Is It Ok?

I've been feeding Ella (1yr) the same foods as us since she was about 9mo. old or earlier. I buy the low sodium canned veggies (they're already soft enough to serve like finger food) or fruits in their own juice (if not fresh), and yes deli meat... all in all i just try to avoid things that have a lot of added salt or sugar but it is expensive to buy all the Gerber products. And if you'd rather just buy regular canned stuff you can always rinse the veggies to get off a lot of the extra salt. She also eats anything I've made for the family if it's soft, she loves eggs, fish, pot pies, mac and cheese, you name it... she even likes salsa! It's been just fine for us and she is in perfect health.

Go for it! He's big enough you can probably just cut the veggies & he'll eat them. Most veggies are soft and easy to chew, even if he doesn't have many teeth. My son loves green beans, peas & carrots. I'd also suggest buying the cans of fruit because it is less expensive than the baby fruit & you can cut it up bite size. The 100% juice ones are the best. I like the Dole fruit bowls for days we are on the go. He'll love to eat what you are eating & it will be easier for him to feed himself. Have fun!

YES YES YES!!! Its ok. Trust me. I am 42 and have a 21yr old daughter with a 1 yr old baby and I also have a 23 year old daughter with a one year old and a 2 year old and they feed their babies the way I fed them, and it has been fine and dandy. If he seems to be ok and no belly achs and he loves it then let the little fella eat away. He will let you know when he is full and his system will let you know if it is not right for him. I am from the old school. I fed my kids table food, mashed up, no spicves of course and toddler babayfood when they were a few months old and they never had problems like alot of babaies did. Also,they didnt like formula, so my doctor said to give them regular milk and thats what I did. Braums or bordens brand,just because I personally think the flavor is better. GOOD LUCK!!

Yeah, by this aged my kids were well versed in either taking food off of our plates or eating table food from their own.

THe deli meat is kind of iffy since there can be bacteria, but if you make your own tender meat and chop, like chicken or turkey you can be sure it is safe. As long as he is eating baby foods fine he can eat your food too. You just have to make sure there aren't too many spices and everything is cooked properly. You can for sure switch away from jar veggies and fruit and introduce fresh or home cooked. Another good trick I used for teething was frozen cucumber slices.

The only items that I would keep in mind if you use table food is to avoid spices, watch the sodium content of canned veggies, and the sugar content of applesauces.

Good Luck!

Hi K.,

In my opinion at his age he should be able to eat everything you do. I would have a few things like the gerber chopped up veggies and stuff on hand just incase moments. Otherwise everything you fix for dinner he can also.

I buy the individual applesauce's that way I don't ave to refridgerate them, it gives the little boy I watch brain freeze.
You can get the canned veggies and just chop them in small pieces. I also buy the canned fruit in fruit juice and chop these up a little smaller. Hope this helps W.

I think Deli meat might be harder to chew up and break down. He could choke on it. I gave my kids the little cans of vienna sausages and they are easy to eat. I still cut them up into little pieces though. Good Luck~

It sounds like your little guy is ready for real food. If he is eating that much of the jarred food and eating 5 or 6 of the turkey sticks, it's time to start him on adult foods. Giving him the veggies that you eat is a great start. Just make sure that they are soft enough not to cause a choking hazard. Once he is more comfortable eating solid foods, you can begin giving him things that require more work on his part. As for the deli meat, as long as you give it to him in bite-sized pieces, it should be fine. If he doesn't have many teeth, it may be hard for him to chew the meat, but as long as the pieces are small enough it shouldn't be a problem. You might also try soft fruits like peaches, cantelope, watermelon, etc. (in bite-sized pieces of course). By about 9 or 10 months, my little one was eating pretty much anything we ate (he is now almost 2). He had a mouth full of teeth, though, so that makes a difference. Once you begin feeding him the foods that you eat, you will definitely see a price-break on groceries. It's much more cost-efficient to have a little more of what you're eating available than to continue to buy baby food. Good luck!

It should be fine. Our kids were eating table foods around 6 months cuz they didn't like any of the baby food except the finger foods. They had no problems at all and the doctor never said if it was bad or anything.

Hi K. my name is N. and I am a mom of 3 McKenzie (6) Dakota (5) and Xander he will be a year on Sunday. I took my son off of the baby food because the price was crazy. I did talk to my doctor and she told me that he could have whatever I was eating as long is wasnt the eggs, peanuts, or fish. And he has done fine with everthing that he has had and now I dont have to worry about buying all of the extra food just for him. ITS GREAT!

Look for natural applesauce without added sugar. I used canned veggies for my boys b/c they are already cooked until real soft. I just got the ones without added salt. Deli meat should be fine, but I wouldn't over do it. Good luck with your good eater!

Yes, you can! My daughter loved smoked turkey from the deli at like 10 months and still does! He could probably eat any table food within reason that he will not choke on--she was eating mostly table food by then. You shouldn't worry about him eating too much as long as you are feeding him a balanced diet and he is in the healthy percentiles according to your doctor. Babies that age will eat until they are full.

Both my son's started eating the same food as us by about 10 months (what they could chew, anyway). They are now 13 and 15, tall, athletic and extremely healthy. I don't think I ruined them at all. We actually moved from formula, rice cereal and a few supplemental jars of baby food, straight to our food.

I would still follow safety guidelines for prenancy and infants. Heat deli meats to steaming to reduce Listeria and practice safe food handling to avoid contamination. Also remember to obstain from milk and honey until after a year. HTH!

OMG sweetheart. I honestly believe that baby food is the biggest rip off EVER. All my kids were raised on normal food from the time they could open their mouths. Think about the thousands of years this food simply did not exist.

I know that some babies have tummy upsets at the introduction of certain foods. So you need to always pay attention to what your feeding if an allergy or sensitivity does come up. It makes it easier to identify what the cause is. But do give your son anything you eat that is healthy. If it's healthy for you it's healthy for him.

Suzi

Hey K.,
Put that baby on table food and save your money. If he hasn't shown any allergy symptoms he can eat everything you are eating. The best investment I ever made was a hand food chopper, about $15 at wal-mart or target. Here is the one at target, http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-11/qid=11822640... .
I take whatever we are eating and put it in the food chopper and it makes it about as small as 3rd foods baby food, or as large as a quartered hotdog. My kids and the daycare kids all have had many meals chopped up. I would start with as small as you can get the pieces until he gets used to eating more table food.
Good luck, hope this helps.
Michelle
P.S. - my daughter threw baby food across the room at 9 months and refused to eat anything that she didn't put into her own mouth. And my son started eating nothing but table food about the same time. They would eat steak, pork chops, chicken, veggies, noodles, anything I could chop they ate.

I'm not sure about the deli meat, but you can start him on table food. Just remember that non baby food applesauce will have more sugar. So if you were trying to avoid that then look for all natural or low sugar. I wouldn't give him sugar free because of the artificial sweetner. Just read the lable. If you don't care then buy what you usually buy. as for veggies. Fresh and frozen is the way to go. Canned veggies tend to have added sugar and sodium. Again it is up to you. When I switched my daughter to table food she would not go back to baby food, so you might want to use most of your baby food up. Start introducing these things slowly. He may not like the texture, but he will get the hang of it soon enough.
It sounds like you have a good eater. My daughter ate pretty good, but now that she is getting older (16mo.) she is also getting picky. She won't eat veggies, unless I hide them in some mac n cheese or chicken and noodles. So enjoy your son's great taste for food while it lasts.
M.

I have a 14 mo old daughter and honestly I never fed her jar food. It Soo much cheeper and healthier to go buy veggies or fruit or even chicken and turkey and boil it with a little bit of salt (or not) blend and freeze in zip lock baggies.
Now she east chicken breast, hard boiled eggs, squash, tofu, veggie dogs, well she eats everything we eat nmow that she is getting older but she still loves the healthy stuff too... Thank God lol