Baby food

[Vishenka69]

I keep reading on various parenting forums that by this point (10 months) DD should be pretty much eating off my plate or a slightly mushed version of what's on my plate. She's not that crazy about adult food though and I don't want to eat bland steamed food either. So I'm kind of stressing about her still being on baby food (I try to add texture and not just feed her liquified stuff) and how and when she should be eating regular stuff. I don't feel comfortable feeding her most of what we eat (I just don't think it's baby friendly) but not crazy about adjusting our diet either. What did you do and how? Also should I bother introducing her to a sippy cup or just go straight to a regular one?

[HouseofWool]

Julie - what about your diet do you feel isn't baby friendly. Except for sushi or other highly allergenic foods, I wouldn't worry about it.

I never took the "off your plate" as a literal thing. It will absolutely be easier in the long run if her tastes match yours, but don't stress about that part of it. Give her the same types of foods you've been giving her, just in a less smushed form. Steamed carrots - very soft, but not pureed. Potatoes - same, etc. Meats you'll have to cut up tiny and make sure they're soft (which is why a lot of people go the nugget route). Cheeses, yogurt, cooked rice. Fruits in bigger pieces, etc..

Do the sippy. She is far too little to manage a regular cup, and unless you can somehow magically make her sit to take in all liquids for the next 2 to 3 years, you're going to want the girl to be used to drinking from something with a lid on it.

[ladymoreta]

Related question: when do you stop "introducing" new foods? As in, give them the new food over several days and watch for reactions, and don't do any other new foods for three days. That's where I'm having trouble with the "eating from my plate" thing. I do t eat the same things for three days...

[Michele]

Only with the very first foods did I do the slow three days at a time. So after about a month maybe I quit that. It's too much work. . We don't have food allergies in our families though so I wasn't too worried. When I wondered if we were having a reaction I just thought back to see what I thought it could be and monitored the next times we ate those things. My dad is allergic to one variety of mango...he can't touch them even, but can eat other types (I don't even know if that counts as a food allergy or contact allergy)....I just avoided mangoes...easy enough. I'll let them try them later. I did try to remember to give the "typical offenders" after a year old, but D got offered shrimp and strawberries before then.

Maybe I'm just really naive, but I think we, as a society, WAY overthink the whole feeding babies issue. Give them breast milk, or formula, until they show interest in other foods. Offer them other foods as we eat them in increasing amounts as the child dictates, wean off the milk or formula when they are consuming enough calories/nutrition on their own. That's basically how other mammalian species in the world do it. Of course, if you or you child have known medical conditions this approach won't work, and you have to take that into consideration. But my understanding of food allergies is that generally they worsen with exposure, so it's not full on anaphylaxis the first time.

[SuzySunshine]

I have to agree with Michele. R never liked baby food so once he had the pincher grasp he ate whatever A was having only in bite sizes. We knew there was a chance he could have an allergy because of his eczema so we were careful and just watched him. When he finally had his reaction it was mild and we're just not giving him those things we think it could have been until he is tested but he still gets everything else.

Julie, do you mean because you cook "gourmet" type stuff for you and your DH? I do too and on the nights that we eat as a family, not very often, they get what we get regardless of what it is. I think exposing them to everything early is better for them and helps them develop their palate. If they don't eat it they'll make up for it the next day or the next.

[Pollyanna]

If she likes her baby food then I would let her keep eating it. Most of our kiddos loved their Gerber jars (horror of horrors, I did not make my own food ) until they were about 11 months old and they they became interested in other foods. One of our kiddos would only eat nutrigrain bars for about 6 months (no really), now he will eat almost anything. Our little guy that like the jar food until way after a year will also eat and try anything. Don't stress about it, if she likes something and is eating well then you are doing great. Most of the stuff we eat as adults is chokable and it just was never worth the risk for me or the time to puree it if they liked their baby food.

[HouseofWool]

I disticntly remember Caleb not liking pizza at age three, but he gobbled down indian curries like they were going out of style. Let her taste things off your plate and don't stress to much about it.

[alison]

Where we were living in CA, everyone was gung ho about babies drinking from sippy cups at 6 months. Yet, you were supposed to breast feed, knit your own baby clothes, and pump your SUV with organic vegetable oil.

Whatever. I agree with the others, and it's so easy to stress out about where you think your baby is supposed to be. It seems your dd is doing fine, and just go with what you and she like to do as far as meals are concerned.

[Pollyanna]

Where we were living in CA, everyone was gung ho about babies drinking from sippy cups at 6 months. Yet, you were supposed to breast feed, knit your own baby clothes, and pump your SUV with organic vegetable oil.

OMG, that made my day!!!

[Vishenka69]

Cheri, exactly what you said. Not that all our meals are gourmet but most of the sauces/marinades/spices are just too strong for her. For instance, she likes salmon but only if I pick it out of the middle so that there's nothing on it, but I don't cook it all the way through so finding a cooked part with no sauce/marinade on it is complicated. It's easier to give her a jar than to eat bland overcooked food. At the same time I feel bad keeping her on jars when we eat yummy stuff. I know I'm making a mountain out of a anthill but isn't parenting all about stressing over something stupid? ))

I also feel guilty because while she loves feeding herself puffs and yogurt melts, when I give her fruits/veggies/bread/etc cut up in same size pieces, she'll only have a couple of them as oppose to the whole pile of puffs. Is that because puffs are baby equivalent of junk food? She still prefers formula to anything that comes on a spoon (except for may be yogurt) or in pieces. I just feel that her horizons should be expanded by now, but I guess that's my issue and not hers.

Thanks for listening to my crazy rambling.

[Meenah]

Puffs/yogurt melts = Baby Crack!!! They love them.

[DCJenn]

Luanne- I was going to say the exact same thing- it's like the difference between a bag of cheetos and an apple- it's all about volume!

J.

PS- dude hated baby food- I think by the time he arrived he prefered 'real' food. Not hot sauce level spiced but definitely more flavor than I thought he'd like.

[HouseofWool]

I found that ~10 mo to 18 mo is a really finicky time for them, in terms of what they will eat. Sophie, who will be 2 in a month, STILL won't eat any meat unless it is a form of sausage or nugget.

[DCJenn]

Kris-

Nikolai is six and won't eat meat unless it's been pulverized in some manner. They had him on unidentifiable meat patties in Russia though so I think that's what it stems from.

J.