Help Feeding One Year Old

[mickeyluv'r]

I'd be careful of hotdog (choking) and of course you should avoid anything nut - peanuts, etc.

Yogurt and cheese are good foods. If your child is still nursing, or getting milk, I wouldn't worry too much. These are good sources of protein.

Remember that whole wheat has some protein too. Cheerios are good food too - I'm not sure about the protein content.

I personally try to avoid anything with hydrogenated oils or corn syrup in it. This is very hard. You have to read labels. Once you start feeding a kid that garbage, they will want to continue. Why do you think fires are the number one veggies that American kids eat? I'm not trying to insult anyone here, but a lot of the food on the market, especially food geared towards kids is really terrible stuff to be feeding them! Try reading the chocolate Pop Tarts label! Yuck! A lot of food that didn't used to have this garbage in it have converted in recent years, because corn syrup is cheap. [Up until a few years ago, Oreos were actually still made with lard! (That was the main ingredient in the 'frosting'!) ]

My nephew ate primarily yogurt for many years as his prime source of proetin. Now he likes fish and shrimp, clams, but still no beef! And he's a healthy 14 year old.

I do sort of agree with the poster who said, many kids will eat what you give them if they are hungry enough. It may be that your toddler knows she can hold out for the foods she likes, however, I know my nephew was VERY stubborn. If you tried to force beef in his mouth, he wouldn't swallow it! - Hours later he'd still have it in his mouth!

Having said that, my DD wouldn't touch jarred baby meat, and really didn't like much else in the jars for very long. She wanted to eat what we were eating! Pretty quickly I started pureeing our foods for her (fuits, veggies, meat). It really doesn't take long, and I could make up a batch of fruit for the whole week. Last summer she loved yogurt and peaches. Now she won't eat either, but she likes chicken, loves deli turkey, bacon (I don't really have this in the house, but when dad gets it at a restaurant, she wants it). For breakfast we usually have blueberries and Cheerios. The only veggie she really likes is broccoli - the rest of us are getting sick of broccoli...

 

[cdrn1]

My thoughts are that if you offer nutritious foods, toddlers will eat what their body needs. My kids went through wierd eating spells where they would only eat one thing, i.e mac and cheese, for a week or two then all of a sudden they wanted potato pancakes, or tomatoes. They all grew up healthy and happy and eat all kinds of daring and adventurous foods. No nutritional deficits, no eating disorders, etc. I have a cousin who, for years, would only eat grilled cheese. No meat, no veggies. Of course dessert he would eat. I remember Thanksgiving dinners, there he would sit with a grilled cheese sandwich on his plate! He grew to be 6'4'' and never missed one day of school, k thru 12!

 

[auntie k]

she also spits out food and swipes it off her tray. I am at a loss on how to stop her from doing those things. :

I'm with you Gabbysmom...I have the same struggles. My niece won't even eat things like fries, or desserts if they aren't soft! Her's is definetly more of a texture than taste issue.
She's a good size and is healthy, but finding things she'll eat is a nightmare.

At least she has finally started to eat grapes - which helps counteract the cheese - if you know what I mean.

 

[planning06]

It seems with both of my girls I went through hair pulling (mine) stages between baby food and table food. They didn't want baby food anymore but didn't eat a wide variety of table foods. It may take some time but keep introducing foods and she will eventually try and eat a much larger variety. As others have stated, try to push nutritious foods and read labels. Since she is only getting a small amount of food make it count. Oatmeal is also good, but you don't have to give her the sugary kind. Plain old oatmeal is great. You can always sweeten it with a little honey or brown sugar on your own and it will still be better than the pre-sweetened oatmeals.

Don't be afraid to introduce foods that you wouldn't normally think is a child-friendly food. As long as it isn't an allergy or choking hazard, let your daughter be the judge. My girls loved avocados, chickpeas (mushed), black olives, salad (lettuce or spinach with crumbled blue cheese and italian dressing), etc. all at very young ages. I can't tell you the number of times people commented that they couldn't believe they ate those things at their young ages.

Good luck! I'm glad I'm past this stage.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

My thoughts are that if you offer nutritious foods, toddlers will eat what their body needs. My kids went through wierd eating spells where they would only eat one thing, i.e mac and cheese, for a week or two then all of a sudden they wanted potato pancakes, or tomatoes. They all grew up healthy and happy and eat all kinds of daring and adventurous foods. No nutritional deficits, no eating disorders, etc. I have a cousin who, for years, would only eat grilled cheese. No meat, no veggies. Of course dessert he would eat. I remember Thanksgiving dinners, there he would sit with a grilled cheese sandwich on his plate! He grew to be 6'4'' and never missed one day of school, k thru 12!

Your post reminds me that I read something similar to this in a parenting book. While adults tend to need to balance their diet every day, kids' needs are different. They can binge on protein one day, and veggies the next. So long as they are offered nutritiuos foods, they will tend to balance their diet over the course of a week, rather than each day. Their cravings will tend to match their dietary needs.

 

[nuke]

My son was always in the bottom 10% for weight so I worried about what he ate all the time. I would make sure he got enough protein and iron grams every day and worry worry worry all the time. It was stressful for me and him.

Moral of the story, he is 7, healthy as can be and still in the bottom 10% of weight for his age. I stopped worrying about what he ate when he was about 2 and I just let him eat what he wants to. He makes pretty good choices and loves veggies, yogurt and fruit. He rarely eats candy and his idea of having cookies is one oreo.

 

[Leader of the Club]

My 10 month old has not eaten baby food for a couple of months now. I usually just serve him whatever we are having, cut up in to 10 month old size bites. The only thing that he did not like was salmon--he not only spit it out, he handed it back to me.

He eats cheese, crackers, black olives, mushrooms, spaghetti with tomato sauce, peas, carrots, broccoli, grilled cheese, peanutbutter toast, whole grain breads, graham cracker sticks dipped in yogurt, corn, pizza, egg yolks, goldfish crackers, apples, bananas, peaches, strawberries, sliced grapes, waffles, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, etc.

 

[Leader of the Club]

I personally try to avoid anything with hydrogenated oils or corn syrup in it. This is very hard. You have to read labels. ..

I have been trying to do this a lot lately. It is really hard to find stuff with out this junk in it. The kids are going to love making homemade cookies!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

I love this post! Too bad it wasn't around when mine was younger (she's almost 2 now). She gave up baby food around 9 months too. And I feel like I send the same stuff to day care every day! But as long as they are growing and your pedi isn't concerned, I say let them eat the same two things every day!!!!

 

[cdrn1]

We give my DGD 18 months whole blue lake green beans out of the can and she dunks them in ketchup and calls them French Fries. She also loves scrambled eggs, cheese slices, and Gerber meat sticks. I buy Alphabet pasta and stir in steamed veggies, sometimes throw in some spaghetti or plain tomatoe sauce, or even mild salsa. She loves it. She also eats canned soup; we rinse it in H20 and just warm up whats left over without the "soup". You have to watch the sodium content, though. Some of the soups are pretty high in sodium. She also loves shredded cheddar right out of the bag.