"Feeding Ideas for Almost 10 Month Old"

Have you tasted the baby food in the stores? It's awful. I would mash up home cooked carrots, potatoes, squash, and any other veggie instead, with butter added, or ground up meats. My Kitchenaid Mixer has an attachment for grinding up any food that I want for baby.

Add a little salt, and I bet she will eat it. A lot of kids this age seem to stop eating, as well.

The fact that you are still breastfeeding is wonderful. I would keep her tasting new things, and not be too concerned about how much she eats. The Seattle times had an article about how breast feeding helps the baby up to 2 years of age!

My daughter did the same types of things. Don't worry. I know, easier said than done. She will eat when she is ready. When she will eat yogurt, try mixing some infant cereal in with it, to kind of pump it up. You can also do this with applesauce. Some others things you might try are hummus, and refried beans. Cheerios, and Kix are good as well. I promise you she will eat...my daughter didn't stop nursing until 20 months, is now two, and is still a very picky eater. Nutritional food charts are a guideline. My daughter rarely eats everything on the chart in one day, and neither do I. There is so much pressure involved with being a mom, sometimes we forget to give ourselves a break. Keep trying, but don't be too worried, babies won't let themselves starve.

C.,
Her weight may be entirely appropriate for a 10 -month-old. And her height/weight seems proportional. Breastfed babies gain weight differently than formula fed ones, and tend to plateau at between 6-9 months. If you're truly concerned about her gaining weight, keep breastfeeding. Breastmilk has the highest amount of calories, and the perfect ratio of nutrients for your daughter.
"Food is for fun until age 1" - the previous response was right on. Solid food is not truly essential at this stage in her life and is really to introduce her to flavors, textures, smells, etc.
Here's another link from kellymom, hopefully the information will offer some reassurance to you!
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-how.html

Don't worry about weight gain, as long as she is healthy. Solid food isn't necessary until after a year anyway.
I think they usually swallow more than you think.My daughter used to only like "adult" food, spices and all. So I just gave her what i was eating.

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/index.html

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Have you tried cooked veggies or soft fruit? Also you could try to give it to her in those little mesh feeder bags. You can get them at any place now (target, babys r us, walmart, grocery store). They help with preventing your baby from choking on bite size foods, but they still get the nutriance and food. At that age I would give him cooked veggies, fruit, cheese, yogurt.

Good luck!

Try unfrozen peas and cut carrots, yogurt, and the (favorite!) cherrios. Kids love finger foods at that age. Also my granddaughter loves avocado. Of course alot of it is on her face and hands but she does eat a great deal of it.

Cook the apple (without peel) until it is soft, but not sauce and then give it to her.

Also feed her more often with snack times.

Good for you for having a midwife, and for still breast feeding. You and your daughter sound right on track to me. Don't worry about the doctor telling you she isn't gaining enough weight. Those charts were made by the formula companies, for babies living off of formula, and that is why you baby may seem underweight. Breast fed babies are much healthier both now and in the long run from all the natural antibodies she gets from you, and from nature's perfect food for babies. Breast fed babies don't have near the problems as adults, with obesity that formula babies have either, so keep up the good work.

Both of my children were tall and thin for those charts and I simply stopped taking them to the doctor. I think my 3 year old hasn't been since she was 6 months old. I don't vaccinate either of course. Like the other Mom's said, she may be spitting some out, but is getting more than you think down. I just kept introducing new things to her and made it fun, so they keep trying, and that seemed to work really well for my kids.

She's still young. My son didnt' eat much solid food until almost a year & at 18 mos still is very picky. But I know that texture is very ver ybig for babies. I wouldn' t give a 10 month old any dairy products, but that's just me. But ice-cream & pudding...not healthy foods for a 10 month old. Congrats on still breastfeeding, keep going! I think she's telling you that she is not ready for most solid foods yet & that's okay.

When you first started feeding 'solids' did you start with rice cereal and work your way through other foods like strained bananas, applesauce, peaches, apricots, beans, squash, and then the meats like beef and chicken? And she spit it all out when it was warmed and stirred so it didn't stick to the roof of her mouth? My oldest son would suck the soft, strained portion off of junior foods and spit out the chunks, but I've not heard of spitting everything out. If she will take the strained foods and baby cereals, start there and feed her well. She may not be quite there yet to take 'junior' or whole foods yet, but she needs the additional calories that your breast milk isn't providing. You may have to add something like pediasure to increase her caloric intake, but talk with your doctor if the problem persists. Ham has a lot of salt in it, so you may want to think about serving her this. Hidden salt.
Take care....

One of our tricks was to put the yogurt in whatever else she was eatting. If she likes soup, dump some plain yogurt in it and let her have at it! It'll get her the calories she needs in a way that she's willing to eat. We feed our daughter a vegetarian diet and she's a big fan of tofu. She likes to dip it in ketchup (gross, I know) and it's pretty nutritious. I'm not sure what kind of soup you're giving her, but Trader Joe's carries some really good ones. My daughter loves the tomato and red pepper as well as the butternut squash. They both have some "body" to them so they aren't as watery as many soups, but they're creamy instead of chunky so they have a more "brothy" consistency that she might go for.

Is your pediatrician concerned about her growth? If not, then just keep trying and relax! :) If the ped. is concerned, then ask for suggestions there too. She'll outgrow this phase probably within a month of when it started. Your breastmilk is providing lots of nutrients and calories that will fill the gaps in her solids. My breastfed daughter is nearly 20 months and is perfectly healthy even though she is a little lighter than average.

Some things my boys liked when they were little ...

"puffs" by the baby food, sweet potato is the best, kind of like little cereals that melt in your mouth

soak raisins or other dried fruit in hot water until soft, or canned fruit (pears especially)

cut firm tofu into little cubes, cook with some soy sauce and this makes a good snack hot or cold

avocado and banana

the main kinds of baby food mine liked were sweet potatoes, carrots, and the apple blueberry mix

cooked beans, whole or mashed

I can't remember the ages kids stare eating different foods, so double check, but I think all of these are ok for a 10 month old.

I agree, don't worry. At this age they experience new things and spitting out is one of them :) I remember my son doing the same thing. I think it is good to feed solid first and then breastfeed, but at this age the food can still be an experiment and I'd do that with healthy food rather than ice cream :). Let her touch it and feel it. Try different cereal, mix it with breast milk or apple sauce and make it runny. When did she start eating solids? I remember the first month was not about eating it :) and then slowly it happened. I overcooked vegetables and made it very runny with water, mashed pasta into soup etc.