Help with Feeding Toothless One Year Old!

I have a 9 month old who only has her two bottom teeth. She would NEVER eat baby food or even applesauce. She has insisted on feeding herself for months. Here are some things that I feed her.

steamed carrots, cut into very small pieces
pb&j, broken into bite size pieces
eggos
bagel w/creamcheese, broken into bite size pieces
home-made pumpkin pie, made with half the sugar it calls for
strawberries, bananas, peaches, grapes, apples(sliced very thin), etc... cut into small pieces
thawed, frozen peas and blueberries
canned green beans
refried beans - I even put these into quesadillas which I cut into bite size pieces
pasta with red sauce
macaroni and cheese
scrambled eggs
fish - especially salmon - I usually mix it with rice

Pretty much we feed her whatever we are eating, we just cut it up small. She rarely chokes, and seems to do just fine with everything we feed her.

I have a 14 month old that only has two bottom teeth. He eats everything but steak. He gums it into mush. There are some things that he can't crunch up, but it's the same type of thing that an adult would have problems with (corn/carrots). But we feed him whatever we are eating. We use to use a baby mill but now he refuses mushy stuff.

Good luck!

My little guy got his top 2 teeth shortly after a year (14 months now, 4th one through for about 2 weeks). He seems to do fine with whatever I give him (no raw carrots, things they would choke on obviously). I give him smaller pieces (tiny!) to try first. He's pretty good at chewing with him gums :) We haven't done much raw apple, makes me nervous, but he loves it. Good luck, just start trying things when you're comfortable- you'll be amazed!

Oh, you sound sensational!! -- what a happy home -. If all of these are ''Ive tried that - ''' - sorry- but here goes:
pasta - you can get tiny shapes that she could no way choke on- and then tomatoe or cream sauce with veggies, tofu - cheese- eggs - meat -- perfect

bread pudding - think about it- good solid food -

cream soups with whole wheat bread to dunk -

Blessings-
J.

Hi D.,

My 12-month-old loves cheerios soaked in whole milk, and I also get low-salt (or even "no salt added"), organic soup in the can that I then put in the blender. He loves split pea and ham-and-bean. (i then freeze the puree in ice cube trays and can just pop one or two cubes in the microwave at mealtime). We also toast english muffins and then melt cheese on top that we can cube - the toast cubes soften a bit in the soup and he loves it. I hope this helps!

If you're worried about meeting daily nutritional values, try Pediasure. We tear up tiny pieces of bread and put them in thick soups for lunch (and sometimes dinner) at our house. You also might try making hush puppies, scones, muffins, and various vegetable breads like zucchini.

What a great question! There were some really great suggestion too! My daughter liked noodles and ripped up pieces of bread. White beans are fairly easy to mash as well, but have enough bulk that they feel like they are eating solid food.
And actually, steaming veggies is the best way to preserve nutrients. Because they are not soaked in anything, very few of the nutrients can leach out. Some of the more delicate ones are killed just by the heat, but steaming is the best way to do it if you must cook them.
You're doing a great job trying to give your child healthy options. Good for you!!!!

Best wishes for good health,
A.

My eight mo old boy doesn't have any teeth. I'm so glad to hear that I am not the only one with an older baby with no/few teeth. He's started eating cheerios lately (no milk needed). He's still into mushy foods, so I don't know if I have any advice for you, but I thank you for your question and giving me the opportunity to learn to. He have a food mill & mini food processor we put everything through to make it easier for him. We also tear off bits of pancake, toast or waffle in the morning. Sometimes he takes the whole thing and just gnaws on it for a while. I don't have any lunch suggestions sorry. Hope I havn't wasted your time. Oh, we do use the veggie water for cooking pasta & rice since they absorb the liquids they are cooked in. And often we use it to help with the food processing. Good luck. Keep trying. I'm sure you will come up with something fantastic and the two of you will have lots of lunchtime fun.

have you tried baked sweet potatoes with a straw? It sounds crazy but it works, it is one of the things i fed my twins that they loved. I would also steam and then puree all my veggies on a sun freeze them in ice cube trays and could pop one to three out the night before put them in the fridge to defrost and then could just warm them up the next day for meals. Good Luck

Well...I'm sure you've already thought of the obvious answer (her leftovers from dinner the night before).

About losing nutrients from boiling/steaming veggies: You can use the water to make instant potatoes. I personally HATE instant potatoes...but everyone else I know is either ambivalent or really likes them. By using the veggie water you're saving MOST of the nutrients (some more delicate ones are always lost). They flavor (& color!) the potatoes as well.

Ideas staying close to home:

- Lubrication (ahem, otherwise known as, mayonnaise)and small bites. Slather bread with mayonnaise. Cut lunch meat into super small squares (you can save time by folding a single piece, cutting the edges off, and then cutting the resultant stack). Place tiny squares, one or two layers thick, on bread. Worthless White Bread or Store Brand Brown are always the softest and they squish and melt into nothingness. Cut sandwich into strips about as wide and long as your finger.

- Quartered (the long way) hotdogs/sausages. OR chopped up completely.

- Progresso soups. We loved the chicken & noddle. Just drain off the soup part and pour all the noodles & veggies into dish. Serve warm or cold. Sodium IS a little high, but this was one of our favorite cheats. You can save the soup part for later or put it in a sippy cup for her to drink right then. For that matter ANY meal in a can (chef boyardee, etc.) works really well. They are, nearly by definition, VERY soft.

- Canned fruit. To continue the canned theme. Nope, not as good for you as fresh...but very very soft and slippery.

Bread soaked in "X". Bread squares that could be dipped into anything wet (from soup, to sauces, to hummus) were always a big hit.

- Yogurt parfaits.

- Cottage Cheese & Applesauce. Mixed together. :)

Another way to go: Dive into the Orient.

***Note on ordering out*** Not only can nearly every "spicy" dish be made with no spice whatsoever, if you're NOT Asian or Indian & you tell them you're ordering for a baby...you've just made friends for life. My experience is that not only are the dishes are made mild as milk but the owners/employees are tickled to THRILLED with the idea of someone who's willing to feed their baby "proper" food. :)

- Noodles with 10,000 different flavors. Boy oh Boy. My son's favorite for years was Phad Se Iew (Thai. It...has reeeeeally wide noodles, with broccoli that would be to hard for her, but little bits of egg and tiny cut up meat or tofu of your choice. Theres a great Thai place in Kenmore on Bothell way by the Starbucks/bowling alley.). You can buy one order for around 7 bucks, portion it out & freeze them (in ever present Ziplock bags)...to be defrosted at your leisure. We got between 4 & 8 servings per order when our son was 1. Which ends up costing less then a jar of baby food. You can also make your own. Many times I found that ordering out was less expensive.

- Dim Sum. Here are a few no teeth needed favorites; Silken or "Palace" tofu (nearly a custard, with chopped steamed shrimp on top), Turnip Cake (chinese turnips chopped and steamed into little rectangles with chinese sausage), Shrimp Balls (too many varieties to count, with steamed chopped shrimp and "X" in a steamed rice wrapper...break the balls into halves or quarters to be gummed and nibbled on), Shu Mai (similar to shrimp balls but made with pork & shrimp). Whatever else that rolls around on the cart that looks good. Dim Sum is super cheap, we feed 8 adults and 5 kids (all stuffing ourselves) for about 60 bucks.

- Curries. If you make these at home, and they have the advantage that you can cook your veggies in them so all the nutrients stay in the sauce. Veggie Korma comes to mind as I'm thinking of this.

- Sushi. Just peel the nori (seaweed)off the outer rim.

- Pho.

Okay, okay. I'll stop now. Wonder if anyone got down this far on the list? Mmmm. Food.

:)

Hi D.

My daughter was a late teether and early eater ~ but she did get her top two front teeth in first, which possibly makes chewing easier... the things I remember feeding her most during this time (12-15 months or so) were: frozen whole wheat bagels, cheerios, tiny little bites of cut up meats, muffins, cream cheese or peanut butter on rice crackers, smoothies, bananas, berries, yogurt, scrambled eggs (with veggies or without), soups, and soft noodles with different kinds of sauces. You can add lots of good things to smoothies, muffins, and sauces to add nutrients - fruits and veggies but also wheat germ, flax oil or flax seed, dulse or ground nori, powdered greens, vitamin supplements, etc. depending on the flavors.

So many good ideas from the moms!!!
Your daugher sounds exactly like mine!! lol
One thing my toothless daughter really loves is meatballs. They have so much flavor and are easy enough for her to eat. To inhance the mac-n-cheese I sometimes put in a can of chile or frozen vegi's or the little can of chicken (looks like a tuna can).
She loves to eat ravioli's, turkey dogs, chicken, beef, basicly if I eat it, she eats it.
I havn't been able to feed her anything for 3-4 months, she has to do it herself. So now she is using her own spoon for yogurt, applesauce, etc..
I have two daughers and I babysit 2 more girls. Where do all those pink socks go? Have a great day!!

Put your veggies and stuff through the blender when they are half cooked. Make sure that they are blended very well before you give them to her. Some babies like those really hard bread sticks. I can't remember their names but some people dunk them in their coffee. Babies can gum them.

Babies that have teeth that come in late usually have very good teeth, or so goes the legend.

My daughter's dr/ped. told me that they don't use their teeth to chew the food, as most babies only have the front ones when they start eating solid foods. They use their gums in the back. Which actually makes sence, we don't chew our food with our front teeth either. So you can give her whatever table food that you think she can digest, meats, dairy, veggies, you just want to stay away from things like hotdogs, steak, etc. Just use your own judgement. Hope this helps?

My second daughter was the same way. She only had her four front teeth for the longest time, but that didn't stop her. She ate everything! I just made sure I didn't give her anything sharp or slippery (chips or whole grapes) and she seemed to work it out on her own. The alveolar ridge is very hard and can break down almost anything (sorry, dental assistant-talk slipped out)!

Oh, and as long as you're not boiling the vegetables, you're still retaining most of their nutrients. It's when you submerge them in water that the good stuff leaches out. Then you might as well drink the cooking water, too! Good luck and take care :)

Hi D.,
My daughter started eating bites of chicken and steak before she had any teeth- We were out to eat and before I realized she was reaching for food off my plate she had already eaten it. She loved it so much I started offering it at home- the easiest thing is to get a cooked chicken from the grocery and pull off little bite size pieces.

My daughter now has 4 teeth, just turned 1, and eats EVERYTHING- Even though there are no teeth, she chews like she has them. I just make sure the pieces are small enough that she won't choke-

Her gums are sharp and strong enough to chew about anything--just make sure it's small enough not to pose a choking hazard. Even if she had more of her teeth, she still would likely not have her molars yet. There's some great meal ideas; I wouldn't worry about how many teeth she has though.

D.,

Both of my children, a boy and a girl, did not get any teeth until after their first birthdays. I made raw veggie and cooked meat "smoothies" in the blender for them. They loved to use a straw to drink them down. Later, I just cut everyting up very small for them and their stomach acid broke the rest up for good digestion. You are correct that cooking the veggies will destroy the nutrients. Stomach acids are very strong and you need not worry too much about the "chunks" that go down without "chewing."

Also D., Children who get teeth later have harder enamal. Both of my children have healthy teeth due to getting them late. Early teething results in softer enamel and is a high risk for developing cavities.
Love,
R.

My older son had 2 bottom teeth forever. It wasn't until way past his first birthday that all of this teeth came in....at once.
For lunch, I used to make him sandwiches, and then cut them up into small squares (6 or 8 I believe-more than 4) Peanut butter and jelly was a huge hit for him. He also liked noodle soups with shaped pasta's that he could pick up with his fingers by himself.
For other foods, I would invest in a small food processor. They make really small ones (1-2 cup capacity). I had a small food processor and used it all the time. I would put whatever we were having for dinner in it and grind it up. By doing this, be didn't become a picky eater. And, you don't have to steam everything to death.

Good Luck!

I think that there are a lot of good suggestions offered in response to this question, however I also notice that frequently some of the suggestions involve cooking with broths or feeding veggies strained and drained from soups. While this is fine for an occasional meal, the amounts of sodium that will be in these food items is way too high to be feeding a young child on a regular basis. It could have serious health consequences to allow too much sodium into a child's diet. Heart and kidney problems or failure could result, and also keep in mind you are influencing the child's taste for the future as well. I should know, I'm a salt-a-holic and it started in early childhood. Look into the new recomendations for salt regarding children, and closely monitor their intake, it's easy to do if you just pay attention and keep track. Again, it's fine to give them salty stuff once in a while just be sure they stay hydrated!
My 12 monthold actually won't eat salty things because I don't give him the option very often. He won't even eat foods with minimal amounts of sugar (like a blueberry muffin I keep offering him) because I don't eat sugar and don't offer it frequently. He's learned to love what he eats without a lot of extra flavorings because food tastes good with out adding them- it's taken me my whole life to learn this, I want him to know it from the beginning!
Good luck mommas of the toothless!
LJ

D.,

Forgive my laughter, but this was my daughter about 6 months ago. On her first birthday she barely had one tooth poking through. I was in the same boat and finally gave up on the mushy, soft, bland stuff and just gave my daughter what we were eating, but cut up small enough she could eat, and swallow, the bites with minimal chewing.

She is 19 months old now, and has 8 teeth. She eats anything that we eat, teeth or no. This little one has some strong, sharp gums.

Melissa

You would be amazed at what she can do with just those two teeth if you let her! My niece, who I watch 5 nights/week, just turned a year old this month and is still working on her second tooth.... she eats EVERYTHING! There are things that I cut into timy pieces before putting them in her bowl, and there are things that she just gnaws on until it's small enough for her. For instance... pastas. She LOVES spaghetti, mac and cheese, spaghetti rings, pasta salad, etc. and these are all things she can pick up and eat by herself.
Walmart also has a "net" thing that is great for this type of thing. It's about the size of the palm of your hand and you put the food (melons, etc.) into the netting and close the lid and they can gum it. The holes in the netting are only big enough to allow tiny parts of food to get through.

Hi D.,

Here is where you can introduce her to the wonder of soup :)

Start with mashed potatoes. You can melt cheese in them and mix in til creamy. My youngest loved mashed potatoes with split pea soup. From there they expanded. We made our own babyfood. It was easy once they started wanting solids. Mash banana, dice apple up super small, mix things like this into cereal, this might be a good time to introduce her to the wonders of softer fruits like berries :) Blueberries, strawberries are low seed, and should be fine. As far as steaming goes, instead of steaming its okay to boil..or simmering some of them in a broth instead of water (then you can get the vitamins still, and its a base for veggie beef soup, or whatever you wish to add.) You can start experimenting with spices she might like too. Add a touch a sage, garlic etc. Good immunity boosters too :) Mince up sausage and add a little tomato and cheese to cooked ramen..cheap and easy spaghetti :) It saves a ton on babyfood at the grocery store too!