Hello Mamas,
I have two questions. My beautiful 14-month old girl has been on solids since 6 months, slowly working more variety into her diet of fruit and veggies and grains. She has her 8 front teeth and has 2 molars cutting through now. I'm struggling with her diet right now. It seems many kids her age are on table food, but we are still making her home-made blended food and freezing it in cubes. I like knowing she gets her servings of veggies, and right now she doesn't want to take the time to chew things that are too tough (even gives up on small pieces of apples), probably because her molars get sore. So, am I doing her a disservice by keeping her on blended foods too long? Is she missing out on getting the mouth feel of more chewable foods? I do put fresh cut fruit in her cereal every morning, she loves chewing on oat-ee-os and various breads and crackers, and she used to chew on green beans and broccoli. But, she has no more interest in the green stuff and is already starting to focus most of her attention on "brown foods" - starches and such. How do I keep her interested in veggies and also getting the right amounts of veggies, while also opening up her world to 'regular' food that isn't pureed? And, does anyone have recipes for doing this? One thing we have done is put broccoli pieces in the mashed sweet potatoes. She seems to eat anything that is disguised with sweet potatoes.
Also, she is still breastfeeding a few times a day (morning and night time) - and I'm curious about how to keep her eating schedule up so that she is getting enough food in between. She eats breakfast around 8:30 or 9, lunch around 12:30 or 1, and then dinner around 5:30 or 6. The break between lunch and dinner is long and we usually give her a snack, but sometimes that ruins her dinner. Does anyone out there have suggestions for a better schedule for mealtimes? Thanks for all constructive feedback - I have seen negative responses on this group, and I am hoping for constructive and supportive comments only!
Thanks for the great ideas and encouragement. Very helpful. I'll try some of the recipes and give her a little more time to get used to the finger/table food. This weekend she liked a combo of sweet potato, broccoli mix where I added some curly pasta. So, she's getting there!
We had good luck with frozen peas. Put a handful in a strainer and run under warm water just to take the frost of them. They are sweet and tasty. Plus, they're cold and soothe her molars. My daughter loves them so much she prefers them to unhealthy snacks.
K., for some inspirational ideas...you'll love these 2 websites (my favorites):
AND http://wholesomebabyfood.com/
DELICIOUSLY YUMMY!!!
ENJOY!!! : )))
LOL,
L. (MAMA to 47 week old Dylan Orion). : )))
Hi! You are doing a great job keeping veggies in your daughter's diet. My best advice to you is to keep offering it to your child. I transitioned my son from pureed foods to soilds by controlling the amount of chunks in the food when I blended it. Every few days I would blend it a couple seconds less so there would be larger and larger chunks. He eventually got it. Then I introduced well cooked small pieces of carrot, peas, green beans, etc. for him to eat as finger food. My son is 27 months now and he still struggles a bit with eating crunchy foods like raw apples and carrots. I find it easier for him if I cut these harder foods into slivers instead of chunks. He still gets the mouthfeel without the risk of biting off a piece too big and choking on it. Good luck!
I have a daughter the same age and she is going through the same thing. She used to eat everything but now will chew on something once and then spit it out. She loves bread, rice and starches. She seems to like more flavored foods right now, so we've made meatballs and put pureed veggies in them. We also give her different textured foods sometimes dry cereal or bread but then some scrambled eggs and pieces of broiled chicken. She seems to eat some of it. Also rice with veggies mixed in seems to work. Look online for recipes - I think they are experimenting at this stage and are curious so if you can give them some variety, then maybe you will find something she likes. Finger foods are great so she can pick up things herself, cut up grapes and fruit work super well. We also mix cheese and avocado on pasta or make quesadillas for her and she likes those a lot. We also put things on our plate that are for her and pretend to feed her from out plate and she always enjoys that more than her food!
Hi! I can absolutely relate. My son is 12 months and he is nearly on the same schedule and eating the same finger foods as your daughter. Only he has had no interest in even attempting to feed himself fruit or veggies. I provide 3-4 "finger foods" every meals continually to expose him to these textures in hopes he will someday show interest. I have hired a pediatric nutritionist and lactation consultant to come to our house to observe his feeding behaviors. She said that if he will still take the purees, by all means keep feeding them to him. I have slowly increased the purees textures to more thicker/chunkier styles and he did accept them over time. The nutrititonist also said that make sure that he sits down for his meal hungry- meaning it should be at least 1.5 to 2 hours after his last feeding, regardless if it is breast milk or solid food. I hope this helps you. Please let me know if anyone passes on any great advice. Your daughter will likely develop at her own pace, and it is hard not to compare her with other children. Just know that she'll do it when she's ready and keep exposing her to various foods and textures. Great work, mom!
It seems to me that you're doing a great job. Take the pressure off yourself. My son is 18 months and he still adores purees. I offer him a variety of foods that I feed him and he feeds himself. Start by putting a few beans or edamame on her tray every meal to see if she wants to give feeding herself a try. As for the purees, just keep making a variety with fruits, veggies, grains, carbs and proteins. When she's ready, she'll start feeding herself exclusively, but for the time being, she's only 14 months. -www.weelicious.com
I make this every week for my 13 month old. I add different "sneaky" ingredients, but always the same core. He eats it without complaint and actually swallows it :) :
I add finely chopped spinach, broccoli, green beans, carrots, etc. to mashed sweet potato and red or purple potato. (about 2:1 ratio)
1 stick finely chopped string cheese (or whatever cheese she'll eat)
2 scrambled eggs
mix everything together and put into a microwave safe tupperware container. Microwave on high for about 5 minutes (until the middle is fully cooked). Stick it in the fridge until it cools. Cut about 5-7 1/4 inch squares per mealtime.
It will give your daughter "green stuff" and give her something to pick up without hurting her new molars.
i am going through the same thing with my 13th month old. any food that has chunk in it, for example the stage 3 foods, she literally will pull the chunky part out of her mouth and analyze it. then she will either throw it or mash it in her hair or face. it's been an ongoing issue with us for months and i've gotten very frustrated with her. she's been taking finger foods like cheerios, crackers and cheese however when i put other things in front of her like cucumbers or fruit, she might put it in her mouth put then pull it back out and then it goes to various places on her body, the floor or on me. i have friends whose babies are all eating like whole chunks of meat, fruit and veggies without any issues, it's driving me nuts. they also have way less teeth than your baby.
the best thing that i can recommend is to continue to give the puree's and then just keep trying to put the more solid foods in front of her. as i am hoping, eventually she will eat them. the doctor told me that giving the puree's are ok at this age, as long as she is getting her nutrition. so with that said....puree away and keep giving your baby more solid finger foods. as far as your schedule, it is very similar to the one i have for my daughter except dinner is as little later and i do give her some snacks in between. i also give her alot of water as she is running around so much which helps to keep her more full in between meals. my daughter is on whole milk now, which i started to switch a little after one year......
good luck to you..!
I used the book Super Baby Food as a guide and it has loads or great, nutritious recipes. I incorporated rice into the diet with vegetables and also lentils, when I first transistioned away from the blended foods. Rice adds texture to blended vege's so gets them used to lumps. ( BTW I made all my own baby food for both kids so have experience). Tofu is another good choice as it's a soft texture as well as adding protein. Pasta with sauce is fun for your little one (messy)and enables you to blend in loads of vege's. It is also a good way to introduce meats if you're adding meat to her diet. Good luck and you're doing a great job!
