Hi mamas...

the other thread about breastfeeding tips was invaluable to me, thanks to everyones suggestions. i wanted to start a new one about solid foods for babies.

i started giving my DS cereal, pureed fruits etc from about 5 1/2 months. now he eats cereal 2x/day, and for dinner, i usually give him a mixture of rice, lentils, veggies and some meat mashed together. he eats a container of yo baby yogurt, and for a snack, i give him a graham cracker, some gerber cheese puffs, cheerios, a pretzel, and a smashed banana.

i would like to know what else you feed your LOs... mine is 8 1/2 months old and id like to expand his diet but i don't know where to go. id like him to eat more regular food vs purred or smashed ones. are eggs ok? if so, how do you make them? cheese? how do you serve fruits and veggies, and which ones are ok or not ok? thanks!

When my kids were babies, the book Super Baby Food was my bible, I totally recommend it. It is amazing, especially if you want to make any of their food yourself.

I made my own food for DD before she was 1 and could eat most table food. It's so easy and there are many great nutritious options. Depending on how many teeth your LO has, you'll have to try mashed/purees and small pieces if baby can chew them. Ideas are avocado, sweet potato, squash, pancakes, oatmeal, quinoa, pasta, hummus, black beans. Sardines are good smashed up and put on pieces of crackers (and sardines are much healthier than tuna due to much lower amounts of mercury). Try wild salmon too. My ped recommended fish at least 1x/week and we continue with this with DD (she's now 2). Shredded cheese and mozzarella or cheddar cheese cut into small pieces are good finger foods. I buy frozen chopped baby spinach and use that in a lot - mix with hummus, put in pasta sauce and mix into pasta.

From what you wrote, it doesn't seem like there is a lot of fruit in your rotation, so try things like berries, pineapple, melon, grapes, apples, oranges, peaches, pears, kiwi, bananas (all cut into small pieces).

I LOVED this book and used it to get lots of ideas http://www.amazon.com/Best-Homemade-...pr_product_top and loved it. It gives great ideas for combinations of foods for babies and toddlers, and it also has a useful reference grid for introducing foods month by month until babies turn 1.

One thing I'd check, personally, are the ingredients in the Yo Baby. I remember checking it a while ago and sugar is one of the top ingredients. I gave DD plain yogurt and mixed in pureed fruit or veggies to give it some taste and extra nutrition.

I think there are other threads in this subforum about making baby food so you might want to check those out too.

Good luck!

I have one of those Baby Bullets and it came with a guide that shows you exactly what fruits/vegetables to introduce and when to do it. They also have a bigger cook book that my Mom got me that is also wonderful. I'm sure there are other books similar. My 8 month old eats 3 times per day and eats 4-5 servings of fruits/veggies, 2-3 servings of carbs (rice cereal, oatmeal) and 2-3 servings of proteins. I agree with the post above, I only give my daughter greek plain yogurt with pureed fruit mixed in.

thanks for the suggestions! actually, LO eats a lot of fruits, but they are mostly the gerber purees mixed with his cereal. id like to give him actual fruit now, but I wanted to know what kinds/what size they should be so he won't choke.

you're right, the yobaby has a lot of sugar... i tried giving him plain yogurt with fruit purees mixed in but he really turned his nose up against those. maybe i should give him another taste of that instead.

shredded cheese is a great idea, i was wondering how to give him cheese! thanks! ill get some next time at the market!

what would i give him hummus with? smear it on toast? that sounds like a great finger food!!

i haven't tried any kind of fish yet, i will look into sardines... but I've never had them myself so i might try that if LO likes tuna, lol.

also, how would i serve eggs to him? boiled, fried, scrambled? id like him to try it but i don't know the best way, since i read that eggs can be allergenic.

i will do a search to see what other posters say as well

I personally didn't start fish until after age 1, because it was an allergen food that I was advised to wait. Maybe the recommendation has changed, I don't know. My kids are 6 and 8.

Hummus can be spread on toast bits or crackers.

Shredded cheese is a great idea. And fruit can be cut into tiny bits that baby can pick up and eat. Bananas are perfect because they are soft.

Serve just the eye yolk at that age, either boiled and chopped, or scrambled. You can add the cheese to the scramble too. We were told not to give egg whites at that age. Again, it's been a while for me, so maybe check with the doctor. I believe you can give the whole egg after 6 months old. If your baby has no allergy and no family history, then you should be fine.

My little one is almost 11 months, we started cheese about 9 months. I like string cheese because it breaks into tiny pieces easily. My guy LOVES avocado. I just cut it into strips, then in a few pieces. He loves grilled cheese. He also loves salmon and tilapia. Our ped said that kind of fish was fine, but to wait on shellfish.

It's hard to expand their diet! my guy will eat almost anything? But it's just finding the time and having enough variety on hand that's hard.

I use Annabel Karmel's baby cook book and have done since we started weaning. The meal planners are great and make sure there is variety and new flavours over the course of the week. He's eaten just about everything in the book so far.

DS is 10 months. For breakfast he had banana porridge. For lunch he had chicken and cous cous casserole followed by a banana and raspberry smoothie. For dinner he has had beef and sweet potato with veggies followed by yoghurt. He tends not to really snack as eats well at his meals but does like to try whatever you are eating.

We serve cheese as a sauce mostly: cauliflower cheese or cheesy vegetables (he loves both). He will also eat it melted on toast. He won't eat scrambled eggs at the moment but may grow into it. I let him lead as he eats just about everything else.

He loves anything with pasta in it: baby lasagne, spaghetti carbonara, pasta shapes in butternut squash and tomato.......the list goes on. Lentils and vegetable risotto are other favourites.

He will eat salmon but has refused other fish three times now .... clearly a child with expensive tastes!

Tomorrow we're having chicken and summer vegetables for lunch and cottage pie for dinner.

I batch cook for him so there is a drawer full in my freezer of meals for him (when I looked at what I had this morning there were over 40 pots of food so we're OK for a couple of weeks!)

Originally Posted by vernis-lover

I use Annabel Karmel's baby cook book and have done since we started weaning. The meal planners are great and make sure there is variety and new flavours over the course of the week. He's eaten just about everything in the book so far. DS is 10 months. For breakfast he had banana porridge. For lunch he had chicken and cous cous casserole followed by a banana and raspberry smoothie. For dinner he has had beef and sweet potato with veggies followed by yoghurt. He tends not to really snack as eats well at his meals but does like to try whatever you are eating. We serve cheese as a sauce mostly: cauliflower cheese or cheesy vegetables (he loves both). He will also eat it melted on toast. He won't eat scrambled eggs at the moment but may grow into it. I let him lead as he eats just about everything else. He loves anything with pasta in it: baby lasagne, spaghetti carbonara, pasta shapes in butternut squash and tomato.......the list goes on. Lentils and vegetable risotto are other favourites. He will eat salmon but has refused other fish three times now .... clearly a child with expensive tastes! Tomorrow we're having chicken and summer vegetables for lunch and cottage pie for dinner. I batch cook for him so there is a drawer full in my freezer of meals for him (when I looked at what I had this morning there were over 40 pots of food so we're OK for a couple of weeks!)

I may have to check this cookbook out!!

My little guy LOVES salmon too!!

How does your DS do with the smoothie? I haven't tried it yet thinking the coldness would deter him...

Originally Posted by vernis-lover

I use Annabel Karmel's baby cook book and have done since we started weaning. The meal planners are great and make sure there is variety and new flavours over the course of the week. He's eaten just about everything in the book so far. DS is 10 months. For breakfast he had banana porridge. For lunch he had chicken and cous cous casserole followed by a banana and raspberry smoothie. For dinner he has had beef and sweet potato with veggies followed by yoghurt. He tends not to really snack as eats well at his meals but does like to try whatever you are eating. We serve cheese as a sauce mostly: cauliflower cheese or cheesy vegetables (he loves both). He will also eat it melted on toast. He won't eat scrambled eggs at the moment but may grow into it. I let him lead as he eats just about everything else. He loves anything with pasta in it: baby lasagne, spaghetti carbonara, pasta shapes in butternut squash and tomato.......the list goes on. Lentils and vegetable risotto are other favourites. He will eat salmon but has refused other fish three times now .... clearly a child with expensive tastes! Tomorrow we're having chicken and summer vegetables for lunch and cottage pie for dinner. I batch cook for him so there is a drawer full in my freezer of meals for him (when I looked at what I had this morning there were over 40 pots of food so we're OK for a couple of weeks!)

Do you make the food softer for your ds? I dont want him to grow too used to mushy food but i want him to be able to eat it. Also do you feed him or let him feed himself?

Originally Posted by msheidiann

I may have to check this cookbook out!! My little guy LOVES salmon too!! How does your DS do with the smoothie? I haven't tried it yet thinking the coldness would deter him...

I took the raspberries out of the fridge to bring them to room temperature before making his smoothie. He doesn't mind cold things in all honesty. He has tried ice-cream before, literally just a taste though.

Originally Posted by qudz104

Do you make the food softer for your ds? I dont want him to grow too used to mushy food but i want him to be able to eat it. Also do you feed him or let him feed himself?

I'd describe it as a rough/lumpy mush - does that even make sense? He only has a tiny bit of a tooth at the moment so I do take pity on him. That said he has some baby biscuits which are quite hard and he seems to make short work of those! He will eat lumps of meat but he takes such a long time to get through them that he gets too tired to finish his meal. I don't worry about it. He'll move onto bigger lumps when he's ready and capable.

If he has finger food then he will feed himself in a fashion, until he loses interest.

I do give him his own spoon with his meals and put some on the end of it for him but he tends to end up feeding it to the dogs rather than trying to get it to his mouth. Little wonder the dogs adore him really is there?

It is hard for me to remember exactly what we gave him, but I think we didn't give him much in regard to regular food.... the only thing I remember are the puffs and sometimes small pieces of cheese. I think we did more of the regular food as he was closer to one and after. He of course had the gerber veggies and fruits a lot, and some of the meat stuff sometimes.

Our LO is 7 months so she is still eating mostly puree but I have been starting to try larger pieces of fruit with her. I have some friends that are doing baby led weaning and the food is all larger pieces and they let the babies gnaw off what they want to eat. I had given LO smashed banana and she gagged but then when I gave her a whole chunk of banana that she could pick up she bit off and chewed. As for what to feed him, I think most fruits are ok, I have heard to wait with the berries (strawberries, raspberries, etc.), just make sure they are soft like a banana. And as for veggies, just roast some sweet potato, squash, etc. and cut into strips and let him bite off what he wants. I know it is scary, I stand there and stare at her to make sure she doesn't choke. Also, the website Wholesome Baby Food has been really informational for me.

http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/

I totally love Anabel Karmel's books! These time round for my 2nd baby, she loves eating plum baby's organic 4 grains porridge and also she loves dining out and eating fresh fruits! For an example of how it is like to dine out with fresh fruits, do see the pictures in my blog as I can't upload photos of my iPhone to TPF :(((