Seeking Advice Re: Transitioning a 10-Month-old to Solid Foods

A great book I can recommend is Super Baby Food. You can find it on Amazon.com for a good price. Ohterwise try finger foods; peas, corn, french style green beans, firm tofu squares, shreaded cheese, scrambled egg yolk.

When I made the switch with my 11 month old a couple of months ago I would give him what I made for the rest of my family. I would just cut it up into small pieces or throw it in my food processor if I needed to. This works great because I can take care of the whole family and not take extra time to prepare something special for my little guy.

I also have a 10 month old and we've come up with a lot of table foods that are quick to prepare. I buy roasted chicken strips and chunks in the deli meats section of the grocery store and just chop them up into little pieces. Also, steamed frozen veggies are great such as broccoli, peas, green beans, etc. Use the steamer bags for the microwave and it is done in minutes. Dehydrated potato flakes are great as well because they take no time to cook; just omit the salt. Hope this helps!

buy a rice/veggie steamer and a large grill (like a George foreman). You can come home, throw some veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes, yams, zucchini, yellow squash, etc) in the steamer, and some chicken (which you can shred) on the grill and have dinner in 15 minutes. Season as you like. You can add fruit for dessert. I also like the crock pot (turkey, roast, potatoes, etc). Try the book Super Baby Food for ideas.

Just another tip -- watch the sodium content on table and pre-prepared food. They can do damage to their little livers. Make sure they're drinking a lot of water (not just juice) with the table food to help process out the sodium.

I try to feed my 11 mo old daughter whatever we eat (at home or in restaurants) and just chop it up to her size. The exception being hard stuff and all the no-no's like PB/Honey/shellfish.

But, for easy ideas: I too use the frozen turkey meatballs from Trader Joes, so easy to heat one and chop it up for her. I use the "Gerber Graduate" pasta meals, cutting the ravioli's in half. I always have deli turkey and tear off pieces for her. I keep firm tofu and can easily chop off little squares of that for her, straight from the fridge. Whatever vegetables we are eating I will soften up more for her (sometimes in the micro). Also keep bags of the frozen veggies in the freezer, can quickly microwave small amounts for her. Only you can judge what you are comfortable with your baby eating, but around ten months I started giving mine baby-bite sizes of all our stuff- rice, pasta, meat, veggies, casseroles, no matter how complex the flavors. I used the old standby's (whatever your baby is currently fond of, banana, cheerios, whatever) to supplement if she wasn't into our grown-up food.

Hi J.-
Our daughter is 11 months, going to be a year on 05/14. I have always made her baby fruit and veggies fresh, and/or froze thhem for future use. I have never used store bought food, other than for emergencies, out on the road and forgot her food.

Well, I started feeding my daughter small chunks of chicken and turkey meatballs from trader joes. They are in the frozen food aisle. The chiecken strips are pre-cooked and so are the turkey meatballs. You just microwave (usually she just eats one medium sized strip or one MB). I then chop up in small pieces. Also, I give her small pieces of cheese, normally mozarella.

I steam peas, brocolli and carrots and cut them up in small pieces. Chicken soup smashed up.

For breakfast, I giver her yogurt and/or rolled quaker oatmeal, with fresh fruit smashed up. She loves kiwi and strawberries. She is not allergic to them.

Good luck! Also..I make her spanish style rice I make and
pinto beans and lentils.

Hi J.,
You can get a small food processor and put whatever you and your family are eating in it with a little liquid and process it to the desired consistancy for his age, such as very processed to a little chunky. You can make a lot at a time as well and store for later also. Don't put yogurt in it though, not until he is two. Take care,
V.

Steamed chicken, vegetables, tempeh and tofu (cut in small cubes), steamed fish. Just throw a ton of different proteins and vegetables in a steamer so you have them for several days.
Check our my site weelicious.com for more healthful ideas.
Best, C.

Quick meals my baby girl gets...

a) Boca Burgers (they cook in 10 minutes TOPS and they are really soft, but delicious to eat!!)

b) Ground Turkey patties (I cook those in the George Foreman)

c) Yogurts (YoBaby)

d) All Natural Applesauce and All Natural Blurberry Applesauce

e) Grilled Cheese (all soft and gooey and cut up!)

f) Softly cooked tortellini pasta (filled with cheese)

g) a scrambled egg

h) I bought a bag of frozen mixed veggies and I steam them to be really soft... My daughter loved them!!

Hope that helps!!!!!!

I would just give my kids what we were having. I would grind it up if I needed to.

My children eat everything we eat, even at 10 months: steamed broccoli (no salt), pieces of chicken/salmon/tofu mashed up a bit, avocado, bits of whole wheat pasta, etc.

Just make sure your food doesn't come out of packages: too much sodium and fat and other unnecessary chemicals. If it's fresh and lightly cooked, he can eat it.
My 4 and 2.5 year old children eat everything, including salad (which I chop up so they can eat it without difficulty).

If you are limited on time and feel like you can't do it, refer to this website: www.flylady.net
You'll find that you can do everything, with baby steps, really!!
good luck

Mashed Potatos, Chicken noodle soup Diluted w/water, rice gravy, fresh veggies boiled & mashed, vegtable/alphabet soup, beef stew gravy w/rice good luck! He'll love it!

Foods to avoid from 4-12 months: citrus, egg whites,honey,peanut butter,wheat or wheat products,shellfish,tree nuts, cow's milk,large chunks of food, small hard foods. (this is per the www.babycenter.com website) *These foods are to be avoided at this age per allergic reactions, and because the baby's internal organs are still developing... too much "protein" as in the white part of eggs can overload the kidneys for example. And some foods can pose choking hazards.

Head's up: Kiwi fruit is also a highly allergenic fruit. I know because my daughter is allergic to it. If you look online, you will find info. on it.

Make sure foods are cut up very small or mashed. Bread, can also be a choking hazard... when it is in the mouth it can become "gummy" in texture and get stuck in the throat like peanut butter and cause a child to choke. Always supervise when baby is eating. They often put too much food in their mouths and can choke.

Just wanted to pass along these feeding tips, as is may not be information that is "common sense."

Good luck and take care,
~Susan
www.cafepress.com/littlegoogoo

Hi J.,
The crock pot is a mom's best friend. Put your lean meat, veggies and a touch of water in the crock pot, turn it on low and leave for work. Come home, pull out the meat, separate the veggies, stick each group on it's own (or together, as you like) in the blender - puree. No seasoning required, in fact, at 10 months, it's better to keep it as simple as possible. That way, if there's a reaction to any one food it's easy to track down (as opposed to trying to figure out which one of 7 ingredients may have triggered the reaction). Serve him enough for one meal then freeze the remainder in individual serving sizes. Easy peasy -- honest.

:-)

Noodles--like spirals with a little butter. I would also cut up chicken apple sausage, small pieces of ham (it took my kids a log time to like meat), peas (can be heated in the microwave), oven fries or sweet potatoes (Trader Joes has some good ones), whole grain bread (I would give them soft rolls to gnaw on). Kids don't need teeth to get through most things. My son was a late teether but that didn't slow him down.

I work as well and my baby is 11 months. He has a lot of teeth so I give him quesadillas or grilled cheese sandwiches with corn or steamed broccoli for dinner. I also make tacos and set aside thr ground turkey before I season it. Some nights he just wants yogurt so I do that for him too. I definitely try to give him what he can have from whatever dinner I am making so I don't have to double cook. Good luck :)

My son just made this transition so I have this information fresh in my mind. He definitely enjoys well cooked pieces of pasta and overcooked steamed vegetables. I have found that buying frozen mixed veggies and throwing them into the steamer is pretty quick and very easy. And it's good for him! I also give him pieces of whole wheat bread, which he can't get enough of, and some healthy soft cereal. We found some organic cheerio-type stuff (but softer) from Ralphs. Also, I introduced him to avocado this week. It was very soft (and a little messy!) so it was easy for him to chew. Unfortunately, he didn't think much of it. Baked sweet potato is good too. It doesn't take much preparation but it does take time to cook.

I have found that, in a rush, I have been able to take a can of chicken noodle soup and give some to both the children, but just noodles to the baby. Of course, it has a lot of sodium in it, so the low sodium one would probably be better. Or a healthier but similar alternative.

Also, small pieces of very ripe fruit are good too. I got a big container of the precut fruit from Costco and my children have been chowing down on that every morning this week.

I guess the key here is to make sure the food is soft enough and the pieces aren't too big so as to lessen the choking hazard. So the child can eat pretty much anything (except for foods on the no-no list) that you can eat, as long as it is cooked until it is very soft and cut small enough.

Good luck!

I feeb my 8 month old bean alot of the time or cook veggies he loves them. Or I will bake a peice of chicken in the oven and slice it real thin. He likes spagetii too, I just cut up the noodles real small. I know gerber makes alot of graduate foods like pasta's you could try.

Dr. Prager's veggie burgers from Trader Joe's frozen section! I cooked them and cut them up into little pieces. The other little foods I chopped up were cheese cubes (or slices), blueberries, peas, edamame and tofu.

Hi J.--

My daughter is 10 months old, I've been feeding her solid foods and table food for months. For you, a busy working mom, you might try the Gerber Graduates meals. My daughter loves the Raviolis and Mac n cheese. They only take 30 seconds in the microwave and they don't have preservatives or anything. I think it's a good way to let your child enjoy "big" girl food and save yourself time.
If you're cooking a dinner try mashed potatoes, well cooked (soft) green beans and carrots. very small chunks of chicken and turkey. If he's had it in a baby food jar, you can feed it to him fresh and know that he won't be allergic to it.
If it's a new food, just use the same rule of thumb as you do when introducing a new baby food, one food at a time in case there is a reaction, you'll know to what.
My daughter eats sliced strawberries and bananas for breakfast all the time. A few grocery stores carry the "yo-baby" yogurt, she loves those. Oatmeal. I scramble her eggs too. Many parents won't feed their child egg or peanut butter and things like this too early, thats a personal choice, my daughter has no advirse side effects, I cook the egg very well, and she enjoys them.
Anything fresh, that is well cooked and you are sure your child can chew safely should be okay.

Unfortunately, pretty much the only way to teach your child to eat appropriate table food is to eat it too! If you are eating something different from them, they will only want what you have instead. Nutritious foods, mashed - cut-up into very small pieces etc...is best. I made a lot of carrots, peas, lima beans, potatoes, pasta, and then meat just cut into very small pieces. Chicken, beef (sparingly - except ground beef), country style strips pork, etc...It works. All mine love good food - especially veggies & fruit. I am lucky I know, but since I was never one for all of that, I feel strongly it was because I changed my diet to suit all of our needs. I too worked full time when my babies were little. It was not until two were in school and my youngest was almost 1, that we decided for me to stay home with them. It is hard, but you can do it. Good luck & God Bless You!

Hello! Frozen veggies are a blessing! The pea and carrot mix comes chopped into small pieces, so that makes it easy - just toss on the stove for a few minutes or in the microwave with a TINY bit of water. Lima Beans and brocoli and cauliflower are easy too and quick to chop up.

J.,

My now 18 month old is allergic to dairy and soy proteins so when we transitioned to table foods, most prepackaged and convenience foods were out of the question. I use a lot of veggies (I prefer fresh or frozen but the canned are softer for a beginner), chicken breast (a George Foreman grill is great for cooking 1 or 2 at a time in about 10 minutes) cut into small pieces, rice (I use the boil in the bag stuff and my son like both brown and white rice, pasta with a little olive oil on it, black beans (I used canned ones - very high in iron), sweet potatoes - the light yellow ones taste better - baked in the microwave, cubed and a little dairy-free margarine, salt and pepper on them (sweet potatoes are also really good for you), basically my baby eats pretty much everything we eat, just cut into tiny pieces. My husband and I both work full time (he works shifts so is not usually home in the evenings), I also have a 4.5 year old who has autism. I know all about being busy and not having time to cook but needing to do it anyway. But it is still possible to put healthy meals on the table without driving yourself nuts. I've recently started going to that new store called "Fresh and Easy." If you have one near you check it out. They have great stuff and much of it is very easy, fast prep.

You can also cook some veggies on the George Foreman grill. I regularly do zucchini or yellow squash, just cut it in half lengthwise, spray a little olive oil on it, a little seasoning of your choice and grill it until it is soft.

I've found that having a plan really helps. If I know what I'm going to make, it goes much faster because I"m not staring into the fridge wondering what I want to make and looking around trying to figure out what I have.

In my fridge right now is a pack of hamburger that I'm going to turn into spaghetti tonight (I know I have all the stuff becuase I planned ahead) and a pack of chicken breasts that I'm going to grill tomorrow. I've got butternut squash (from Fresh and Easy that is already cubed and washed and ready to go) and a pack of "rosemary potatoes" to go with the chicken. I've never been the type of person to be organized or plan ahead but doing this has made the evenings so much easier.

I generally try to plan enough "dinner" for leftovers for lunch for my 18 month old the next day. If I make spaghetti, I usually make enough for dinner for 2 nights in a row (I actually do that alot, make double dinner so that I won't need to cook the next night - that helps alot too).

If you don't have a crock pot, get one and a good crock pot cookbook. There is something really magical about spending 10 minutes assembling something in the morning, leaving it to cook all day and coming home to a finished meal at night. The more stuff you buy already but up, the easier it is.

I also give my son lots of fruit. We peeled the apples and cubed them when he was younger. Now I just cut them into wedges and he does fine. He also eats cubed strawberries, whole blueberries and other berries (fresh or frozen/thawed). He loves potatoes. Fried, hashbrown, baked, mashed (I mash them with chicken broth and they are really tasty that way) he hasn't met a potato he doesn't like. He also love pierogies (they are like ravioli but stuffed with potato).

:-)T.

my daughter loves the lil entres (shes 13mo). but what i do is just cut everything up really small and she eats what we do. im just starting to take my baby off jar food. i use fresh fruits for breakfast and oatmeal/cream of wheat. then i use canned vegies for lunch and like i said she eats basically what we do for dinner. i would try the lil entres (they come in a mac n cheese, chicken and mashed potatoes and more and all have vegies in them) good luck!

Best Book EVER: "Super Baby Food"

We never used store-bought baby food, we followed the simple recipes in this book. It also has some GREAT "fix ahead" strategies so that you have stuff you can grab in a minute and serve.

AND best of all, there's a month-by-month list of what it's okay to introduce to the baby, based on what their little tummies can handle at that age. Priceless.

Just about anything you eat should be fine as long as it is small bites and cooked till soft enough. One recipe I've been a fan of (the kids love it too) is Shepard's Pie. I make it with half the meat (substitute ground turkey if you'd like) and twice as much veggies. I like to use carrots, peas, grean beans, corn and onion. There are frozen mixes that have corn, peas and carrots that make it convenient. I used a Rachael Ray recipe as a starting point for what I've made.

pasta (small shapes), any cooked veggie or ripe, soft fruit, tofu, any meat cut up into minuscule pieces, bread, crackers, Cheese...

you can try anything, but avoid the common allergens: strawberries, egg whites, shellfish, nuts, I can't remember the rest, but google the list of high allergens (I think there are about 10 "avoidance foods") and avoid choking hazards, such as grapes, hotdogs, nuts, just use common sense, and feed him small amounts to see what he does with it - my daughter would gag alot, but she did choke a few times.

Canned or frozen no sugar and no salt: peas, green beans, black beans, fruits... (high iron foods) dice cheese or give a stick of string cheese, they'll naw it off, whole wheat noodles make ahead and freeze so they're ready to micro or give at room temp, plain yogurt, firm tofu (they love to hold it), egg with spinache or broccoli mised in, put in a bowl and microwave covered in saran wrap about 40 sec... My son didn't like the spoon, but loved to feed himself. Cream of wheat and oatmeal can be microwaved, yams cook, slice, and freeze, mix potatoes with tuna, boil chicken... Have fun, you're doing what's best for your child, let them experience tastes and textures.