Hello, sorry if this is a question that has already been asked. But can anyone give some advice on the transition from baby food to "regular" food.
My baby is 10 1/2 months and my pediatrician says he can start trying to eat whatever we are eating... but that seems to be a BIG step. I feel like our food has too much fat, salt, oil, etc... compared to pureed baby food.
So any suggestions how either resources (books, websites) or even how you did it and what age?
Thank you!
(Right now, he is eating those gerber meat sticks and cooked frozen veggies- the diced kind... and the usual cheerios and stuff. But he doesn't chew well, he sometimes swallows whole and that worries me that his digestion will be affected.)
We started with cut-up cooked pasta noodles with veggies. I would also make chicken and cut it up--real meat is much tastier than the gerber meat things. I would just make sure that what ever he eats is really small. He may need to practice chewing-- I'd experiment with new things, textures, to help get a hang of chewing first.
When we started our son on 'regular' food I would do things like boil a sweet potato and mash it up and serve that with plain chicken (if I made chicken for all of us I'd season ours and leave his plain); my mom cans vegetables in the summer so I'd give him those since she doesn't add any salt when she cans them. He pretty much does eat what we eat I just make sure to leave a little of each dish unseasoned so it won't bother his tummy.
start with yougurt, applesuace, mashed potatoes, really cooked pasta/ noodles stuff like that that doesn't require chewing. My daughter is 2 & still doesn't fully chew her food.
Rotary chewing emerges between 12 and 14 months of age as the toddler encounters more chewy textured foods.(1) Appropriately sized and shaped, soft table foods can be introduced once a child adds a small grind with the teeth on the food, along with a small side-to-side motion of the jaw (rotary chew).
My dd is 11 months and she eats pretty much what we eat. I also worry about all the fats, salts, and oils in our food. I've noticed that I've started cooking healthier for the whole family. I also love the fact that we can all eat dinner together. Just give your little guy very small pieces of what you're eating. Make sure you cook his food a little longer than yours, so it's mushier. Have you tried the toddler meals from Gerber? My dd loves the Pasta Pickups. I have to cut them up, but she'll eat almost a whole container. Mac and cheese is also a favorite. He may not take to table food right away, just keep trying. It's fun to watch them explore new foods and textures.
My 12 month old has been on pretty much all big people food since 10 months. It is hard sometimes b/c we eat a lot of pizza, chinese, etc. Some of his favories are any fruit chunks, shredded cheese, bread, pancakes, waffles, yogurt, cottage cheese, puffs, O's, pepperoni, lunch meat, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, and sometimes pasta or those Gerber meals. I have to mix in veggie chunks with cheese or bread or he will toss them aside. The not chewing completely is totally normal at this age. He will get the nutrition he needs. Just cut it all small enough so no choking and try different things to see what he likes. My son eats so fast he just swallows a lot and he grows just fine. It is true our food has a lot more fat and such but they can't live on just baby food veggies/fruit forever (not enough calories). I am an OB RN.
All three of my kids have been eating table food since they were about 9 months, my third from about 8 months. I gave them whatever we were eating. They just didn't like baby food anymore, and actually needed the extra calories because they were so much more active. Just cut up everything small, so that swallowing it won't be an issue. I wouldn't worry too much about the fat and oil, they actually need a little more of that. Now salt, you could cook, and then salt your food, but actually no one should eat too much salt :). As long as you are eating fairly healthily, he should be fine. Eventually he will be eating like you anyway.
