NEED HELP WITH FEEDING!!

Jennifer - posted on 09/03/2010

Emma is 13 months and I have been exploring things I could feed her since she turned one!

I buy a big bag of frozen fruits and frozen vegetables and divided them into little bowls (like you would find in babies r us and target) I put one fruit and one vegetable in the refrigerator every morning for lunch (veggies) and dinner (fruits). I find it easier to feed Emma veggies when she is in a great mood around lunch time and fruits at dinner when she is warn out and tired for the day.

Snacks: I keep snacks around that she can eat easily on her own (finger foods) l like mini fig newtons, baby goldfish (in the goldfish section just smaller in size), yogurt melts, puffs, cookies (in the baby section), crackers (sometimes messy),cheerios or other cereals.

Breakfast: I buy the instant Quaker oats cereal with different flavors (fruits), I start her of with a little handful of cereal while I am making breakfast for her and I then she eats the whole bowl of oatmeal. After that she is usual full but sometimes she'll eat toast broken up into little pieces when she is really hungry.

Lunch & Dinner: I have a loooong list of ideas so I hope this helps! (Please note I break everything up into small bite size pieces.) Grilled cheese, BBQ chicken, chicken nuggets (any kind of chicken really), Ham & Cheese and Turkey & Cheese - I get my meat at the deli and get it slice as thin as possible so it's easier to chew, Pizza, Spaghetti (any kind of pasta), at this point they can have fish as long as it's not shell fish so I bought frozen Italian Parmesan taliapia, it's already prepared and I just put it in the oven (really easy), quesadillas, macaroni and cheese, hamburger helper, stuffed shells, and I also buy the gerber graduates for toddlers - they have little cans like ravioli you just put in the microwave, pasta pick ups that come in bowls and microwave, and lil entrees that come with vegetables and microwave.

There is a tun of stuff out there, my favorite place to go is www.kraftrecipes.com because they are very family friendly and it shortens my grocery list because I usually have half of what they ask you to get already even if it's not kraft brand like cheese and spaghetti sauce and pasta.

I also started out with the softer foods first, then worked my way to meats in the grilled cheese, then chicken on it's own. She does really well with bite size pieces, it's when she tries to stuff them all in her mouth at once that we have issues ;)

Good Luck! I hope this helps!

Katherine - posted on 09/03/2010

Triana
I have a daughter that just turned a year too and i found myself in the same predicament that you are in now i started feeding her those gerber tv like toddler dinners but she soon came to not liking them either out of curiosity i tasted them and found they were not that great! lol! so i started feeding her flavored oat meal for breakfast or nutria grain bars like the doc told me to and for luch i would go to the deli and get her ham or turkey (finely cut) with cheese thin sliced for dinner it was spaghetti and other things that i though she could chew you knowing your child as well as you do will know if she can eat somethings better then others trust your instinct and im sure you will do fine ! my daughter is now 13 months and eats everything chicken, fish, and really anything i put in front of her but in your case like mine not all babies like baby food good luck and i hope this was helpful!

Nicole - posted on 09/03/2010

One suggestion I would have is to try the gerber graduate meals for toddlers. The other thing is she is old enough to definantly have more and more solid foods. You can try eggs and spaghetti noodles-both of which my 15 month old loves. I don't know what the teeth situation is but you'd be surprised what they can munch on at that age. Give her a chance to use her fingers and feed herself too. If she does still let you feed her, or if she's good drinking from a cup, you can try fruit smoothies too.