Food Ideas for a One Year Old

Hi J.,
I am a mother to a 2 yr little girl and I take care of children in my home. All children are going to reject food they have never had before, but don't let that fool you. They just need a little more time to get use to the change. If you remember, I bet it was very hard to get her to take the first bite of rice cereal. Most kids spit it out, because it's not milk (formula). Now that she is getting older she will have more curiosity, but will still reject most foods because of new spices and texture. The best thing to do is keep giving it to her. I feed my daughter straight off my plate. Now she is a great eater and not picky. One of the worst things you can do is limit what you give her. Do not give her the same food every day. One of the babies I watch eats chicken and peas or chicken and green beans everyday. He is not getting the nutrition he needs from other foods. His parents think that's all he likes, but what they fail to realize is that that's all they give him and when they do try something new it is one time and if he doesn't eat it they stop giving it to him.

Breakfast ideas:
Scrambled eggs
Muffins
Cereal W/ milk (teach her to use a spoon)
Bananas
Grapes
Oatmeal

Lunch/dinner

Spaghetti
Mashed potatoes
Green beans
Peas
Chicken nuggets
Mac and cheese
Fish sticks
Cooked carrots
Broccoli w/ cheese
Hamburger meat
Pasta
Rice
Refried beans (lots of good protien)

Basically anything that is cut up enough so she won't choke. I would not worry with giving her Gerber foods. They are too expensive and don't taste very good. They don't put very much flavor in their foods. Let her get used to how you fix things. She will be a better eater. Now is the time to get her use to eating with a plastic fork and spoon. And it will help if you are eating with her. Children learn best when they can imitate what to do.

Let me know if you have anymore ???
I would be glad to help.
M.

Happy Birthday to your one year old!
My 11mo old almost skipped baby food entirely, and my 2-yr-old lost interest in it by the time she was 8 mo old...so here's what I've figured out so far on the food front (sorry if it's long): Canned fruits and veggies are usually very soft. We opt for no salt added organic varieties of french style green beans, peas, carrots and black beans. I haven't seen organic canned fruits yet, but the regular canned pears, peaches, mixed fruit and mandarin oranges are a favorite for my kiddos. Ripe fresh fruits are also very soft. Bananas are good, of course, but my children are allergic. Steamed broccoli florets have been another winner. I just steam it in the microwave until it seems mushy enough (about 2 minutes from frozen). Add a little butter/margarine and a dash of salt and they eat it like candy. Sweet potatoes are wonderful too. You can bake one and chunk it up for the perfect, soft finger food. There's a company called Glory Foods (I think) that has diced, pre-packaged sweet potatoes in the produce section now -- near the bags of salad. I freeze the bag and just pull out a serving at a time. Speaking of potatoes, a baked potato is another good one that's soft and easy to pick up for little fingers. If she can have dairy, small slices or pieces of cheese are good. Macaroni and cheese is also a favorite. My 11-mo-old also likes lunch meat -- but I only offer him the organic, no added sodium kind. I think the regular stuff is way too processed and salty for his system. The organic stuff is softer anyway -- Super Target carries Hormel's "natural" line. Besides these things, we tend to just offer him the food off our plate. He may not be able to have all of it, so we supplement with things like I've listed here, but there is usualy one or two things on our plate that can be chopped, diced or pulled apart for him. I'm pretty picky abut meats for fear of choking, but if I can piece it up with my fingers, I figure it's soft enough for him to chew. He mainly eats chicken and pork. He does love spaghetti and meatloaf though, but I try to limit it -- beef seems to be harder on his digestive system than the other meats.

hello,
I understand what you are in. I tried to cook noodles (angel hair type) for my little one and he likes it. I also combine baby food with noodles I cooked and add some vegetables (chopped thin) with little bit salt. Or sometimes, I take what we eat and grinded little bit. It takes time to practice to eat table foods. But your little one will get through it.