Baby Food Suggestions

[becka]

DS (8 1/2 months) is really loving table foods and while he will still eat some of the jar stuff he is really starting to turn his nose up at it.

We have been feeding him Cheerios, crackers, graham crackers, applesauce, fruit cups, pancakes, macaroni and cheese, green beans, corn, breads (banana bread is a favorite), Gerber meat sticks, zwieback toast, yogurt and oatmeal.

I am trying to come up with some additional foods to start feeding him. He tried grilled cheese sandwiches at day care yesterday and really loved it so I guess I will add that to the line up. I know he likes the jarred sweet potatos and I am going to try to learn how to cook them. Can I just bake them like a regular potato?

Does anyone have any additional suggestions. I want to start him on a variety of foods but I am never really sure what to try him on next. Most of the foods we eat for dinner are heavily flavored with spices (I love spicy, hot foods) and I am not sure he is ready for that just yet.

 

[vickyBaby]

I don't have any specific suggestions Becka, but just be careful with the meat sticks. When I worked for a baby food company, we referred to them as "chokers." Please make sure you cut the meat sticks into small pieces and don't give it to Nathan whole to pick up and eat.

 

[amid chaos]

Sweet potatoes...peel, cube and boil...then mash. My kids favorite when they were young. You can also do the same with butternut squash.

How about some plain pasta...like ziti?

 

[pumba]

also those zeiback cookies can come off in big chunks...the little boy I sit for loves those canned pasta things....yuck to me but he loved them.....my duaghter never had baby food in a jar.....I made all her food with what we were having....always had a frozen pkg of one of the bigger meals to give her if we were having something that was to spicy or to much for her.....she loved beef stew.....just pulled apart the meat and she had carrots and potatoes....when she was four months that was her most favorite thing to eat.....we blended back then....do what you are eating and mince really fine.........

 

[janette]

I make sweet potatoes like regular ones in the microwave, just mash them with a fork when they are done. It's pretty easy but you might have trouble finding them out of season.

I would give him some of whatever you are having but without the spices. If you make ground beef just get some out before you add the spices or cook it in the microwave by itself. Pasta's are always good, he can have just the plain noodles or with a little bit of sauce. There are several pasta meals that are more for kids. Something that sounds strange that we did with my youngest DD was to put vaseline on her face, when she ate things with tomatoe sauces she'd break out from getting it one her face. With the vaseline on she didn't break out anymore, just washed it off along with the rest of the mess when she was done.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

My DS decided to turn up his nose at jarred baby food when we were on vacation at the beach in1989. We gave him bits of fresh fish that we had cooked for dinner and he loved it. He is still a fish eater today. That is the only thing I specifically remember.

 

[Jenn]

Around that age my daughters stopped eating baby food and turned their noses up at the 3rd stage baby foods (with the chunks in them).

So, they ate whatever we were having just cut up really small. I would leave a section/piece unseasoned for them. For example, if I was making chicken breasts I would do 3 with seasoning and leave 1 plain. Pasta, I would put just a touch of sauce on theirs. I would always keep some favorites on hand in case we were eating something they really couldn't eat - like maybe pizza. So, I would make a single serving of mac n cheese, pasta, etc. for her.

My youngest is 17 months now and eats anything and everything. She expecially likes to feed herself, but hasn't mastered a spoon yet, so I just cut it all up and put in on the high chair tray and she is happy as can be. Of course, I am right next to her to make sure she doesn't eat too much at once.

 

[aprincessmom]

Potatoes -- any kind mashed up -- are great. Squash or mashed carrots. DD liked the carrots because they have a sweetness to them as well.

Also try waffles, scrambled eggs, and pasta of any kind. DD also loved fish although at that time I gave her more meaty fish like salmon because I was worried about bones that I couldn't see. I did actually make her fish sticks and she liked those very much. I'd do a bone sweep on a piece of haddock or flounder, cut it into strips and roll in cormmeal or bread crumbs then back them. She really like those.

As for spices, I didn't over spice the food but I didn't serve it too bland and DD didn't seem to mind. I didn't serve her jalepenos but I didn't remove garlic, oregano, ginger, etc. from the foods. To this day she loves things seasoned with spice and will eat a wide variety of food types.

 

[disykat]

I usually gave my sons what we were having, but kept the following foods on hand if what we were having wasn't appropriate.

Sweet potatoes - baked, peeled, and cut in little cubes. I usually baked several and kept several baggies of cubes in the freezer to pull out.

Turkey meatloaf - made with spinach and oatmeal. Again, cut in cubes and kept in handy baggies in the freezer.

Canned baked beans mixed with macaroni. I did this after age one, since my kids didn't get wheat until then.

Any of these things could be served up with some banana and pretty much make a meal.

 

[binny]

I bought a book called The Unique one-recipe three meal family cookbook" by Sara Lewis


It has recipes that can be made for babies, toddlers, and adults.

If you are intersted you can PM me your addy and I would be glad to drop in the mail for you

My kids are past that stage


How about cooked carrots? My kids all loved them, on a side note, Cameron drank so much carrot juice when he was a toddler that he turned orange ( just a warning to limit it lol)

 

[MerryPoppins]

We didn't use much of the food in jars. We mashed up what we were eating or ran it through a babyfood grinder. If we were having something spicy, I pulled out some for the kids before adding the spices or served leftovers from the day before.

I never threw away leftover veggies. I'd freeze them in an ice cube tray that I stored in a freezer bag and then put them in baggies. I could either mash and feed them to the baby or add them to stew.

Hot dogs are another choker! Just cut things up in small pieces and he should do fine.

 

[Minnie824]

My DD is 15 months now and pretty much eating all table foods, although she'll eat some of the Gerber Graduate stuff still. A couple things she loves are French toast (you can buy the frozen sticks, microwave, and you're set), cheese (LOVES cheese), bananas, ravioli, and lasagne (be prepared for a mess with this one though).

 

[cgcw]

The babies I care for always love to have corn and peas. It really gives them a challenge working on the fine motor skills and the pincher. I've never had a little one choke on them -- many other things but not the corn and peas.

Have ou tried honeydew melon or cataloup yet? The kids tend to enjoy those also.

One thing I've learning doing home daycare is that when the kids are really hungry, I always put the vegetable on their plates first when I'm serving. I've found they they will start to eat them and then I stall for a second or two and add the other things. Very rarely do I nurture a child who turns his/her nose up at vegetables like a lot of kids do (my own DS8 included!!). I think it's because they have always eaten them and they actually taste good to them when they are really hungry.

This is such a precious time of experimenting. It sounds like your having fun teaching him was real life is all about.

 

[leahannpen]

There are some great ideas here. My DS is 21 months. We gave him bananas, cheese, cut up tomatoes, scrambled eggs, toast with jelly...butter...peanut butter, french fries, chicken breast or nuggets cut up, peas, carrots(soft and cooked), broccoli and cauliflower steamed soft, corn, canned green beans(ds LOVES this!), pasta, mashed potatoes, Teddy Grahams, Gold Fish, graham crackers, Ritz crackers, Jello, Pudding, Apple sauce, mixed fruit cups, yogurt, Mac N Cheese, Gerber fruit snacks, Fruit Loops, Cheerios, Kix, Life cereals.....

It seems to me we don't give him alot, but I guess we do. We try to give him a variety of stuff and we are giving him as much of our food as we can, as long as it's not really spicy-hot.


I always like new ideas, so please keep them coming everyone.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

DD is 17 months and eats whatever we eat. She was never big on baby jar food. She didn't really start eating solids on a regular basis until she was close to 1 year.

Some of her favorites are yogurt, bananas, mashed potatoes, deli lunch meat (turkey and ham), cheese (too much is can make a baby constipated), chicken fingers, oatmeal, and any kind of sauce. She loves to dip her food in sauce. She eats everything from ranch dressing, to BBQ, to horse radish!

 

[MerryPoppins]

Bananas are another choking hazard. Be careful how you serve them. It's better to cut banana slices in half or quarters. They'll wedge less that way.

 

[disykat]

Someone mentioned peanut butter. It is recommended now not to give children under 3 peanut butter, due to the prevalence of peanut allergies. You do not have to have a history of food allergies for your child to be at risk.

I'll hop off my soapbox now, just take my word for it - peanut allergies are not something you want your child to have!

 

[mtemm]

avoiding peanut butter isn't just because of allergies...I have heard that it can also cause choking because of its consistensy. Also, if you do scrambled eggs make sure to just do the yolks for now.

we just tried grilled cheese sandwiches this week (Daniel is 11 months) and he LOVES them. Will eat a whole one and ask for more. I'm going to try cooking my own sweet potatoes, too...loves 'em.

I've also started cooking up some frozen mixed veggies and giving them to him to pick up by himself. Feeding himself is huge, no matter how messy! LOL!



Good luck!

Marcia

 

[Princess_Aurora]

Man, we just graduated to stage 2 gerber foods when DS turned 8 months earlier this month. I didn't start my DD on table foods until she was a year old. DS couldn't eat much anyway...he still doesn't have any teeth!

 

[Lynn CC]

Homemade soups are really nutritous for anyone.
My DS's fav at that age was Lentil Soup. I made it really thick so he could scoop it up himself. I put tons of fresh veges in there and little macaroni's too. A complet meal.
If you want the recipe, just let me know.

I also have another good one for breakfast that was DS's fav.
It's made with raisin bread, applesauce and cottage cheese. He still loves it!