Introducing My 7-Month-old to Chunkier Foods

I didn't give my child yogart until she was about 11 months old but by then she was stealing the other kids sippy cups and chugging their milk. At seven months I was giving my daughter just about everything she would eat whithin reason and it scared me to death. I went to an infant cpr class and posted the cpr guide all over the house. She never did choke. i was also a breastfeeding working mom. Good for you. I kept it up for about 13 months.

I never went to the stage 3 foods. I started giving real table food around 7 months (in very small pieces) my kids all did great with this method. I also started sippy cups at this age!

Hi Lisa,

If she only has one tooth, I would wait another month or so before starting her on chunkier foods. I waited until my dauther was 9 months old due to her lack of teeth, she only had 2 then. Babies can gum thing if they are soft enough, but I didn't feel comfortable enough to give her things like that until she had more teeth. I guess it is all up to your individual ideas and what your doctor says. Every baby develops at different rates.

Good luck.

E.

Take your time, no need to push the solids!! At least you are breastfeeding!! Remember breast feed first. Go with what your baby can eat, not with what other babies can eat. Moms today are feeding their kids earlier and earlier and it makes me sick, you're just increasing the risk of food allergies any earlier than 6 months. And they don't need any food prior to 6 months, as long as they have you and your nutritious milk she's fine. But as far as feeding gerber graduates puffs, I'd wait till 7 months, they just melt in your mouth anyway. NO to the yogurt...not till 9 months!! It's a dairy product, and even though their not supposed to have milk until a year at least, it is still still a dairy product. When you do give dairy, try out the organic whole milk kind by Stoneyfield!! LOVE IT! Don't buy the expensive baby yogurt...no difference except price in what you're getting. Harris Teeter carries Stoneyfield and we love it!! Enjoy your moment with her, don't rush into things b/c other moms do. You do what you feel is right when you feel it right. Take care and good luck.
CHECK OUT this AWESOME website about foods and such:
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/
We love it too!
A. B

My daughter loved fruit. I too was worried about some things for choking. I did some of these to start with. They are not processed with all the extra, no no's included in them. Plus they are soft enough you don't need teeth to chew, they just mush. One thing to remember is babies that do choke, 95% of the time it is NOT from food... something else they put in there mouth.

bananas
sweet potatoes
avocados
applesaws
watermelon..seedless

Those are just a few, once you start looking around you will notice more and more things. I am sure you will get some great responses on here too. ;) Enjoy that little baby! They just get better.

Lisa, I have wondered the same thing with my three, wondering when they would be ready for chunkier food, but I just continued on with what they seemed to handle well. Try not to get into a rush. You don't have to keep up with the other people or anything, just try to watch how she's handling it. I would probably wait until she had more teeth to do real chunky stuff. You can test the foods by pressing it with your tongue to the roof of your mouth to try to mimic how her gums would chew it. If it dissolves or breaks apart really easy then more than likely she can handle it. My 12 month old is still eating pureed baby foods along with table foods. I would just tell you that it's better to be safe than sorry. Hope this helps, A. P.

I'd stick with the stage 1 and 2 until the recommended time. Babies can't have milk until they are 1 year old because their stomachs can't digest the proteins in milk - it can actually cause damage to them, and there are some studies that suggest it contributes to a likelihood of diabetes. However, infants can have yogurt because it is "pre-digested" (the proteins are broken down in them). The same goes for cheese. Congrats on your baby! It sounds like you are doing great. Blessings to you.

Well, my son is now 8 years old, but I will tell you what I did. His doctor told me to take my son off the bottle at a year old, but I wouldn't do it, until my son showed me that he was ready to give it up. Is your baby allergic to anything?? If he\she isn't, then I think that a little yogurt won't harm anything. You are your baby's mom, and usually your first instinct of what to do is usually your best decision. I started to feed my son some oatmeal mixed with fruit about 6 months old, because milk alone, wasn't satisfying enough. My son had colic, for 3 months, and by the time he was 6 months old, he started to become hungrier quicker. Don't let your anxieties rule your decisions, or even your worries. Because it doesn't hurt to try something once, and if your son or daughter doesn't show any improvement, with the yogurt, or with more solid foods, then maybe he or she isn't quite ready for that yet. Only you know your baby better than anyone else. Doctors to an extent, but sometimes Doctors don't know everything about babies. Because every baby is different, and not two babies are the same. All of them have their own personalities, and likes and dislikes. if you are worried about giving your baby, so much yogurt, then try giving your baby a little yogurt, like just a taste of it, to see if that satisfies your baby. Well, I hope that this suggestion helps, and I hope that it has given you more encouragement, and support.
God Bless

Hi Lisa
Try not to worry about what the other kids are doing. All kids advance at different ages and stages. With your daughter's single little tooth, maybe the puffs right now are just fine. She'll get there. Patience is key. I don't think my LO got the hang of chunkier foods until about 9 months - and he had more teeth. You can always put a few out there for her to "figure out". Make sure the pieces are small enough. If she's getting the hang of the puffs, I bet it won't be long until she's putting soft chunks in her mouth. Until then keep doing what you're doing.
Good luck
P.

My son did exactly the same as the lady below said, he would not eat the mixture of chunky and puree. He wasn't trasitioning well at even 9 mos, so I just started giving him real table food cut up really tiny, no baby food at all, and he did great.

I gave yogurt around 9 mos, my doc said it was fine. Every doc has a different timeline, so I think there is no definite rule. Consider giving her plain unflavored yogurt with fruit added- there is a ton of sugar in YoBaby. I didn't want to give that much sugar that early, so we do the organic plain yogurt with some kind of frozen fruit mashed up in it. He still eats this every single morning for breakfast. It's the whole milk that is hard to digest, not all dairy. Cheese is good too.

My son ate solids long before he had any teeth to chew with, it is fine if they are small pieces. The puffs are great.

The worst thing you can do is look around and see what everyone else is doing with their child! I would NOT even think about starting your little one on chunkier foods right now. Her little digestive system isn't ready for that. I hate to say it, but the parents I know whom started their children on chunkier foods did so because they wanted to make dinner time easier on themselves and were selfish. The cereal, puress and breastmilk should be ENOUGH until she is 1 year old and then you will be able to notice if SHE is interested in eating more dense foods. Let your baby take the time to be curious about other foods by watching you eat them. If she wants some, let her have a taste. She will let you know when she is ready.
As for the yogurt, wait until she is 1 year. Wait until she is 2 for honey and anything with peanuts in it as well. My suggestion would be to start giving her whole organic milk once she is 1 year old because it is sweeter like your breastmilk and will make it easier for her to wean herself.
I know it's hard when you see other parents doing things and giving their children things you haven't even thought of, but it doesn't mean your child is behind either. Let her grow at HER pace rather than at your convinence.

Hey Lisa,

We started giving my son the YoBaby organic yogurt when he was 6 to 7 months old...and he did fine with it. Also, around 8 months, my son started refusing baby food all together (we had only tried the stage 1 and 2 at that point). We tried to get him to eat the stage 3 chunky foods and he would just gag. I think it had something to do with it was mushy, but there were also chunks and he couldn't figure out what to do with both textures at the same time.

So, we just started doing little pieces of cheese cut up very small, wheat pasta with a little butter, cut up pieces of steamed very soft veggies, pieces of chicken cut up very small (to the point he wouldn't have to chew, just swallow), the gerber graduates line of foods, pieces of whole grain toast with hummus...and I could probably name lots more. But you get the point...very healthy "real" food.

And, my son didn't get his first tooth until he was 10 months old, so you can definately give textured, solid foods without them having teeth. But, we never had any problems with these foods hurting his stomach. Of course just stay away from the major allergy foods until closer to the first birthday...peanut butter, eggs, honey, strawberries, etc.

Good luck!

I started both my kids on solids when they were about 6 months old, and I never did any of the "baby food" (no cereals, no pureed foods, etc.). What I did was to have them at the table with us while we ate, and if there was something on there that they could eat (something already soft, liked cooked carrots or bits of bread or smashed-up something -- nothing too spicy, nothing too hard), then I would put it in little bits on the high-chair tray. They ate very little (sometimes I would spoon-feed them, of course), but had a great time working on hand-eye coordination, and in trying different foods with different textures. Every time I would give them something "new" in regard to texture, I would watch them like a hawk, and if it seemed like they were having trouble with it, I'd stop it and not give them any more of that for a few weeks until they were older.

But that's just what I did -- not saying it's "what you should have done" or anything like that. Next time you cook vegetables, cook a few a little extra-soft for her, and then mash or chop them into small bits and see how she does it. You'll never know until you try! :-)

I started giving my dd chunkier foods (mashed banana, cooked apples, Gerber puffs) around 8 months I believe. She didn't like the texture at first, but I kept offering it to her & she eventually did well with them. As far as yogurt, I introduced that to her at 6 months old & she loved it. I give her YoBaby yogurt. Its organic & all natural. It comes in mild flavors like plain (she didn't like too well, so I usually added some fruit puree), banana & vanilla, plus some other flavors that are a bit stronger. We have no history of food allergies so I was comfortable with giving her dairy. Plus if you're still drinking milk yourself & your dd hasn't had any reaction, then it doesn't sound like there are any allergies. You can give them dairy (yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, etc.) before 1 yr, just not milk.

for my older son, I used to mix all his fruit baby food with either a scoop of organic whole mix yogurt (I used stoneyfield brand, they sell it at publix) or for meats and vegtables I mixed it with a scoop of cottage cheese. You're not supposted to give them milk till a year but yogurt and cottage cheese are different. A great reference is the "super baby food" book for a guideline of when to introduce what foods (ex. no berries till 1 year, etc). hope this helps

Give the chunkier foods a try if you feel comfortable. Of course, they should still be soft. Your daughter should be able to gum them. As for the yogurt, my pediatrician said we could try the yogurt before 1y/o due to the enzymes and healthy bacteria that are present. The help break down the substances that are found in regular dairy products and are therefore easier to digest. Unfortunately, I don't remember at what age he suggested...9 mos?

Good luck!

Lisa, Take it from me all babies are not ready for the same things at the same times. I always compared my child to others his age before I realized that. If your daughter is doing well on the foods that she is eating then leave her on that for a while. I agree that you should wait before introducing her to things like crackers or Teddy Grahams until she has more teeth. You are not paranoid, just concerned about doing the right thing. You could try the chunkier food and see how she does with it but as long as she seems full on the purees then she is fine for a while. Best wishes to you!!