How do I introduce meat?

Michelle - posted on 10/01/2009

My daughter didn't really like the meat from the jar (and the smell was enough to make ME feel sick), so I quickly starting making meat purée myself. She LOVES chicken, especially when it's from a whole chicken I roasted, stuffed with onions, lemons and herbs...the infusion of flavor is great and she gobbles it down. Just make sure that you add enough water when processing the meat so that it is not too "grainy" or thick and it will be really easy to mix up with different vegetables. I see some websites were mentioned...you may want to take a look at www.weelicious.com. Good luck!

Amanda - posted on 10/01/2009

I just started with the chicken and apples mixed and the chicken noodle dinner in the jar. He loved them both

Valerie - posted on 10/01/2009

I started my son out with half a jar of the pureed meat at night. He really didn't like it at all so I started mixing it with a veggie or fruit and he ate that. Once I got through introducing all of them, I started giving him the Gerber dinners instead and he loves them.

I haven't introduced chopped up meat yet because he's still working on bringing the Gerber Puffs to his mouth by himself. It took him a while to get used to the new texture of those. Once he figures out he can put food into his mouth himself, I'll start trying to give him chopped up foods. Good luck

Katherine - posted on 10/01/2009

Hi
I cook all the food in batches and then freeze them in ice cube trays then each day I pull out what she needs then there is no waste. I freeze chicken, fish and mince. She loves it. She prefers it to jar food. I just started on 1 cube of meat and mixed it with some vegetables. I have given my daughter veg and meat since she was 6 months old.

Kristen - posted on 09/30/2009

Some thing funny ... My baby was suppose to start on meats already - I make his foods myself (I puree fresh veggies & fruits). I ended up making way too much of soem of the veggies and I didn't want to waste, so I kept feeding him carrots, spinach and now we are behind with the different foods (why he hasn't started meat!) He went to the Dr for a cold- and I asked if it was effecting his immune system on being on meats (protein). The doc said "no - people who don't eat meat are healthier". hmmm...... So is it worth giving your baby meat? Maybe I should just wait until he can decide on his own? This will be a conversation with his doctor when he goes for his 9 month check up this Monday! By the way, he is over his cold now and healthy happy baby!

Mandy - posted on 09/28/2009

i never did pureed meat. i did soft small chunks. first chicken, then fish, now pork and lamb. he loves it. he has not choked on anything.

my son has never had anything pureed thought. he is 8mo, started solids at 5 1/2 mo

Sarah - posted on 09/28/2009

i've never given my son pureed meat on its own .. it sounds ikky and who would want to eat that? however he was only on jarred food for about a month or so (3.5months-5months ish) and since then i've been making my own food .. and my mum helps too cuz i'm not exactly the best cook. the first thing he tried with meat was pureed cottage pie .. he enjoyed that!!

he has 2 teeth now .. but before his tooth came from i'd give him pureed things such as roast dinner,cottage pie ..

i mash his food now or pulse it in the food processor .. however i only seem to make chicken, fish and minced beef since im a bit scared of cooking other meat in case i do it wrong.

Ashley - posted on 09/27/2009

I'm with Allison on this one- My daughter won't eat the pureed stuff but loves the real stuff. I just give her little bits of turkey and chicken- we recently found out that she loves steak- she doesn't choke or anything. I stop giving when she looses interest, when she starts flinging the food instead of putting it in her little mouth.- she doesn't have teeth yet and she does just fine. Good luck!

Allison - posted on 09/27/2009

My son is almost nine months old, he has no teeth yet either. I give him little peices of turkey and chicken when we are eating. I think you know when your baby has had enough. I don't think there is any right or wrong amount to give. For the first time you may want to try just a small amount to make sure he doesn't get a belly ache or gasy. My son hated the pureed meats even if i mixed it with veggies. So I usually just give him small peices of reg. meat and he hasnt choked on it. There are gums are pretty rugged lol!!! Goodluck!

Eva - posted on 09/27/2009

I started with some pureed meats in the jars around 7 1/2 months. But she quickly moved to eating chopped versions of whatever we were eating. DD really wants nothing to do with any food that has to be fed to her. If she can't shovel it herself she isn't happy. Anyway, I started w/Chicken, then turkey, then beef.
From what I have read, and you can take it as you wish because there is research on any side of anything, that they are saying now you should start with meats now when starting solids. Good luck.

Sherry - posted on 09/26/2009

I haven't tried regular meat yet (I'm too nervous), but my daughter loves loves loves the jarred stuff. That being said she will only eat the combos, like beef with vegs and pasta. She wont touch the plain strained stuff. It smells like cat food! One jar lasts her for 3 dinners, she just has vegs and fruit for lunch.

Laurie - posted on 09/26/2009

Hi there! When I started my daughter on meat, I used the jars of pureed meat. I make most of her other food, but I wimped out on making meat. There is a great website though for making homemade baby food which has a section on meat. The website is wholesomebabyfood.com. I reference it all the time for fruit and vegetables.



Anyway, when I first started to introduce meat, I only took out 1 teaspoon to heat up. She didn't even eat all of that. When babies are being introduced to new tastes and textures, it doesn't matter how much they eat. It just matters that they are getting a feel for the texture and taste. So, she rarely finished a jar within the two days. And she really did not seem to like meat, either. Oh, the faces she made! But I continued to offer it and she continued to eat some. Now, she seems to enjoy it!



One suggestion would be to start with one jar of pureed meat and then if you want to make it for him, you have an idea of the consistency to make your homemade batch. He doesn't need teeth to enjoy pureed meat.



Good luck!