Snacks for 10 Month Old

I'd ditch the mess feeder. All 3 of my kids love fruit & veggies and never ate anything from a mesh feeder. Just cut up stuff small enough for him to pick up but not a choking hazzard.

Hi T.. I have a 10 month old as well. She likes to feed herself peas, diced green beans, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes. She also likes small bites of bread dipped in hummus, scrambled or boiled eggs, rice krispies, fish, and just about anything I give her that is not too hard for her to chew with her gums. It is very easy to bake apples, squash, sweet potatoes, etc, and dice them or purée them. You can freeze some for later. Keep trying, they will generally come around to the taste of a food if you keep serving it. I am nursing my baby too, but she is down to 4 times a day, and 3 meals. It may be your baby is not really feeling the need to eat much food due to being full from milk. Hope this helps!

I agree about the mesh feeder. Also, how many times are you introducing the food? When we started on baby food. I would offer the same food (i.e. carrots) at every feeding for 3 days. then I would do a fruit, say applesauce. for 3 days. then green beans then pears and so on. You have to introduce some things at least 7 consecutive times before they may consider it. We adults are the same way not only about food but about products, services etc. I know it is so hard not to give in and give him his favorite food. My pediatrician always said, A healthy baby will not starve themselves. I would introduce the chopped fruit and veggies and back and forth with the baby food. THe self puree is awesome. Jerry Seinfeld's wife has a cookbook out. It not only explains how to puree the veggies but also, how to incorporate the purees into regular foods for your 4 yearold. It won't change the taste and she'll get her veggies without even knowing it. Then when introduced on her plate she will already have a taste for it. Good luck. I know it's hard to have a finicky eater.

It could be the mesh feeder that he doesn't like, rather than the foods. Have you tried cutting the fruits up in tiny pieces the size of the little crunchies and trying that? My son is almost 8 months old and already can eat that type of stuff as long as its cut tiny. So even if he swallows whole without chewing, its small enough not too choke him. Hope I helped a little. Good luck!

A.

Have you tried not using the mesh feeder? Grapes cut into quarters, diced pears or peaches ... anything that he can hold in his hand. For veggies you might even try the Gerber diced carrots or even fresh peas or sweet potatoes. At 10 months old my son was all about textures and being in control. He wanted to pick it up, feel it and look at it before he ate it.

Good luck.
A. K

I haven't read the other responses yet, but...
#1 - if he's still breastfeeding that much, what he snacks on doesn't matter that much.
#2 - my doctor griped at me for not giving mine enough fatty foods
#3 - he's learning tastes, so if something doesn't fly the first time, try again later.
#4 - try eating it in front of him and telling him while you eat it how yummy it is. Their taste buds don't work all that great yet, it's mostly texture they're working with, so find something with the texture they like. You might try applesauce since he's still breastfeeding and likes the babyfood textures. Introducing a fruit he can stand the texture of now will help him like the others later.

I still have trouble getting my 22-mo old to eat raw vegetables, just because she doesn't like chewing hard things (except crackers of course). But we used mum-mums a lot and they have a veggie version of the mum-mums, so that's another option since he is still just getting started on snack foods. Also, mandarin oranges have been a hit, just softer things to get started with.

From the heavy breastfeeding, he is likely feeling like eating snack foods is just for fun, so he'll pick and choose a lot more until it becomes more of his real food. I'm a big fan of breastfeeding, but I'd start weaning it down to about half that so he can start eating more solid foods now that his stomach is developed enough to handle it. Just my 2-cents. :)

I have read several times that it can take as many as 10 times of introducing a new food to a child before he/she will accept it and eat it! So be patient and persistent! I also agree on cutting up things into little bites for him - he should be at the age where he'll LOVE picking up the pieces to eat. :)

My son is very independent and only likes to eat things he can feed himself. When he was your son's age, his favorite thing was peas because he enjoyed feeding himself (and squishing them). He also loved those yam patties that you buy frozen. I would heat them enough to still be firm enough to cut in pieces. Also, try some whole wheat rotini pasta and sliced bananas. My son wasn't big on fruit at that age either but it's hard to pick up most cut up fruit in your fingers, especially if you're just learning. Sounds like your little guy just wants to do it all buy himself and all the foods I mentioned are soft enough for a little one without a mouth full of teeth. Good luck!

Try cherrios or some other cereal that is easy to pick up. Also try putting green beans, peas cooked carrots, mashed potatoes on a plate and let him self feed. it will be a mess but it will teach him to eat table food. even put down a few slices of banana. Hope this helps.

I hated baby food so when my son was 6 months, i started blending the food my husband and i ate. If it was still to thick i would add fruit, worked like a charm, (time consuming though) now he eats everything we do at 16 months. Hope this can work for you also

If he's able to eat the crunchy snacks, then why not just cut the fruit up smaller and let him feed himself...I wouldn't want to eat out of a mesh feeder! Sounds like he's independent and doesn't want mom to do it to me!

Unless your 10 month old does the grocery shopping, you can correct this very easily by just not buying or giving him the junk food. He will not starve himself so if you stay persistant he will come around in a few days. If he doesn't like sweet fruit you can try sour fruits like lemons or limes. He also may be experiancing some of the side effects of some food presevatives and food addatives, addiction is one of them, as well as extreme mood displays, you can correct it by removing these foods, go cold turkey. Goggle the ingredents on at a time to find out the side effects of what is in his food.
I'm glad you have realized what a bad road you are on. So many children are suffering because of poor diet. Did you know 1 of 4 children entering pre-k as clinically obese? It is outrageous!
Also does your pediatrition know he is snacking on these foods? It is normaly considered not wise to start these foods before a year old to avoid creating food allergies.

You might also want to take this time to educate yourself about proper nurition, portion sizes, and calorie intake. This way you will be prepared as he grows for what he will need to be eating. Remember we are supposed to be eating what our bodies need not what we want. Think about how you want to see him as an adult and help him develop those good habits now.
Good Luck!

Try giving him some peas and carrots. The ones in the frozen bags are just the right size. My son loved picking them up at that age and they were the same size as his gerbers snacks. I don't know if I would bother with the gerber jars with diced carrots and peas. My son didn't really like them, whereas he would eat the same ones we did out of the frozen bag with no problem. You could also try giving him some small pieces of cheese as a snack. I agree with another poster that he may just be resisting because he wants to feel the texture by picking up the food himself. Also gerber does make some dried fruits that you can find in the baby food snack section. These are another good way to introduce fruit at this age.

Maybe he's teething and that's why he likes the crunchy things. Each kid is different. Our first child refused to eat Cheerios, but he would snack on graham crackers and animal crackers while at church. He's 21 months now and won't eat canned fruit, but loves fresh fruits like peaches, plums, bananas, and berries, and while he won't eat many solid veggies, he loves veggie purees of peas, green beans, and spinach. He will eat broccoli if it's cooked to a soft stage. When he was old enough to try feeding himself (pincer grasp and all), I gave him banana and avocado, so he could practice feeding himself and chewing. Little pieces of cheese might also work well. And whole milk yogurt and applesauce are great snacks, too.

It may be you'll just have to wait on the firmer fruits - apples, canteloupe, grapes - until he has a little more practice chewing. Crackers don't really count because they dissolve. Just keep trying every other week I'd guess, because kids grow so fast. Just don't give up. And a kid will like things regardless of your tastes - we eat a lot of pasta, but our toddler just does not like tomato sauce; and I dislike avocado, but he loves it, so I buy them for him.

Oh - and our son also likes the meat purees, and they are a good way to get some extra protein and fat, which can be useful after an illness, too, since kids can't really eat chicken noodle soup too easily - but they can eat chicken puree and salty crackers and pedialyte, and that gives them the fluids, salt, and fat that help them get better. :)

Hi T.,
My daughter is also 10 months old and I know most peopple dont agree but I started her on table food the day she turned 10 months old. She eats better on table food than she did on baby food, and she likes more variety of foods and for snack she eats biter biscuits or yogurt when I have it. The yogurt is yobaby if I have some if not she eats regular yogurt. Also table food fruit has better flavor than jar food. If he has teeth you might be some cans of crushed fruit and try that. As I said I started my daughter on table food almost a month ago she is almost 11 months but I knew thats what was right for her. It may not be right for your son but if he has some teeth you might try adding in some table food such as mashed potatoes, crushed fruit, cut up bananas, things like that. My daughter particularly likes bananas and you can use it as a snack if it cut up small enough.My daughter eats the same things me and my husband eat. some I have to cut up others I dont. Sometimes I fix her some soup and fruit and put it on a plate for her. The soup is called healthy choice and doesnt have all the preservatives and additives and all of the vegetables and meat and noodle are already small enough for her. I hope this helps. Trust your mommy instincts on switching to table food its not right for all children. It was for mine on another note now thats shes on table food she only has about 3-4 bottles aday and we have started her on sippy cups to start preparing her for when she turns one and I take the bottle away. Good Luck

Hi T.,
I solely nursed for about 10 mths. and then I started on solids along w/nursing. Have you ever thought about making your own baby food? It's sooo easy and pure! For ex: I would bring my baby girl to the Farmer's Market and stock up on fresh veggies. Since babies already have an innate taste for sweet (i.e. breast milk) they will NEVER have to acquire a taste for sweets. But now is the time to introduce the healthiest veggies possible. ex: Kale, spinach , etc..I suggest greens b/c those are hard to acquire a taste for..moreso than the others. All you do is get a little steam basket (BB&B for ~$5) and steam your veggies..not too long, then pop it into a puree and whala, instant baby food. I hope this helps. Do it now before your baby gets into toddler hood where it becomes harder and harder to "make he/she eat properly".

Hope this helps!