what solids do you give your child

Leah - posted on 05/02/2010

my boys are 13.5 months and each have 8 teeth... working on molars! We are starting on PB & J - I make 1/2 a sandwich and cut it into 8 small pieces. I have also done the same thing with grilled cheese. They love the Gerber puffs and hot dogs cut small. We have started on fruits - cut up grapes and bananas. We have also tried fish sticks (take off the batter) and chicken nuggets.

NINA - posted on 04/30/2010

my son loves bananas, grapes, gerber puffs, baby goldfish, hot dogs chunks cut into circles then into 4th's at first, tyson's chicken nugget into small bites, just nuke the nugget for like 20 secs.

Crispina - posted on 04/30/2010

I come from a Chinese background and my mom fed me rice porridge as a baby - and I've found that to be really easy to do. A tablespoon of rice, maybe 2 cups of water, and i toss in a different variety of fresh or frozen veggies: carrots, broccoli, peas, spinach, bell peppers. For protein I mince up any meat I happen to be having for my dinner, or mooshed tofu. After it comes to a boil put it on a low flame for 30 minutes and it's done. Sometimes I add some cheese, sometimes the meat I add has its own seasoning (curry, chinese, mexican...) and that varies the flavor. I'm still working on alternatives to this - I like the muffin idea - but it's been the easiest thing to throw together.

Elizabeth - posted on 04/26/2010

When I'm short on time I chop up some fresh fruit or pop a potato or sweet potato in the microwave and chop that into cubes. Also, you can open up canned veggies and give those. Fast and easy. Lisa started table food at about 8 months, with only two teeth, and has never had a problem. All babes cough and gag a bit when learning to eat solids and chunkier foods, just part of the learning process.

Sarah-Anne - posted on 04/26/2010

my daughter has seven teeth and working on her first molar. she started refusing baby foods at about 8 months, right when she started walking on her own. she eats everything now.

i would try yobaby yogurt. it comes in a fruit & cereal (DHA) variety and a fruit & veg complete meal variety. If he's been eating 3rd foods ok and likes to feed himself, try gerber pasta pick-ups.

i usually try to make my daughters meals instead of processed stuff, but sometimes if we go out or have a babysitter, the gerber toddler meals make life easier.

Michelle - posted on 04/26/2010

Why don't you make a big batch of veggies on a sunday and freeze them?
I tried giving T bananas and avo as well as pasta dishes

Beck - posted on 04/22/2010

This is a post I wrote for a lady with a bub the same age who was getting a little fussy, she wanted to also know what our kids were eating. Hope it helps.



My son eats ANYTHING!! What wont he eat... but to give you an idea.

Corey, now 13.5mths, wakes then he has a bfeed

7.30 breakfast (cereal usually porriage)

9.30 fruit for morning tea (a pear or some grapes etc)

11.20 lunch - meat, vegies, carb (rice / pasta / potato) He has 200grams or 7oz, he has the meat diced up small and the vegies mashed or cut up very fine. I leave rice and quinoa whole but cut up pasta fine. He then has 1/2 cup or desert (yoghurt)

2.30 milk (bfeed) and arvo tea (cheese on toast or avacado on crackers or piklets or home made fruit muffins or ricotta on rice thins or custard and stewed fruit etc)

5.20 tea (vegies and carb) again 200grams



Corey likes his vegies still mashed but can also have them chopped. I still mash it or blend them especially for dinner when he is getting tired.

Corey may have finger food at tea time sometimes which maybe salmon rice loaf or zucchini slice (like quiche without pastry). I find this better when he is going through a 'fussy' stage and as these contain vegies and eggs (and salmon / rice in the salmon rice loaf) they are a good choice to get good food into them.

They do go through phases like this but I find to encourage good eating habits its important to;

* Keep to a routine, dont let them snack all day to find they then wont eat their tea. Offer food at set times only.

* Don't be a short order cook, cook a meal and serve it, try and include one or two items they like and encourage them to try the others

* Dont offer to big of serves espcially if you know its unlikely they will eat it, you dont want it to be daunting for them

* Be a good role model, sit and eat together and show your enjoyment and enthusiams for foods

* Try food in different forms - not into fruit at the moment, try it stewed or homemade dried, not eating vegies - try serving them as finger food, steamed or lightly fried or roasted (sweet potato chips!)

* Watch their milk intake isn't too high

* Be patient and understand that a child has never starved themself!

* Somedays their appatite will be higher than others

* Use games, songs and other tricks to 'sneak' mouthfuls in

* Give bub a spoon or even a fork to use and you have one too to 'help'

* Try fruit smoothies

* Keep offering a range of textues, tastes and flavours but dont force anything and make meal times a fight

* I am finding 'quinoa' great, its a really healthy grain (better than brown rice) but nice and small and easy for the bubs so its a good choice



I hope some of these things help. A fussy eater can sometimes be very frustrating but if you work on some of these 'tricks' you may find it is short lived only. I find teething puts them off their food a little.



Also, I find that 'how many teeth' a bub has doesn't effect their eating, my son now has 6 teeth but even when he didn't he ate everything, you should have seen him munch on a piece of steak, with no teeth!! I have never let how many teeth (as Corey teethed late) effect what I gave him.

I also do a big weekly / fortnightly cook up after going to the farmers market and stocking up on vegies. I do some different combinations then add some rice to some, quinoa to another or cous cous or pasta to others. I then freeze them in bags to defrost each day and at lunch add meat too.

Bec - posted on 04/21/2010

My daughter is also just over a year old. And she only just (in the last 2 weeks) got her 2nd and 3rd teeth.

Easy things she loves to eat are:

Grapes,cut in half

Blueberries (she thinks its funny when they burst in her mouth)

Banana cut into sticks

Steamed carrod sticks..



In regards to not always having time to make his veg..

I do a big cook up every 2 or 3 weeks and do all her vegies and freeze them in takeaway containers, then they just have to be reheated! EASY!!



I also make my bub:

Mini muffins (blueberry,banana or apple &cinnamon)

Mini meatballs (with lots of grated vegies in them!)

Little pikelets which i give her with jam or ricotta

Mini quiche (again,with lots of grated vegies!)



I make all of these and freeze and just grab one of each out every morning :)



I also buy her Tortellini from the fridge section at the supermarket (there are special ones for kids 12 months,i get the chicken or vegie ones) I dont put pasta sauce or anything on them i just let her pick them up and feed herself..



i dont know if your in australia or where..

but there is a great brand of dried fruit, which when put in bubs mouth goes very soft almost like a sponge, she loves these as well :)



Hope iv helped!

Goodluck!