Help with Food for 10 Month old/Diet and Nutrition

Introduce him to as much non processed foods as you can right now so he gets used to variety and is exposed to many healthy foods before his taste buds are "done." If you search the internet, you'll see diets for babies where they're eating pretty much everything by 8 m. Do what you're comfortable with though. My son is a year now and has had everything healthy I can think of. No sugar or salt yet.
plain yogurt, any fruit or veg, he loves tomatoes, yams, peas, any type of bean, tofu...

Sounds like he is eating A LOT for a baby his age! Your pediatrician is giving you great advice. Pushing foods early creates picky eaters, not the other way around. If we had more pediatricians like yours, there would be a lot less picky eaters around. Relax and enjoy your baby. he will grow up soon enough. :0)

I followed many of the suggestions in the book "Super Baby Food" and I found it to be a very cautious book (sometimes too cautious in my opion) but I felt reassured that I wasn't giving my son anything he was too young for. Also, there are several studies that recently came out that have lifted many of the age restrictions on different types of food stating that it's not necessary; especially when the child has been breastfed exclusively for the 1st 6 months. I'm a big believer in "better safe than sorry" so do your own research on that one.

Some foods that I had my little guy on pretty early on were avocados (low allergy risk; high omega-3), Tofu (high in protien) and I also buy Flax Seed from CostCo and sprinkle it in his rice cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, pancake mix, etc. It is also high in Omega 3's (which is excellent for brain development).

At the beginning I followed the 4 day rule. When you introduce a new food, wait 4 days before you introduce anything else new to watch for an allergic reaction. We also only give him new foods in the AM when we have all day to watch for any kind of new reaction. I'm a little bit more lax now that he is 1 year old.

I'd give hime graham crackers or other long cracker that he can kind of suck on and won't get stuck to his tongue. That way he could get used to the food without gagging.
Also when I started giving my kids new foods, I would give a new one every week. Two weeks at the most. My kids were eating almost everything by their first birthday.

Try Gerber Stars instead of cheerios. They melt fast in the mouth and are good for kids without teeth. My 3 year old is still hooked on them.

if you are worried about him getting enough nutrition try a multi vitamin enfamil makes one its called poly vi sol and is about $9.00. as far as finger foods i would try the gerber graduate fruit/vegie puffs they dissovle in the mouth unlike cherrios. my daughter who is 1 gagged on them but i think it was just the dryness of it so dont give up keep offering it. kix is also a goodfinger food because they dissolve too. he will get teeth soon some babies dont get any till a year. well i hope this helps you!

Actually, I think it sounds like you're off to a good start! If you are considering supplementing more vitamins and minerals in his diet, Shaklee has an infant vitamin powder (all organic, food-derived vitamins)that can be mixed in with his food or drinks. I give it to my kids who don't notice it at all; it just gives their food an extra nutritional boost. The infant mix is available on my website www.shaklee.net/mclemore or feel free to contact me at ____@____.com luck!! ~C.

At this age he can pretty much have everything, except nuts, peanutbutter and honey. I would start to give him purees with chuncks so he starts to chew. His gums are hard enough to smash up solids. I had to give my son table food at 6 mths, because he refused everything that was in puree form. He wouldn't even eat yogurt. Show him how to eat a cheerio. Tell him to use his teeth (even though he doesn't have them)once he get's the chewing motion down, start cutting things small enough to swallow, but so he can chomp it up. My nutritionist says it's important that they have a protein and a fat at every meal. I know peds say not too, but my nutritionist said to give the whole egg, my kids did great on it. She says to soft boil or soft scramble is best. Jessica Sienfeld has a cookbook called Deseptivly Delicious. she adds veggie and fruit purees to everything. There are some good recipies in there. The only thing is she uses non-trans fat margerine and my nutritionist says real butter is best. There are some good fats in butter that you can only get from butter. When I give my kids juice I put teaspoon of flax oil in it. I hope that helps a little

T. H mommy of 2 a girl 2 1/2 and a boy 13mth

C.,
I don't know your sons health history or possibly he is being raised a vegetarian? But it seems odd that he wouldn't be eating more variety...? My 10 month old daughter (no teeth also) is eating all the meat/veggie/fruit combos from Gerber, along with Gerber Graduate Crunchies and Banana Cookies, which she LOVES! She eats all the seperate fruits/veggies also. All children are different, as are pediatricians...but I think your son could use a little more variety for sure :) Good luck, S.

You are doing great and have given him a wide variety of choices. I made all my own baby food and this gives you a lot more choices on what he gets to eat. You can mix the foods together for variety and add some rice so they're like casseroles. If he's not doing well on chunky food yet use the rice cereal instead of actual rice. You might like to try lentils as they mash up easy and are a great source of protein. Mango's and avocado's were also popular for both my boys. I followed the guidelines of Super Baby Food which is a great book for making your own baby food and providing simple easy recipes. Good luck and know that you're doing a great job.

Aloha C.,

I can understand both views. As far as nutrition is concerned, it is always a smart choice to include a multi-vitamin developed especially for that age group such as Vita-Lea for Infants or Citriboost (look at children's health at http://www.healthyohana.net ). The reason for introducing foods at a slow pace is to make sure that there are no allergic reactions. If foods are introduced too quickly, it then makes it harder to pinpoint which foods are creating an allergic reaction. It is also better to wait to introduce grains last as the complex carbohydrate are sometimes harder for the developing digestive tract to process. Of course, each child is different which is why, as a mother, you will also notice the difference from different foods and which ones get digested better. I hope this helps. Being a mom is definitally not always easy.

Marie-anne
Children's Health & Wellness Advocate

He has eaten way more than my first two before they turned one and they are not picky eaters. www.askdrsears.com has a great section with food suggestions that are age appropriate.

M.

Is your little one still on breast milk...if so, don't worry at all. Looking at your list there..cheerios are not a great addition. The child is getting really good nutrition from that list! Foods like Cheerios are processed and generally used for entertainment and "filler" more than nutrition with little ones. Does the little one have any cereals at all...you can mix them with breast milk (best plan) or formula if you are not breastfeeding. Even without cereals, that child is well fed!

I chose to make my own babyfood, and was suggested to purchase a book called Super Baby Food. Even if I hadn't continued with making my own baby food, this would have been a great resource. It talks about when is appropriate to serve different fruits, vegetables and grains, and when you can start introducing other foods. You can buy it at most major bookstores or on line at amazon.com.

I do remember at first I always wanted to have them try something new, and it does take a little time before there tummies can handle the new food. Good luck and enjoy this time...soon they will be asking for food around the clock.

L.

I have four children and for all four, the dr's didn't want any food at all until after the 12 month mark. After that, it is a slow process of introducing each food because our babies tummy's are not used to the acids and different items to digest. They need to be introduced slowly for this reason as well as if there is any reaction to something, you can be sure of what it was. This is all normal. I did always cheat and give mine rice cereal with the bedtime bottle so they would sleep better at night. It worked like a charm. You are fine and so is your baby:D

C.; As a mother of 5 I will tell you this in great confidence! You are the mother, you know your baby better than any doctor ever could! You feed him what you want and more so what he wants! I have an 8 month old and she eats ALL the baby foods offered in stage 2 (that are milk free, she's allergic) and some of stage 3, we are slowly moving up. If you feel that your baby is not getting enough variety/nutrition then you need to give him what you feel he needs. The reason he gagged on the cherrio is because he's not used to it. KEEP giving it to him! It takes time to learn how to chew but if you don't give it to him then how will he learn? He doesn't need teeth for cherrios or the gerber puffs offered in the store. There are lots of littl snacks for toddlers(I use them on my 8 month old) offered in the store that he could eat, big things and little. Just keep an eye on him at all times until he gets past the gag reflex. I hope this helps hun. =)

Good job! I too think he eats a good assortment. I think that is the best way to get them to try lots of things, he may not like them all but atleast he tried them plus taste buds change all the time. You may also want to try tofu (firm) it is really soft and easy to mash with his gums. (this is still my son's favorite food and he is 4) I gave it to him cold cut into squares or heat it up. Avocado is good, zweiback toast, frozen bagels also helps with teathing, those stars from Gerber are a favorite too. Keep up the good work.

That sounds like a pretty varied diet to me- probably more than my dd had at that age because I refused to give her the pureed meat- I mean have you tried that stuff? And as far as nutrition goes, baby food and finger foods are mostly for kids to practice and develop their eatting and swallowing skills, not as much for nutrition. So he's probably good. However, at 10 months old, even with no teeth (even babies with teeth at this age don't really use them yet), he should be eatting more finger foods- I had a particular problem at that age because around 8 months my dd started refusing purees (except for sometimes fruit). So for about three months she only ate super soft steamed veggies (steamed from frozen, not fresh), cut up tofu, cheerios, and those little gerber puff thingies. But at this age they still get a majority of their nutrients from formula and breast milk, and some (like iron) from cereals (you didn't list cereal- really he should have some, esp if he's not able to eat cheerios yet. He's past the risk of allergy, etc, and he needs the iron).

Start with soft finger foods like banana (I quartered it and cut into chunks), cut up tofu (not terribly yum, but easy to pick up and chew), gerber puffs (they disolve, unlike cheerios), then when he has mastered those start adding bigger things. I know it's scary when they choke, but they only choke because the muscles they use to swallow are not developed or coordinated yet, and the best way to develop them is to eat!

because your son has no teeth I would continue with the soft foods. Have you thought about trying mashed potatoes and gravy or cooked potatoe with cheese. doing some variety with these foods. Have you out small chunks of peaches or strawberries in with his yogurt. just so he can start chewing his food. I hope this helps my son is so picky and raely eats that its hard to find things he will eat.

My little guy LOVES avocado and it's a superfood! He also loves black beans which are high in protein. Those little puffs are good at this age too and they come in a variety of flavors.

Hi C.,

Follow your pediatrician and your child. If he gags on something, he's not ready to eat it. It sounds like he is getting a healthy variety of food. Remember, he isn't a year old yet -- trust me, he'll be eating everything in sight before you know it.

V.

I give my 10 mo old raw tofu. She loves it! It crumbles in her mouth and she doesn't have teeth either. I also give her all kinds of beans--black, garbanzo, pinto, kidney etc. I just wash them out of a can (you can buy an organic bean salad mix) and cut them up. I also give her shredded raw beets or cut up canned beets. She eats ravioli with tomato sauce (my pediat. said tomato is o.k) and she loved it. She also eats finely chopped sharp american cheese. She eats plain, finely chopped whole wheat toast, chopped blueberries and bananas. I also put plums and nectarines and peaches into one of those net things and give them to her. I also give her crackers to gnaw on as long as they are whole wheat and salt free ( I watch her pretty closely when she eats these)

Good luck!

Don't go too fast. Allergies are very real and it takes 7 exposures to a new food to trigger a reaction to a new food (whether it be a rash, diarrhea, vomiting, or worse, anaphalaxis.) So don't rush it. Especially since he is younger than a year. He will get the hang of the chunkier stuff as he gets more experienced. My daughter was a very good gagger, and she managed to not choke, but the gagging freaked my husband out daily. The picky thing will happen later (around 18 months) and then he will probably get over that when he goes to preschool, so don't stress too much.

He obviously can't eat things he needs to chew such as cheerios if he doesn’t have any teeth. And you shouldn’t worry about variety-he is eating more varied foods than most kids do at 2 or 3; or adults, for that matter. As moms, we tend to make so such a big deal out of food. Food is a means to an end-we want them to get the basic food groups to nourish their bodies. It shouldn’t be as much of an emotional experience as we sometimes make it. And often, by focusing on food so much, we create an issue where there wasn't one. If children realize that we are anxious about what and how they eat, its very likely they will use that fact to have control, and may refuse to eat and become a "picky" eater. And if food ever becomes a battle ground, be sure, you can't win. You can't make kids eat. So if they are enjoying a variety of foods, don't worry about introducing every food on the planet. Relax and let him lead you to what he enjoys to eat.

Giving that your son doesn't have any teeth yet I wouldn't be pushing "hard" food on him, just because he can't chew it. If you want to introduce him to different types of foods(and you feel he's ready) try mushy stuff like mashed potatoes, bananas, squash(bake so it's tender and then mash), oatmeal(apple cinnamon, strawberry and cream, etc.), steamed veggies, refried beans. I've found that if your eatting the food as well, like for dinner, children tend to be more open to eatting something new. Also try pudding and some soups. I make the sugar free vanilla pudding, because I don't like my daughter to have sugar, but that's entirely up to you. Now this advise is based purely on my own experience, my daughter loves to eat and started eating the food named above at about 6 months.

Starting at 9 months my son ate every single thing that I ate. Just mash it up! Don't wait for your doc's approval...you're the mom! (Of course avoid the high allergy foods until the proper time).
Now my son is 11 months and he loves all foods. He even loves artichokes, lasanga, avocado, all dry cereals (especially cherrios)...everything!!

C.,

My daughter turned 1 in February and she was eating table food at 6 months. I bought a baby food mill that grinds things up and she was eating just about anything. I didn't do that as soon with my son who is now 3 because I didn't know any better. My pediatrician gave me the ok at about 8 months to feed my daughter pretty much anything as long as it was soft. Of course no honey and peanut butter if you have food allergies. I would check with your dr again and see what else you can give him. I was giving my daughter little pieces of baked chicken nuggets too at that age. They are soft enough to gum. They also make gerber puffs in a variety of flavors that will help him learn to self feed. Good luck!

L.