Ok so here's the deal, my now 10m old son used to be a very good eater - not the open your mouth wide ready to eat everything kind, but the "here's the spoon in front of your mouth now open wide" kinda eater. Here recently it's turned into a NIGHTMARE trying to fee him. He's learned "no" and thrashes his head side to side or smacks at the spoon. It's almost like he doesn't like baby food anymore and would rather attempt to eat what we're eating or eat puffs/cheerios/pinches of fresh bread of his highchair tray.
Both my husband and I work full time and get home close to 545-6ish. So attempting to make mashed potatoes (which he'll eat) and healthy home made meals has proven very difficult in conjunction w/ bath time and bed time. I'm at a loss on what to do. I know he needs to eat, the pediatrician said to attempt to back off on the bottles he gets a day and increase his food intake - well that'd be great IF he would eat for us. Any ideas/suggestions/HELP would be greatly appreciated.
Well this weekend was definitely a good time to try all the suggestions ... He had mashed potatoes (instant, but they were potatoes), some spaghetti leftovers, mac & cheese, veggies - and some chicken w/ us. We also added in the occasional baby food container - breakfast, fruits and veggies w/ added flavors - for on the go and those random meals where it wasn't a good idea to share what we were having or dinner was taking too long and he's hungry RIGHT NOW. All in all, you're right, he wants what Mommy & Daddy are having.
Thanks for all the hlep Mamas!!!
By 10mos my son was exclusively on table food. He was not interested in baby food at all.
Try giving him what you're having, or other squishy ready made (canned or packaged) foods that you can cut up for the sake of time. Sounds like he's ready to eat real food on his own.
My son ate only a handfull of babyfood. Tried a couple jars, but he didn't want them, he wanted what we were eating. So we gave him what we were eating... skipped babyfood and toddler food entirely. Good thing, come to find... since by the age of 2ish, any food they haven't eaten several times their brain tags as poisonous and they gag/refuse to eat anything with it in it until around age 5 when the response wears off. Hence notoriously picky toddlers... look at the ingredients in baby & toddler foods. Maybe 10 ingredients total (wheat, corn, potato, chicken, beef, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, beans).
WHERE'RE THE HERBS & SPICES??? anise, annatto, basil, bay, borage, black cardamon, brown mustard, capers, caraway, cardamom, celery seed, chervil, chives, cilantro, cinnamon, clove, coriander, cumin, curry, dill, fennel, garlic, ginger, horseradish, jasmine, lavender, mace, marjoram, mint, mustard, nutmeg, oregano, paprika, parsley, pepper, pepperS of 1000 types, peppermint, poppyseed, rosemary, saffron, sage, sassafras, savory, sesame, sorrel, tarragon, thyme, turmeric, vanilla, za'atar.... to name only a SMALL handful. The only one of which I have EVER seen in baby/toddler food is cinnamon.
Where are the variety of proteins? The greens? The veggies? The sauces? The fruits? The veggies?
They're just not there. Just a handful of bland, boring, unappetizing food.
((Seriously, can you imagine only living off of the ingredients in the baby food aisle for a whole year? You'd go nuts. Survive, but go nuts. ))
You don't have to cook to feed your kiddo though... lol... at least, not THAT night. Leftovers are a brilliant and wonderful thing. And they serve 2 purposes:
1) You know your kiddo will eat them
2) They reheat in 2 minutes tops on the stove... and 30seconds if you zap them.
They can be leftovers from last night, or leftovers from your lunch.
Your baby can eat everything YOU eat... it just needs to be a bit wet, and chewable at THEIR level.
And here's another gross factoid: the enzymes in your saliva (and beneficial bacteria) are REALLY GOOD for your baby. Really, really, good. Both for their digestive system as well as their immune system. It ALSO helps their brain "tag" the food as a "safe" food for them to eat. So the super sterile grinder is great and all... but even better is chewing something up and giving them a finger full. Obviously, not when you're sick.
But remember! You haven't got long... so introduce as many chemical signatures as possible. And EACH protein, fruit, veg, herb, spice has their own signature. But cilantro is cilantro whether it's in mexican, italian, or chinese.
.
I'm not sure I understand why you can't give him whatever you guys are having for dinner, depending on what it is of course. If you are having spaghetti, give him some noodles cut up and cut up a meatball. Let him pick at it for a while with his fingers while you eat and then you can help him if he is struggling. Most of my children were off baby food by 10 months, definitely by a year. There are so many table food things you could give him if you just cut them up small.
I'd just feed him whatever you're eating. Give him a lot of finger foods and give him his own toddler spoon or fork. I hated dealing with baby and trying to eat my own now cold dinners. As soon as my son (now 22 months) was able to self feed, he started getting finger foods.
Some other ideas if what you're eating is somehow not appropriate...cut up pieces of meat, beans (our kids like beans from chili), toast, pancakes (if he hasn't had eggs yet, you could look up a recipe for vegan pancakes), scrambled eggs, cut up cantaloupe, melon, strawberries, roasted diced sweet potatoes or other veggies (peppers, mushrooms, brussel sprouts, butternut squash, etc). Keep bags of frozen veggies and steam baby sized portions in the microwave. My kids loved sliced olives from a can. You could even attempt fruit smoothies in sippy cups.
Also, sometimes teething makes kids not want to eat, so it could be a phase. Just keep offering and if he's throwing food and not eating, then just end mealtime and try again the next meal. You could prep a lot of food the night before or sometimes even a few days before. Give him fruit or cut up cheese to snack on while you cook the main dinner. Veggies that are cut up pretty small and roasted with a little olive oil, salt and pepper cook within 10-15 minutes on 450.
Hi M.,
Try giving him some small soft foods like ground beef if your having tacos. Canned veggies are very soft and he can eat it himself. He is getting independent. Gerber makes food that can be microwaved and is age appropriate, small and soft so he can feed himself. Kids do outgrow the baby food pretty fast. If you can, cook some meals for him on the weekend and freeze them . Instant mashed potatoes are good too in a pinch. Try adding mashed carrots or peas to them to make them more nutritious.
If he's 10 months old, then you can give him real peas, carrots, green beans (cut small, of course), take some canned sweet potatoes or yams and give to him instead of white mashed potatoes--they're soft already. He can also do mac & cheese--Kraft has easy mac where all you do is add water, and microwave it for 3m30s, add the packet and you're done. He can eat lunch meat, and real bananas...applesauce. Get some of the 'no sugar added' diced fruit cups. What about getting some real strawberries and kiwis and putting them in the blender a sec? Baby food is NASTY. Seriously. Once you taste it yourself, you'll never try to force it on your LO again.
hes 10 months old time to come off the baby food. he should be eating what you are eating now within reason... dont give him a tbone or anything but soft foods he should eat
As long as your not eating exotic or super spicy foods you could try to give him some of what your eating. Our two youngest were eating table food by the time they were 9 months old. We also had them eating whatever we did when they started solids. We just pureed it in the blender, food processor. Some of the favorites were green beans, peas and carrots. We just cooked all these things until they were soft enough for them to eat. We would put it on the plate and they could pick it up with thier fingers.
The other thing I remember doing is sitting them in the high chair with some dry cheerios and milk in the sippy cup while I prepared meals. The other thing that you could maybe utilize is crock pot cooking. I love to do this because I put everything in it in the morning, turn it on and when we come home dinner was ready. Good Luck!
I agree with your doc, I started my child on sip cups at 9-10 mos, (Walmart carries a brand that has a straw, which helps with sucking reflex and comes with a lid that closes on it, and won't spill) backed off the formula by adding more milk, and put it in the sip cup. By 12 mos. she was no longer drinking from a bottle.
My daughter wanted "real" food too. I would scramble an egg...can be done in 2 min. in the microwave...check first for egg allergy...
Also, while I was making her a quick meal, I would sit her in the high chair with an empty ice cream cone...(not sugar cone)..but it gave her something to hold and easy to chew until time to eat.
Beef-a-roni can be heated in 30 sec. and is soft to eat...let him feed himself, and give him a few veggies first...buy the individ. serving and quick in the microwave then place on his tray while getting the meat together...buy some canned chicken and break into small pieces.
anyway, these are all quick and healthy...oh yea and instant oatmeal. my child loves breakfast foods, so serve at dinner time!
If he's more interested in real food - by all means give it to him. Since time seems to be the problem, I would make the food ahead of time and put it in the fridge, then pop it into the microwave long enough to take the chill off and let him feed himself. Save enough from your meal each night, put in fridge, and that is his meal the next night. My youngest child rarely ate baby food, he almost always preferred people food (as we called it).
It sounds like he is ready for table food. Both my boys became strictly table food eater around 9-10 months (one of them didn't even have a tooth at that age). It is sad in a way because he is growing up. I would just cut up what you and your husband are eating into small bites (instead of cooking something special for your son). Good luck.
