Move to Stage 3

My son did not like the stage 3, too many hard pieces of vegtables. We kept him on stage 2 until he ate more table food, no harm, we still give him the stage 2 fruits in his oatmeal (he is 19 months old). I would steer away of the juice, get them used to water, so much better for them, we make the mistake when he had Diareah to give him 1/2 juice/ 1/2 water and now wont touch the water. Good luck.

I would recommend that you check with your pediatrician about juice. Our ped recommended against it. It is much better to get the nutrients through actual fruits/vegetables. If you baby is thirsty, try water instead.

If baby's making chewing motions, mashing foods, etc...then he is ready for stage 3. He may gag a bit the first couple of bits, getting used to the lumps in the food. Another thing that works really well in helping them learn how to chew are those mesh feeder bags. It gets kind of messy, but they get to "chew" the food and gets them more experience in chewing...without having to actually chew chunks at first (by chewing through the mesh bags, it makes the food "mush" so there are no chunks to worry about).

As for the juice, I personally would not recommend it. My daughter was given juice (by my MIL at 14 months) and after that, she refused to drink water. It was a fight to get her to drink plain water. She finally drinks water (she's 5), but it's only because I have nothing but water here to drink. It's been a long road in getting here. With my son, he will NOT get juice until he's a least 4 or 5 (if even then).

Some people do not have issues with giving their child juice...but I do agree that most juice is just plain sugar and the kids don't need juice. I would suggest encouraging water intake. When they are much older, there will be plenty of time to have juice (birthday parties, etc). And this is the age to instill healthy eating/drinking habits for later.

Good luck!

We just recently changed to stage 3 and so far so good.

Does your baby 'mash' or making 'chewing' motions yet? Does he have any teeth? These are two signs that he may be ready for stage 3.

We also put a few of the Gerber puffs on the high chair tray after lunch and dinner so he can practice his pincer grasp and learn to feed himself.

I say give it a try - if he doesn't like it, then you can always go back to stage 2 and wait it out.

I agree with the advice about juice. Personally, I'm not going to be using juice as it is mostly sugar, but I know many mothers who have used juice and have had absolutely no issues with it. If you do use juice, use it exclusively in a sippy cup and not the bottle.

If you want tips on how to get your baby to sleep through the night, you can try reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. I realize it doesn't float everyone's boat, but if you're truly interested in helping your child sleep through the night it might be worth a read. If you hate it or disagree with it, you never have to use the tips!

Hi T.
Earth's Best has these "soups". They're called my first soups and are 3rd stage introduction foods. Just a few soft bites of solids so once they get use to the texture, they can start playing around with mushing the food. I found only the jarred dinners had any soft solids in them. The other stage 3 fruits and veggies were just bigger size of the pureed stuff. We started my son off with little pieces of banana and then moved on, gradually. It might take a while. My son just stored stuff in his cheeck until he figured out what to do with it. So just keep exposing him to it and he'll let you know when he's ready to move on. Also, he might gag here and there with the stage 3 in the beginning. That is normal. But if it happens a lot, then he's not ready and just try later.
Good luck!

my ped recommended waiting on the juice till after age one
never put juice or milk in a bottle only sippy cup makes an easier transition off the bottle
only buy baby juice and even then i watered it down by at least half
my daughter didn't get straight motts tots juice till after age 3
juice it terrible for their teeth and doesn't have enough nutritional value

My son is just over 9 months now and he eats stage 2 and 3 foods here and there at home and always while at the babysitter. Mostly at home he just gets some table food and some baby food that I make on my own. He loves to feed himself O's, puffs, bread, shredded cheese, or anything that isn't too slippery. I only have given him juice twice and that was when he was constipated. He takes water in his Nuby sippy cup and loves it. He also nurses about 75% of the time and bottles while I work. He has been only getting up once a night since 4 months and sleeping 10-11 hours since 6 months (mostly anyways :). Just try the stage 3 and if he is used to "chewing" a little it should be fine, plus there is more variety and more volume if you need it.

It's fine to start stage 3. We did stage 3 along with stage 2 for more variety in fruits and veggies. Also fine to start on some table foods that are easy enough for him to eat. It's the stage that felt like constant eating to me when breastfeeding, while doing jar food, while starting table food. It's a pretty short phase though when it's all combined. As far as juice goes, it's not necessary...it's not the best for the teeth, it often causes kids not to enjoy drinking water anymore (which is better for them), and the nutrition in juice can all come from the fruit itself. We avoided juice until potty training and then used it as incentive (and ammunition) on the potty. My kids still see it as a treat, like "candy".

Hi T.!
I would not recommend juice at all for two reasons. First, I tried it diluted with water with my 13 mo. old daughter when she was about your son's age and it gave her the runs. I nursed her until she was about 10 mos. Secondly, I stopped giving her juice because it has way too much sugar, even the juice made for babies and diluted with water; and I did not like that. So, hope this helps a little! Good luck, T.!

Hi T.,

The first post is good advice...and I second what she said about juice...there is no need for it. There will be plenty of time later for your baby to want all the "good stuff" other kids are having...he doesn't know the difference and will be just fine with your milk and water.

Good luck!