Whats your 6-12 mo old eating today?

[gelfnrach]

Inspired by the other thread (which is mostly toddlers--great ideas for the future!). I am wondering what your DC is eating today. I'd love to get some new ideas!

DS is 8.5 mos old and breastfeeds 5-7 times a day (depending on how many times he wakes at night). I use a combo of jarred organic foods and home made stuff as well as the gerber puffs/wagon wheels.

Today's menu--
Breakfast: pinapple/mango/papaya/peach puree mixed with oatmeal
cheerios
sippy cup with water and a little apple juice

Snack: a saltine cracker

Lunch: gerber banana puffs
chunks of bananna, kiwi (he LOVED this), watermelon, honeydew
a gerber fruit wagon wheel
sippy

Dinner: didnt have yet, but will have sweet potato chunks
pea puree, EB carrot puree with barley cereal
chunks of tofu (we will try for the first time tonite)

[seattleguamgirl]

Great thread! I make all of DS's baby food (except cereal). DS is 7 months old and here is his menu for today:

Breakfast: oatmeal cereal with one peach and one pear food cube (he tried pear for the first time today and LOVED it)
Dinner: 1/4 avocado and one or two sweet potato cubes

I BF DS about 5 - 8 times a day and he gets two meals.

[SuzieQ]

Good idea! :) I look forward to getting some new meal ideas!
DD is nearly 9 months now. We nurse before every meal, and 1-3 times at night.

Her menu today:
Breakfast: cheerios and banana chunks
Lunch: rice cereal, squash cube, bean cube, and kiwi chunks. We just tried kiwi today for the first time, too, and she really quite liked it! :)
Supper: oatmeal cereal, carrot cube, squash cube, and maybe a baby mum-mum cookie.

I try to do 1 fruit/vegetable at breakfast, 3 at lunch, and 2 with supper. She gets cheerios every morning (keeps her happy while I eat breakfast!), and baby cereal with the other meals.

We try a new fruit or vegetable every 4 days or so. I think I'll start with some yogurt, cottage cheese, and tofu around 9.5 months, and try some meats around 10 months. I won't likely start meat until she's eating mostly table foods.

I've made all of her food into cubes, or from fresh fruit so far. Except applesauce, and some canned peaches. ;) It's really pretty easy, and it looks so much tastier than the store bought things! I thought my bean cubes looked kind of gross until I saw the colour of the pureed beans in jars. Eww!
She might have some canned food soon since we're going on a trip, but it's nice to mostly have her eating 'real' food.

[gelfnrach]

suzie q I totally agree. The fresh purees and stuff I make are a million times more appetizing than the jars. Especially the meats. That just grosses me out completely. We did give DS chicken. I just made one for us, took the dark meat off and pureed some (added a little water) and chunked some and froze it all. He really likes it-esp the pieces of chicken rather than the puree. I will do turkey soon too. BTW, whats a mum mum cookie?

We didnt end up trying the tofu tonite but we did soy yogurt (DS cant have dairy till after 1 year) and he loved it.

[mia's mama]

DD is 9.5 months old

Yesterday-
Breakfast: 1/2 Organic banana waffle, handful of fresh blueberries (cut in 1/2), 1/2 banana
Snack: diced peach
Lunch: handful pinto beans (cut in 1/2)- didn't care for those much, a bit of tofu (nearly pureed) mixed with winter squash, 1/2 cup organic whole plain yogurt mixed with organic apple/berry sauce.
Dinner: spinach and potatoes, diced avocado, more apple/berry sauce

Today-
Breakfast: 1/2 piece whole grain toast, handful of frozen blueberries, 1/2 cup of peach & banana musliex mixed with 1/2 cup of apricot/apple sauce.

We give DD some organic babyfood, as well as foods that we are eating that day, diced or pureed. She also nurses about 4-5 times/day.

[onomatopoeia]

gelfnrach, my son is 10 months old yesterday and we tried the tofu last week and he hated it. We used extra firm tofu (b/c we had a recipe that required it) and we cut the tofu into bitesize cubes. Are you mixing the tofu with anything?

Does anyone have any good ideas on how to make the tofu appealing to a little one??

TIA!

[HGMorgann]

DD - 6.25 mo old and lover of foods thus far

Early morning - nursed
While I eat breakfast - handful of cherrios
Later morning - nursed
Lunch - oatmeal mixed with bananas and sweet potatos. We've just started foods and so far, this is all she has had, in addition to apple sauce and she loved the three mixed together:-)
Early afternoon - nursed

Usually we just do one "solid food" feeding a day in addition to the cherrios, should I add in a "dinner" soon? She LOVES to eat when we eat. I don't want to overdo the cherrios, either, and feel like I am starting to do so to keep her happy when we eat. My child so far hasn't met a food she hasn't loved and is quite a chunker. I don't want to establish bad habits early on, ya know? She still nurses the same amount since we started added in solids.

[SuzieQ]

Gelfnrach ~ I think that Baby Mum Mums are the same as Gerber puffs. I can't find Gerber puffs anywhere here in Canada! The Mum Mum cookies are long oval puffy cookies made of rice cereal. They dissolve pretty much instantly.

HGMorgan ~ I didn't start DD on two solid meals a day until about 7.5 months. If you think that your DD needs more solid food, and seems to be hungry more often than usual, then you can certainly start another solid meal. It's tricky to know how much to feed them, and we use cheerios as a calming method (or bribe?) as well. ;)

[SiValleySteph]

we tried the tofu last week and he hated it. We used extra firm tofu (b/c we had a recipe that required it) and we cut the tofu into bitesize cubes. Are you mixing the tofu with anything?
Does anyone have any good ideas on how to make the tofu appealing to a little one??

How did you prepare the tofu? My son really likes it sauteed in a little olive oil with soy sauce and garlic powder. We like it too. :)

My son is 11 months old.

Let's see, yesterday

B - banana, Organic Crunchin' Block
S - ?? can't remember if we did one
L - some chicken and a few noodles from my Pho
S - cheese, some crackers
D - 2-3 Swedish meatballs, some roasted potatoes (we were at Ikea)

Today
B - 7-8 grapes, about 1/2 cup plain yogurt (organic, whole milk)
S - none
L - cheese quesadilla, 1 bite beans/rice (mostly spit out) from Wahoo's fish taco
S - grapes
D - probably tofu/green beans sauteed

ETA - I forgot to mention that my son is a nursaholic. I don't monitor his nursing.

[jerickson100]

Gosh, my baby doesn't eat much at all in comparison to your babies! (although I guess she will in a few months) My DD is 6 months old, and we have just started her on solid foods. So far, she has tried oatmeal and bananas (she hated the bananas). Today, she had a small cup of oatmeal and she nursed about a bazillion times :D

[EmilyBronte]

What a good thread! I saw the other one, but never posted cause DS is so much younger than the babes over there. I make all of DS's food.

Today:

Breakfast: 1/4 cup dry oatmeal cooked with 1/2 cup water, mixed with 1/2 cup applesauce; formula
Lunch: 5 cubes veggies (2 sweet potato, 3 peas/green beans), 1 banana
Snack: 8oz bottle of formula
Dinner: 5 cubes veggies (3 butternut squash, 2 acorn squash), 1/2 cup fruit - blueberries mixed with applesauce.

My son is 8 months old exactly. :)

ETA - His normal routine is as follows:

B - some type of grain (usually oatmeal or brown rice) and 1/2 cup fruit
L - 4 cubes veggies and 1/2 cup fruit
S - bottle
D - 4 cubes veggies and 1/2 cup fruit

We give him a bottle if he wants it after eating each meal. He is starting to act hungrier - the above is what the Dr. told us to give him at his 6 month appointment. My son is now 17 pounds and 28 inches and VERY active. We have tried chicken and he likes it, so I'm thinking about trying that once a day in addition to the above to see if that's the addition he needs.

Has anyone ever tried following a menu on www.wholesomebabyfood.com?

[SiValleySteph]

FWIW - My son didn't really eat any solids until around 8 months. He still nurses a bazillion times. :D

So dinner did eat up being sauteed tofu and green beans and he ate waaaayyy more green beans than I was expecting. I was pleasantly surprised! Grapes for dessert.

[ajlanden]

Thank you for starting this thread, Rachel and thank you to Emily for pointing it out to me!!! :D I tend to obssess over food.

ETA-DD 8.5 months

Today:
B-1/2 jar of prunes, oatmeal, couple bites of peaches
S-Cheerios
L-1 jar of peas
S-Cheerios
D-Diced Turkey, Mulit Grain Cereal, (1/2 jar of either a fruit or veggie)

She typically has 18-24 ounces of formula per day.

Tofu-Interesting...She does seem to like "soggy" things. Cottage Cheese or any puree with chunks in it are a no-go. She likes either solid or completely purred. I don't think she would do Tofu. I want to try though! :D

How about creative snacks? DD love to feed herself and I know daycare loves to keep her occupied with a snack. I feel like she is tired of cheerios and puffs.

[ajlanden]

Another question. I bought some Multi Grain bread for toast. I noticed it has a little honey in it. Is honey baked into bread still a "no-no"?

[gelfnrach]

I am loving this thread!!!

Ashley good question. I think Dal had the same thing happen with Kailey the other day--she gave her toast and realized theres honey in the bread. I have no idea if thats ok...hmmm..

Si valley Steph I am going to try sauteeing the tofu tonite. I havent given it to him yet at all (we tried soy yogurt the other night instead) but DH and I love it so maybe he will too.

Emily good idea, I will check out the menu on wholesomebabyfood. I love that site!

Todays menu--boobies boobies boobies all day (lol! He is a nursing machine)plus...

Breakfast-2 cubes of apples and apricots mixed with oatmeal, bannana chunks, few cheerios

Snack-2 frozen cubes of peach puree in the baby safe feeder (He goes WACKY over this!)

Lunch-sweet potato chunks, 2 honeydew cubes, oatmeal

PM Snack--will probably have puffs, watermelon, and water in a sippy at the park

Dinner--will try tofu sauteed, 4 cubes greenbean puree mixed with barley cereal, watermelon chunks

[seattleguamgirl]

Question for you ladies...when did you start introducing salt in your baby's diet? I only ask because my MIL wants to give DS a pickle (Jewish-style which is just a cucumber in a dill/salt brine) but I don't know when I can introduce salt.

And another question: when did you start three meals a day? DS (7 months old) is currently on two meals per his ped's suggestion at his six month WBV. He is getting ridiculously active and can EAT so I wondered if I should increase the amount of food per meal or just add another meal (lunch)?

Today's breakfast was 1 cube green beans (first time he had it today and he actually liked it!), oatmeal and 1 cube peaches. Dinner will be 1/4 avocado and 1 cube sweet potato.

[gelfnrach]

Seattle I am not sure about salt. I was actually wondering the same thing tonite when DS was reaching for my veggiebooty. I know there is sodium in many of the jarred foods, even the organic/natural ones. Did you look on wholesome baby food' s site? I will check it out and see if I find anything.
We started 3 meals just after Ben turned 8 mos. I just noticed that he seemed hungry despite nursing alot and getting two meals. He was always lunging at my food so I started him on 3 meals. He still lunges at it but now I give him his own and hes happy. We also just in the last week or so started adding a little snack or two--particularly in the afternoon when we are out on playdates or whatever. It seems to make him super happy.

[EmilyBronte]

seattleguamgirl~ We started 3 meals a day by the end of 6 months per our pediatricians reccommendation. If he's hungry, I say go ahead and give him 3 meals. :)

ajlanden~ my understanding of honey is that NO honey is allowed, even if found in baked goods.

Today's menu:

B - 1/4 cup blueberries, 1/4 cup peaches, 4 cubes butternut squash/acorn squash (I didn't have time to make oatmeal and need to make brown rice - he was starvin marvin and unwilling to wait!)

L - a few Gerber puffs, 1/2 cup fruit (applesauce and apricot), 1/2 cup combo (carrot, green beans, corn, peas, lima beans, baked potato, chicken) -- he was devouring this and making all kinds of "yum" noises - so cute!

S - 8oz bottle

D - 4 cubes sweet potato, 1 banana

[Candy]

I've also been making DD's food. I used the Wholesome Baby food site.
I've recently started making more complex, gourmet as I like to call it food. lol

We normally do 2 meals a day, but today we did 3 since DD was lunging for DH's & my food this morning.

Breakfast: 1/4 of a banana and some cheerios
Lunch: cheesy leek, sweet potato and cauliflower puree (Recipe from First Meals by Annabel Karmel)
Dinner: 1/4 avocado & 1/4 banana

Tonight I made an awesome dish with ground beef. It will be Maya's fist experience with meat. Sunday she had chicken for the first time. I was surprised because she didn't seem to love it like she does most food. She LOVES to eat though!

She nurses on average 6-9 times a day on top of the solids. Just depends on how many times she wakes up at night.

[Candy]

Question: when is it ok to introduce yogurt such as the Yobaby? How about cottage cheese?

[seattleguamgirl]

gelfnrach - I looked it up on the wholesome baby food site and there was an article on adding herbs and spices to baby food and holding off on the salt and sugar as long as possible. I guess a little bit here and there won't hurt though. I just don't want DS to develop a taste for the "good" stuff (I am a sugar addict and wish I wasn't!) so early on.

emilybronte - I think I will add another meal soon. I'll see if he is really ready for it this week.

Candy, I read 8 months is when you can introduce yogurt. Not sure about cottage cheese, though. I'll have to check out that First Meals book--sounds interesting!

[gelfnrach]

Candy I think it varies from ped to ped but generally 9 mos I believe.

[gelfnrach]

SeattleThanks for checking that out. I looked but didnt find anything. They said other spices were ok right? I agree that not developing a taste for sugar is a good thing. They get alot of natural sugars from fruit but that should be the extent of it.

[dal]

My 9 month old is pretty picky so far but at her ped's appt. last week, her doctor said she can eat anything EXCEPT milk, honey, chocolate and nuts (including peanut butter). That said, she hasn't liked much except for bread products (whole wheat bread, pancakes...). She did not like yogurt. Gagged on cottage cheese. Hated watermelon.

[seattleguamgirl]

SeattleThanks for checking that out. I looked but didnt find anything. They said other spices were ok right? I agree that not developing a taste for sugar is a good thing. They get alot of natural sugars from fruit but that should be the extent of it.

Yup, they encouraged making food with fresh herbs like dill and basil and spices like nutmeg and cinnamon. Something along the lines that food does not need added salt or sugar to add flavor--you can do that by adding a variety of spices. Just be sure to treat each herb and spice as a new "food" and respect the standard waiting period.

[ajlanden]

Dropping off today's menu.
8.5 months

Bottle
B-Rice Cereal, bananas, peach puree
S-Bottle
L-Squash
S-Saltine Cracker/ Bottle
D-Don't know...probably Cereal, Yogurt mixed with fruit, Chicken chunks
Bottle

What about deli meats? I've heard mixed things... We've done deli turkey...that isn't bad is it?

[erin16nj]

I'm joining.....(Hi Rachel and Ashley)
Almost 9 months

Today's Menu:
Bottle
B - Oatmeal and fruit
Bottle
L - veggie and fruit
Snack - elmo crackers and bottle
D - Fruit and Veggie
Bottle

Pretty boring, he is doing some stage 2 and some stage 1 jars.
He loves the elmo crackers (earths best) and the veggie crackers (gerber) for snacks as well as cheerios.

Over the weekend he had melon, peaches, and banana and loved all of them.
I just break it small and feed it to him, he has a hard time picking up the wet fruit. He has also tried chicken and liked it. Actually there is not much this kid hasn't liked.

[gelfnrach]

ashley I think the big problem most have with deli meats is that there is alot of sodium in them as well as the fact that since they are likely smoked or otherwise processed there could be a good deal of nitrates. In the amount you give Dani I wouldnt worry about the nitrates, but if you are concerned about the salt though I would give her the low sodium ones.

Erin gotta try those elmo crackers as long as theres no dairy in them. We have trouble with wet fruit too. I crushed up puffs and coated the fruit with it a couple times which helped. I am just too lazy to do it all the time!

Our menu today:
Breakfast--2 oz EB pears mixed with 2 cubes mashed bannana and oatmeal
cheerios

Snack--2 frozen peach puree cubes in the baby safe feeder

Lunch--Avocado chunks (yay, he hated these the first time)
2 cubes pea puree mixed with 1 cube sweet potato puree and 1 cube of pastina
some veggie booty (I am a sucker)

Snack--juice/water in sippy and 1 fruit wagon wheel, few puffs to keep him happy in the car

Dinner--2 oz carrots mixed with 2 cubes turkey puree 1 cube apple puree
nectarine chunks
1 saltine

I love this thread! such good ideas!

[SiValleySteph]

11 months

Yesterday

B - banana
S - cheese & crackers, grapes (sent to daycare, spread out over 2 snacks)
L - tofu & green bean stirfry, grapes
D - I made him the nicest dinner of fresh udon, chicken, peas and carrots and he wouldn't even try a bite :( so instead he finished his banana from breakfast and had some peaches

+ lots of breastmilk, as always

[SarahKatG]

Cool thread!

Samantha is almost 7 months old and so far food for her is fun but it's not sustenance. She much prefers to nurse so far but she does like to eat with us.

Breakfast - oatmeal and gerber puffs
Lunch - puffs and banana in a mesh feeder
Dinner - will be 2oz of applesauce and probably some puffs :o (normally we don't do puffs this often but we're on vacation and they keep her entertained in restaurants)

[SiValleySteph]

normally we don't do puffs this often but we're on vacation and they keep her entertained in restaurants

I hear you.

Did you see that one serving of puffs is 70 puffs? :eek:

So even if it seems like a lot of puffs, it is probably not even close to one serving. They appear to be mostly air.

***

So it may seem like my son eats a lot, but he is going to be one in less than three weeks. And I'm going to be cutting off the breastmilk gravy train at daycare then (totally sick of pumping!), so I am trying to push nutritious solids.

[EmilyBronte]

8 months

B - banana chunks dusted with crushed cheerios
L - sweet potatoes mixed with chicken; apricots and blueberries
S - bottle of formula
D - Green Beans mixed with pasta and lean beef

Also - we've started trying out the straw sippy cup and he is doing great with it! YAY!

[Candy]

Emily Bronte I can't believe your DS is 8 months already. WOW!

I think Maya is having texture issues, but it could just be her not liking meat. As I mentioned before, she LOVES to eat. She holds her mouth open waiting for the next bite and if we aren't quick enough she yells at us. lol
Anyway, I tried the chicken dish I made 3 days in a row, 2 times a day some days, and she would take a few bites, make faces, than hold her mouth shut tight. This afternoon I tried the chicken dish, she wouldn't eat it. Than I tried the ground beef dish I made last night. (BTW, it tastes awesome. If anyone wants the recipe, let me know) She made funny faces, than after 2 bites she refused to open her mouth. I thought maybe she wasn't hungry. I defrosted a few veggie cubes and she ate them up like she always does. I guess I'll try again next week.

B: avacoda
L: 1 sweet potato cube, 1 squah, 1 greeen bean
D: 2 pear cubes w/ oatmeal

[mia's mama]

10 months next week...
B- Oatmeal with Appricot/applesauce; handful of raisins
L- diced sweet potato, blackbeans, peas & brown rice
D- yogurt with pureed carrots, diced sweet potato, 1/2 jar of apples & blueberries

breastmilk for snack

[marchfamily]

Any advice on how to introduce meat? We still haven't.

****
DD - 8 months

B - oatmeal & 1 cube pureed papaya
L - honeydew (hates), bananas, multigrain cereal
D - multigrain cereal, 1 cube squash, 1 cube pured sweet potatoes
During the day: Lots-o-milk! & fruit puffs

[SiValleySteph]

11 months

Yesterday

B - yogurt, banana
S - cheese/crackers, peach (morning & afternooon snacks)
L - Udon, chicken, peas, carrots (ate much more than dinner the night before!)
D - chicken gyoza, broccoli
- he ate several bites of gyoza, but I know he likes it and has eaten much more in the past, he would NOT try the broccoli, later I put him in his high chair and he stuck a piece of cold broccoli in his mouth and you would have though I tried to kill him

I sent the same dinner for lunch today, so we'll see if he eats any broccoli.
He self-feeds almost everything (well, except yogurt).

He has bottles at 9, 12, and 3 of EBM. 2 6-oz and 1 4-oz. And he nurses like a crazy person after work, before bed, and 2x overnight.

[Candy]

L: cheesy leak, sweet potato & cauliflower puree
S: cheerios & puffs
D: 1/2 banana w/ oatmeal
nursed

[mia's mama]

B- oatmeal with apple sauce, 1/2 waffle
L- diced sweet potato, black beans, banana
D- shredded jack cheese, 1/2 yogurt with spring veggies, diced banana, fresh peach and blueberries

March Family-I'm no help for you...DD is NOT liking meat so far...

[mia's mama]

B- waffle, diced blueberries, banana & peach
L- peas & brown rice, yogurt with pears & rasberries
D- organic lentil and veggie soup (about 1/2 cup), diced sweet potato, 1/2 piece of cheese
Dessert- raisins

[firefly]

Megan had scrambled eggs for breakfast and a 6 oz bottle. and a sippy of water that she's learning how to use.

[seattleguamgirl]

7 months

B - oatmeal with 2 pear cubes
S - sweet potato veggie puffs (just started those)
D - 2 sweet potato cubes and 1 peach cube, more puffs

[seattleguamgirl]

B - 1 apple cube and 1 peach cube with oatmeal
L - more oatmeal
S - veggie puffs
D - 1/4 avocado, sweet potato

[gelfnrach]

Yesterday
B-blueberry soy yogurt, cheerios, banana mixed with oatmeal and apple (total of like 4 oz fruit plus oatmeal)
L-few carrot chunks, more soy yogurt, 2 oz applesauce, saltine
S-saltine at the mall in the stroller to keep him happy! , sippy with 1/4 pear juice and 3/4 water
D-2 cubes broccoli mixed with barley cereal, sweet potato chunks

Today so far
B-3oz apples and plums mixed with oatmeal, nectarine chunks, cheerios, saltine

[twinnyme]

B-blueberry soy yogurt, cheerios

gelfnrach - How old is your DC and where do you get soy yogurt? I've been looking for (baby) soy yogurt for DD (who is 8 months old). Does it exist or do you just use one of the brands like O'Soy or Silk? TIA!

This thread is very interesting to me. I lurk a lot. We're still being challenged by creating a 3-meal-a-day plus enough ounces of formula, but we'll get there, and I get great ideas from this thread.

[ajlanden]

I have really been branching out thanks to this tread!

9 months Thursday...

Yesterday:
B-5 ounces formula, Bananas with crushed cheerios
S-Cheerios with 6 Oz. Formula
L-Stage 2 Jar of Sweet Potatoes
S-5 OZ. Formula
D-Sauteed Tofu with Peas, Oatmeal, Bananas
4 ounces formula before bed

Today: 4 oz. formula, Mixed grain cereal, yogurt, 1/2 jar apples

I got some low salt saltines. Do I just give a whole one to her? The other day I did and she bit off a big chunk. (Pretty impressive for no teeth!) It scared me so I haven't done it again. Will they choke on them?

[erin16nj]

Yesterday:

All jars and bottle!!!
Snacks were Elmo crackers and Veggie crackers


This weekend I gave him scrambled eggs, potatoes, and toast. He loved it but then I asked the Dr. about the eggs and he recommends 11 months....Also this weekend after dinner he ate some macaroni (with mayo) from a salad and was begging for more. Again I am not sure if mayo is a great thing but he loved the noodles. He was puching away his crackers for macaroni.

I bought some YoBaby to start yogurt this weekend and it has a bunch of sugar??? Also bought mini frozen waffles. For thos of you who do waffles are you making them fresh or buying frozen???

Ashley:
At daycare they give him saltines and it freaked me out but he does eat them whole without any teeth. He kindof ends up a big mess wth them crumbling all over. :D

[gelfnrach]

twinnyme DS is 9 mos. We started soy yogurt last week. I use just regular soy yogurt. I havent found plain but do peach or blueberry, I think the brand is like O soy company or something like that. DS cant have dairy before hes 1 so I figure its good to try soemthing that has the consistency of dairy. He seems to love it.

Ashley I use the low sodium saltines. I just give it to him and keep an eye on him. He does bite off pieces, and if the piece is too big I just take it out of his mouth, break it up and put it on the tray and he eats the pieces. He has been getting much better at not taking off chunks like he did when we first tried them.
How did you prepare the tofu?

Erin I was going to try egg yolk which I think is ok at this age. I think its just the whites that are highly allergenic. I am sure Cole will like just the yolks if you scramble them.

[janders6]

Does anyone have a meat recipe using ground beef?

And, how did you transition to 3 meals?

[ajlanden]

Thanks Erin and Rachel!!

Rachel-I chopped it up into tiny cubes and then sauteed with some olive oil and frozen peas. I actually put a little basil on it because it just seemed so bland. :) The tofu got just a little crispy. She loved it!

Erin-I gave Dani some hard boiled egg yolk. She didn't like it all. I might try scrambled egg yolk.

[ajlanden]

I missed you Joy! (So much for getting work done today!)

Transitioning to three meals: Here is what we did. Dani was eating solids around 11 and around 5. I added a little bit of cereal and fruit after her morning a bottle. Gradually I kept giving her more. They pushed her back to eating lunch around 12 or so. Lately I noticed she is back to eating lunch around 11.

[gelfnrach]

Joy no meat recipes here since Ben cant have it till after hes 1.
We transitioned to 3 meals by adding them between nursings. Like breakfast is right when he wakes up in the AM (having nursed like 2 hours before wake up--yeah, 4 am...no fun) at like 6, then he nurses at 8 before his nap. Lunch is around 11 then nurses at like 12:30 before nap. Snack at some point in the afternoon then nurses at like 3:30. Dinner is at 5 then he nurses to bed around 6. It was hard to work it all in but I think we have it down now. Of course some days hes fussy and doesnt want to eat in his highchair so I feed him in the exersaucer but thats pretty rare.

I am going to try scrambled yolks at lunch...

[janders6]

Thanks Ashley and Rachel for the info. That's what I've been trying, but some days she won't eat 3 times. I think part of it is that she hates the highchair, so I'm hoping to start using more table foods. I think I'll be hitting Trader Joes on my way home today. Tofu sounds like a good idea.

[gelfnrach]

Forgot to add that Ben LOVES veggie booty! Its so funny--he gets crazed when he sees the bag! I read the ingredients and the only bad thing is that theres some sodium but with the small amount he eats I think its fine.

[catmom]

Hi, ladies... I have a quick question for you solid-food veterans. DD has been getting some solids for the past 5 days, but mostly the food just comes right back out. So far she has had oatmeal and banana. Is this a sign that she isn't quite ready for solids yet, or will it just take a while until she gets the hang of eating? (she'll be 6 months on sunday, we started solids about a week early because she seemed so interested in the food we were eating and has been so hungry all the time). I would say the oatmeal went over better than the banana, but I don't like ripe bananas either, so I can't say as I blame her!

[janders6]

catmom do you mean she's spitting it back out? If so, it may be that she still has the tongue-thrust reflex. We didn't start DD on solids until almost 7.5 months so we didn't have that problem. You could wait until she outgrows the reflex, or if you think she's really hungry, it may just take longer to feed her.

[Candy]

Does anyone have a meat recipe using ground beef?

Recipe from First meals by Annabel Karmel
Tasty ground beef with sweet potato & tomatoes

1/2 tbsp veg. oil
3 tbsp onion, peeled & finely chopped
1/4 lb lean ground beef
1 3/4 cups sweet potatoes, peeled & chopped
2 tomatoes, skinned, deseeded & chopped
1 cup insalted chicken ot beef stock ( I just used water w/ a bit of seasoning since I didn't have time to make the stock)

Heat old in pan, add onion, and saute for a few minutes until softened. Add the ground beef and saute stiffing occassionally until browned all over.
Add the sweet potatoes & tomatoes and stock, holding back a little if a thicker consistency is preffered, and bring to a boil. Reduce & heat, cover, and cook for 30 minutes. Blend to a puree if desired.

I thought this recipe was yummy! DD didn't think so though. lol She doesn't seem to like meat just yet, but I'm finally able to get her to eat some chicken. Next week I'll re0offer this meat dish.

[SiValleySteph]

Hey moms,

DS has almost outgrown this thread. He's one in less than two weeks.

He's on a food strike right now. His molars are coming in (two at the top and the two on the bottom are threatening) and I don't think he feels like chewing that much. He spit out plum this morning and pita/hummus last night even though he used to like those. I sent to daycare cheese/crackers/plum (for snack/lunch) and then meatball/green beans (for main lunch). I expect him to refuse the meatball and greenbeans even though he used to love meatball. He has jar food for backup. He had only yogurt (plain whole milk) and one alphabet cracker for breakfast.

We're transitioning from 100% breastmilk bottles at daycare to whole milk mixed in this week (1/3 whole milk to 2/3 breastmilk) and it seems to be going fine.

[BooeyJ2]

*bump*

DD will be 6 months old tomorrow, so i'm hoping to get some ideas :) As of now she's only getting rice cereal after her morning bottle and 1 jar food of veggies w/ dinner.

[gelfnrach]

B--cheerios, 1/2 of a nectarine, 1 scrambled egg yolk
S--saltine
L--2 mini oat bran pancakes (dairy free made just with egg yolks), banana chunks, sweet potato chunks
D--green beans (2 cubes) mixed with barley cereal, 1 oat bran mini pancake

[seattleguamgirl]

B - 2 cubes peas (just introducing these)
mid-morning snack - handful of veggie puffs
afternoon snack - handful of veggie puffs
D - oatmeal, 1 cube apple, 1 cube peach, 1 baby mum-mum rice rusk

[ajlanden]

Yesterday:
Kiwi bites (hated it!), Pears and 1/2 piece Whole Wheat toast
Snack: bites of DH pancake
Lunch: Squash
Dinner: Turkey Meatball, cheese, pears and rice cereal.

This morning we had banana chunks and mixed cereal

[janders6]

Caroline also had turkey meatballs this weekend and hated them.

Sunday:
B: nursed and wouldn't eat
S: cheerios
L: mangos and pears with oatmeal
D: Sweet potatoes, squash, tomatoes and ground beef (she wouldn't eat this until I added more sweet potatoes and a little oatmeal - it was from a recipe in Firts Foods that tasted great to me)

[BooeyJ2]

**Can those of you who don't have your childs DOB or age on your signature please put your baby's age as well?**


There is a pretty big difference in what a 6 month old and 11 or 12 month old eats and it's hard trying to get ideas when i'm not sure what age the baby's are :) Thanks in advance!

[BooeyJ2]

For those of you who give your baby's Gerber puffs....ate what age did you start offereing them?

DD just turned 6 months but already has 4 teeth and has been sitting up on her own since 5 months. Is she too young?

[seattleguamgirl]

Booey, we started Roman on puffs at around 7 months. By then he was sitting up on his own, "chewing" his purees, getting up on all fours, etc. There is a list of things your baby should be doing on the back of the puffs container to let you know if he or she is ready.

I started giving 1/2 a puff in the beginning and he was chewing them fine, so after about two weeks I started giving him the whole thing. :)

Along the same note, when did everyone start Cheerios? Around the same time as puffs?

[BooeyJ2]

Thanks! :) I'll probably hold off for a little bit just in case :)



Oh and the Cheerios was my next question :)

[marchfamily]

DD - 8.5 months

We started Puffs around 6-7 months. DD just got her first tooth a couple of weeks ago. We are going to start Cheerios since she like mashing things up.

Breakfast - Oatmeal w/cherries and cranberries, cantalope
S - Puffs
L - Pieces of daddy's meatball sandwich (big hit)
D - probably finishing up some of the purees

[seattleguamgirl]

Whoops, forgot to post what DS is eating lately...

7.5 months

Yesterday's menu:
B - 1/3 banana, oatmeal
S - puffs
L - oatmeal
S - puffs
D - 3 pea cubes, 1 pear cube

Today's menu:
B - 2 peach cubes, 1 pear cube, oatmeal
L - puffs, 1 apple cube with buckwheat, 1 rice rusk
D - 3 sweet potato cubes

[gelfnrach]

booeyWe started puffs around 6 mos or so. I just broke off the tips of the stars and gave them to him like that. I think maybe 2 weeks later, we did half then a full one about a month after he started. I didnt give cheerios till around 8 mos. They dissolve alot slower than the puffs and I think take more skill to chew so I was nervous.

Yesterdays menu--9 mos old
B--oatbran mini pancake (half of which he actually ate, the other half he fed to the dog), pears and oatmeal, cheerios
L--banana chunks, cheerios
S--lots of snacks at the park--cheerios, puffs, saltines
D--turkey and veggie dinner (EB), carrot puree

Todays breakfast--pears with oatmeal and cinnamon (not sure if he liked the cinnamon), cheerios

[gizzyntaz]

Lazy mom, venturing in to ask one of you to check your "puffs" and let me know the ingredients? And brand too, if you don't mind ;)

DS can't have any wheat, barley, rye, spelt or oats (for sure - there may be others). Therefore I have never tried him on a grain. I don't look for processed foods because I always figure that he can't have them. So I'm curious what these "puffs" have in them. TIA!

- Alison :)

[Candy]

We started the Gerber puffs around 6 months. I didn't follow the recs on the back of the container. A few weeks later we started with the cheerios.

Gerber Veggie Puff ingredients (Sweet Potato):
rice flour, oat flour, wheat flour, wheat starch, sugar, sweet potato, etc.

Maya just turned 7 months. Yesterday she ate the following:
B: 1/2 yogurt, 1/2 banana, a few cheerios
L: 1 pea cube, 1 zucchini cube, 1 chicken dish cube which consisted of chicken, carrots, potato, & parsnip
D: 2 pear cubes with oatmeal

She chews great & I'll give her tiny "bites" sometimes of what I'm having as long as she's had it before. When do I move on from the purees?

[gelfnrach]

The puffs are from Gerber. There is oat and wheat flour in them so for sure a no no for A.

I am going to the organic grocery today, I will check and see if there is anything there that is rice flour based since that seems to be all the grain he can have, right?

[gizzyntaz]

Thanks Candy & Rachel... Definitely a no-no for Alan. Let me know if you find anything, Rachel. I'm not a fan of rice-based stuff myself, but Alan wouldn't know any different. I wouldn't want to load him up on them, but I'm so jealous of the Cheerios and puffs for finger snacks! :)

[tray622]

This thread is so helpful and we are almost at the 12 month mark, so I figured I would get a few posts in :)

Today (11.5 months)
Before babysitter: 6 oz. bottle
B - wheat waffle and applesauce
L - Macaroni & cheese and carrots
S - Puffs
D - Chicken, peas, and mashed potatoes (our dinner)
Bedtime: 6 oz bottle

[SarahKatG]

DD - 7 months

Breakfast - Oatmeal
Lunch - Banana chunks
Dinner - Apples & Apricots

And yesterday, while I'm at it...
Breakfast - Mixed grain cereal
Lunch - Avocado chunks
Dinner - Peas mixed with oatmeal

Candy, I'm certainly NO expert but if Maya is doing well with puffs and Cheerios you can probably start to venture away from the purees. I've given Sam banana and avocado chunks to feed herself and she even did ok with some small peas and chopped green beans the other day. Since I started doing this her coordination has greatly improved.

[gelfnrach]

B--1 bannana cube, 1 honeydew cube, 2 nectarine cubes all mixed with oatmeal
cheerios
S--3 saltines
L--2 cubes broccoli mixed with barley cereal, puffs,veggie booty

[jeggink]

Just about 12 months now.

Pre-B, 4 & 6 am - Nurses

Breakfast at home, 7am - 1 wagon wheel and a bite of waffle

Daycare - I bring 1 can of Gerber toddler raviolies, 1 package dole fruit in a cup, a few wagon wheels and and assorted toddler snacks, a breaskfast bar, 2 4-oz bottles of formula, 1 4-oz bottle of whole milk and sometimes a jar of pureed fruit or veggies just for fun. Usually he eats most of this, not all though.

Home at 6pm - nurses, maybe a bite or two of our food

Bedtime, 8pm - nurses

I want to start slowing down on the bottles we send to daycare and get him more on solids. He still doesn't eat much at home in the form of solids. He sees me and he wines to BF.

[SiValleySteph]

jeggink - our sons are so close in age! My son actually drinks more out of a bottle than yours does at daycare. I'm not sure how to cut back...

My son is 1 next Tuesday, so we have basically graduated on to the next thread. :)

this is our basic eating:

Wake up around 7
7:15 breakfast - plain whole milk organic yogurt, banana, sometimes another fruit and/or some Earth's Best Organic Crunchin' Blocks
Send to daycare - 1 4oz container of fresh fruit diced, 15-20 small pieces of cheddar, 15 Earth's Best Elmo crackers - these are for his snacks at 9AM and 3PM and sometimes he has some for lunch, too
For lunch, 11:30AM - I send a protien and a veggie, today was carnitas and broccoli, yesterday was meatball and broccoli. It's not always popular (especially the last week when he was teething), so he has jars for backup
He has 3 bottles at daycare - 2 6oz bottles (breastmilk/organic whole cow milk mix, will be 100% cow milk next week), 1 4oz bottle breastmilk only (thawed, will get one daily for another 2 months) - at 9, 12 and 3
5:30-6 breastfeed or finish off last bottle
6:30 or so - dinner, offer protein and veggie, go to fruit :), yesterday I offered carnitas, cheese quesadilla and sauteed bell pepper slices. He thought I was trying to poison him. So I gave him a handful of pirate's booty to bribe him to stay in the high chair while I cut up a nectarine. He ate half of it and would have eaten more except I wanted to send the rest to daycare today. Then he had a few blueberries - I had to peel them for him (which made it not that worth it), he's not good with skins which is why we think he doesn't do that well with veggies.
7:30 - 8 breastfeed before bed
1-2-3 times overnight, breastfeed

Once we make the transition to 100% whole milk in his two big bottles at daycare, we will be switching to sippy cup tops. I don't think he'll drink as much, but he doesn't need that much cow milk anyways. Then we'll probably cut back to 2-4oz cow milk bottles and the 4oz breastmilk bottle for daytime and try to increase the solid food. :D

My baby will eat fruit like there is no tomorrow, but veggies are a no go! :)
And he is a big milk drinker. We definitely have not had challenges getting him to drink his milk.

[BooeyJ2]

6 months


BREAKFAST - Rice cereal

LUNCH - Sweet potatoes (1 jar)

DINNER - Green beans (1 jar)



*All of course in addition to breastmilk and formula* ;)

[jeggink]

SiValleySteph Yup, they are very close in age :). I actually asked my daycare provider yesterday what the best way was to decrease the amount of bottles. I want to go from 12oz of milk/formula to 8oz of milk/formula at daycare to all milk here in another week. I am reducing all 3 bottles to 3oz now. From there I will probably reduce another one by an oz and then cut out the 3rd bottle. Hopefully he will eat more solids to compensate. He still prefers the BB or bottle to solids at this stage. He also LOVES milk. We give him sips of ours all the time and he just keeps coming back for more, but still prefers to drink out of a regular cup over a sippy cup. I just don't think he understands a sippy cup. He doesn't even really hold his own bottle either though.

[ajlanden]

DD-9 months

Breakfast: Banana chunks and cheerios
Snack-more cheerios
Lunch-Green Beans (Jar)
Dinner--scrambled egg yolk, cheddar cheese, banana (jar), mixed cereal

I need to add something her lunches at daycare besides a veggie...cereal? I don't know...

[SarahKatG]

Quick question for you all. Does anyone have any experience with Gerber Mini Fruits/Veggies (http://www.gerber.com/toddlersite?tmsdir=food&tmspage=grad_mini.html&tmspromo=2) ? I bought a package of the apple the other day for DD (who is just over 7 months) and noticed when I got home that it said in several spots that it is intended for 12 months and up. I can't figure out why. It's basically just freeze dried apples. They're tiny and dissolve quickly so I don't think it's a choking hazard (not any more so than Cheerios). Any thoughts?

[erin16nj]

9 Months

Yesterday -
B - Yogurt and waffles
L - Jar veggie/ Jar fruit
S - elmo crackers / cheerios
D - Squash Corn rice jar and fruit jar

Also (4) 6oz bottles

Today pretty much the same....
finally moved from jars at breakfast to yogurt and waffles, I might try toast tomorrow with the yogurt.

Has anyone noticed how much sugar YoBaby has? Is there another yogurt that would be less sugar for him?

Ashley - We do a fruit with veggie at lunch. He east a tsage 2 and stage 1 at lunch.

[HGMorgann]

Erin,
I would just give him plain Stonyfield yogurt and add the fruit yourself. That's what I intend to do.

:-)

[TheJules]

Love this thread! I've read through every post getting some ideas. I had no idea about the Gerber Puffs. We got 3 varieties at the grocery store and DD loves them. I've given her Cheerios, but they did make me nervous about her chocking. The Gerber Puffs do seem to dissolve faster.

I would love to make my own baby food, but with working full time I haven't made time to make stuff in advance. Also, I have no idea where to start? Is there a thread somewhere about making your own baby food? I had no idea to try avocados or melons! :confused:

I've been giving her jars of organic baby food except for apples, bananas, and peaches.

Here's our schedule for today:
8am: Breastfed
12pm: #2 size jar of Pears & Raspberries
4pm: #1 size jar of sweet potatoes & breastfed
7pm: #2 jar of green beans & rice
9pm: Breastfed

[marchfamily]

8.5 months
B - Oatmeal with apricots, cranberries, blueberries, cherries
S - Cheerios
L - Pasta w/ cheese sauce (First Meals recipe)
S - Alphabet cookies
D - Baby's First Chicken Casserole (First Meals Recipe)

We're introducing meat this week. And - trying to do some more recipes. DD had some chicken noodle soup at a restaurant over the weekend (loved it). She was so/so on the pasta with cheese sauce last night (pasta, tomatoes, carrots, cheese, little bit of butter).

[catmom]

We're still kind of stalled out on solids over here. She is all excited when I put the spoon in her mouth, but then makes "yucky" face as soon as she tastes the food. She will eat a few bites, but it is such a wrestling match because she grabs the spoon away from me and wants to chew on it. If I let her have it, I can't get it out of her mouth to give her more food, and I can barely pry it out of her hands anyway. So I usually give up after a few bites. Whenever she sees me eating finger foods, she gets really excited, and I think things will be easier once she can self-feed, but we're still pretty far away from that happening. Any suggestions? I think she needs the food... her sleep stretches have been getting progressively shorter... she was sleeping 11-12 hours at a time and is now down to 3 or 4. The only think she seemed to like so far was oatmeal mixed with banana, but the banana was making her constipated so I had to stop giving it to her. She HATED sweet potato and apple. Those are the only 4 foods she's had so far. At the advice of the ped, we've slowed down and are only offering every other day (or even every 3rd day), since the ped was worried she might develop an aversion to food.

[erin16nj]

HG - thanks , silly question but will you mash the fruit or cut it up??

I ordered the first meals book and am waiting for it.

Catmom - How old is your DD? MY son loves peaches mixed with oatmeal and I don't think they constipate. The spoon thing is tough to get in and out without getting the spoon grabbed. Sometimes I would give him his own spoon to hold and get bites in where I can. Before he mastered his pincer I would feed him cheerios one by one. Good Luck!

[catmom]

erin16nj, she's 6 months old (almost 6.5 now). My mother suggested peaches, too. I am going to try rice cereal today to see if the likes that better than the oatmeal, and I've also decided to wait until she's a bit hungrier before I try feeding her. Before I was feeding her 1/2 an hour after she finished nursing, and she probably wasn't all that hungry then. Wish me luck!

ETA: I tried the rice cereal, and she seemed to like it much better. It has a milder taste than the oatmeal, I guess. Part of the reason I'm so anxious to get her started is because she gets 2 supplemental bottles a day, and lately she hasn't been drinking most of them. She used to have 12-15 oz a day, and now it's more like 6-8. I think this may be why she's waking up more to nurse at night. The problem is that she really doesn't like the formula and won't drink it unless she's REALLY hungry. So I'm hoping to make up some of the calories from the missed bottles with solids.

[Candy]

DD LOVES to eat. She has been eating purees, but lately I've just been mashing the food with a potato masher. She does great also with cheerios, puffs, etc. Today I decided to give her soft cooked cut up pieces of sweet potato to self feed. She did very well, but after a couple of bites she started crying. Maybe it was just too much "stimulation" in the evening time. This isn't the first time though she didn't like chunks of food. She did the same things with banana a few days ago & she LOVES banana.

She loves pickles! We've given her the small sweet gerkins & she went crazy for them. Also, cucumber slices. These she'll hold them & self feed no problem.

I wonder why she loves them, but not chunks of food. Oh well. I'm in no rush to push her away from purees just yet anyway. She's only 7.5 months.

B: 1/2 banana & a few cheerios
L: 2 meat dish cubes, pea cube, squash cube
D: a few sweet potato chunks, 1 squash cube, a apple cube w/ oatmeal

[ajlanden]

9.5 months

Just wanted to say that we have made great leaps in our eating the past week. DD had her first "big girl" lunch at daycare. She had meatballs, bread and bananas.

We also ordered off the kids menu for the first time this weekend. She had a quesadilla and rice!!! :) Oh, what a big girl I have!!

Yesterday:
B-Oatmeal, Peach purree
L-Beef & Carrot Jar and WW Toast
D-Tofu, Cheese, Grapes, WW Noodles

[Chylynn]

6 Months

Breakfast: 1 jar of organic Bannanas
4oz of formula

Snack: 3oz of formula

Lunch: 1 Jar of Peas
3oz of formula

Snack: 3oz of formula
3oz of formula

Dinner: 1 Jar of organic apples
4oz of formula

Rebecca loves her fruits and some of her veggies. She really is not a big fan of oatmeal, so I don't force her to eat it every day. She opens wide for her food until the jar is empty. She defiantely loves to eat, which is good since she has to eat so often.

I can't wait to learn some feeding tricks from you ladies that have been feeding their DC for a while!

Does anyone elses DC flip when you wipe their face when feeding time is over? Also, what kind of bibs do you use? I have purchased vinal bibs, but some of them are getting stained from the sweat potatoes and carrots. Any suggestions?

[cgmom313]

I am also going to join this thread. My DD is almost 7 mths and loves to eat her solid foods. I will look to others of older children for advice. This food thing seems to confuse me. Like when to move up to Stage 3, When to give real solid foods, etc. She has started on the Biter Biscuits and loves them. However I gave her a real soft bannanna and totally did not want them.

Yesterday 10/2
(My DD is Formula Feed)
Wake - 6 ounce bottle
Breakfast - Oatmeal Cereral w/ pureed mix fruits.
Snack - 4 oz bottle
Lunch - 3/4 quarter jar of Stage 2 Mixed Veggies
Snack - 4oz bottle
Dinner - A few gerber puffs (Still hasn't quite got the pincher grasp) Oatmeal Cereral w/pureed bananas.
Bed - 7 ounce bottle.

Does anyone elses DC flip when you wipe their face when feeding time is over? - You bet. She flips out.

Bibs - I have cloth and Vinal - Dont really care for either.

[EmilyBronte]

9 months old tomorrow. :)

B: banana mixed with cereal
S: Baby "cookie"
L: 1/4 cup endamame, 1/2 ounce cheese, 4 oz bottle
S: 4 ounce bottle
D: 1/4 cup endamame, 1/2 cup veggies (butternut squash, peas), 1/2 cup homemade strawberry applesauce

QOTD - DS hates having his face wiped. Glad to see he's not alone.

[Aug2002Bride]

DD FREAKS Out when you wipe her face!!!!

Today she ate..
6oz bottle when she first woke up around 7am
9am...1/2 cup cereal with jar of fruit (stage 2) or Yobaby
1030am...4-6oz bottle before nap
1230-1pm Jar of veggies,finger foods
330pm 4-6oz bottle before nap
430-5pm...snacks, finger foods while I cook dinner
530-6pm cereal with a jar of fruit and usually some of whatever we are eating
8pm 6oz bottle before bed

I tried the Graduates cheese ravioli the other day and she loved them! I cut them in half and she did fine with them. Other snacks she has are baby goldfish, gerber puffs, diced up peaches or pears, crackers, pieces of cheese.

[catmom]

We finally found something DD really likes! Carrots! I am sort of surprised. I think I will try peas next, or possibly revisit sweet potatoes (which she didn't like before). Yesterday we gave her rice cereal and carrots for both lunch and dinner, and she was really eager to eat the carrots. Wish they didn't stain, but oh, well.

Any advice for how to get the baby to drink more water? I know she needs water now that she's eating solids, but it's hard to get her to take more than 1/2 an oz at a time (and that takes like 10 minutes). She likes to "drink water," but views the bottle or sippy as a toy and doesn't really drink much. I really don't want to give her juice.

My DD is funny... she likes to have her face wiped. Gives her a chance to try to eat the washcloth :p .

Her was her schedule yesterday (6.5 months):

7:00-nursing
9:30-nursing
11:30-lunch (carrots, rice cereal, 6 oz bottle of formula)
2:00-nursed
4:30-dinner (carrots, rice cereal, 4 oz formula)
5:30-nursing
4:30 am (ugh) nursing

[Brady]

Hi everyone...

Still new to this whole thing, those of you FF'ing, how many ounces would you say on average your DC is having with 3 meals? In the 6-8 month range? My son seems to be so hungry lately... yesterday he had 3 "meals" and 28oz of formula.

He is 7 months old
6am- 6oz bottle
7:30am- cereal and apples
10am- 8oz bottle
Noon- 1/2 jar bananas
2pm- 6oz bottle
5pm- 1/2 jar mixed veggies and 1/2 jar pears
7pm- 6oz bottle

Is that too much?? I feel so clueless with this!
TIA!

[Chylynn]

Brady, that looks very similar to Rebecca's food consumption. My pediatrician told me to keep her FF consumption to around 28-32oz daily as this is still where our DC our getting most of their nutrition for the first year. Here was her schedule yesterday:

4oz formula (6AM)
Breakfast: 3/4 jar Blueberries & Apples(stage 2)
3 oz formula

Lunch: 1/2 jar peas
1/2 jar Bannanas
3oz formula

2:30pm Snack: 3oz formula

4:30pm Snack: 3oz formula

Dinner: 1 Jar Peaches (stage 2)
4oz formula

10PM Snack: 5oz

2AM Snack: 5oz

Total: 30oz formula
2 3/4 Jars of Veggi & Fruit

HTH!

[Brady]

Brady, that looks very similar to Rebecca's food consumption. My pediatrician told me to keep her FF consumption to around 28-32oz daily as this is still where our DC our getting most of their nutrition for the first year.

Oh, thank you! I was actually going to call my Ped. just to get an idea on the recommended oz. consumption...

[ajlanden]

9.5 months
B-Oatmeal, 1 jar pears
S-Cheerios
L-Sloppy Joes and Bananas (Sippy with Water)
S-Gold Fish Crackers
D-WW Noodles and 1 jar Mixed veggies

15 ounces of Formula

Just in the last few days, she has really eaten a lot of solids and her formula intake has decreased...is this okay? She is almost 10 months, so I am assuming the food is starting to replace more of her calories. I just worry about hydration. Opinions?

Brady-I don't think they can eat too much. As long as he is still getting enough formula (which it sounds like he is), I think it sounds great! If he wasn't interested in the formula I would say to cut back on solids.

[erin16nj]

Yesterday:
Almost 10 months

wake up - 6 oz bottle
B- Yogurt and cheerios (doesn't like his waffles)
11 ish - 6 oz bottle
L- stage 2 fruit - stage 2 -chicken/sweet pot
S - 6oz bottle and veggie crackers / goldfish
D - stage 2 fruit / stage 2 dinner -6oz bottle

QOTD - My DS acts like I have acid on the wipe when I wipe his face, he hates it!!

QOTD2 - He used to about 32oz from 6-8 1/2 months (4 8oz bottles) for awhile up until recently, around 8 1/2 months we dropped to 7oz bottles and last week dropped to 6oz (total 24oz). Thats what our ped recommended, since now he eats three meals and lotsof snacks.

Silly question for those feeding cheese, are u doing slices or chunks?

[cgmom313]

Brady - the 28oz -32 oz range is good. My ped said exactly what Chylnn's said. Anywhere between 24 and 32ounces. My ped actually said if she is not taking at least 24 ounces to cut back on the solids. That never happened because my DD is a little eater.

Wake - 6 ounces FF
Breakfast - oatmeal cereral and peaches
Snack - 4 ounces FF
Lunch - Stage 2 Sweet potates (3/4 of the jar)
Snack - 5 ounces FF
Snack - Biter Biscuit (We went out to eat and that kept her busy) & 3 ounces of FF
Dinner - oatmeal cereral and the rest of the morning peaches
Bed - 7 ounces of FF

[HGMorgann]

When did you start yogurt? DD is 7 mo. now, would it be okay or should we wait? I have to admit we have given her tastes before and she digs it....:-p

[ajlanden]

Erin-We do either tiny cheese cubes or grated cheese (I even cut that up a little too!) I am a little pycho when it comes to choking. Daycare is great because they feed her all sorts of things!

HGMorgann-Just went back and looked in my LJ and we started yogurt at 8 months...I don't know if that helps?

[EmilyBronte]

HGMorgann~

We are going to the pediatrician tomorrow for James' 9 month appointment. I have already planned to ask about yogurt. I think I read somewhere 8 months, but wasn't sure so we've been waiting. I'll let you know what I find out!

[seattleguamgirl]

8 months

HGMorgann and EmilyBronte, we just started yogurt today! Roman LOVES it!

B - yobaby banana yogurt mixed with plain organic yogurt (to cut sugar intake), handful of cheerios
S - handful of fruit puffs
L - 1/4 smashed avocado with 1 carrot cube
S - handful of fruit puffs
D - planning on one pea cube mixed with two sweet potato cubes mixed in with a little cereal

[EmilyBronte]

9 months

B - cream of wheat and blueberries, bottle
L - 1/2 cup peas, carrots, and sweet potato, applesauce, bottle
S - 4 ounce bottle
D - 1/4c. endamame, homemade meatballs, 2 butternut squash cubes, applesauce

seattleguamgirl~ Glad Roman likes yogurt - good idea to mix flavored with plain.

[HGMorgann]

I guess I could wait a little longer for yogurt then. We are constantly battling yeast with her - so that is part of the reason I wanted to start - (Plain Stonyfield though)

[SarahKatG]

HGMorgann, WholesomeBabyFood.com recommends doing yogurt at 8 months, not that they're the be-all end-all source. She's pretty close to that, right?

Almost 8 months...
B - Oatmeal mixed with bm
L - banana chunks
D - avocado chunks and carrots

[AngieB]

DS 9.5 months

Yesterday

breakfast - Cereal with fruit
snack - puffs/cheerios & sippy w/water
Lunch - he had the big boy lunch at school
minicorn dogs (cut up really small)
Tater tots
cream of corn
pears
afternoon bottle - 6 0z
dinner - jar of veg beef dinner
bananas
bedtime - 6 oz bottle

He still has bottle in the night - 6 - oz

We are just trying to use up the rest of our jar food since he loves real food so much - he loves homemade applesauce, squash, any melon, bananas.

My doc said to wait til 1 year for cheese yogurt etc - but I know lots of others that started around 9 months

[HGMorgann]

She is 7 month, 1 week. Right now she is OK in the yeast department, but if it comes up again, I will start. :-)

Thanks everyone!

[gelfnrach]

Breakfast--oatmeal with applesauce and cinnamon, cheerios
Lunch--two mini blueberry "babycakes" pancakes (my creation), cheerios, bananas

[mia's mama]

yesterday...
(10.5 months)

B- Blueberries, diced bananas, whole grain toast with all fruit blueberry spread
L- pureed turkey, veggies & Barley (organic babyfood); apricot/apple sauce
D- rice & blackbeans, peas, diced sweet potato
Dessert- frozen blueberries, rasberries and blackberries (cut in 1/2).

Can you tell my kid is a blueberry nut? I swear she would eat an entire container in 1 sitting if I let her!

[ajlanden]

Yesterday
9.5 months

B-Cereal and cut up grapes
S-Cheerios
L-Chicken Nuggets (cut up), peas, cantaloupe
S-Nilla Wafers!!
D-Chicken, green beans, ww noodles, jar of bananas

20 ounces of formula

Note to self: Get some blueberries! (Thanks mia's mama!)

[BooeyJ2]

*bumping* for more ideas.

I think Paige is sick of jarred baby food now.

[HGMorgann]

I gave Morgann a bowl of cherrios with banana chunks today. She loved having the bowl and all. It was a little messy and all got spilled out - but the banana kinda softens the cherrios, so it was easy for her to eat. She loves to self feed.

[Aug2002Bride]

Lauren had diced peaches and cheerios for breakfast
Chicken Ravioli and a jar of veggies for lunch
goldfish, peaches, pears for snack
Dinner will probably be some of our pasta, and whatever else I can come up with.

[twinnyme]

9 months - and this is my first post in this thread. We've struggled with feeding solids, and yesterday was our first 3-solids day that was actually peaceful, so I'm glad to post!

5:00 a.m. - 8 oz.
9:00 a.m. - 1/4 jar apple blueberry; 5 bites soy yogurt/peach (first time), 3 oz.
12:00 p.m. - 1/2 jar green beans & mashed potatoes, a few bites chicken (jar), 1/2 jar apple blueberry, 3 oz.
2:00 p.m. - 4.5 oz.
5:00 p.m. - chicken & sweet potatoes (1/2 jar?), apple blueberry (1/4 jar)
5:30 p.m. - 5 oz.

So, in total, 23.5 oz. and 3 full solid meals!! Very excited in our household - of course, already today, she's refused solids this morning. So it'll still be up and down, I'm sure. I get lots of ideas from here. We're still working on finger foods, but she's had Gerber Wagon Wheels, banana, Cheerios a couple of times (though she hasn't actually eaten them).

DD doesn't have any teeth yet; is it still okay to give her these finger foods?

[HGMorgann]

I've been giving my DD finger foods from the start. She doesnt really like purees. She just gums them to a good mush.


Breakfast: Quaker Oatmeal with Applesauce
Lunch: Brown rice from my taco salad.

I have resigned that my DD just doesn't want to eat purees or baby food - so she eats on what I eat at each meal, as long as I deem it baby friendly:-) She only eats a few bites, but she is healthy, thriving and enjoys a variety of nutritious foods:)

[BooeyJ2]

7 months old today! :)

Yesterday she had....


B - Rice cereal mixed with oatmeal/peach/banana jar food

L - Pears, Gerber puffs and 2 of those Gerber "wagon wheel" puffs

D - Her first "real" (not jarred) meal! Tofu (cut up in tiny bite sized squares), brocoli (just the tops, cooked super mushy) and a few bites of halibut. She seemed to like everything and ate a pretty good amount....BUT she had the worst gas last night. She was fartin' up a storm! I think it was the brocoli.

[curlywig]

Hey ladies,

Forgive me if this info is already in the thread somewhere...I read the first 2-3 pages but don't have time to read all the posts.

DS has started solids, and I'd LOVE to make his food for him. For those of you who do this, how did you get started? Do you have any books you recommend? I have Super Baby Food, but the recipies I've seen seem geared much more for toddlers than younger babies. I'd love any info. whether it's about a book, or how you got started making food yourself!

TIA!!

[Aug2002Bride]

I really dont do anything but put like a sweet potato in the microwave and then mash it up in the food processor. Ive cooked tons of fruits or veggies by microwaving or steaming them. I throw them into the food processor...sometimes add some of the liquid that I cooked them in and Then I freeze them in ice cube trays.

I have trays that have covers. or you could use plastic wrap.

Quick and Easy explanation! Ask me if you have any other questions!

[mia's mama]

11 months:

B- Whole grain toast with "All Fruit" bluberry spread, diced mango and frozen blueberries.
S- 1 wedge of sliced, peeled apple; 4 or 5 Snapea Crisps (have you guys tried these?- My daughter's new favorite snack)
L- 2 Broccoli nuggets, diced roasted turkey, 1 piece of yogurt cheese

[ajlanden]

I haven't stopped by in a while...

10 months
B-Cereal and Stage 2 Pears
S-Cheerios
L-cheddar cheese cubes, WW toast, butternut squash
D-Chicken breast cubes, ww noodles, green beans

[gelfnrach]

Currently Ben is now on a veggie strike. Hes making me nuts. He will only eat a few bites of veggies and then refuse to eat till I give him fruit--esp. bananas.
miasmommyI LOVE those snapcrisps. I will try giving them to Ben. I am sure he will like them. He really likes veggie booty.

Today
B--banana chunks, cheerios, 1/2 small jar of GTH peaches with rice cereal
L--0atbran banana pancake, turkey burger pieces
D--few little broccoli and cauliflower pieces, 4 bites veggie puree, 1 jar of EB banana/peach/oatmeal
Snacks- crackers

[ajlanden]

What are snap crisps? I want some!

[gelfnrach]

Ashleythey are like sugar snap pea snacks (say that 10 times fast! LOL!). I get them at the organic store here.

[marchfamily]

curlywig - We made all of DD's purees and such. She's mostly onto food she can pick up. I'd highly recommend First Meals (we borrowed ours from the library, twice). If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.

[twinnyme]

9.25 months

Yesterday:
6:30 a.m. - 5.5 oz.
9:00 a.m. - jar #2 pears/blueberries, wagon wheel (Gerber)
11:05 a.m. - 6 oz.
12:20 p.m. - 1/2 jar green beans (#2 jar)
2:50 p.m. - 7 oz.
5:30 p.m. - chicken noodle, squash, apple/blueberry (portions of each jar) plus few pieces of shredded cheese
6:30 p.m. - 5.2 oz.

Today:
6:15 a.m. - 5.5 oz.
9:00 a.m. - 1/2 piece toast spread with apple/blueberry baby food
10:45 a.m. - 5 oz.
12:00 p.m. - 1/2 jar mixed veggies (#2), 1/2 jar bananas and oatmeal (#2)
3:00 p.m. - 6 oz.
5:30 p.m. - squash, green beans (portions of each jar), plus more pieces of shredded cheese
6:45 p.m. - 5 oz.

She LOVES the shredded cheese. I started with that because I'm nervous about the cubed cheeses. For those of you who use cubed cheeses, what kind do you use and then do you cut the cubes into even smaller pieces?

I'm so excited; things finally seem to be moving well with finger foods. We're working on it! We've also pretty much successfully transitioned to 3 meals a day - before we were doing 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. (both at daycare). Now it's still 9 a.m., then 12 p.m. also at daycare and then I feed her at home at around 5:30 p.m. Very exciting stuff! :)

[seattleguamgirl]

8.5 months

B - 1/2 cut up banana with oatmeal
S - cheerios
L - cut up steamed broccoli florettes, 1 cube carrots
S - cheerios/puffs
D - 1 cube peas, mixed grain cereal, 2 plum cubes

[Candy]

8 months

B: plain yogurt & 2 fruit cubes (not sure what type DH fed her)
L: 1 meat ball, some whole wheat pasta, 3 cooked baby carrots
S: 1/2 sweet potato
D: salmon, summer squash chunks, & 2 pear cubes

[Aug2002Bride]

B~Banana and Cheerios, 6oz
L~ Baked Chicken Tenders, Diced Peaches, yogurt, 6oz
D~Diced up pork chop, Noodles, Peas

Before she went to bed DH gave her about 1/2 cup of oatmeal cereal with a jar of fruit as well as a 6oz bottle!

Woke up in the night for another 6oz as well.

She was a hungry little thing yesterday!

[firefly]

DD#2 is almost 9 mo old

B 1/2 eggo waffle chunked and 1/2 banana in a babysafe feeder
L 8 oz formula
D 4 oz formula mac n cheese (about 2 tbs of her sisters) squash, pasta, bread crusts from a sourdough loaf.

[ajlanden]

bumping us up...

10.5 months

All of sudden she is NOT interested in purees anymore. She wants to feed herself. Is this normal?

B-WW Toast and as much peach purree as I could get in her
S-something at daycare...
L-Meatballs and Applesauce at daycare
S-Something and daycare
D-Cheese Quesadilla, peas, chicken breast chunks.
20 Ounces of Formula and some water

[marchfamily]

almost 10 months - and DD wants to feed herself these days

Breakfast - oatmeal with cherries, blueberries and cranberries
Lunch - Mac & cheese, goldfish
Dinner - 1/4 of a grilled cheese and frozen blueberries

[twinnyme]

9.5 months

Breakfast - a jar of #2 pears, Gerber wagon wheel
Lunch - 1/2 jar (#2) carrots
Dinner - shredded cheese, Gerber puffs, wheat cracker, and 1/4 grilled cheese on wheat bread (thanks for the idea, marchfamily!)

plus 24 oz. of formula

She tried lots of new foods this weekend, too - Nana's coffee cake, blueberry yogurt with blueberry pieces in it, pasta, bagel, feta cheese, lots of stuff. She definitely wants to feed herself more these days!

[Aug2002Bride]

11 months

B~ Hot Cereal and Yogurt
S~Animal Crackers
L~Shredded Cheese, Noodles with tomato sauce, Cheesey Breadstick
S~Goldfish
D~Diced Peaches, String Cheese, some of daddys spaghetti

Plus about 24-30oz of formula

Not the greatest day for fruits and veggies!

[Aug2002Bride]

11 months

Wasnt herself today so we stuck with baby food and not alot of finger foods..

B~1/2 cup hot cereal, with entire container of yo baby banana yogurt
S~Half of a mini blueberry muffin, a few bites of my apple cake
L~Jar of stage 2 peas, 6oz bottle
S~5 or 6 goldfish crackers
D~11oz of formula, 1/2 cup hot cereal with entire jar of stage 3 applesauce

Plus we are going out to dinner soon so Im sure she will have some goldfish while we are waiting and then pieces/bites of our meals.

[Candy]

8.5 months

DD wasn't feeling very well today, so she didn't eat like she normally does.

B: oatmeal with 1/2 banana
S: 1/2 rice cake & applesauce, cheerios
L: 1/2 rice cake, mixed grain cereal with some apple mixed in ( I tried to give her "normal" lunch, but she wouldn't eat it)
D: 3 Tbs.plain yogurt

[EmilyBronte]

ajlanden~
DS is doing the same. He'll eat a puree, but wants to feed himself, too. Two tricks we've tried that work for DS:

1. Put cheerios on the tray while feeding the puree. DS will usually take a handful of cheerios and then take a bite of puree.
2. Hand Dani a spoon and see if that helps. DS loves holding the spoon while we feed him and it often helps when Cheerios fail.


10 Months:
B - Cream of Wheat, Applesauce, Wheat Germ
S - Wagon Wheels and formula
L - Baby Meatballs, Butternut Squash, Apricot, Pasta, Olives (small amounts of each)
D - we'll figure this one out later!

[BooeyJ2]

Almost 8 months old....

YESTERDAY........

B - Rice cereal mixed w/ jarred #2 bananas
S - Apple/Strawberry Gerber puffs
L - Jarred #2 blueberry/banana
S - Apple/Strawberry Gerber puffs and 1 Gerber Graduate vanilla cookie
D - Jarred #2 sweet potatoes w/ chicken (added a little rice cereal to thicken it up)

All of that on top of 24oz of formula

[ajlanden]

Thanks Miss Emily!!! I found that the distracting her with finger foods works really well too. I tried handing the spoon to her this morning and she looked at me like I was crazy! HA!

While I am here
almost 11 months (HOLY COW! SHE IS A BIG GIRL!)
yesterday:
B-Gerber Flakes and Blueberries
L-Tacos and peas at daycare
D-Turkey Meatballs, WW toast, Cheese and carrots

Any tips on how to get them to drink larger quantities out of the sippy?

[EmilyBronte]

Thanks Miss Emily!!! I found that the distracting her with finger foods works really well too. I tried handing the spoon to her this morning and she looked at me like I was crazy! HA!

HaHa! We started handing James the spoon because I read somewhere that letting them hold a spoon (at mealtime or otherwise) helps them learn to eventually use one. James used to look at us like we were crazy, too, but now he likes holding it!

[twinnyme]

10 months old next week

Yesterday
B: 1/2 #2 jar of pears/squash combo, wagon wheel
L: other half of #2 jar of pears/squash
D: chicken and cheese mixture: I cooked and shredded chicken then mixed it with shredded cheese. Loved it!
plus 29 oz.

Today
B: Yo Baby yogurt, blueberry, star puffs (about 4)
L: chicken/cheese mixture + 1/2 jar #2 sweet potato
D: mashed potatos/peas mixture (again, I cooked it) + few bite-sized pieces of wheat bread
plus 23.5 oz.

I never thought I'd cook so much for her - I'm a terrible cook and was hoping to rely on baby food a bit longer. But I'm glad I'm finding myself motivated to cook for her. I want her to like what she's eating, and I want her to eat well. Plus, I think we're definitely moving away from baby food now. She's even refusing to eat much of it at daycare, where she's ALWAYS eaten very well. So I think I'll be cooking even more! Yes, eating the above combinations with her fingers is hugely messy, and it always seems like a tornado has gone through her high chair after she's done but it's worth it to me to see her so happy eating! :)

ETA: I distract her with the spoon a lot, too - though in our case I give her one to hold and she puts it in her mouth. I then frantically wait with my full spoon ready until her spoon is out of her mouth, shove mine in, etc. You get the picture. Not pretty and not the best psychologically I'm sure - that's one of the reasons we're moving to more finger foods. But it worked for a very long time for us. She just sees it as more of a toy now so I'm working on getting rid of that distraction.

ETA#2: EmilyBronte - thanks for the Cream of Wheat suggestion! I LOVE it and hopefully DD will, too - it's on my shopping list for our next trip to the store.

[LilMarty]

Looking for ideas on how to introduce "real" food...

DS is 8.5 months and only seems to like eating jar food. I have given him some Puffs broken up and little bites of a mashed sweet potato and he makes a face and gags. I even tried putting some ripe banana in the mesh feeder and he turns his head from it. Should I hold off? After reading everyone else's menu I feel like he should be having more real food. How did y'all start out? How did your babies start to self feed puffs & cheerios?

[curlywig]

Looking for ideas on how to introduce "real" food...

DS is 8.5 months and only seems to like eating jar food. I have given him some Puffs broken up and little bites of a mashed sweet potato and he makes a face and gags. I even tried putting some ripe banana in the mesh feeder and he turns his head from it. Should I hold off? After reading everyone else's menu I feel like he should be having more real food. How did y'all start out? How did your babies start to self feed puffs & cheerios?

LilMarty: I had the exact same questions.... We're going to try puffs this week, but I'm interested to hear how others got started with things other than purees.

[pontmarie]

almost 9 months

B - Rice cereal, 1/2 banana, some cheerios
L - Sweet potato, chicken, homemade chicken broth
S - Pears, some cheerios
D - Pasta, jar of fruit (banana/pear I think)
Plus BF

DS is almost off jar food at this point, usually he has one of the 6 oz jars of fruit in the evening but that's it. He never liked any of the purees I made - I don't know if my processor just made the texture icky or what, but now mostly he has regularly cooked food and he loves it. Which is easier for me since I'll make chicken for us all and the only difference is I don't season his portion. We are also lucky to have pear and avocado trees that are in full bloom right now.

He started playing with the cheerios, he'd put his finger on the edge and ping them off into the air, it was really funny, but now he actually self-feeds really well.

I started feeding him solids because he would just stare and stare at our food so I thought, let's try it, and he loved it. Bits of chicken, bits of veggies, etc. All his feeding changes have been on his own time, some a little earlier than the dr. said and some a little later, but he eats like a champ so I'm happy.

[~Kelly~]

Looking for ideas on how to introduce "real" food...

DS is 8.5 months and only seems to like eating jar food. I have given him some Puffs broken up and little bites of a mashed sweet potato and he makes a face and gags. I even tried putting some ripe banana in the mesh feeder and he turns his head from it. Should I hold off? After reading everyone else's menu I feel like he should be having more real food. How did y'all start out? How did your babies start to self feed puffs & cheerios?

Yup....we are in the EXACT same boat as you. I have NO idea what to do next. Maddy just started to be able to eat puffs this week with no problem. Before she would gag the minute it hit her tongue. So progress has been made. I mashed up a banana for her last week and she wasn't having it. I was thinking about trying a mashed up avacado this week so hopefully she will like that.

Geez...is this tough or what.

[BusyBee]

7 months today, she doesn't really take a bottle. She will drink juice or water after meals from a bottle with lots of help/encouragement, but refuses milk if it's not straight from the tap. So...

7:30am - BF before I go to work
9 am - Oatmeal made with EBM, and 1/2jar applesauce
12 pm - 1/2jar carrots and 1/2jar chicken mixed with 1/2jar mango
3pm - Oatmeal with EBM, and 1/2jar applesauce
6pm - BF

plus a ~4am early morning BF snack.

She's in the 95% for height and weight

[twinnyme]

10.5 months

Yesterday
B-about 20 cheerios, 4-5 bites apple yogurt, and a 1/4 of a banana
L-leftover turkey, mashed potatoes, squash (don't know how much as DH fed her)
D-turkey soup (about 10 bites) and a 1/2 piece of whole-wheat bread

plus 20+ oz. of formula

[curlywig]

Question for all the mommas whose DC are eating solids...

DS is 7.5 months old and LOVES all things he's tried. He eats oatmeal every meal with a fruit or veggie (pureed jarred food, stage 2). DH and I thought DS would be ready for more texture to his food, so over the weekend, I steamed and pureed carrots for him. I put them in the food processor and ground them up really fine, but not quite a puree. I thought they were around the texture of oatmeal. Well, DS gagged on them (didn't choke, but gagged) then threw up the ENTIRE bottle he ate just before the solids.

I spent the rest of the weekend taking the highchair completely apart, screws and all, trying to get rid of the vomit smell.

I'm scared to try the texture thing again. Did any of your DC do something like this?

[pontmarie]

DS hated anything pureed at home. I don't know if he hated the texture or what but I had way more luck giving him little pieces of food. He loves bits of banana, chicken, avocado, whatever, but he won't have them pureed. I started out with teeny bits just so he'd get the flavor and now he's onto fingernail sized pieces.

[curlywig]

Thanks pontmarie.

I actually tried doing little chunks first. DS loves jarred banana, so I took a ripe (but not too ripe) banana and fork-mashed it so that the chunks were about 1/4 the size of a pea, if that. DS made this funny face as if to say, "Now, why would you go and do something like that?" He took about 2 of the smallest bites I've ever seen, then turned his head away and was done. We also tried the same with avacado with no luck.


Maybe he just needs to get used to the texture and I should keep trying? :confused:

[pontmarie]

I'd give it a couple of days before you try again - that's what we did and he'd forget he didn't like it :D and then it was a brand new thing. Same with Gloworm, he screamed bloody murder the first time he saw it and then it was his best friend. Or maybe I just have a weird kid :rolleyes:

[curlywig]

Cool, we'll keep trying.

I swear, I must have cleaned that highchair 4 times before the smell was gone....and each time, I REALLY cleaned it...not just a little wipe down! :eek:

[Sneak]

We are working on solids and to me, this is one of the most difficult things I've dealt with since having a child. I have no clue what I should be feeding Jenalyn, how much, how often, etc. She always seems hungry - I just don't want to be overfeeding! Anyway here is our daily meal schedule so far. We are formula feeding.

630am - 5oz bottle
9am - rice cereal, a bit of pureed fruit mixed in, 7 oz bottle
nap
1200pm - 1/2 jar veggies, cheerios, 5-7oz bottle
nap
2:00pm - 7oz bottle, cheerios
5:00pm - 1/2 jar veggies, 1/2 jar fruit, 7oz bottle
while we eat supper - teething cookie or cheerios to keep her busy
anywhere from 7-8:00pm - bedtime 7oz bottle


So does this look about right? I want to start adding more finger food/fruits, etc but don't know which are good to start with. Also when do i start the yogurt? I see some of you started at 9 months....is that just regular from the store yogurt that any of us can eat? This is all so confusing....

TIA for any advice.

[twinnyme]

We are working on solids and to me, this is one of the most difficult things I've dealt with since having a child.

I feel the same way, still! And my DD is 10.5 months. Your meal schedule looks great to me, though - but maybe others with more consistent feeding experience can chime in. We've had our ups and downs, which is why I've found this thread so useful.

Today
B-few bites banana in a mesh feeder, cheerios
L-whole wheat bread (1/2 slice), 3/4 peach Yobaby yogurt, tried giving her apple in the mesh feeder but she didn't like it much
D-cantaloupe in mesh feeder, didn't like it much; a few pieces of shredded cheese, about 10 bites turkey soup (pasta, carrots, turkey, broth), veggie wagon wheel (Gerber)
D#2 - she ate a few tiny bites of homemade pizza with DH and I's dinner, to keep her occupied. I actually gave her a few star puffs but she was begging for our food so we gave her some, since it's rare she actually wants to eat something so much!

plus about 20 oz. of formula.

Also when do i start the yogurt? I see some of you started at 9 months....is that just regular from the store yogurt that any of us can eat?

We started with soy yogurt (but that was because I have a history of allergies and DD was on hypoallergenic formula, so that's what the pediatrician recommended). At her 9 month WBV she was tested for allergies. We found out she's not allergic to milk, so we use regular yogurt now (Yobaby). Oh, and there's no such thing (that I could find) as a baby version of soy yogurt, so you can just use the O'Soy version you find in the supermarket (at least that's what our ped. said).

curlywig - sorry, I can't help, because DD never did something like that - usually she just won't eat it, but at least she doesn't gag/throw up. :eek: Sorry you had to spend so much time cleaning the high chair!

[twinnyme]

Today

B-Peach Yobaby yogurt, cheerios
L-turkey soup and 1/2 slice of whole-wheat bread
D-1/3 frozen bagel, 10 bites apple sweet potato (baby food)

plus 33 oz. :eek: and a few cheerios for a snack before her full breakfast. (The 33 oz. includes a bottle at 1 a.m. which is unusual for her lately.)

[Koala_Gurl]

Subscribing!

DD is 8 1/2 months, and she is totally into finger foods (well, so far just avocado cubes and bits of whole grain pancake.)

I need ideas for other finger foods! :)

[pontmarie]

B - Rice cereal, 1/2 banana, cheerios
S - Sweet potatoes
L - Pasta, jar of fruit, cheerios (he loves self-feeding!)
D - Chicken, 5 wagon wheels (he decided today that he loves them), sweet potato

+ 3 BF

Aidan is now getting 4 teeth in on top so now he can go to town on the wagon wheels, he kept asking for more and more and as of yesterday, he hated the things. :)

[twinnyme]

10.5 months

Yesterday

B-Yobaby (3/4) and cheerios
L-turkey soup (today's the last day of it), whole-wheat bread (cut into tiny pieces as finger food), wagon wheel
D-14 grains rice (2 at a time; she still has no teeth), 8-10 bites of apple/sweet potato baby food, frozen bagel (probably ate about 1/3), ETA: Forgot to mention I also gave her cantaloupe in a mesh feeder again and she seemed to like it a little more this time.

plus 27 oz. of formula. As for finger foods, we're still working on those so I can't be too much help. But what I did was go through this thread, find age-appropriate finger foods and create a list (I did this a while back) and started trying those items. That may give you some ideas!

P.S. Sorry to monopolize the thread lately but I have found this thread SO hopeful that I like to give back when I can (like the sleep thread, too!).

[seattleguamgirl]

I try to rotate snacks and finger foods since DS (almost 10 months) loves to self feed and this is what we've had success with:


egg yolk cooked in non stick skillet then diced (I separate the egg yolk and cook it whole rather than scrambling it up--this makes it easier to dice)
whole grain brown rice cakes crumbled to tiny pieces
diced chicken or turkey
gerber graduates freeze-dried apples
snapea crisps, broken into bite-sized pieces


Yesterday:
B - 1/4 of a rice cake, apples
D - butternut squash soup with smashed lentils and brown rice cereal

[pontmarie]

9 1/2 months

B - huge bowl of oatmeal, 1/2 banana, wagon wheel
L - pasta (his and some of mine), big jar of fruit
S - cereal, cheerios
D - pot roast, some spinach, apple

[majorgal]

7 1/2 months

B - oatmeal (quite a bit) and pears with raspberries (1/3 jar)
L- nursed only
D - mixed grain cereal, 1/3 jar beans, 1/3 jar carrots, 1/3 jar apples with mangos

My DS has been on solids for a month and a half now and despite many attempts, he has refused any and all finger foods. When did your DS/DD begin to show interest in self-feeding?

[Traciann]

Majorgalmy dd is a couple days older than yours and she eats the biter biscuits, ziewback toast, wagon wheels and I can feed her the gerber fruit puffs. I think she will like to self feed when her pincher grasp is more developed. I can kinda see that getting better...but we are not quite there yet.

[Brady]

My DS has been on solids for a month and a half now and despite many attempts, he has refused any and all finger foods. When did your DS/DD begin to show interest in self-feeding?

Major- My son didn't really get interested in self feeding until ~8.5 months. I would put things on his tray around 7-8 months and he just wasn't interested. Once he could pick it up on his own, move it from hand to hand etc., then he started to want to put it is his mouth to eat it. Now, at 9 months, he'll try whatever's given to him!

Our current issue is drinking. He refuses anything out of a cup, we tried two different kinds of sippy cups, I tried a straw, I tried a regular small cup... we've tried water, water mixed with juice, formula out of a cup, etc. He wants nothing to do with it and will push it away. Now that he is eating more and more finger foods, I worry that he is not taking anything to drink with it. He won't even take water out of a bottle when we are finished....

[curlywig]

Such good info Brady! My son has finally mastered having some texture to his food, but self feeding is going nowhere. He's almost 8 mos, so I guess he might be ready soon.

[Tenny]

I'm so glad I found this thread! I alwasy wonder if my boy is eating too much or too little!

DS is 7 1/2 months and this is a typical day..

B: 2.5 tbs oatmeal ceral mixed with EBM
L: Little jar of veggies or fruit and 1/3 yogurt
D: Little jar of veggie or fruit and 1/3 yogurt

Today lunch is bananas mixed with the yogurt. I usually sever them seperated but he wouldn't eat bananas or apples alone. But he loves his veggies!!

Kim Andy isn't too big on feeding himself either. However, he does like the wagon wheels!! And they are alot less messy then the bitter biscuits.

[twainny]

Bump...

I need more ideas for finger food for my 9 month old!

Anne

[Aug2002Bride]

12 months

B~about 1 cup of hot cereal, 1 container of Yo Baby, 6oz milk
S~More milk and half of a cookie
L~Entire container of Ravioli's, 1/2 jar stage 3 squash
S~Banana, 6oz milk
D~We are having meatloaf and mashed potatoes so she will have that

[magdesilver]

7.5 months:
All day long....nurse on demand
mid-morning: oatmeal mixed w/ ~2 oz. ebm, mixture of 3 tbsp. sweet potato, 1 1/2 tbsp. avocado, 1 1/2 tbsp. pears (I make all my baby food and the ice cubes of food are 1 1/2 tbsp. each, so she had 4 cubes today).
I'll be adding an afternoon meal at 8 months.

majorgal- my DD will eat broken up gerber puffs but she doesn't have the pincer yet so she can't pick them up (because they are small- I have to break them up because she still has no teeth and I'm afraid to give them to her full size!). Even food chunks- she will put it in her mouth if she can get it but she doesn't have the grasp to really grab the pieces yet.

[twinnyme]

12 months

B~about 1 cup of hot cereal, 1 container of Yo Baby, 6oz milk
S~More milk and half of a cookie
L~Entire container of Ravioli's, 1/2 jar stage 3 squash
S~Banana, 6oz milk
D~We are having meatloaf and mashed potatoes so she will have that


Aug2002Bride: Can I ask a couple of questions, please?

#1 - what container of ravioli's are you using? Great idea!
#2 - how does your DC eat the banana? DD loves bananas and I either give it to her in a mesh feeder or in tiny tiny pieces. She can't pick up the pieces and while she does like it in the feeder she doesn't get much. She LOVES to eat it straight out of the peel as we do but I'm afraid to have her do that. She was 11 months yesterday.

Thanks!

Ideas for finger foods: I found some ideas at the Cheerios (http://cheerios.com/fff/basics.asp)web site recently. Granted, it's somewhat biased, but they do have some good ideas!

[majorgal]

7.5 months

B - Nurse
9:00 - 8 oz. bottle of EBM
11:30 - oatmeal with about 2.5 oz. of EBM, 1/2 jar mixed veggies, 1/2 jar peaches with bananas and some Cheerios
12:45 - nursed
3:00 - will get 8 oz. EBM
6:30 - Mixed grain cereal (with EBM), 1/2 jar squash with corn, 1/2 jar peas, 1/2 jar pears with blueberries

He'll probably have more Cheerios when we get home.

Thanks to all for the feedback on finger foods. I have kept offering and Aidan has begun to take them more...even getting some pincer action going! I was paranoid about the full-size Cheerios, but, after realizing how quickly they dissolve (and talking to other moms) I gave him the full-size. He LOVED it. He could pick them up by himself, and, despite having only two teeth still (the bottoms) he really has the chew motion down. It's such fun to watch him eat them!

I am going to keep offering healthy table food that is age-appropriate.

[HGMorgann]

Twinnyme- we give DD bigger sized chunks of banana. You know how the banana naturally splits, we use that to split it and then have about 1/2 inch of length per chunk so its easy to pick up the slimy banana:-) Today, while holding her, I let her knaw on the "whole thing" and she did great. I probally only would/will let her do that while VERY supervised - holding her, ect.

This probally has been addressed, but have you noticed some days your DC, eats TONS of solids, then others, barely any? My daughter goes one day inhaling anything that isn't faster than she is, and the next, all she does is nurse. Its fine by me, just...interesting!

Today's meals:
Nurse on demand
B: Cherrios as I frantically get ready for a meeting
L: pizza crust (great, I know, I forgot some of her food...) and banana
D: Probally sweet potato chunks and yogurt

[twinnyme]

Twinnyme- we give DD bigger sized chunks of banana. You know how the banana naturally splits, we use that to split it and then have about 1/2 inch of length per chunk so its easy to pick up the slimy banana:-) Today, while holding her, I let her knaw on the "whole thing" and she did great. I probally only would/will let her do that while VERY supervised - holding her, ect.

Thanks! This is how her liking bananas began - me holding her while eating a banana and her attacking it. Then we progressed to tiny pieces and she didn't like it as much. Maybe the bigger pieces, as you suggest!

This probally has been addressed, but have you noticed some days your DC, eats TONS of solids, then others, barely any? My daughter goes one day inhaling anything that isn't faster than she is, and the next, all she does is nurse. Its fine by me, just...interesting!

Absolutely! In fact, I just finished feeding her dinner, and for one of the very few times (a handful maybe) she had a jar and a half of #2 food, PLUS tiny pieces of chicken, spinach and bread (from a leftover calzone I had for lunch). Most days I'm lucky if I can get her to have 1/2 jar of food. I usually start with the jar of veggies/fruit to make sure she gets SOME of that in, then go to the finger food once she starts getting fussy.

Today:

B at 6:30-about 10 bites total of apple/strawberry #2 jar and cream of wheat (separately)
S at 8:45-1/2 jar #2 apricots and a few Cheerios
L at 12-rice, oatmeal bread (cut into tiny pieces), and shredded cheese
D at 5:30-chicken/spinach/bread (from leftover calzone), full #2 jar apple/mango/kiwi and 1/2 #2 jar of prunes (first time for prunes; DH bought it the other day when I told him to buy a variety...)

plus 21 oz. of formula

[Brady]

I really need to go through this thread from the beginning to make a list of ideas. Thanks for that cheerios link, Melissa, that helps!

Question- what is "better" about the YoBaby yogurt? I'm thinking of adding yogurt into our menu, and just wondering what that is compared to say just plain whole milk yogurt.

9 months old
Our day today was:
Breakfast- whole wheat toast, app/straw/banana mix, few cheerios
Lunch- more cheerios, some banana, apple sweet potatoe puree
Dinner- puree chicken and broccoli, #2 pears

Also, another question is how long should they have the oatmeal/mixed grain baby cereal? Is it up to a year? I'm also wondering if I am giving him too much sugar with all the fruit/cheerios...

We are late for our 9 month WBV, the appt. is Monday, so I feel like I have a ton of questions for his Ped. re: eating!

[twainny]

since I bumped this.. I guess I should add....

am: BF and then Cheerios while I am getting ready
Breakfast at daycare: 2 applesause cubes
Bottle
Lunch: 3 squash cubes and 2 mango cubes and Cheerios
Bottle
Bottle
Dinner: Banana, Sweet Potato that he feeds himself, and 2 pear cubes and... yup... Cheerios!
Before bed: BF

DS is 9 months, and I just cut the banana in hald and then give him 1/4" pieces and he eats them fine. I also cook and then freeze sweet potato in slices and then cut that up for him. He likes feeding himself!

I will have to check out that cheerios link, cause my babe LOVES his cheerios!

[Aug2002Bride]

I still give DD the baby cereal. I was told if she would continue to eat it then it was fine as it was healthy. So I dont give it to her all the time but probably twice a week maybe 3 times I give her that in the morning.

As far as the Yo Baby Im not sure about that! I just have always gotten the YoBaby so thats why I just stick with it because DD likes it and eats it well.

For the ravioli I either buy the Gerber Graduates ones or the Chef Boyardee ones...the little microwave containers. She always eats the entire container of Chef Boyardee, and Ive noticed lately she wont really eat the Gerber graduates. So I havent bought anymore of those recently.

The banana's I just give her a whole banana in like 3 chunks that I break off....so she gets a good hunk of it and she does fine with it. I used to cut it up and then probably in her 11th month I just started giving it to her whole but in smaller sections than an entire banana at once. Even though most of the time she whines until she has a chunk in each hand! :)

[twinnyme]

Thanks, Aug2002Bride and HGMorgann - I tried mid-sized banana chunks this morning, but it still makes me nervous. I kept taking them away from her (not a good thing) and making them smaller.... And her appetite for solids was much lower this morning - guess she filled up on them yesterday!

Re: Yobaby. I don't know why we use this one. In fact, it's crossed my mind once or twice that there's really no need to - I think it's just a marketing thing. Before DD's 9 month WBV we thought she might be allergic to milk so I specifically started with soy yogurt (O'Soy) but after she was tested for allergies at the 9 month visit, I switched to Yobaby.

how long should they have the oatmeal/mixed grain baby cereal? Is it up to a year?

I believe that if your DC is on an iron-enriched formula then it is not necessary to continue with the baby cereal. We didn't because DD is on Alimentum (and because she didn't seem to like the cereal very much; I think we only used it for a couple of weeks). At least that's what my pediatrician said; I'd check with yours.

I do wonder about the fruit/sugar thing, too, Brady. I tend to try to begin with getting a few bites of a veggie in, then do finger foods, then end with a few bites of a fruit (and supplement with veggie wheels and puffs) because of that concern. Some days it works, some days it doesn't. I try not to stress too much about it. But she loved the spinach yesterday so I'm going to buy some of that and give it to her as finger food, I think.

Even though most of the time she whines until she has a chunk in each hand!

This is what Becca does, too - usually with bread. My little carb girl! Loves her bread, pasta, etc., which is why I'm so focused on getting in the veggies and fruit, too. But when she has one big piece of bread in one hand, one in the other, and one already in her mouth - well, that's why I started cutting it into tiny pieces. Someone said to me recently, let HER worry about what she has in her mouth and when it's too much (and you just stay focused on giving her the food she wants), but I'm still just too afraid to do that.

Our/my confidence in giving her solids, though, has grown in leaps and bounds over the last few months, however, so we're steadily getting there! Now if I could just get her to take a sippy cup....

[ladybug0525]

What a good thread - I had been curious if I could start giving Jack Cheerios and it looks like we might start. So far I have been making all of Jack's food and finding it really easy actually!

ETA - Jack is 7 months

B - Oatmeal and Banana
L - Squash, 3 cubes

BF - 5 times

[twainny]

Last night for dinner my little piggy ate:

1 WHOLE banana
1 WHOLE jar of stage two peas
1 WHOLE container of yougart (6 oz)
and cheerios!

I couldn't believe he ate all the yougart!

I haven't given DS yobaby. We buy Brown Cow. I guess it doesn't have sugar in it (though I think it does). I know Yobaby does. And we only buy plain, I couldn't find yobaby plain yougart. But my MIL bought Yobaby for our stay are her house, so we will see if DS likes banana and vanilla yougart.

We started Cheerios at 5 months, broken in half for about a week.

Oh we were at Trader Joes yesterday and DS was hungry... they were serving bagels, so he ate some bagel. I might give him some English muffin today!

[magdesilver]

7.5 months

nurse on demand (around 7 times a day)
1 meal a day (homemade baby food in cubes):
1 cube pears mixed with 1 cube avocado
1 cube green beans mixed with 1 cube + 1 tbsp. sweet potatoes
baby oatmeal mixed with 2 oz. EBM

[Chylynn]

8 1/2 Months

Breakfast
1 Jar Pears
Baby Oatmeal mixed with water
4 oz bottle of formula

Snack

1 Fruit Wheel (apple)
Gerber puffs
Cheerios (she is practicing her pincer grasp, so she does not get a ton in her mouth)

Lunch

1 Jar Tender Harvest Peas
1/2 Jar Tender Harvest Apple Strawberry
4oz formula

Snack

Gerber puffs
Zweiback toast
4oz formula

Dinner

2oz Chicken
1 Jar Tender Harvest Applesauce
1 Jar Bannanas
4 oz formula

She drinks 24 oz of formula and the remainder of her nutrition is coming from baby food and/or table food. We are going to start yogurt next month.

When do you normally start cheese with a baby?

[Sasha]

This thread has been so useful! DD is 7 months old and we just recently added lunch to her schedule, bumping her up to 3 solids meals a day. My question is, I know that BM/formula is baby's main source of nutrition throughout their first year. But also that they tend to drink less once they have more solids. So that kind of confuses me. DD used to drink 30oz/day, now she is at 28oz/day. FWIW, she is in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th for height. Thanks for the help, and all these great ideas!

[Brady]

When do you normally start cheese with a baby?

I started after 9 months. I use this list (http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babyfeeding/1400680.html)from Baby Center a lot to check when I question what he should/should not be eating.

Sasha- My Ped. said with solids he would drop down to about 20-24oz. a day. My son is 9.5 months old and has 3 meals a day of solids and I would say stays right in that range, with it usually being about 22-24oz a day on average.

Here are his meals from yesterday and today, so far:

Today, so far:
B- Nutri-grain pancake, applesauce
L- Spinach Lasagna (puree), some bread at restaraunt, cheerios
so far, 16 oz of formula

He's def. more interested in finger foods than purees lately. He'll eat/try everything in tiny pieces. We had spinach and broccoli calzone last night. ;)

[catmom]

My dd is 9 months, and still isn't eating finger foods. It seems like every baby here who is more than 7 months old is eating them! I have offered them, but she just doesn't seem to know what to do with them (the only thing that DOESN'T end up in her mouth). I have tried putting a bite or two directly into her mouth, but she will just sit there with the food in her mouth for a minute and then spit it out. Was anyone else's baby really slow to start with finger foods? Should I be pushing it more, ot should I just keep going with purees, which she likes?

[pontmarie]

9 1/2 months

B - Oatmeal, 1/2 banana
S - 1/2 banana, toast and hard boiled egg
L - Pasta with squash, sweet potatoes, apple
D - Chicken, edamame, cheerios, jar of fruit

Doing some cooking today, making a batch of his much beloved chicken rice soup and some squash.

ETA: forgot to add apple

[curlywig]

Catmom,

My DS is 8+ months old and he really still just smashes pieces of banana in his hands...every now and then one makes it into his mouth. But, we try with every meal, and I have seen improvement.

When a piece makes it in, we make a BIG deal over it and smile and applaud. Maybe try something similar? That way your DD will understand what you want? I'd say just keep trying and she'll figure it out!

HTH!

[Aug2002Bride]

12 months

B~Gerber Graduates Toddler Cereal with Milk, 1/2 banana
S~Goldfish crackers, some banana and sips of milk
L~1/2 container Ravioli, Cheese
S~Few bites of deli turkey and cheese
D~1/2 grilled cheese sandwich, few bites of steak and cheese sub, Milk, 1/2 cup applesauce

[magdesilver]

almost 8 months...
nurse on demand
meal #1: oatmeal mixed w/2 oz. ebm
1 cube each (~1 1/2 tbsp. each) sweet potatoes, avocado, green beans, applesauce
meal #2: 1 cube each sweet potato, avocado, peas, pears

[Candy]

My DD seems like such a li'l piggy compared to all the other kiddos. lol

Maya is 10 months.

B: oatmeal
L: some pot roast, 3 carrots, a few potato chunks
S: about 5 blueberries & 5 raspberries, 3 strawberries, 3 crackers
D: 2 meatballs, about 10 ww ziti noodles, 1/4 of a peach, 2 pineapple chunks, 1 blackberry

nursed 5X's.

[HGMorgann]

B- cherrios, banana chunks
L - cherrios, 2 crackers with cheese, 5 cut and peeled grapes
S- Zweiback toast
D- cooked and chopped spinach w/ yogurt and barley, 1/4 Barley Teething bisquit, a few, maybe 10? speghetti noodles w/ a tiny bit of sauce - what a mess! Straight to the bath she went!!
Nursed on demand, about 5 times?

I think DD is sick of cherrios. She barely ate any today even though I served them 2x.

Are there any other nutritious cereals that your babies eat?

[jmvan74]

DS 6 months

Nursed 6 times
B: baby oatmeal and 4 oz. plums w/ apples and pears
1 ounce water
D: baby rice cereal 3oz of sweet peas and 1 oz peaches

[Candy]

Are there any other nutritious cereals that your babies eat?


I've just started giving Maya Kashi puffs. Maya is sick of cheerios also.

[majorgal]

I would think puffed wheat and puffed rice would be good to try in place of Cheerios.

[magdesilver]

I've also heard of giving kix cereal as well. Probably most of the cereals in the health food store would be good- some of the kashi cereals maybe?

[Koala_Gurl]

Candy - or anyone else serving berries...

Do you worry about the seeds? I give DD blueberries, and wanted to try raspberries...but was worried about the seeds!

[Candy]

Koala_Gurl Hey how are you?
I've been giving Maya blueberries for a few weeks. Last week I gave her raspberries & blackberries and she did great. She's been eating what my step mom calls "toddler food" for quite some time now though. I'm, always right there with her & she's great at coughing things up. :rolleyes:

[magdesilver]

Regarding berries, I've seen strawberries on numerous high-allergen food lists that say to wait until 1 year before introducing them. Even if baby does fine with them, repeated exposure prior to 1 year can increase the chance of allergies to the food. Other berries like blueberries and raspberries do not have the same effect, but you might not want to risk it with the strawberries until 1 year old.

[Aug2002Bride]

12 months

B~Gerber Graduate Flake Cereal with Milk
S~Goldfish and 1/2 sugar cookie, couple of small bites of my orange
L~Couple of bites of Ravioli, Goldfish, Cheese, Milk
S~Stage 3 jar of pears, Strawberry Banana Fruit Cereal Bar
D~ 1/2 piece of pizza with no crust, Shredded Cheese, Goldfish, Milk

[curlywig]

Pumpkin pie?

DS is 8+ mos old, and I'm tempted to give him some pumpkin pie my mom made (without the crust probably). I know there is some form of milk in the pie. Think it's okay to give him some tastes?

[Aug2002Bride]

12 months

So far today...

B~Gerber Graduates Cereal with Milk...didnt eat much of it ...maybe 1/4 cup, 3 bites of blueberry yogurt

S~Cheese stick

L~ 1/4 to 1/2 chicken tender, handful of sweet potato puffs, small handful of goldfish crackers, the rest of the container of blueberry yogurt, lots of milk

D~ A little bit of meat off of my spare ribs..not much though....some sweet potato puffs....and a little bit of DH penne pasta with tomato sauce. Lots of Milk

[majorgal]

Almost 8 months

Nursed five times

L: about 1/2 cup infant oatmeal and no-sugar applesauce (not baby applesauce), a few bites of cheddar cheese

D: 1/2 cup multi-grain cereal, 1/2 jar corn, 1/2 jar peas, 1/2 jar pumpkin-pear mix

Snacks: Cheerios

curlywig: I bet the pumpkin pie would be OK. I mean, not a huge amount, but I don't think a few baby-sized bites will do any harm.

I agree with what Mag said about the strawberries. I would hold off on them until 12 months.

[HGMorgann]

Pumpkin Pie - the milk is condensed and/or evaporated milk (Depending on recipes), i think that actually makes a difference. I let my DD have a few small bites at Thanksgiving and she LOVED it:-)

[susie96]

One of my friends acted shocked the other day about how much baby food DS eats. What do you think?

He is right at 8 months and nurses 5 times a day.

Additionally, he has:

breakfast--small jar fruit plus about 3 tablespoons of cereal

lunch--small jar veggie

dinner (this is where she freaked)--large jar veggie, four tablespoons cereal, and small jar fruit.

He is on the large size if that makes a difference--about 20 lbs.

[Aug2002Bride]

12 months

B~few bites of mini pancakes, 1/4 of my bagel with cream cheese
S~Jar of stage 3 bananas
L~1/2 cheese pizza (small round deepdish frozen ones), sweet potato puffs
S~Applesauce
D~Not sure yet....

Plus milk in her sippy throughout the day...
Ive been wondering though for those of you with 1 year olds...how much milk does your little ones drink throughout the day? For those that arent nursing anyway!

[magdesilver]

8 months old
nursed 5 times (and probably once or twice more overnight :rolleyes: )
a.m.: 3 TBSP carrot/sweet potato mix, 3 TBSP avocado/applesauce (unsweetened, the adult kind) mix, baby oatmeal mix w/2 oz. ebm, a few gerber sweet potato puffs

p.m. 3 TBSP sweet potatoes, 1.5 TBSP pears mixed with some tofu (first time trying the tofu), a few more gerber puffs

I also gave her some of the gerber puffs as we were walking around Target, it kept her happy! After a few more days of tofu (I wait 4 days in between new foods), I am going to try some yogurt and mix her morning cereal with that so I don't have to bother pumping anymore. I *hate* pumping, even for just the 5-7 minutes it takes to get 2 oz. for her morning cereal!

[jilly]

Hi Everyone!
I'm joining in for the first time. DS just turned 9 mos, so we're kicking it up a notch with solids. Here's what he ate today:

B: barley cereal with 1 jar banana and pears
L: 1 jar carrots and peas, 1/2 jar applesauce
Snack: 1/2 jar applesauce, 1 wagon wheel
D: 1 jar chicken/veggie, 1 wagon wheel and teething biscuit

I'd like to start on more table foods, but I've got a few questions (and please forgive me if their duplicates)
-What kind of cheese do you give your child?
-What about wheat bread products? Any that you like?

susie - I don't think that's an outlandish amount of food. My DS is almost 22lbs. At our WBV, the dr. recommended 1.5 jars per feeding or moving up to Stage 3 (same amt), and he recommended adding one or two snacks. So that would be comparable to what you're feeding now.

magdesilver - you're to be applauded for still pumping for cereal. That lasted about 1 week for me. Like you I *hated* pumping. It's such a PITA. It'll be interesting to see how it goes for baby #2. Don't know how I'll ever find the time.

THANKS!

[magdesilver]

8 months
nursed on-demand (~6 times)
a.m.: 2 oz. sweet potatoes, 1 oz. pears mixed with 2 tbsp. baby oatmeal and 2 oz. yogurt, a few cheerios

p.m. 1/4 of an avocado mixed with 1 oz. pears and 1 oz. yogurt, a few more cheerios and gerber puffs

jilly- My DD has never had a bottle of ebm, I just started pumping when we started cereal, and I still hate it! I always meant to pump a bottle but we moved right around the ideal time for it so I never got around to it. DD only gets hers straight from the tap, but it's easier that way anyhow, if not always convenient. Oh well!

[Aug2002Bride]

12 months

B~1/2 cup (at least that much) hot cereal withjar of stage 3 bananas, 6oz milk
S~Some Goldfish, few bites of strawberry banana cereal bar

L~few bites of chicken, few bites of white rice, little shredded cheese (I had Mexican for lunch with friends so she kinda grazed from my plate), apple juice

S~Goldfish, Strawberry apple puffs, 3oz milk

D~1/4 cup of pasta with tomato sauce, one meatball, few sips of milk

S~before bedtime Stage 3 jar of fruit, 6oz milk


Jilly

I just use the mozzarella string cheese sticks and break them up in small pieces or I use cheddar or mozzarella shredded cheese if I have that.

As far as wheat bread, I just use any wheat bread that is on sale or my store brand the majority of the time. DD doesnt actually eat alot of bread just because I dont usually buy bread that often because neither DH or I eat it really...so it usually goes to waste when I do buy it. I did just buy some today though (store brand) to try out grilled cheese sandwiches or toast in the morning.

[twinnyme]

Jilly

I just use the mozzarella string cheese sticks and break them up in small pieces or I use cheddar or mozzarella shredded cheese if I have that.

As far as wheat bread, I just use any wheat bread that is on sale or my store brand the majority of the time.

Exactly the same here - though I primarily use the shredded cheese. Just recently, I've given her block cheese cut into slices - she's teething and has also been sick so for a few days now she'd only eat crackers, not even cheese, which she loves (so I finally gave it to her in slices and that seems to help her bite down on it better without hurting so much). We finally got a veggie into her yesterday; I won't even post what she's had the last few days to eat! Not very nutritious! :eek:

DD loves grilled cheeses. Oh, and I still break all the bread for DD into teeny-tiny pieces. Otherwise, she shoves it into her mouth too much at a time.

[jilly]

Thanks for the responses ladies! I really appreciate it!

[twinnyme]

Today

B-cinnamon raisin mini-bagel (one side; about 2/3), about 1/5 of a banana, and cheerios

L-half a grilled cheese (and ate most of it), spinach (frozen/cooked - she LOVES this lately; I think maybe because it's easy to pick up. She always liked the spinach lasagna baby food, too), animal cracker

D-more spinach, macaroni and cheese, and a banana (she saw me moving them and got very excited, so since it seemed like she wanted one, I gave it to her again)

plus about 16-20 oz. of formula (I've stopped counting so much), some puffs and a veggie wheel as snacks.

[susie96]

Thanks, Jilly, for the reply. That makes me feel better! You know what's odd? He's always been such a chunky baby, but now that we've been doing solids for a little while I think his weight gain is leveling out. I guess my BM is just really fattening, and now he's taking less of it?

Another question. I really want to start DS on finger foods. He's 8 months. I tested out the pincer reflex, and it's not there yet. Do I need to wait longer? So far all he's had are the biter biscuits, but I'd like him to try the Gerber Puffs.

[magdesilver]

susie- My DD hasn't had biter biscuits yet, but she does fine with the gerber puffs and oatios (organic cheerios). Her pincer is just starting to develop, mostly it seems to be by chance that she can pick up the pieces and she only sometimes gets them in her mouth! But she loves it! We give her a little with each meal and sometimes when we're out I will give her some oatios if she is getting bored or tired of sitting in the shopping cart. I was breaking them up into tiny pieces but DH didn't know that and gave her a whole one about a week ago, and she did fine! So now we just give her whole ones.

8 months
BF on demand
a.m. oatios, 1/3 cup yogurt mixed with 1/4 cup pears and 2 TBSP oatmeal cereal
snack: oatios and gerber puffs
p.m. oatios, 1/4 cup sweet potatoes mixed with 2 TBSP green beans, 2 TBSP mashed black beans mixed with 2 TBSP avocado mixed with 1-2 TBSP white rice

[BooeyJ2]

9 1/2 months old......

B - Rice cereal mixed with pears and some Gerber puffs
S - Sesame Street crackers
L - Gerber Graduates "Chicken Stew with noodles"
S - Gerber puffs, half of a rice cake
D - Gerber Graduates "White Turkey Stew with Rice", a few plain spaghetti noodles and some bites of meat from the sauce
Dessert - jarred pears

....plus 30 oz of formula

[Candy]

10 months

Yesterday
B: ww waffle, whole banana
L: 1 ravioli, 1.5 meatballs, spinach, 1 nilla wafer
S: a few blueberries & raspberries, 2 small ww pretzels sticks
D: salmon, 3 asparghus spears, 1/2 peach, 2 "cookies" (biter bisquit)

Nursed 3 x's. We are s-l-o-w-l-y weaning. :(

[alienhost]

Can I join in?

DD is 8 months old
Yesterday:
Nursed 5x
AM: 2tbsp oatmeal with BM, 1/2 stage 2 applesauce, 6 Gerber veggie puffs/12-18 Cheerios
Snack: 6 Gerber veggie puffs/12-18 Cheerios
PM: stage 1 container sweet potato, 1/2 stage 2 pear, dozen or so Cheerios

Gerber Puffs/Cheerios We started the puffs a week before she turned 8 months and Cheerios a week later because she did so well. She still drops some in her high chair but I'd say 90% make it to her mouth on her first try. Within a few days she really improved. QUESTION: how many of these do you offer at a sitting? I'm trying to figure out the portion so she doesn't fill up but still has enough to practice.

Honestly up until about 3 weeks ago solids was a struggle with DD, now she is eating them more readily but she still doesn't eat a huge amount (she is small though and was a month early).

Can anyone recommend other finger type foods? We have her 9 month appointment in a few weeks so I thought I'd ask the ped about other foods to offer then.

[HGMorgann]

Alienhost - We usually do about 10-20 puffs per sitting. If you look on the container, a serving size is something like 80 puffs, and that has like 80 calories, so basically they are puffed air! I wouldn't worry too much about your DD filling up on them.

Finger foods - we do puffed brown rice cereal, cherrios, small, soft carrot chunks, cut up and skinned grapes, cut/skinned apple pieces, healthier crackers, banana and sweet potato chunks, soft small green bean, brocolli, zucchinni, avacoda chunks. If it is small, soft and mashable, basically its a finger food for us.

[susie96]

Thanks, Magdesilver. If she is satisfied with what she's eating (i.e. entertained), then you probably wouldn't like the biter biscuits anyway. They keep him occupied, but they are very messy! It's really more for gumming than actually eating, and he gets coated with it.

So, are the puffs more dissolveable than the Cheerios then? I may get some while I'm out today. For some reason the Cheerios scare me. When I "tested" the pincer, he just kind of slid the cheerio around on the tray. Never tried to pick it up, and I was secretly relieved.

[magdesilver]

Yes, the puffs dissolve faster than the cheerios. I did the puffs about a week before the cheerios (I use oatios). BUT, if you are trying to avoid wheat for whatever reason, the puffs have wheat, but then I think the biscuits that you gave do too, so there you go!
I think your DS will be fine with the puffs. I give the sweet potato ones and she loves them! And it is nice to keep her occupied at her highchair for a few minutes while I get something done or eat myself!

[cgmom313]

I havent been to this thread in awhile, but I went back to page 1 and wrote down ideas.

DD will be 10 mths old next week and has totally boycotted pureed foods. I feel like what should I give her, what not to give her. I guess I feel scared to give her meat. Not sure why.

Also, When I gave purees she would eat and eat and then close her mouth when full so I know she was getting enough. When I give her "real food" she does get it in her mouth but then she plays with it and throws it on the floor, puts it in her hair. It likes she needs a bath after every meal. So a Question..."How much food do you give and how do you kow it is enough?"

Here is the menu from yesterday..

B - Whole bananna, cherrios, and 1/2 of the small cups of adult no sugar applesauce
S - Gerber Puffs/ 2 animal cookies
L - Handful of Pasta Spirals from some Pasta Salad I made. Few Captain Wafers Crackers
S - 2 Mini Rice Cakes (Apple/Cinnamon flavored)
D - Steamed Green Breans (about a handful) & pieces of fruit cocktail. (Light Syrup)
Approx 22 oz of Formula throughout the day.

So I will start join more and give some of the other offerings you all have been doing.

[alienhost]

susie96 I just wanted to say that i was terrified of the Cheerios too. I tried them myself and found they do get very mushy when you have them in your mouth. DD gums them to death before swallowing. Be warned though, she did gag the first time I gave them to her but that was the only time. Start with the puffs, they melt very easily. If your DS is used to "gumming" I think he should do fine. Also the puffs are a little larger, so easier to pick up.

[alienhost]

HGMorgann thanks for the ideas and you are right about the puffs - she probably won't get full on those. :)

[twinnyme]

Honestly up until about 3 weeks ago solids was a struggle with DD, now she is eating them more readily but she still doesn't eat a huge amount (she is small though and was a month early).

That's great! My DD was the same way, and is much better now.... She still doesn't eat very much either, though, which often worries me - but in answer to the other question, I know when enough is enough when she starts playing with her food, putting it in her hair, throwing it on the floor, or just closes her mouth and won't open it for anything!

Today

B-no real breakfast, because of timing of wake, nap. Did try to give her some yogurt but she only took 2-3 bites

L-mac n cheese, spinach, veggie wheel, ETA: about 1/4 of whole grain bread (torn up)

D-tortellini, about 10 pieces, some with meat in the them, some with cheese (leftovers from last night-she went absolutely CRAZY for them!!), tried cauliflower but she didn't like it much, and about 3/4 jar of #2 apple/blueberry baby food

[Brady]

Here was our menu today..
B- cereal w/pear pineapple, cheerios
L- spinach and broccoli calzone, 1/2 pancake, some pureed fruit (escaping me which one)
D- turkey rice puree, fruit puree
S- veggie puffs, kix cereal

We had a busy day today so had more puree than anything. I find he loves the "real" food, but it is a looonnnggg eating process. :rolleyes: So, on busy days I'm thankful for the pureed!

[alienhost]

Today she still has a cold but is eating pretty well by her standards
DD is 8 months old
Nursed 5x
AM: 1 tbsp oatmeal with BM (I made 2 but she would only eat one), 1/2 stage 2 applesauce, 17 Gerber veggie puffs (since it is still new for us I'm a dork and count them out and subtract those that end up on the floor :D )
Snack: 12 Gerber veggie puffs (tried the sweet potato today) 2 dozen or so Cheerios and a few bites of pear puree
PM: 1/2 stage 1 container carrots, 1/2 stage 2 pear, 6 veggie puffs/dozen or so Cheerios

[Sasha]

Question for you "pros"...do you BF/give a bottle at the same time that your DC gets solids or in between solid meals? DD is 7.5 months old and we are into stage 2 foods now, but I am still struggling with a feeding schedule, which I have to have for her daycare. I do a mix of both, but am curious to see what others do (esp. at this age).

[magdesilver]

Sasha, this is pretty much what we are doing now- some days DD will nurse more (like if she has a really long nap, then she'll need to nurse during the next awake period and then again I'll nurse her down to get sleepy, but then the nap nursing is usually very brief to help her get sleepy and calm down).
Ideally....
7 am wake up (nurse)
9 am nap (nurse to sleepy)
10:30ish wake up
11 feed a.m. meal (right now we do 1/3 cup yogurt mixed with 1/4 cup fruit and 2 TBSP or so of oatmeal cereal, and some oatios cereal)
1 nurse to sleepy
2:30ish wake up
3:00 nurse
4:00 p.m. meal (usually a veggie meal of some sort, with some black beans for protein and some more oatios or gerber puffs)
5:30 nurse to sleepy
She also usually wakes up around 10 to nurse again but I'm working on getting rid of that feeding.

[alienhost]

That's great! My DD was the same way, and is much better now.... She still doesn't eat very much either, though, which often worries me - but in answer to the other question, I know when enough is enough when she starts playing with her food, putting it in her hair, throwing it on the floor, or just closes her mouth and won't open it for anything!


Thanks for the encouragement, I was getting very frustrated for a while but it is so much easier now.

Question I really only do two solid (not counting snack) feedings, mostly due to DD's wake/nap schedule. She wakes first at 7AM but goes down for a nap within an hour after nursing. She gets up at 9:30 or 10 so I either nurse/solids at 11 or give solids then nurse an hour later. So that is really breakfast/lunch (I guess brunch). If she nurses again at 1, I wouldn't feed solids until 2 so that seems late for "lunch" so I usually just do a "snack". Dinner is around 5. When should I be getting that third meal in?
Also what do you guys do when you have to go out? Obivously I need to do errands and other "stuff" and I sometimes am out around "solid time" so sometimes one gets skipped. I hate to think I'm denying her food but she is nursing every 3 hours.

Sasha I'm no expert but I vary it, sometimes I BF before, sometimes after. If she is ravenous, I can't give solids before BF. I've found she needs an hour between either to be hungry enough.

[pontmarie]

10 months old

B - bowl of oatmeal, banana
S - 1 egg, toast, few cheerios
L - 1/2 cup pasta, 1/2 cup sweet potatoes, 1/2 baby apple
D - 1/2 lamb shank, small amounts garlic bread, rice, zucchini, broccoli (we went out to dinner)

plus BF

[susie96]

THanks, guys. I actually bought the sweet potato puffs at Wal-mart yesterday. I can't wait to try them!

[Tenny]

DS is 8 months old I'm trying to write out an eating timeline for daycare. And found myself wondering how other kids his age are eating. I'm always worried that he isn't getting enough solids or milk and then I worry that he is getting too much!

This is usually what a typicial day is like

4:30 Wake up, breastfeed and then fall back to sleep.
6:45-7:00 Wake up and eat again.
8:30-9:00Cereal and maybe some fruit
9:30 Nap
Wake up and breastfeed (or bottle of EMB at school)
12-30-1:30 Have lunch (usually a veggie)
1:30-2:30 Nap
When he wake up from nap he breastfeeds of have bottle of EMB
5:30: Dinner (some puffs, veggie and some yogurt for dessert)
7:00 breastfeed and then bed.

Do you give your kids solids seperate then BM or formula? Or do you lump it together in the same meal?

[jilly]

Tenny...that schedule was like looking in a mirror!

The only difference is that at our 9mo WBV, the doctor recommended adding at least one snack (preferably in the afternoon). Here's what DS ate today:

DS - 9 mos.
4am - BF
7am - BF
8am - Cereal and 1 jar fruit
11am - BF
Noon - 1 jar veggie, 1/2 jar fruit, some puffs
3pm - BF
4pm - yogurt
6pm - 1 jar pasta/veggie dinner 1/2 jar fruit, some puffs
7pm - BF

Although DS has gotten weary about eating. He turns away to the spoon, which is SO unlike him. He's cutting a new tooth.
Do y'all think it's that? Or do you think he's getting bored with the jars.

[susie96]

OK, so I am more normal than I thought.;) Our schedule is also very similar!

[majorgal]

Aidan is 8 months old and this is a typical day for him:

6:00 AMish: Wake and nurse
9:00 AMish: Nurse or bottle of EBM
Nap
11:30/12:00: cereal with EBM, veggies (1/2 jar), fruit (1/2 jar), appropriate bits of whatever his childcare is serving the toddlers for lunch
12:30/1:00: Nurse (I go to his Center to nurse him for lunch)
2:00ish: Cheerios or a few puffs
Nap
3:30/4:00: Nurse or Bottle of EBM
6:00: A few Cheerios while I prep his dinner
6:15: Cereal with EBM, 1 jar vegetables, 1/2 jar fruit, a few Puffs, rice cakes, banana bits, etc.....some finger food.
7:15 Nurse

He often gets some water in a sippy cup (though he does MUCH better with a real cup--with assistance, of course) at the child center as well.

[alienhost]

DD is 8 months old
Nursed 6x
AM: 2 tbsp oatmeal with BM, 1/2 stage 2 peaches, 6 Gerber veggie puffs/dozen Cheerios
Snack: 12 Gerber veggie puffs, 2 dozen or so Cheerios
PM: 1/2 stage 2 jar peas, 3/4 stage 2 container of pear, 12 veggie puffs/18 or so Cheerios

[seattleguamgirl]

11 months old

B: canteloupe chunks, a sprinkling of organic version of Rice Krispies cereal
L: zucchini and leek soup with rice cereal
D: small meatball and pureed green peas, handful of Veggie Booty

BF 3x plus 3 bottles of formula

[Tenny]

Thanks Ladies!!!

I feel alot better now! I guess with being a first time mom, I'm always second guessing myself. I guess that is one of the reasons I love these boards!!!

There is one woman at work that has a son a month older then DS and his eating is completely different. He eats ALOT more solids and only BF 3 times a day. So I was starting to wonder if I was way off in how I feed DS.

[pontmarie]

10 months old

B - cup oatmeal and 1 banana
S - 1/2 avocado, toast
L - sweet potatoes and squash (homemade)
D - rice, meat, carrots - ate the same as us

Plus 2 BF

[Mrs.Chappy]

looking for advice..my almost 7 month old started solids 3 wks ago..he loved the cereal and appleasauce and pears (sort of). Then he got a bad cold and started clenching those lips shut and boycotted solids altogether...loves the bottle hates the sippy cup (initiallly he took to it well). He is on the upswing from the cold but only takes a few spoonfuls of cereal and then boycotts...is this normal..when should i call the doctor?

[lee60657]

Subscribing...

Mrs. Chappy is he still taking his formula and/or BM? My dr told me not to worry as long as DD was still taking her bottle normally. But it never hurts to call the nurse and/or dr if you are really concerned.

DD is 10 mths. She started cereal at 6 mths and then veggies and fruits shortly thereafter. She started finger foods around 9 mths and loves them. I am trying to give her a big variety, but it is starting to get tough to think of new things to feed her. I need to go back through this thread for ideas.

Today DD had "grown up" oatmeal with small diced pieces of apple and a bit of cinammon along with half a banana for breakfast. For lunch, she had baked chicken, orange pieces, a few slices of cucumber, some whole wheat pasta with a little butter and parmesan, some kernels of canned corn and half a jar of stage three green beans and rice.

We are slowly weaning her off the pureed baby food. But she still gets a baby food veggie with her lunch and dinner.

[alienhost]

Today

DD is 8 months old
Nursed 6 or 7x
early AM snack: dozen cheerios, 1/4 stage 2 pear.
AM: 1 tbsp oatmeal with BM (made 2, only ate one) 1/4 stage 2 peaches, 18 Cheerios
Snack: 2 dozen or so Cheerios
PM: 1/2 stage 2 jar peas, 3/4 stage 2 container of pear, 12 or so Cheerios

Poor DD is constipated. Tomorrow's menu includes prunes, I just wonder how much to offer so I don't create a mess...

Mrs Chappy DD didn't like solids initiallly either, she liked the oatmeal the best and really resisted the fruits and veggies. Sometimes she wouldn't eat the cereal either. I found that she had to be in the right "mood" - not too hungry, not too full and not too tired. Just keep trying and don't get discouraged, eventually you'll have a breakthrough. All of a sudden one day she started eating everything and liked it. I've read sometimes you have to offer things 12 or more times before they like it and that was true in some cases for us.

[susie96]

So I've finally started offering a little finger food. (DS is 8 months.) Yesterday I cut up part of a banana into tiny pieces. He really thinks I've lost it. The kid puts everything from shoe strings to the remote control in his mouth, but not the banana. :rolleyes: I tried to feed it to him myself. I didn't have a lot of luck until I put it on a spoon. He coughed it up. I don't think he's really chewing. Today I did the Gerber Puffs. Again he'd only eat them if I put them in his mouth for him. I don't think he's really chewing like he should. It sits in his mouth forever. Is he just not ready? My mom suggested mashing the banana, but then that's defeating the whole purpose of finger foods isn't it? Thanks to anyone who knows the answer to this!

[twinnyme]

Well, I'm not sure I know "the answer" but here's a suggestion or two: my DD (who is almost 1 year) still cannot really eat small pieces of banana on her own; they're too slippery for her to pick up. Is your DS even trying to pick up the pieces? (If not, this may not be the problem.) But I saw somewhere to try coating the pieces with smushed-up cheerios and then it's easier to pick up. That didn't really work for us, either - but it might for you.

DD LOVES LOVES LOVES bananas, though, so I've continually tried. In just the last week or two (probably too early for your DS, though maybe not) I've given her bigger chunks (about 1/5 of the banana) whole and she picks up the whole thing and eats it. She's also learned to pull off smaller bites.

Just some ideas.... don't know if they're much help. I agree, though, that mashing it up is defeating the purpose. :( Maybe's he's just not ready yet? You could leave the pieces on his high chair at every meal and then eventually he may pick them up on his own when he's curious enough.

Mrs.Chappy - my DD has also gone through waves of liking/not liking solids, and sometimes I couldn't even attribute it to sickness etc. My ped. said it's really only for practice before 1 y.o. and as long as she was getting about 24 oz. of formula a day, it was fine. We have SLOWLY worked our way up to more consistent solids eating, while still going through waves.

Yesterday
B - 3 bites yogurt, 3 bites banana, 4 oz.
Snack - puffs & cheerios
Lunch - tortellini (about 10-12 pieces), spinach
She threw up at daycare at about 4:30 so to hydrate her and because I was pretty sure she would not eat solids last night, I just gave her formula for dinner - 6 oz.

In total she had 16 oz. of formula yesterday.

So far today her appetite is back again. Ate a whole apple yobaby yogurt this morning, plus some puffs and cheerios! We have a WBV this afternoon so we'll check out the vomiting then, too. Hopefully it's nothing!

[alienhost]

I've tried the banana piece too and DD cannot pick them up (and she can do the puffs/cheerios no prob). I make the banana pieces the size of a Cheerio b/c I'm nervous of choking and I think the size is an issue. I too tried the Cheerio coating method and that didn't really work either. She tried but ended up mashing them around her highchair tray.

I think you might want your DS to master the puffs/cheerios first, then move on to more difficult to pick up foods. It probably will be less frustrating for the both of you.

I'm going to hold off on the slippery wet foods for a little bit and then try again.

[susie96]

DS isn't really trying to make the connection to his mouth with either food. I tried puffs again this morning, and he seemed to enjoy them but never put them in his mouth by himself. I guess we'll keep practicing. Thanks!

[magdesilver]

8 months
Nursed on demand
a.m. some oatios and puffs while I was eating my breakfast :)

after a.m. nap: 1 peach yobaby yogurt (4 oz.) mixed with ~2 tbsp. oatmeal, some more oatios

p.m. 1 piece of whole wheat bread in small pieces (no crust)as finger food, about 1/4 cup of sweet potato in clumps as finger food, 1 slice of apple shaved and chopped as finger food, a few oatios and puffs

[alienhost]

Today - not a great day for eating, she wasn't terribly into eating anything but Cheerios...

DD is 8 months old
Nursed 5x
AM: 1 tbsp oatmeal with BM (made 2, only ate one) 1 tbsp stg 1 prunes, 1/4 stage 2 container of pears, dozen Cheerios
Snack: 1 dozen or so Cheerios
PM: 1/4 stage 2 jar peas, 1/4 stage 2 container of peach, 1 tbsp oatmeal w/ H2O, 3 dozen or so Cheerios

[Brady]

Susie- I agree with the others, just keep leaving them on his tray,and eventually he'll figure it out!

I'm still battling with the sippy cup here! I keep trying to tell myself he's still relatively young.. but still, i will be so happy the day I see him take a sip out of it!

10 months:
B- cheerios, pancake, banana, some mixed berry thing
L- spinach lasagna puree, some chicken from my salad, 1/2 fruit
D- cereal with leftover fruit, ditalini pasta with a little butter and parm. cheese

snacks- some cheerios, kix, and puffs:rolleyes: I need to work on some more vegetables. It's hard as my DH doesn't eat them, so it's rare that i make a side dish of them.. I really have to start doing that more so he and I now will eat them.