1 Yr Old Menu Ideas

Hi!!! K.!!! I have 5 children: 18,17,7,4,and 18 mos. they love mashed bananas and really cooked pasta (no sauce it can irritate the stomach and cause diaper rash too acidic) chopped to introduce finger foods.I tried to keep to what we all ate so they wouldn't get used to a special menu. unless we ate spice food or hard to chew items.I also love and they loved, the crock pot meals.They were home made and generally mushy. They especially loved my beef stew!!! Good luck!!! M. .W

Dear K.,
Bananas are considered to be the first table foods to try on your "little guy". It is supposed to have a similar taste to "breast milk". The banana should be ripe and well mashed. In the past, I would peel a grape, bite off a small piece and watch my "little guy" gum the tiny piece. He looked so cute. Stay away from mangos. However, mix other fruits in your banana after you wait a week or so, in order to be sure there are no allergies.
Introduce other foods the same way. If you are past testing for allergies, then enhancing the flavor of foods would be adding your homemade gravies to the dinner foods. I always liked to mix vegetables in mashed potatoes so that the new taste could be softened by a more bland potato taste.
There are also nutritional drinks which are available for the "little guy", today, that were not avaiable years ago.
Good luck, K., with your "little guy" and don't forget the camera!
E.

i feed our 20 month old pretty much eats anything we eat... unless it's spicy. when he first started eating with us, i used the food processor a lot. but now i just cut everything up pretty small.

here's a website that helped me with ideas when he first turned 1...
http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile69e.stm
maybe it will give you some ideas.

Other suggestions for little ones with no teeth is oatmeal and applesauce

Everything you eat, just blended up in your blender! I did this with Brianna, now 2y 11m and am doing it with Shannon, 11m. Enjoy!

Here are a couple of ideas: mashed up banana, cooked baby pasta, small tender pieces of fruits, cooked cubed soft veggies, noodles, toast, mashes or cubed cooked sweet potatoes, that kind of stuff....really he can try what you're eating as long as it's not a choking hazard. Give him a wde variety of stuff or you may get yourself into the "make him his special meal" rut. I've avoided that by feeding our son what we eat for dinner and we now have a 6 year old who eats ANYTHING, including onions, garlic, shrimp, and cheesecake! :-)

Hi I have a 10 month old daughter and she eats pretty much anything but peanut butter. They can mash the food with their gums so don't be scared. One good lunch that I give my daughter all the time it cream cheese and Jelly sandwich on wheat bread. I don't use Jelly I use the Polnar fruit spread with is all natural real fruit and she loves it. I give her pasta,Ravoli's, grilled chicken fruits veggies she pretty much eats anything. It is fun having her try new things so have fun with it.
Oh and another good one is veggie burgers I cook them and cut them up in small pieces.
Hope this helps

Hi

My 10 month old son has NO teeth and this was what he ate today. ( None of my kids got teeth until 14-15 months...)

Breakfast: 1 waffle lightly toasted, covered with 1/2 jar of baby peaches ( instead of syrup, more nutritious) cut into pieces the size of the waffle squares, a big handful of cheerios and a cup of formula.

Snack: goldfish crackers

Lunch: 3 gerber turkey sticks, 2 tablespoons of frozen peas cooked until soft, mandarin oranges ( fruit cups), 2oz white grape juice diluted with 4oz H2O.

Snack: I think he slept through his snack...

Dinner: formula, spaghetti (God he loved it!), apple sauce, cheez it's and 1/3 of a banana cut into sliced and quartered.

Bed: cup of formula

That was today, he basically eats what we all eat, minus peanutbutter, strawberries, eggs and honey. He has eaten very softly cooked chicken breast pieces but wasn't thrilled. The quantity this kid eats is ridiculous so don't expect that much food to go into your man.

My point is, they can and DO use those gums to smash, chew, mash their food. As long as it isn't really tough to chew he can probably handle it. For your own peace of mind start with the gerber puffs, soft pasta, soft carrots, banana chunks, things like that. He's a little old starting solids so don't be shocked if he has a bit of trouble figuring it out. I like the gerber meals too, I'm a bit lazy at time and it is a simple fix.

Good luck to you.