and all kinds of varieties, because you will have trouble later on with them being picky and not eating allot. My niece was 3 and wouldn't eat anything but, chix nuggets, mac n cheese, pasta and pizza. She came over I had ribs and she gagged/choked on it because she couldn't deal with the consistency of it. She is really fussy and everyone caters to her and what she wants. Unless you want to be making 3 different meals at dinner, try and introduce them soon.
Good luck
Brenda

Sally - posted on 12/10/2010

My 13 month old eats the same thing as the rest of the family. She has never eaten baby food. I wouldn't eat that stuff so why would I expect my kids to?

Jennifer - posted on 12/10/2010

Ok...with the help of my mother in law when my son's teeth started coming in we started making his food chunkier. The more teeth came in the chunkier the food...We would boil chicken breast, red bean or lentil and white rice with little to no salt...we would blend it and serve it as a thick stew until eventually we stopped blending entirely. My son is 14 months old and eats, rice, beans, chicken, steak, boiled veggies, bread, cheerios in milk, warm cereals, fruit, yogurts, baby cookies, gerber veggie and cheese puffs etc and he really loves raisin bread...And he eats large quantities..I hope this helps... Mind you he has been eating solids since he was like 10 months old...his weight is very healthy and his Pediatrician says he is extremely healthy...

Tricia - posted on 12/09/2010

Thanks to everyone for all your help!!!

Gretchen - posted on 12/08/2010

my son eats what we eat when we sit at the table. He really likes fruit so I try to include that whenever I can. I cut things into bit sized pieces or try to put little piles of things like mashed potatoes so he can understand what sizes are needed for eating but he is good at tearing bread/toast apart so, I just rip it in half. I make a lot of pancakes and freeze them so I can just grab some out and heat them up for breakfast....cut with a pizza cutter, gives you a cleaner cut and faster!

Miranda - posted on 12/07/2010

I have twin boys who are 13 months and they both have all their teeth already. They can eat anything really, hard or soft, they love taking bites of my apples when i eat them, thier favorites are:

Breakfast: cherrios or kiks, blueberry nutrigrain waffle, and hot cereal or eggs, and a yogurt

lunch: penut butter sandwich or turkey hotdogs(cut up). vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans, or a veggie mededly.) some cheese and crakers, then apple sauce or a banana.

Dinner: Whatever we are eating, they love Spegetti with ground turkey add to the sauce, mac n cheese, rice, black beans, more veggies and fruit. sweet potatoes, really anything. they do get picky sometimes though. one day they will love something, and the next they will hate it! haha

They also have 1 or 2 snacks a day, usually some fruit or a fruit bar or crackers.

Natisha - posted on 12/07/2010

my 13 month old used to eat everything i put in front of him and once he had his 12mth injections he had a reaction and vomitted and since then is refusing to eat any vegies he only likes his fruit and yogurts he will eat sandwiches as well but no vegies - very frustrating but have to keep persevering.

Coreen - posted on 12/07/2010

how old are your little ones? i had quiet a problem with my son who is now 13 months i started him on my food at about 9 months i pureed what i was having then gradually pureed it less so it gradually introduced lumpy bits he did go through the stage of gagging and spitting it out but it took a couple of weeks for him to get used to the texture and now he is fine. hope this helps x

Rachel - posted on 12/06/2010

I have a 13 month old boy who started getting mad at me when I would try to feed him baby food when we were all eating grown up foods. He still gets in the mood for baby food and will make it known that is what he wants but will now eat the step3 foods with the little chunks. He has learned to use his tongue to smash the food. My twins on the other hand (they are now 3.5yrs) they were a little older before they started on the step3 foods then to regular but cut up foods. Some foods you still would have to squash with a fork. but just watch your little ones ques. When your girls are ready they will let you know.

Nicki - posted on 12/06/2010

My daughter is 13 months but has been eating solids since she was about 9 1/2. I just gave her mac and cheese and broccoli really steamed to start. Once she eat it the first time i just went stone cold on baby food and she did not miss it. She would get bananas and strawberries cut in small pieces and veggies. She eats anything we eat now, chicken, pasta, any veggies or fruits, tuna, pbj, ham/turkey sandwiches, cheese. I just would stop giving them baby food once they eat solids once. I did the same with the bottle, once she drank out of a sippy cup i just took every bottle away and that was at 10 months. Good luck.

Anika - posted on 12/06/2010

Making your own vegies/fruit is a good idea because you can gradually make the consistency lumpier ie pureed, then mashed, then bigger chunks etc. You can then offer foods that you yourself can squash into the roof of your mouth with your tongue (ie banana, avocado, really well cooked vegies). Don't worry if they don't have many teeth, their gums are hard and will do just fine. You said they're eating toast. If they can deal with that, they should be able to deal with other things. Just keep offering a variety and they'll come round.

My daughter now eats pretty much what we eat

Tracy - posted on 12/02/2010

Interesting! At 9.5 months I tried to give my girls that chunky baby food you mentioned and one of them refused unless it was purred too! The strange thing is both girls would eat solids (if cooked thoroughly and SUPER soft). Weird?

My twin girls are now 13 months and they basically feed themselves (with their hands of course, not very good with cutlery yet!) and eat everything we do (cut up really small, veggies are still totally overcooked and meat is usually done in the slower cooker so is tender) minus any hot spices.

The transition from baby food to solids started around 8 months with the introduction of mum mum rice cookies (rusks). By 8 1/2 months they had also tried cheerios, and baby puffs. Around 9 months they were eating finger foods like totally over cooked steamed or baked vegetables (i.e. sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, zucchini), cheese, pasta (I used pureed veggies like sweet potato or carrots with melted cheese for sauce), toast, bread soaked in pureed stew, quartered blueberries, watermelon, honeydew, banana, cantaloupe, tiny pieces of french toast, baby pizza (bread or crackers topped with tomato sauce and melted cheese- the sauce makes the cracker/bread soggy and easy to eat).

My current routine is as follows:

Breakfast: start with fruit on their tray (banana, berries, pears, melon or cut up grapes), then give cheerios and/or wheat puffs, the last thing is either toast, waffles, french toast, yoghurt or eggs. I still do give hot cereal once or twice a week just for its iron content. Their absolute favourite breakfast meal is bananas dipped in pancake batter and cooked in butter. YUM!

Lunch routine:
Start with veggies (totally over cooked and soft) in their bowl (broccoli, cauliflower, peas, carrots, squash, beans, zucchini etc.). Then I give them something like pasta (ravioli, mac and cheese but I add REAL cheese or bits of ham), grill cheese, quiche, bits of ham or wieners, cheese & crackers.

A typical lunch (since you asked how much) is 2-3 tablespoons of veggies, about 110 grams of ravioli and melted cheese (that is 1/2 of those microwavable chef boyardee container- not the full can, the individual size container), plus 1/2 container of apple sauce. Sometimes give a few crackers if one of the twins signs cracker.

Dinner/Supper routine: We start with veggies (totally over cooked and soft) in their bowl (broccoli, cauliflower, peas, carrots, squash, beans, etc.). Then they often get meat (beef, chicken, fish or ham finely cut) and potatoes with gravy. If I think they haven't had enough fruit that day I will often give them apple-fruit combo sauce for dessert. If I think they haven't eaten enough protein that day they often get dessert tofu (mango is their favourite).

I must say at 13 months meal time is getting much easier now that they fed themselves and can sign when they want more or are all done. They are also beginning to ask for specific foods (ie. cracker) which is REALLY helpful.

Sharon - posted on 12/02/2010

My little man has been gradually moving up to finger foods over the past few months, and now pretty much has what we are eating, just in smaller, bite size pieces.

This is what he had in solids today:
Breakast: Porridge
Morning Tea: Some finger sized pieces of Mango, Rockmelon & Nectarine.
Lunch: Tuna Bake
Afternoon Tea: Yoghurt
Dinner: Chicken Breast, cauliflower, pumpkin, potato, beans & carrot.

Trish - posted on 12/01/2010

My lil man LOVES noodles and spaghetti bolognaise. Anything pasta...really soft. Sometimes for a treat I'll stew him some banana & strawberry (his fav. baby food when he was like 8 months.) He's pretty much eating what we eat...as long as it's soft. Plus my lil guy only has 4 teeth still! So it's pretty much half baby food and half big people food...Depending what he feels like eating, because he can get fussy I have to make him 2 meals.

Ally - posted on 12/01/2010

I used things that go purée in the mouth - soft pieces of potato, sweet potato, broccoli - all cooked really well so they mush in the mouth - that way they get the feeling of solids but it goes mushy for them to swallow.if they are eating toast and baby biscuits they must be ok - try spaghetti - chopped really small or try mashing potato etc so they get the feeling of lumps. My wee man went straight from purée to finger food as he hated lumps - if they are enjoying toast etc they may not want lumps?!

Chrissy - posted on 12/01/2010

I transitioned my 13 month old from baby food to solids a couple weeks before his first birthday. It was a very easy transition. Even though he only has 4 teeth, I found that he can eat most things that the rest of the family can as long as it's broken up in little pieces. I transitioned him by taking away his baby food for 1 meal a day (for a few days) then I took away the second baby food meal (for a few days) and within 2 weeks he was off of baby food completely. It all happened so fast and he was perfectly fine with it! He feels like such a big boy now and is even attempting to feed himself with his spoon and fork (he actually makes it in his mouth sometimes!).



Here is an example of what my son had to eat today:



Breakfast: Oatmeal and applesauce



Lunch: 1/2 Jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread and a strawberry-banana yogurt



Dinner: Spaghetti (angel hair pasta) with marinara sauce and mixed vegetables (carrots, peas, and potatoes)



Hope this helps! Don't be afraid to transition your babies, most 1 year olds are more than ready for it by the time you decide it's time. Have fun!