Eating Plan for 11.5 Month Old

The MOST important advice is to understand current recommendations on feeding from your pediatrician - they are ALWAYS changing. Our oldest is almost 4, and our daughter just turned 2. Between the 2 kids, the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) changed their policy on when to introduce foods.

Essentially, your child can have ANYTHING you're having (including eggs, peanut butter, strawberries) as long as they don't present a choking hazard and you don't have a known family food allergy.

Let your child guide you when they're hungry - most people don't agree with this because it's hard to schedule. But, children don't know how to overeat - it is a learned behavior. If you take their cues, they're much less likely to develop poor eating habits.

If you get parenting books, be very careful of copyrights - if it's not in the past year, it's very possible the advice is out of date. I personally refer a lot to HealthyChildren.org on this site because it's run by AAP and is current:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/f...

Good luck!

Here's a sample menu

Hi A.---I have collected some great material on that very subject. I am a health educator, taking a series of classes offered by a Naturopath who has her PhD in Nutrition. I'll try to answer some of your questions. First, let your daughter lead the way in how much. She'll instinctively know what she needs. Your job is to provide her with a broad selection of different healthy foods to choose from. A healthy, optimal diet primarily consists of MOSTLY fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. Minimize the consumption of animal proteins, and this includes cows milk. In fact, I don't recommend it at all. It is highly allergenic and is implicated in a number of degenerative diseases. Please read The China Study by T Colin Campbell and go to www.strongbones.org to learn 'why not milk'. Anyway, we use meat more as a flavoring for soups or stews, more the side dish in our meals when we have it.

I would be happy to share my handouts with you, but I would need to send them via regular email as word document attachments. My email address is: ____@____.com. I would also recommend a couple of books by Dr. William Sears. One is The Family Nutrition Book. I think that The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood is a good one as well. He and his wife have written a children's book called Eat Healthy, Feel Great AND Dr. Sears just came out with a new one called Prime Time Health. All are very easy to read. I also have 2 different DVD's that he's recorded, one concerning families and smaller children and the other to go along with the Prime Time Health book. You'll also find great info at his website, www.AskDrSears.com.

I'd be honored to 'consult' if you'd like. Feel free to call. I'm in Michigan so we are 3 hours ahead of you. My number is ###-###-####. Hope this has helped a little. Have a great day. D.

I agree with everyone else about letting your little one lead the way. She'll let you know when she's hungry!

Some of the "classics" in my house with my two boys were hash browns (toaster ones are great!), scrambled eggs, canned fruit in water or fresh fruit if it was in season, well-cooked pasta, cheese, adult cereal (they liked the texture a lot!), cream cheese toast or bagels, or anything that we were eating at the time. I would usually make meals for the family, and whatever we ate, they ate. For snacks, I would give them the "classics".

Have fun and enjoy this time!

at that age, you can start transitioning her to eating the same food and the same meals with you. you can continue with the milk in between meals and before beditme.

The best part is that 11 1/2 months old with a few teeth, you baby can be eating most of the foods you're eating. As long as the foods are cut in tiny pieces and don't have too much sugar or salt (you want babies to fall in love with the natural flavors of foods without enhancement), your baby can enjoy the foods you're eating and you won't feel like a short order cook making different things for everyone! -www.weelicious.com

I currently have an 11 month old that I'm still nursing (though I'm going to wean him in a month) and here's our general schedule:

He wakes about 7 and nurses
About 8 I give him some adult cereal (he started balking at baby cereal about a month ago) and some cut up fruit.
About 10 I give him a snack which is usually some more fruit.
About 12-1 we have lunch which usually involves some cut up veggies, some cut up fruit and some sort of protein (beans or chicken) or grain (whole wheat bread or pasta or rice). He also nurses around then.
Then we have a snack around 3-4 which often is cheese, graham crackers or yogurt and he nurses.
Dinner is around 6 or 6:30 and looks a lot like lunch.
Then I nurse one more time before he goes to bed.

This schedule seems to be working for us right now but sometimes it does feel like we're always eating or getting ready to eat. My guy is a really good eater but even so, usually only one of those meals does he eat very much and it's usually lunch. He does love his snacks though.

My guy stopped wanting to be fed from a spoon about a month ago so I've just been feeding him solely finger foods which actually has worked out just fine. I steam the veggies until they're pretty soft and cube them. I don't buy any "baby food" and simply make my own for him or he eats whatever my husband and I are eating. I've offered lots of meats but the only thing he's interested in is chicken. Thankfully he likes yogurt and beans so he's getting lots of protein.

Hope this helps.