What Do I Feed My 12 Month Old?

Most importantly, don't leave him alone while eating, watch carefully for choking now that he'll be working on table foods. Some finger foods you could feed him: SOFT pieces or wedges of ripe peeled and cored fruit (peaches, mango, watermelon, banana, pears, etc.), soft apple slices to knaw on, any kind of cracker, pasta, SOFT pieces of cooked, diced veggies (mashed potato, grated carrots, broccoli florets, etc.), peas cooked and smashed with a fork, cheerios, hard boiled egg yolks crumbled, bagels, just about anything still soft and managable. They recommend 24 ounces of milk per day... whether it be from milk, yogurt, or other high calcium foods. You can feed him cheese slices or cottage cheese, too. You will still want to feed him some rice cereal... maybe mixed with some fruit or something yummy. Just remember he is still a "baby"... you'll be just fine. :) A really good book to read for food ideas and portion size... "Super Baby Foods" by Ruth Yaron.

Something that may be very similar to Gerber Puffs--Pirates Booty. There's veggie, cheese and fruit flavors. You can find it at health food stores or Meijer.

anything that you would eat that is soft is ok to feed to him. I have a 5 year old and a 9 month old. My youngest just recently refused to eat baby food. Im still nursing him so, he doesnt take a bottle, but he wont eat baby food at all anymore. So I feed him what I make for dinner. Just make sure its in small pieces. he will gum them, dont worry. my son only has 2 teeth and they are on the bottom and he eats everything! Chicken, rice, veggies, ect. another good thing is the gerber little veggies. well, i hope this will help. good luck!

My twins are now 15 months. At 12 months, I fed them yogurt, bannanas, mashed potatoes, spaghettios, the best finger food for beginners is Gerber Graduates Puffs. They make fruit and veggie flavored puffs. They are great for babies learning to feed themselves because they are like cereal bites, but they dissolve really fast so there is less chance of choking. And, they actually contain calcuim, iron, vitamins, and minerals. Once they get used to the texture, and how to chew, even with few teeth, they are able to eat more and more varieties of foods. Like my boys, even with only 5 teeth can eat bites of cheese, bites of sandwiches, noodles, pasta, rice, beans, crackers (the best is Gerber Graduate, also dissolve fast), bites of almost anything that we eat as well. This was also very difficult for me at first. I had no idea what to feed them. It is all trial & error, see what works best for you and for your little one.
Also, I agree with NOT taking him off the bottle completely all at once. Gradually take one feeding away, then another, then another. My doctor also told me to take the bottle away at our 12 month check up, but they were just not ready. And ALL of the other mothers I talked to said, "Do it gradually" and it worked for all of them.

I am pregnant with my 5th baby and I have to say, 12 months is alot easier than you would expect. That is when you get to share your plate with your child. Just make sure its teeny tiny or soft enough so they can suck it...mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, vegis...(I don't recommend corn) teeny bits of hot dog, french fries. You're gonna love it...it's so much better!! I'm excited for you. My baby is due in a month, and I have to say, I am not looking forward to the late night feedings :) Good luck. M.

I always loved those Gerber Little Entrees they have for toddlers, they are in next to all the baby food at the store. They have soft cooked foods, and my son loved eating them. He started on those around 10 months.
I would surely use caution with the jarred step 3 baby foods, taste one; they are nasty! Blueberry Buckle is the only step 3 food I used to give my little guy. Most babies don't like proteins that much, so harder things to chew in that category like chicken breast or hamburger are out of the equation (generally of course, all kids are different), and of course they LOVE anything with tons of starch in it; mashed potatoes, noodles, mac and cheese. Just as one of the other ladies advised you'll obviously want to keep an eye on him so he doesn't choke.

Don't worry about giving him cows milk versus formula, no offense to the other mom who pointed out it may not be a good idea, but I would like to see that study that says it raises risk of infection; remember back in the 50s and 60s and 70s if a woman couldn't breast feed babies were given whole milk with Kayro syrup via bottle. Nothing wrong with weening slowly either though. I would reccomend you warm the whole milk just a bit before giving it to him unless he is already accustomed to cold formula. He would take to it better, I used to get mine just a little warmer than "straight out of the fridge" because it shocked the poor kid the first time I gave it to him cold! Room temperature to start if he isn't already used to it. The difference between whole milk and formula, aside from nutritional components and refortification of necessary vitamins and minerals found in formula, is the baby's digestive ability to break down the bigger proteins and molecules in whole (cow) milk. My son's pediatrician has Matthew take a step down each year; at 1 and 2 he was on vitamin D milk, at 3 on 2% milk, at 4 on 1% milk, and when he turns 5 the doc says let him have skim. At varying ages, they need less fat from the milk because intake of regular foods makes up for that.

For protien, try vienna sausages. I haven't met a kid yet who doesn't like them, but of course they are shaped like hot dogs so cut them up. They are very soft and easy to gum/chew and of course a good source of protein. Anything else, green beans, carrots, even beets all well cooked can be given to him. Fruits of all kinds too. Remember that babies can do a whole lot of damage chewing with just a few teeth and their gums are very hard. I've seen babies with no teeth eat things that I found questionable!

Keep things cut up in small chewable pieces, not circular in shape, and remember that everyone has a gag reflex for a reason (meaning don't worry TOO much about choking, it can happen, but you shouldn't freak out about it every time he eats) and that local Red Cross chapters can teach you the heimlick manuever on persons of all sizes. Other than that, have a ton of fun with it! They make the most interesting and adorable little faces when they are trying new foods and seeing new things, and grow up all too fast!

Well I agree you don't want to give him anything that he could choke on. I don't know if you've done jar foods yet, if you havent... start there. Stage three has a little bumps of food it in, not enough to choke but just enough to get them to chew. I fell in love with the gerber puffs. Once youve had him on jar foods for a little bit and he is doing fine.... the puffs are great, they melt in thier mouth and again it teaches them to chew. After they have that down I would go ahead and start on table foods. like mashed potatoes, chicken, peas, gbeans, soft fruits... really anything thats not chewy or hard. Keep in mind... before they master the table foods... keep it small. I have a 14mo old and I make sure the pieces of food are cut up to where she cannot choke, just keep in mind the size of thier passageways and keep the pieces smaller. but, like peas... they mash, potatoes, mash, I'm only talking about things such as chicken, turkey, fruits that don't really mash.... another good food is spagetti. Just make sure the noodles are cut up small, real small so they don't stick out of the mouth as they start to swallow. its real easy for them to eat that. Well I hope this gives you an idea. Good luck, and if you have any questions feel free to ask me.
K.

Have you introduced him to any foods? If not start out with the pureed stuff then go to the soft diced stuff. I don't really know other than that. My little ones were both eating reguler food by 12 months I just didn't give them things that might choke them like tough meats, hotdogs, peanuts, chips raisans things like that. Your dr. should have given you a list of foods that are choking hazards. If your unsure then ask him for one, thats what dr.s are for until then gerber makes little microwave meals that are made for babies. Keep in mind that you can't just take the bottle all at once try taking one bottle a day for several days at a time, maybe start with the midday bottle take it for a few days then take away the morning and the midday one and so on till he is completly off the bottle.

My daughter is almost 11 months old. She eats just about any thing now, and she has 8 teeth, four on top and four on bottom. anything I give her I make sure is in small bite sized pieces, and she either chews it up or lets it get soft and then swallows it. I give her anything from regular baby food, to adult food mashed or cut up. The doctor said anything I give her is fine. Good Luck!

You can feed him anything that doesn't require a lot of chewing. Mashed potatoes, applesauce, even biscuits and gravy (just cut the buscuits into small pieces). Soup are great too. My son loved chicken noodle at that age. Any Pasta that is well cooked is fine. Trust your own judgement.

You can directly feed him anything soft. But, I suggest going to Babies R Us and getting a food mill (a hand held grinder) and you can put almost anything in it! He can have anything you eat, just cut off a few pieces of meat and add some potatoes or rice and a little milk and grind it up and it's the same thing Gerber puts in a jar minus those pesky perservative. You can also buy a small food processesor if you'd rather.
Good Luck!

K. he is only 12 months old. He cannot digest "table food" for some time. So, what i did with my daughter was I fed her Gerber baby food. (or anything that is baby food. like natures food or beechnut, whichever is cheaper or you feel is good for your baby) They have baby food for kids up until they are 3 years old! They have TV dinners that is ALL natural. My daughter was on baby food until she was 3. Now she is a health nut. She would rather eat veggies and fruit than anything else!

Another thing that you might want to know is, Cows Milk causes a lot of common childs sicknesses. like ear aches, stomach gas, etc. So try soy milk. My daughter has drank that since she has gotten off formula and will not drink cows milk. and she never has had colic or ear aches and is rarely sick.

Did you know that it takes a child that is 1 year - two years old more time to digest table food than baby food? Like mashed potatoes takes 2 hours more to digest than creamed carrots! Oh and NEVER give your child peanuts until they are 3 years old. did you know that their body cannot digest them? It doesn't know how to yet.

I really hope that this helps you with your questions! If you need anything please feel free to contact me and I would love to help.

Have a wonderful day!

L. Kay

P.S. to switch from the botle, try to get him used to a sippy cup. With Victoria, I switched from a bottle to a sippy cup and she never missed it. but all kids are different. I hope it'll help.

I remember those days. I was always afraid of my son choking, but now, at 15 months old, I am much more relaxed. He should be able to handle anything that dissolves easily. My son loves any type of pasta, bread, and most fruits. He also loves dark red kidney beans. He eats them like finger foods. The only thing you have to worry about it making sure everything is in small pieces and try to remember what he eats that is new incase he has an allergic reaction. He can really do more with those little teeth than you think he can.

Remember it well! I was determined for my son not to grow up with a weight issues, so his first finger foods were cooked vegetables. I gave him no puddings, gravies or sweets. My mother-in-law thought that was awful and always wanted to push her desserts on him. But because of my strictness, he grew up prefering meat and veggies. Today he is a slender, healthy 28 yr old, and he won't eat puddings, gravies or sweets! He still prefers vegetables over pastas and devours green beans!
My point is this: you can and will design his eating habits for the rest of his life. Be smart about it (and don't listen to your mother-in-law!) :)

K.

mashed potatoes, french frys, bread, soft foods, cookies, etc...oatmeal, puddings jellos, i was feeding my son alot of these before 9 months...babies are great..wold love to have some more.my youngest is 14...