Hi Mamas,
I've been giving my 10 month old son the "puffs" that are fruit flavored, a small handful here and there to keep him occupied while we eat dinner or while I'm cleaning up. My issue is that we seem to go through them quickly (mainly because he likes to share with our dog, lol) and they aren't cheap. I'm thinking of just doing Cheerios instead, but I'm wondering if I can do the flavored ones or if I have to stick to plain? I've also been looking at some websites previously recommended to me here, and will be trying to make some homemade teething biscuits, do you have any favorites?
edit: My son started on solid foods a little later than many kids, he was almost 8 months, due to his interest level as I didn't want to push him until he was ready. He only has two teeth, that just came in 2 weeks ago. It's taken awhile, but he finally will take veggies with ease, and he likes fruits. He likes cheese too. For the most part I am still giving him only pureed foods, fed with a spoon, so I feed him separately. Also, we don't have a high chair yet, so it's hard for him to eat finger foods independantly without the majority going to the dog!
Thanks for all your responses... I just ended up going with the regular plain cheerios, and he likes them just fine. I wasn't really concerned about that, but I wanted him to have variety if possible. He also will do small pieces of banana and small bits of cheese. We're probably going to go for a booster seat soon, so he can be up high enough and away from the dog to remove that temptation. We never crate our dog, and we live in a condo, so sending her outside isn't an option. But we do have a gate, and I'm going to start keeping her in a separate room while we are eating.
do not do honey nut cherrios - honey is not allowed till 12 mos old, even cooked.
But honestly you should just do plain ones - you don't want him getting used to sweet as the only option.
My daughter was eating ears of corn on the cob and all table foods with only 2 teeth by 11 mos old. All my daycare kids are on complete table food by then. You should give him cut up pieces of everything you eat and let him see what he can do.
Both Target and Walmart carry their brands of the puffs that are a little cheaper. I also gave my kids the honey flavored cheerios and the Jay's brand puffs - break them up, but they melt in their mouths.
Cheerios are a great baby snack, but you do want to avoid the Honey Nut and the Banana Nut flavors until at least 1 year. Try the Mulitgrain Cheerios. They are delicious and offer a slightly different flavor to the plain ones.
We try to use mostly "naturally" sweet foods (fruits) as treats with our daughter, and the rest of the time I try to steer away from sugary or sweet snacks. For that reason, my daughter gets cheerios, and as a special treat, Kix cereal. They're cheaper and healthier, and if that's what your kid is used to getting all the time, they're not accustomed to the sweeter stuff.
kids dont chew with their front teeth they chew in the back of their mouth with their sharp gums since usually molars dont come in until later so dont worry about them needing teeth to eat food. make well cooked soft veggies ( or frozen carrots and peas) my child never ate a pureed food or puff in her life. she just ate small pieces of well cooked food. Puffs are empty calories and full of sugar as is flavored cheerios. No need to start that habit now
Try whole fruits, if all you've given is purees. Blueberries are fantastic, as they are relatively soft so easy to "gum". I would suggest trying to stay away from the fruit flavored cereals, as they tend to have more sugar.
Cheerios
Puffed rice cereal
cheese sticks-string cheese
banana/mango/peaches in chopped/cubed pieces
snap peas
Also, if you don't want to spend a lot of money on a highchair, go on craigslist and you can buy one very affordably. Also, you don't have to get a full-size-- a portable one is just as good.
Updated
Cheerios
Puffed rice cereal
cheese sticks-string cheese
banana/mango/peaches in chopped/cubed pieces
snap peas
Also, if you don't want to spend a lot of money on a highchair, go on craigslist and you can buy one very affordably. Also, you don't have to get a full-size-- a portable one is just as good.
Does your 10 month old not eat dinner with you? I only ask, because a 10 months can eat most things. He can eat what you're eating...bits of meat, veggies, fruit, cheese. He can eat table foods now.
www.wholesomebabyfood.com and www.wholesometoddlerfood.com
great ideas for recipes.. with ingredients you already have!
you will find it to become a good habit to crate the dog when little ones eat or send your animal out side. it is a good habit for you and the pet to learn that your baby is a higher member of the pack. lesson learned the hard way for me. for snacks we went with fruit cups and yogurt you can buy in bulk from wholesale stores. you can do it yourself if you prefer fresh fruit but sometimes the chopping is time consuming. we also got the snacks you currently use in the generic brands not the gerber. when your little one is better at eating steamed etamame and carrota are great options too. good luck and keep introducing them to lots of foods my son if almost 4 and will try everything we give him pretty openly because he always ate one new food a week at least once he started eating foods. try to pair a classic with a newbie when you do it
I agree that the puffs are expensive and just empty calories. My kid always just ate modified things of what we eat. At that age, even if he started with solids late, he should be good with a banana, slices of avocado, just about any kind of fruit or veggie in those mesh bags, cheerios (I'd also recommend sticking with regular or whole grain), bagels, pieces of a nice tough baguette (the teething food of choice in France).
As for a high chair, I had one, but I LOVED and bought several of the Fisher Price booster seats (one for us, one for each set of grandparents). They work like a high chair and can be used with a tray or pushed up to the table. We still use it with my almost 3 year old since he is on the small side. I think they are still only about $25 at Walmart, Target, Babies R Us, etc.
You could probably also do Pirate's Booty (cheese puffs). You can get it at Trader Joes, and it's not very expensive. You'd have to break the bigger pieces up at first, but I bet very soon he'd be able to handle them whole. You could also do puffed rice cereal (not rice crispies, because those are too small to pick up - the puffed rice tastes more like a rice cake.) that's super cheap (1.85 for a huge box around here). Have fun!
my kids loved cheerios, i bought them multi grain ones, they loved kixx, cheez its, anumal crackers. If your eating dinner why not feed him too. I gave my kids small pasta to eat, pieces of canned fruit, some canned veggies, cucumber, scrambled eggs, and when they could attempt a spoon they got cottage cheese and apple sauce.
I would stick to plain cheerios since the other flavors have so much sugar on them. You could always sprinkle them with a cheese powder or something but I've never met a baby that didn't like plain old cheerios.
Maybe you can skip the high chair and get something that attaches to one of your chairs like a booster seat with straps. This will save space. Since he is already 8 months. We didn't do solids either until a bout a month ago, except for wet cheerios. My 10 month old is just now eating more babyfoods (green beans, applesauce, etc.). She also eats finely chopped up tiny bits of chicken, wet rice, tiny noodles, greenbeans. Anything that she can swollow whole since she only have 4 teeth. Wet cheerios and rice krispies she does well with. Also I just gave her a rice cake that she nibbled and knawed to pieces. I would stick with plain cheerios. They are pretty tasty. There isn't a need to give him the flavored ones because it just adds more sugar, plus the honey-nut ones have almond in the ingredients.
I always keep sliced sweet potatoes and blueberries around for my baby to snack on. He loves both! Also try freeze dried fruits (apples and pears are my little guys favorites). Veggie straws from Costco are both of my kids favorite snack. It comes in a huge bag for under $5. It lasts us months if I ziplock them.
Also expensive, but will add to the variety are the freeze dried Gerber Yogurt Drops and the Gerber Little Crunchies (cheeto like). Snap Pea Crisps found at Trader Joes or other health food stores are good - they are essentially mashed up peas mixed with oil - Canola, I think. They "melt" in your mouth. Trader Joes also has a good selection of freeze dried fruits. Another good brand of freeze dried fruits is Just Tomatoes, but do NOT buy at Whole Foods since they overprice them. They make freeze dried blackberries, raspberries, corn and many others, but those are the ones that are softest/melt in your mouth and yummy.
Graham crackers and whole grain salteens are good cheap choice. And like someone else suggested, we like the Multi-Grain Cheerios a lot. Watch the sugar content on all other flavored Cheerios. Kix are great, and there are chocolate "kix" that you can buy at health food stores. Also tried puffed wheat or puffed rice cereals.
My younger one only had 3 teeth (all across the top) until after 12 months. He also had some motor and sensory issues with eating so we went through A LOT of freeze dried snacks.
Oh, and get yourself either a high chair from Craigslist or a Space Saver High Chair from Fisher Price. No need to pay nearly $100 for a high chair!
