Tips on What Else to Feed My 7 1/2 Mo. Old Son

The one thing we gave my son at that age that no one else has mentioned is rice cakes (unsalted plain ones). They satisfied his desire to feed himself before he developed a pincer grip and either he'd bite off a tiny piece that would dissolve while he gummed it up or a huge piece that would just fall out of his mouth. He still loves them (1 yr). But those are definitely for after he's had his real nutrition in baby food form or with the safe feeder (loved that thing).

Until she was better able to chew and swallow I used a safe feeder (mesh bag with a plastic handle) to give my kids fruit like slices of apple, banana (frozen), cantaloupe, peaches as well as crackers and cookies. I also gave them those puffy, star shaped snacks from Gerber and Rice Krispies or Cheerios. I used bottled water because we didn't trust the water in the area where we were living. Sometimes I used spring water and other times I used the nursery water. I seem to remember being told not to use distilled water. You could check with your ped on that. After we moved I switched to tap water that has been run through a Brita filter.

I think it depends on what you are comfortable with. We chose to do a modified version of Child Led Weaning. CLW, in a nutshell, believes that if a child has the skills to pick up and put the food into his or her mouth, they will also have the skills to succesfully chew and swallow the food.

I started DD off with chunks of banana, sweet potato, and avocado. she loves getting different things in her mesh feeder - although in this heat, I've been freezing baby food fruits and breastmilk to put into it. Both are a big hit.

Basically, she eats anything I'm eating that's a natural food, not processed too much. At 10 months, she eats or at least tries everything I've put in front of her. Right now, melons and chicken are her absolute favorites.

As for water, she gets filtered tap water, what DH and I drink. Very rarely, she might get a splash of 100% fruit juice in the water, not more than 5 parts water to 1 part juice.

The key is to go slow introducing each new food (wait approxs 4 - 6 days between each new food). I recommend purchasing a "cookbook" baby/toddler foods. I puchased one from One Step Ahead with my second son (and I really wish I did it with my first). It gives you SO many ideas...even for real little ones...and I am still using it and my boys are 5 and 2! Also - I recommend buying a food mill/food grinder. I am not one that states you have to make your own baby food (gerber is fine)..but - with my second son I learned to grind up the food the family was eating and serve it to him. It saves you time - only making one meal instead of several...and it allows your child to try real foods and experience different tastes. Something to note - my second son loves trying new foods and isn't picky...my first son is very picky about food. Not sure if they are related - but it makes you wonder.

Good luck!!

Hi. Great question. I EBF my daughter until around 6 months, too. She is almost a year now, but at 7 months, I can tell you she was eating a great variety of nutricious things. Avacado, banana, sweet potato, yogurt, egg yolk (not the white b/c it is an allergy food), carrots, green beans, pears, all kinds of squash, apples, peeled & cut up grapes, peaches, and tofu. I steamed and mashed everything fresh. It's a wonderful time of year for locally grown veggies! Whenever you try something new, remember to do it at lunchtime and not dinner in case it causes gas. My pediatrition recommends waiting 4 days inbetween each new thing to make sure there isn't a delayed allergic reaction. As for water, I just boil some tap water in the microwave every morning (per peds instructions) then let it cool at room temp before I put it in her sippy cup. By the way, the EPA has stricter standards on tap water then the FDA has on bottled water as far as contaminents. I'm not saying bottled water is bad, I'm just saying that tap isn't as bad as people think it is. HTH. It's so exciting to try new things! Enjoy!

I made alot of my own babyfood since it's so easy and saves a ton of money. Here's a site that has a ton of ideas as far as diet, what to feed them at what age, different finger foods, etc. Hope you find it useful! I loved it!
http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/

My kids ate and loved:
avocado
stage 2 foods
gerber puffs
yogurt
bananas
sweet potato
mashed potato
tomato
kiwi

As far as water goes, my peds always said to stay away from water until the baby is a year old so that they don't fill up on non-nutritious foods/drinks. I'd just be sure to limit his water intake because breastmilk already contains water.

Take your time and don't feel like you have to rush him into table foods. I don't even think i was giving them water yet at 7 months. I used to do half baby juice half water though. There are so many wonderful gerber options. Also, cheerios is great for them.

We drink all our water through a Brita filter, including my 7 month old son. Check with the water authority in your town about flouride. If yours has none, you'll want to get drops at about age 1 or so. Check with your doctor. My doctor actually didn't think it was necessary, but all my closest friends said it was important according to their doctors, and mine is sort of no frills.
As far as food variety, it's really hard, since only the same few veggies are available in the foods here. We visited France and they have salmon and spinach and artichokes in their baby food to name a few! But just switch them up a lot-all the organic stage one foods are fine (or non organic too if you need more variety) and continue the cereal. Soon you can grind up anything for him at 1 year old.

Hi. My daughter is 8 months and she loves the Stage 2 foods. I mostly give her the fruits, veggies, and a few of the dinners (some have a lot of starch and stuff mixed in so I try to go for dinners that only have a few ingredients- chicken and rice, turkey and sweet potatoes etc.). Mixed Grain cereal is good too if your child has tolerated both rice and oatmeal. She also loves cut up wheat toast (unbuttered), cut up peaches, bananas, cantaloupe, watermelon (all very ripe and squishy), steamed baby carrots (cut up small), canned green beans (no salt added) and ditalini pasta with a touch of tomato sauce. Sweet potato puffs are also good for practice (they melt in their mouths so less chance to choke) although there is little nutritional value so I only give these sparingly. I don't know how far you've gotten with finger foods but these are good starters. As for water, she just drinks tap water in a sippy cup.
Hope this helps you!
R.

I would not give water unless you are trying to wean your son. At this point your son needs your breastmilk and should be nursed in addition to solid foods. I would try regular food that are soft and try cooking extra long. Mashed potatoes, really ripe bananas can be mashed with a fork, sweet potatoes can be cooked and mashed (lots of nutrients there), carrots cooked. I would give lots of variety so he learns what food tastes like. The single grain cereal is not needed, but can be given if you feel he likes it. If he does not like it, other vegetables and fruits, cooked and slightly mashed can be great substitutes. If you need a better consistency, breastmilk can be added to anything...just a few drops is enough to change the consistency and then you have power foods. Unless you are concerned with allergies, trial and error is good. I have three kids that were all breasfed. My 1st I relied alot on cereal, but my other two did not like it so I just gave them some of what we were all having and they seemed to make the jump to regular foods alot easier. My 1st (a boy) I think got too used to pureed/baby foods and did not always take to textures that well. Good luck and its wonderful that you have been breastfeeding. It helps protect you against illnesses later in life, and reduces your son's chance for obesity, and diabetes as well as allergies and increases his iq.

Hi MariaMao,

When my son started solids, I introduced one or two things per week and would wait about 3 days in between each one before introducing new items. I went through all of the stage 1 foods before switching to stage 2. You can try veges or fruit or even meats. It doesn't really matter what your baby eats, as long as it is the right consistency. You can even make your own food if you want to. Most peds recommend not starting more than one new food at a time - so that you can watch for allergies or reactions. Once your baby gets good finger grips (around 8 months or so - varies by baby) you can introduce hard cereals like the gerber puffs or cheerios.

For water, we always gave our son filtered water from the faucet or bottled water. I always gave him water whenever he was eating food (in a sippy cup) so that he would get used the idea of eating and drinking water together.

J.

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FYI My son is 7 months old and I just started stage 2 baby foods. I also feed him Gerber puffs, zwieback toast (he loves these), and put frozen banana, peaches, and pears in a mesh feeder. I really want to start real foods like yogurt, cheeses, pasta, etc. but I think I am going to wait until his 8 month check up just to make sure it is ok and he has a few more teeth. He has 2 bottom and 1 top that just poked through yesterday. Let me know what all you have tried now if you want. Thanks!

feed him some baby oatmeal in the morning. mix it with some applesauce or some yogurt. be careful with the yogurt since all he has had is breastmilk. only give him a few tablespoons to start out. I give my baby tapped or bottled water. juice is good also but water it down,do half juice and half water. with the applesauce buy the natural or no sugar added. there is no need to buy baby applesauce. also if you want to watch preservatives and such make the baby food. fruits are good like bananas,mangoes. just grind it in the food processor. pears and peaches are good also.

Hi MariaMao

If your son has been successfully introduced to single fruits and veggies and cereals I see no reason why you couldn't move on to the stage 2 foods if you want more variety for him. Stage 2 has combinations of fruits, veggies, and some more meals that you and I are used to seeing for dinner. As for water that really comes down to personal preferance. My kids have always had tap water. Happy feeding!

If he is able to pick things up with his forefinger and thumb, then he is probably ready for some table foods. At that age, we started my daughter on frozen peas and blueberries, straight from the freezer. she loved them. She ate very little baby food of any kind. she ate mostly soft table foods cut into small pieces.
If you are breastfeeding, your baby does not need water. If you do chose to give him bottled water, be sure that it is not loaded with sodium. Many bottled waters (esp. distilled) have alot of sodium in it.