Let's talk solids (baby food and table food)

My son is almost 8 months now.  All I've fed him to this point is baby food.  Mainly cereal, fruits and veggies.  We tried the chicken and gravy once and he seemed to like it alright. He has cereal in the morning, fruit w/cereal in the afternoon and cereal w/veggie in the evening.  I was reading "the what to expect book" and it talked like we were well into table foods.  I tried to give jacob a tiny piece of bread once and he started gagging.  I think it was the texture that freaked him out.  

Anyway, so how old is you baby and what do you feed him/her. How much and how often.  When did you switch from baby food to table food?  What did you start with?  When you started table food, did you stop baby food all together?  Tell me your stories, what you are doing now or what you did in the past.   How do you know when they are ready to start trying table foods?  

[Tanker Chic]

Oh and please no judging others on what they have done or do.  Not everyone does things the same and lives by the same rules.  

[mlb1234]

That is funny because my sister was just laughing at me because, like you, I am also giving Izzy cereal with every meal!!  So today I tried to give her more of the just the plain fruit and vegies.  She did good but since she loves oatmeal so much I will continue to give her it once or twice a day.  Also we found out last week that she likes the puffs.  My dh tried them again and by golly she knew what to do with it (chew it with her gum)!!  I have not even tried anything with dairy or meat yet.  I did try some plain mashed potatoes but she wasn't too into it.  Believe me I am all confused about the food too and lost about what to try.  I think you can just start trying whatever you think they can handle though.  I know when I read the What To Expect chapter I felt Isabelle was way behind too since I hadn't even thought of table foods yet!!!  I do try to buy the #3 vegies now though but to me there is not much difference.  I will be interested in reading what everyone else has done...sorry I am not much help as we are in the same situation!!

[AndiJ78]

Put down the book, ladies. Walk away from the book...

Sorry, I HATE that line of books. Personal gripe of mine. I know, I know, one of my OB's gave the book at my first appt and I thought that meant it was great, I made myself crazy with it!

Please remember, the bulk of their nutrition still needs to be from breast milk or formula. Solids are not meant for meeting their nutritional needs at this point. Still working on just tastes and texture.

Anyway, solids went vastly different with all of my kids. With my 1st, I was all over starting solids right when I got the green light, baby had other plans. Waited a month or so and tried again. He ate some baby food, but preferred to nurse for sure. By 8 mos he was eating some table foods, he loved mashed potatoes, little bites of all sorts of table food, and well by 1 year was eating all sorts of table food. He is now 6 years old and 74 pounds. Maybe I should have started slower.  At this rate he will eat me out of house and home by age 12.

With my middle, he started on cereal at 6 months. Went on to some single veggies, a few fruits (which he hated) and I remember him happily eating a cheeseburger at an age just under 1 year. He was all over the map, but was for sure eating table food under a year, but nursed beyond his first birthday as well. He is a skinny, but tall kid and has more energy than any kid I have ever met.

And then there is CJ. He literally ate barely, and I mean barely, any solids during the first year. A couple bites of baby food, less than a cup of cereal total and not even introduced to it until well after 6 months, likely 8 mos. He nursed, he was huge on "momma milk" alone. He did not really start eating more solids until well into the second year. He is growing at a steady pace and eats a wide variety of foods. Not bad for a kid with a hole in his heart. He loves his occasional cookie, but he is a healthy eater as are the other boys.

I think as you have more kids you tend to realize solids do not need to be rushed. Go slower, let them be a baby.

One constant with my kids is I started letting them have nibbles of food from our plates at around 7 or 8 months, give or take. I would recommend waiting until about 9 mos personally. Pasta is a good start, it is soft and tasty even plain. Cheerios are a cheaper alternative to those puffs without all the sugary flavor. Egg yolks (no whites until after a year) in scrambled form is good as well.

Go slow and easy and your baby will follow your cue.

[onlyme27]

By 4 months my pediatrician told me to start introducing baby food to Steeley.  (Which I had already started the cereal and bananas and pears) She told me to start introducing the baby food by light colored food first (bananas, pears, squash) and then work my way up to darker colored food.  Only introduce one food at a time and stick with it for a few days to make sure that no reaction to the new food happens.  By 8-9 months your child should be able to handle more solid foods (maybe some thin mashed potatoes or smashed peas) .  I don't think things like hotdogs or other processed meats are supposed to be given before 1 year.  The health department gave me a chart of what foods to introduce at what age and how often the child should be feeding.  I don't have it in front of me though.  I will try to get that information and send it to you as soon as I can.  Just use your best judgement when giving a child new foods and you will do fine.

[molley21]

What do you mean by table food?

[Tanker Chic]

Andi, those are great suggestions.  Thanks. I like the idea of the pasta and scrambled egg yolks.  

onlyme, I'd love to see that chart.  Thanks for the info.

molley, by table food, I mean food other than jar baby food and cereal.  More like food we eat but soft and less spicey.  

lisa, jacob loves the cereal also.  I actually mix the veggies and fruit into the cereal to thicken them up.  They just seem too runny on their own.  

If anybody else has anything they wanna share, keep the comments comming.  I love all the input.  

[tatorbug40]

Both of my kids have kinda followed the same path-  so I'll just talk mostly about what I am doing with Colten, who is my baby-  he just turned 9 months old this week-  at almost 4 months I started him on cereal, and some fruits, and transitioned to the other fruits and veggies and meats over the following few months (stage 2 baby foods)- then I upped it to the stage 3 foods about the same time I introduced puffs...  about 6 months-  he LOVED the puffs and gagged a little the first few times I did the level 3 baby foods because of the chunks...  but we just did it slowly- Now he is up to table foods, less baby foods, some of the graduates, like the pasta pick ups, I did canned soups, like the chunky kinds and drained the broth off of it, so he could self feed and the veggies are really soft in those, he loves to eat a slice of bread, and now I can give him a whole slice and he does fine-  but I built him up to the self feeding,  I started by tearing every thing into small chunks and giving him one at a time, til he learned to chew it up and swallow-  I use the term chew lightly-  he is just now getting teeth, but he gummed it all really well!  :)  He loves mac and cheese (the easy mac cups) and can self feed that too...  (not with a fork or spoon) but he can pick it up and eat it...  pancakes,  cut up into little pieces...  um...  I think that is most of what he is eating-  

with that said-  he eats a little of something- bread or cereal bar (the self feeding is really really messy-  so I would invest in a dog, if you don’t already have one!), and then a jar of baby food fruits/cereal mix in the AM, then a bottle around 10:30 before a nap, then something around lunch, pasta or soup veggies or just a jar of baby food-  he mixes it up! :)  Then another bottle in the afternoon, and then usually dinner time he self feeds bread or pasta pick ups or crackers or something, just to entertain himself while i make dinner for everyone else- then bath and another bottle at bed time...  Like Andi said- the formula or breast milk is still really important at this point and is where they get most of their nutrition- I use the solids mostly because he loves to eat them and it is teaching him the coordination to feed himself- but that is not his main staple for nutrients...  

[pertykitty]

with addison i try to make her food when i can.  she is a pig!! you would think she was bigger but as busy as she is i guess not lol.  she loves eggs (i have been giving her the whole egg according to the dr i saw at her well baby her dr was out on maternity!!) and her baby cereal with fruit mixed in it.  she loves to feed herself and gets upset that i have to feed her some.  i read a great idea though (maybe for when jacob is a bit older) take ground up fine cheerios and roll your little slippery fruits or veggies in them so baby can grasp them better.  i havent tried it yet but it sounds like a great idea.  i have been feeding addison most of what we eat, unless its spicy or not appropriate. she loves avocados, those and bananas dont have to be cooked so they are great on the go food just messy.  wholesomebabyfoods.com has some great ideas and recipies. im tired as can be so i dont even know if i typed that or anything else correctly sorry!

[onlyme27]

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/solids.htm
http://www.earthsbest.com/baby_nutrition/feeding_schedule_print.php

I am still trying to get that chart i talked about earlier online so that I can send it to you but I did find these sites that have a table as to what foods should be introduced at what stage.