Wondering what foods to start my daughter off with.

Jacy - posted on 04/22/2009

at 10 months my daughter ate anything did. diced up meat, cooked veggies from the can, fruit cups or diced fruit, eggs, cut up cheese sticks, ghram crackers, chicken nuggets, pastas, speghetti. offer her whatever you eat. avoid honey and peanut butter until sfter a year. also give her a variety of drinks. my daghter drinks water, milk (shes 2), low salt v8, and juice and on special occaison she gets a little chocolate syrup in her milk.

Joy - posted on 04/22/2009

No problem Becky! I know starting on fruits was "backwards" but at 18 months there isn't a vegetable my son doesn't like. In fact, he's way more picky with the fruits.

Becky - posted on 04/22/2009

Thanks Joy. I think what I need to do is start on the fruits and forget the veggies for a while. I was always told that you shouldn't start with fruit because they would not like the taste of the veggies, I always wondered if that was true. It's great to talk to someone who has the same mindset as I do on this subject.

Becky - posted on 04/22/2009

Quoting Joy:

Becky, I don't know why, but I introduced fruits before vegetables. It started out me wanting to give him a little flavor to his cereal so applesauce was the first real food I introduced. After about a week of that to make sure he wasn't allergic or having bowel issues I basically just went through all the fruits except for citrus and pineapple. Applesauce, peaches, mango, banana, kiwi (he LOVED the kiwi), watermelon (not too much, it gives them the runs if you give too much), I even did grapes cut into tiny little pieces. Some people say to remove the skin from the grapes but I never did and he was fine. It's one of those "every baby is different" issues. After we tackled the fruits and made sure he didn't have a reaction to any of them, we started on the veggies. First was sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, regular mashed potatoes, squash, zucchini, broccoli, collard greens (just a LITTLE at a time but we're southern so it's the LAW here....lol), asparagus, carrotts, basically everything except for corn. We tried corn once and it came out the same way it went in so we waited awhile to re-try that one lol. My rule of thumb is to prepare everything with no seasonings in the begining. For fruits, most of them that are hard (like apples and peaches or pears), cut into chunks (skin on) and bake with a little water at 350 for about half an hour. Let cool and remove skin before mashing or putting in food processor. For veggies, we steamed everything until it was fork tender and could be easily mashed up or run through the food processor. Something else about making baby food. Always save the water you use to bake/steam things in. This is where a lot of the nutrients go and you will need liquid to thin them out so I always used the water it cooked in.
Basically, if we came accross something that caused diahrreah (sp?) or constipation, we would wait a couple of weeks to reintroduce it. And we never gave more than one new food at a time. Like, if you already have introduced green beans and now you want to introduce peas. Stop the green beans while you are "testing" out the peas. That way if there is a reaction, you will be able to tell exactly what is causing it. I could go on and on about the baby food lol! I actually really enjoyed making it, knowing that he was getting the best quality and no additives or preservatives. There's also this sense of accomplishment about it. A SAHM sometimes has small but WORTHY victories :)

Dianne - posted on 04/22/2009

I started my baby at 4 months on purity butternut. She still loves it. Otherwise try carrot.

Mel - posted on 04/21/2009

Thanks Donna im glad :) my daughter has a dietician because shes little so ive gotten everything from the professionals so dont worry about that. with cheese especially just make sure its not small enough to choke on and with crackers because they are not easily dissolved obviously, they also reccommended me starting my daughter on peanut butter from 3 months (I know your daughter is older then that now) and even eggs before the 12 months. she also suggested mash mixed with vegies and butter/cheese/cream and fish fingers. my daughter loves tomato sauce and mayo even on everything! her dietician is great one of the best ones she has had in the past 12 months. do you make your own baby food or buy the canned stuff? when you puree them if you do you can add the cream or unsalted butter and cheese or mix different vegies like brocolli with corn and sweet potato something like that. we pureed apples and pears for her to with apple cinamin

Donna - posted on 04/21/2009

Quoting Melissa:

at 10 months most babies eat everything except honey. try toast with spreads such as peanut butter/vegemite or jam. crackers with cheese spread, slices of cheese, pasta (made soft), fruit, vegies, sausages, pieces of meat and gravy big enough so they dont choke of course, but pretty much anything and everything as long as it is not too spicy they do recommend hot foods but not too hot

Thanks Melissa, you have put my mind at ease. I just want to make sure I am feeding her healthy foods. I guess I also worry about allerigies, if I am cutting it small enough, or to small. But thank you so much for commenting back. it really did help.

Donna

Donna - posted on 04/21/2009

Quoting Melissa:

at 10 months most babies eat everything except honey. try toast with spreads such as peanut butter/vegemite or jam. crackers with cheese spread, slices of cheese, pasta (made soft), fruit, vegies, sausages, pieces of meat and gravy big enough so they dont choke of course, but pretty much anything and everything as long as it is not too spicy they do recommend hot foods but not too hot

Thanks Melissa, you have put my mind at ease. I just want to make sure I am feeding her healthy foods. I guess I also worry about allerigies, if I am cutting it small enough, or to small. But thank you so much for commenting back. it really did help.

Donna

Jeanne - posted on 04/21/2009

If you have already gone through the cereals then it is time to introduce veggies first. If you do fruit first, since it is sweet they might refuse the veggies. Start with the regular stuff like peas, carrots but make sure to introduce them seperately to make sure she does not have any allergies. If you have introduced all the baby foods already than you can start with things like mashed bananas, mashed potatoes (or sweet potatoes) and something that my son loved were Gerber Puffs, they have different flavors and they melt in the mouth so the child will not choke. If your child refuses a food at first try again in a few days....if that still doesn't work, then hide it in something she likes. Good luck.



P.S. Farina and Pastina is very small pasta that is often used in soups or for children.

Mel - posted on 04/21/2009

at 10 months most babies eat everything except honey. try toast with spreads such as peanut butter/vegemite or jam. crackers with cheese spread, slices of cheese, pasta (made soft), fruit, vegies, sausages, pieces of meat and gravy big enough so they dont choke of course, but pretty much anything and everything as long as it is not too spicy they do recommend hot foods but not too hot

Joy - posted on 04/21/2009

Becky, I don't know why, but I introduced fruits before vegetables. It started out me wanting to give him a little flavor to his cereal so applesauce was the first real food I introduced. After about a week of that to make sure he wasn't allergic or having bowel issues I basically just went through all the fruits except for citrus and pineapple. Applesauce, peaches, mango, banana, kiwi (he LOVED the kiwi), watermelon (not too much, it gives them the runs if you give too much), I even did grapes cut into tiny little pieces. Some people say to remove the skin from the grapes but I never did and he was fine. It's one of those "every baby is different" issues. After we tackled the fruits and made sure he didn't have a reaction to any of them, we started on the veggies. First was sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, regular mashed potatoes, squash, zucchini, broccoli, collard greens (just a LITTLE at a time but we're southern so it's the LAW here....lol), asparagus, carrotts, basically everything except for corn. We tried corn once and it came out the same way it went in so we waited awhile to re-try that one lol. My rule of thumb is to prepare everything with no seasonings in the begining. For fruits, most of them that are hard (like apples and peaches or pears), cut into chunks (skin on) and bake with a little water at 350 for about half an hour. Let cool and remove skin before mashing or putting in food processor. For veggies, we steamed everything until it was fork tender and could be easily mashed up or run through the food processor. Something else about making baby food. Always save the water you use to bake/steam things in. This is where a lot of the nutrients go and you will need liquid to thin them out so I always used the water it cooked in.

Basically, if we came accross something that caused diahrreah (sp?) or constipation, we would wait a couple of weeks to reintroduce it. And we never gave more than one new food at a time. Like, if you already have introduced green beans and now you want to introduce peas. Stop the green beans while you are "testing" out the peas. That way if there is a reaction, you will be able to tell exactly what is causing it. I could go on and on about the baby food lol! I actually really enjoyed making it, knowing that he was getting the best quality and no additives or preservatives. There's also this sense of accomplishment about it. A SAHM sometimes has small but WORTHY victories :)

Emily - posted on 04/21/2009

Avocados are a great first food. They are soft, can be held by the baby though, and are full of good fats for brain development.

Becky - posted on 04/21/2009

Quoting Joy:

No problem! If you're interested in making your own food, it's really simple. There are a bunch of websites out there where you can get easy recipes...just type in "home made baby food" to your browser. That's what I did and I made most of his baby food except for times when it was more convenient to buy the jar stuff. One thing I still make for the whole family is the applesauce....better than anything you could get at the store!

I'm glad to hear that someone else actually makes their own baby food!  People think I'm weird for doing that when I could just buy it.  However, my 7 month old has been constipated ever since I started her on food.  I started her on peas, and then read that it is better to start with sweet potatoes or squash.  I took her off everything, just continued to nurse her, and she was back to normal, when I tried again with squash she was again constipated.  Any ideas?

Joy - posted on 04/21/2009

No problem! If you're interested in making your own food, it's really simple. There are a bunch of websites out there where you can get easy recipes...just type in "home made baby food" to your browser. That's what I did and I made most of his baby food except for times when it was more convenient to buy the jar stuff. One thing I still make for the whole family is the applesauce....better than anything you could get at the store!

Donna - posted on 04/21/2009

Hi Joy, thanks so much For your comment, it was a great help. I tried bananas this morning, but I know what you mean when you say try in a couple of days.she wasn't as excited as i thought she would be.hee hee. She loves to eat though, and I want to make sure she eats healthy. Thanks for all your ideas.

Donna

Joy - posted on 04/21/2009

I don't know what Farina and Pastina are...but some good first foods are : applesauce, cooked green beans (overcooked almost) cut into small pieces, mashed potatoes, scrambled egg yolks (the whites are what people are allergic to), peas mashed with a fork, cooked broccoli florets (in moderation as it can cause gas!), diced peaches, yams, any meat you eat just cut very small or even pureed, oh! and bananas! How could I forget the bananas! Those are the foods I can think of right off the top of my head. I worried about the same thing with my son because he got teeth late also. But he did fine "gumming" his food and what he couldn't "chew" I would puree or mash up and feed it to him with a spoon. Just remember to lay off the spicy seasonings until she gets used to the actual taste and texture of the food. If she doesn't like something, give it a few days and try it again. My son is wierd like that...one day he won't eat potatoes and then a few days later he LOVES them and can't get enough LOL! Strange little creatures aren't they? Hope this helps :)