Feeding Help

[SuzySunshine]

Ok ladies, a novice mom needs some help. Adele is now eating table food or she's supposed to be but I don't know what to feed her.

Her breakfast is easy, yogurt and banana.

Her lunch and dinner are another story. Right now she is getting some Cheerios, a 1/4 to a 1/2 of a cheese stick, usually about 1/4-1/2 cup of applesauce and then we try to give her a little bit of what we're eating.

I've tried ham and pepperoni, neither of which she would eat.

I feel like applesauce is her main food group which I know isn't necessarily bad for her but :huh:

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, she'll usually at least try something once.

Any tips on how to get rid of the bottle would be great appreciated as well!

:anyolne:

[HouseofWool]

Re: Feeding Help

How old is she Cheri? I can't remember exactly.

Re: Feeding Help

She just turned one.

Mine hung on to the bottle until they were 18 months or so. I just kept offering cups and if I knew it wasn't a "need" to drink at that moment, sometimes I wouldn't hand over the bottle. But I know kids who still take a bottle at well over 2 ... so ... I'm no help.

As far as what to feed her, I can't remember by age, but I think Super Baby Food has some great guidelines.

Re: Feeding Help

I agree with the Super Baby Foods idea.

Maybe some peeled and cubed pear? Same for carrots or apples chunks that you could boil/steam a bit to soften. Lunchmeat? Toast, of hard boiled or scrambled egg, rice, noodles...funny that this was just a year ago for me and I can't think of more. She grew...she must have eaten something...

[DCJenn]

Re: Feeding Help

mashed potatos, mashed sweet potatoes, bits of pierogies (we had a theme), scrambled eggs, liverwurst, bits of cheese. Peanut butter sandwiches, ritz crackers, etc. Most veggies steamed and cut into bits.

Nikolai has NEVER once eaten a meat product that wasn't unidentifiable. The Morningstar Farms Chick'n nuggets (MUCH lower in crap than the regular chicken nuggets) and the ever popular fishstick are still big in my house. He'd sooner remove a leg than eat a piece of ham or chicken. I have made mini salmon patties that he ate.

Good luck!

Jenn

[Flynn]

Re: Feeding Help

I second what everyone has said. I also had great luck with the "healthy" products that were fake fish or chicken.
Scrambled eggs were/are my savior. Get her excited to "dip" things.

Tofu is something I have had some luck with too -- the flavored kind.

Also, toast with varios toppers -- cream cheese, hummus, eventually a mashed tomatoe and basil baby bruschetta if you will.

I was ruthless when it came to getting rid of breast -- I just cut them off and kept handing them a sippy cup. They figured it out although DS didn't drink anything that wasn't in food for two days. He survived. DD actually thought the cup was fun. She took a nuk though so I think that helped.


I'm typing one handed so ignore the typos or SP. Wiggly baby in arms.

[Phoebe]

Re: Feeding Help

This is a time of trial and error, introducing new foods and finding things she likes. It is also a transition time of her switching to table food and eventually beginning to feed herself a little more.

Meat is almost non-existent with all my kids. Oatmeal is huge. Lots of cut-up fruit. Green beans, peas and baked carrots. They weren't hits though. None of my kids likes potatoes except fries. Yogurt is a big staple since they didn't like meat. Now I buy vanilla yogurt and mix some peanut butter in it to hit the protein. Goldfish crackers.

The bottles... I bought Nuby sippy cups which resemble bottles and have the soft tips to transition them. They were well over a year though before giving them up.

[Auspicious]

Re: Feeding Help

Ugh, we've developed food issues that I'm trying to be very zen about. However, some things she likes are:

--cooked peas as finger food. she even likes these cold. Or the frozen "mixed vegetables" or "vegetable blend" (small diced carrots, peas, corn, potato etc)
--egg! little pyrex bowl + pam + 1 egg + splash of milk + maybe shredded cheese + maybe 1 oz veggie puree. Beat with fork and microwave 50 seconds or until solid, then use spoon to cut into bite-size pieces. The more milk the fluffier the end product. No dirty pan.
--canned black beans, drained and rinsed
--canned salmon or chunk light tuna fork-mashed with a bit of cream cheese. This can make globs solid enough for her to eat with her fingers.
--tearing up a piece of whole wheat sandwich bread into little bite-size pieces. My parents say it looks like I'm feeding a duck at the park.
--1 piece of bread spread lightly with cream cheese then folded in half and then use a pizza cutter to cut into tiny squares
--spiral or tube shaped pasta cut up
--oyster crackers (loves these, I think it's the salt)
--theoretically tofu, though it's been a while since she's had any. I used to mash the silken tofu with banana.
--I've been meaning to make "vegetable pancakes", which are I guess pancakes with some pureed vegetables mixed in, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I have to remember where I saw the recipe.

Every meal has some finger foods, but almost every meal has chunky purees still here, too. Most of her meats and vegetables are still purees. And I miss all those summer fruits! I feel like it's too much applesauce and bananas around here.

Re: Feeding Help

My parents say it looks like I'm feeding a duck at the park.

That is cute.

Beans are a good idea. My kids loved canned beans, rinsed. You could also make a quesadilla and cut it into little bits -- with or without beans if she likes them.

Re: Feeding Help

Jack is younger than Adele but he never took to spoon feeding so I have been doing finger foods since 7 months. The only time he has ever gagged is when I forgot to peel the skin from some peach chunks.

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com is great, there is a recipe for pancakes there that maybe is what Julie saw, I have made them with all different veges added.

Meats etc: Jack likes chunks of extra firm tofu or cut up chicken breast. And I made little "sausages" for him from ground turkey, I will try and find the recipe as I think it was a different website.
ETA: here is it: http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.c ... -food.html "baby chicken fingers with apple". Another good website by the way.

Chunks of vegetables like carrots, sweet potato consistency are great if you steam or microwave them. They have an easy texture for them to chew.

Soft fruits: peaches, plums etc.

Slices of avocado.

Pasta, I try and buy rice pasta or whole wheat as it is more nutritious.

Pieces of toast dipped in fruit or vege puree.

We do beans too, great for practicing the pincer grasp!

[SuzySunshine]

Re: Feeding Help

Thanks guys that all helps. I guess I just worry that she was getting so much of her calories and vitamins from formula and now that she's on whole milk is she still getting enough nutrients? :huh:

I will definitely try these and I'll keep giving her the sippy cups interspersed with the bottle, I guess she'll eventually give up on the bottle.

[migirl]

Re: Feeding Help

The transition to table foods is hard, IMO. DS#1 turned out to be the World's Pickiest Eater, and it all started when he started table foods so now I'm nervous about DS#2 turning out the same way. I just don't have the energy to deal with two picky eaters in this house!!!

ANYWAY.

Super Baby Food has lots of good finger food ideas.

Some things that we do:

- cottage cheese, tofu
- "natural" cheeses (cut up for finger food ... melted on bread, veggies, etc.)
- frozen veggies (SO easy and convenient ... I can just get out what I need to feed baby and steam it in the microwave!) ... peas, carrots, green beans, etc.
- both kids *loved* sweet potato fries (peel and cut a sweet potato into "fries;" toss with olive oil, brown sugar, and cinnamon; bake at around 350 for 30-40 minutes or so (until soft)); I make a big batch at once and freeze in individual portions for the kids
- grilled cheese, PB&J, etc. (cut-up, of course!)

I've no idea about the bottle, but it takes my kids awhile to get the hang of the cup. DS#2 is almost 11 months and still doesn't really get the concept; I have to take the valve out of the spout so the water flows freely so he can actually drink something.

[DCJenn]

Re: Feeding Help

The ladies at Nikolai's orphanage used what looked like sake cups. I used espresso mugs for a while, too.

Jenn