More solid food questions

[Pumplicious]

Ok, I feel like I have a ton of questions about solid foods, just because there is so much conflicting/contradictory information out there. Be patient, mamas! I'm a total rookie at this parenting thing!

1. When did you start giving your LOs foods with spices? Not majorly spicy stuff (although DH and I eat a lot of spicy foods) but things like onions, cinnamon, ginger, garlic?

2. Is delaying solid foods going to increase the likelihood that my child will become a fussy eater? This is one I hear a lot from lay people. "Oh you want to expose her to a lot of different things now or else she won't want to try different foods later on!" Right now I am being very conservative with DD and what I let her have, and I feel like among her peer group, DD eats the least amount of solids of all the other kids. And these are NOT all formula-feeding "mainstream" moms. They're BFing, babywearing, APing moms, for the most part, and a number of them are doing baby-led weaning and just letting their babies eat whatever they are eating, which includes yogurt, cheese, wheat and egg, which, uh, I thought we were supposed to delay...?

3. Can anyone recommend a sensible, balanced book about nutrition for babies and toddlers? Because really, this is confusing me! :confused:

oh yeah, and DD is 8 1/2 months old now, and didn't start on solids till she was 6 months.

[Jacksmommy]

Garlic was a part of Jack's diet from about age 1. It just kind of worked out that way. I tried offering him a variety of foods and the ones he liked best often had garlic. As far as being picky, the foods Jack tried and liked from age 1 to age 2 are still the only foods he likes at 3. He's no longer willing to try new things (at least not at the moment). I will say also that he's always had very decided taste. If I offered a food he would try it and either throw it on the floor if he didn't like it or eat it if he did. Things he didn't like at a first taste (like carrots), he was never willing to eat if I offered them later. Also, he used to eat a variety of meats because I offered a variety of meats, but I went off red meat for a while and now he won't touch it.

As far as those foods you should delay, I've heard different things. I've heard yogurt and cheese are okay for older babies but not cow's milk. I've also heard no dairy at all. I've heard egg yolks are fine but not egg whites. I've also heard no eggs.

I gave Jack yogurt from about 8 months.

[RedheadbyChoice]

1--Mine had spices like that once they were eating food off of our plates, which was about your babe's age.

2--No, delaying solids won't make your child a picky eater. It's been said (and I don't remember where) that a kiddo can sometimes need to try something 25 times before they like it. I don't think that introducing it any earlier makes them like it any more. My middle DD is the anti-vegetable girl. Oy vey! But, as a baby, she ate tons of them.

3--I've never used a book. Our kids tend to eat off of our plates. Mine have all been nursing toddlers as well, so I wasn't worried about how much food they were getting, I knew they were getting the nutrition they needed from breastmilk. I try to offer a balancer of veggies, fruits, protein, grains, and healthy fats.

[whitnessforhim]

I hope its ok I add to the OP's questions....she has some good ones.
I was wondering if it was ok to feed my DD off of my own plate. But how does this work exactly?!?! Sometimes we don't eat things that can be smashed up and given to her. If I make pizza I'll give her the crust to suck on. Is that ok?!!? I'm so scared she's gonna suck a chunk off and choke. She loves that though rather then me trying to feed her the bland carrots I steam for her. I also worry about spices. All adult food has some flavoring in it so what things are def. no no's?!?! Is there anything that a 6mo. old just shouldn't have?!?!?
I feel so lost too with the solid thing. I hope I didnt hijack this thread.

[majubee]

maybe this is "wrong" but I just feed her what I am eating. at first I did the puree foods but now i don't even bother. now I just give her mushed up little pieces of what ever I am eating... since I am nursing I don't go over board with spicy food anyway. a little garlic in the mashed potaoes is fine. slices of jalapeno's, not going there until i am done nursing. so in my mind if I can't eat it, then baby can't eat it either.

[Pumplicious]

I hope its ok I add to the OP's questions....she has some good ones.
I was wondering if it was ok to feed my DD off of my own plate. But how does this work exactly?!?! Sometimes we don't eat things that can be smashed up and given to her. If I make pizza I'll give her the crust to suck on. Is that ok?!!? I'm so scared she's gonna suck a chunk off and choke. She loves that though rather then me trying to feed her the bland carrots I steam for her. I also worry about spices. All adult food has some flavoring in it so what things are def. no no's?!?! Is there anything that a 6mo. old just shouldn't have?!?!?
I feel so lost too with the solid thing. I hope I didnt hijack this thread.


Hijack away! I knew I couldn't be the only mama out there with all these questions.

I don't know about the pizza crusts, but I've seen friends take a slice of pizza and kind of rip off the top part and give it to their 10 month old in little shredded pieces. That was with tomato sauce, cheese and spices on it. And I was like, woah! You can do that???

maybe this is "wrong" but I just feed her what I am eating. at first I did the puree foods but now i don't even bother. now I just give her mushed up little pieces of what ever I am eating... since I am nursing I don't go over board with spicy food anyway. a little garlic in the mashed potaoes is fine. slices of jalapeno's, not going there until i am done nursing. so in my mind if I can't eat it, then baby can't eat it either.

The problem in my situation is that DH and I are very much into the spicy foods-- I like to eat pickled jalapenos, for crying out loud! Things like kimchee, Indian food, Mexican, all that yummy stuff. So feeding off the plate is a little challenging for us, and our own diet has gotten blander the more DD has expressed interest in what we're eating.

[RedheadbyChoice]

My babies love pizza! Anything you're eating, really, can be smooshed. It doesn't need to be pureed, natch, unless babe cannot handle texture.

I still eat spicy foods, but no, Meredith doesn't get my jalapenos or hot mustard or hot salsa. But darn near everything else, yes.

[whitnessforhim]

My babies love pizza! Anything you're eating, really, can be smooshed. It doesn't need to be pureed, natch, unless babe cannot handle texture.

I still eat spicy foods, but no, Meredith doesn't get my jalapenos or hot mustard or hot salsa. But darn near everything else, yes.


Even at 6 or 7mo.? I'm really glad to hear this cuz this is kind of how i've been approaching the whole solids thing. She gets so excited when we eat and wants to participate by grabing our food off our plates...I just would like to let her do that instead of making her her own meal...KWIM?!?

[madelsmama]

I have a slightly different opinion, I guess. Until my babies are 1, I keep their foods fairly basic. For example, if I'm making a white bean rotissarie chicken salad for dinner, I'll set some beans and chicken aside for baby instead of giving the salad to her. She'd probably eat it, but she's too young for tomatoes and some of the other ingredients still. Many other foods that we eat have higher levels of sodium or preservatives that I prefer my little one not to have. If our dinner is not compatible with sharing with baby (spinach quiche, for example, with milk, eggs and cheese, or salmon), I just pop out some ice cube-sized frozen beans, peas, banana, steam some carrots, pop a sweet potato in the micro, etc. for her.

Even many of the meats we get while out (fajita meat, for example), is pretty saltly for a small body, IMO. I usually get an avocado slice for her at a restaurant. Another reason that I refer not to give other multi-ingredient foods is in case she has a reaction (allergy, diarrhea, vomiting, etc) to something she's eaten. The only multi-ingredient foods she gets are those that she has had seperately, like spinach mixed with lentils and brown rice.

As far as the pizza crust question, we will wait until age 1 to introduce wheat, but also make note that the crust does not have egg or milk in it. Mashed potatoes often have butter and milk.

I eat lots of spicy foods. And everything Cecily eats is a finger food.

[RedheadbyChoice]

Cheryl....I guess I'm still calling a 1 year old a baby. LOL Meredith didn't get eggs until then either. And I had gone through all the foods before introducing something with multiple ingredients, for the same reason as you, that way I'd know about an allergy.

At 6-7 months, though, few of mine were even eating solids. But I could easily smoosh beans off of my plate, that sort of thing. I'm not big on pureed food for babes. I'm of the theory that until they can handle more texture (unless there's a sensory issue), they don't really need solids until they CAN have that extra texture.

Probably because I'm lazy when it comes to baby food.

DH's family is always happier when my babes hit a year old, as there are less restrictions on what I let them give them. :D

[Jacksmommy]

I'll just throw in that I'd avoid anything that contains MSG - now forever and always for babies, adults and children but especially for babies and children

[Pumplicious]

Ok, so when do you all introduce cheese (cream cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese) and yogurt to your babies? What about legumes and soy? Egg yolk?

[RedheadbyChoice]

Me personally?

I don't do dairy for them until a year. (thankfully, I'm allowed to consume it!) Same thing with eggs. Mine don't get soy, well, as trace, but not intentionally. We don't do soy milk or anything along those lines at all. Legumes, oh, in the 9-10 month range.

[Pumplicious]

So what do you all do for your babies' first birthdays? Do you give them a proper birthday cake, with eggs, wheat and refined sugar and the works?

Yeah, I know, I'm probably totally overthinking this... LOL.

[RedheadbyChoice]

Yes, mine do get a 'proper' cake at a year. Our BD parties are never on the actual date anyway (it's just whatever Sunday afternoon works best for the ILs), so in there somewhere, egg and dairy get introduced a bit, to see if there is a reaction. So far, so good. Meredith couldn't handle a lot of direct dairy until just the past 3 weeks, so she is seeming to have needed just a bit more time for her tummy to mature.