Transition to "Table Food"

We had a portable hand-held, manual baby food grinder--it was the best thing ever! We could even grind meat in it--anything that we were eating. Unfortunately, I have no idea where a person could get one now, as that was years ago. I would recommend that you try only one new food at a time for a couple of days until you know how she does with it. Good luck.

Trial and error! Pasta is always a good start, as are soft vegetables and fruit. Offer her something and see what happens. When my son (at the same age) saw the "big kids" eating at the sitters, he flat out refused baby food and transitioned to table food almost over night.

With all 3 of my kids, whatever I made for dinner, I set aside a small portion, left out any seasonings and diced it up. When I steamed veggies, I left theirs in just a tiny bit longer than ours to get them extra soft. My kids always loved sliced carrots and broccoli steamed. Sometimes I'd just cook the carrot shreds that are bagged in the salad part of the produce section. My kids all ate chicken, pasta, and veggies a lot at around 9 months. We let them try anything we were having for dinner. Mashed sweet potatoes are great, too. If you peel them and cook them in the ziploc bags (or any potatoes or veggie for that matter) you can mash them right in the bag once they cool. Baked beans have also been a very messy, but huge hit. They all 3 liked turkey sausage (the fresh Jennie-O patties were tender and seasoned just right), too. Mine all also loved to suck and gnaw on orange slices. I'd cut them wide and the full length of the orange with the peel still on so it was nearly impossible to get the whole thing in their mouths. Kiwi is another great fruit. And my kids loved and still love pineapple (crushed at first) and natural applesauce. Generally, we all ate the same thing for dinner so I didn't become a short order cook and the whole family didn't live on hotdogs and chicken nuggets. Just see how she likes small portions of whatever you're eating. And get ready for some new and exciting diaper changes....

Hi H.! We are just starting table food too. My 10 month old had a big 'ol time eating mashed potatoes by hand off his tray! (Get your camera out if you try it!) Today we mashed-up our scalloped potatoes from Easter dinner. If you have already introduced meat into her diet, definitely try meatloaf! For fruite, I give him very ripe pears and bananas. As for crackers & such, we give him Kix cereal pieces, Cheerios (sometimes dampened with water) and even very small pieces of plain bread. Peas are a good starter veggie. It won't take long until your daughter catches on and you can feel confident to move to bigger foods! But until that time, we are using both baby food and table food.

If your daughter has never felt a piece of solid, real food in her mouth, you may want to buy one of those mesh "Baby Safe Feeders" so she can put a solid piece of food in her mouth and try to chew -- without any risk of choking. This is a really great way to teach a beginner how to chew.

Have fun!!

Depends on how many teeth she has.I started out with mashed potatoes,mac and cheese spaghetti o's with meatballs cut up,stuff like that first then just ease to other things.or start feeding her some stuff from your plate.

Hi H.,

I will second the other moms on transitioning to table foods.

I will add, that there are times my son doesnt get a complete diet from what we're eating (mainly because he'll reject things) so we still will make sure that he gets a good dose of veggies every day, and that means that I still have baby food in my cabinet. I dont have any trouble getting him to eat fruits from the table. he loves his baby food veggies.

good luck, and have fun!

I usually just cut up what we are eating. My son, 11 months, loves meatloaf, pasta, chicken, hamburger helper (I know, very nutritious), cooked veggies, fruit, potatoes. He is my second and my daughter, 3 1/2, did not eat what we ate until he was born. I really wanted to start him on that path straight away so I did not need to make two meals every night. So far, it seems to be working out. Good luck!

What I'm doing with my almost 9 month old to transition her to regular table food is buying canned fruits and veggies and I puree them or mashed them up with a fork. She also likes mashed potatoes, cheerios, Gerber Graduates puffs or anything soft we eat. There are some foods babies can't have until a year old or older so you might check into that. I have also looked at babycenter.com for that info. Hope this helps!!

What they eat all depends on he teeth they have. Babies can't eat steak or hamburger if there are no teeth. Soft foods like mashed potatoes, jello,graham crackers to teeth on, soft biscuit buttered, mashed peas, mashed carrots, etc. Once teeth are in you can start hot dog pieces, crumbled hamburger, french toast stix, scrambled eggs etc. There are numerous things you can make. If her tummy can't handle it, she'll let you know. These are the fun days believe it or not.

My nephew is 8 months old and my sister and brother in law are working on transitioning him also. We have all been trying new foods (I babysit him 2 days a week). The things that have worked wonderfully for him are pancakes cut up into very small pieces (*tip* the easiest way to cut them into tiny pieces is with a pizza cutter), waffles in the toaster toasted just enough to be warm but not crispy. She has given him a scoop of whatever veggies they are eating for dinner and ran a knife through the pile several times to chop them up small. She has also given him any of the meat they are eating as long as it is the kind that can fall apart like roast vs. something that is more of a solid piece like ham. Hashbrown style potatoes (the shredded kind) also worked pretty well at Easter dinner and he has demanded french fries and did quite well with them torn into tiny bites. Obviously things like mashed potatoes and applesauce would work nicely but he doesn't want to be fed right now. He wants to do it himself and hasn't mastered silverware yet. I hope some of these ideas help.

Anything soft on the table. If she has teeth, then you can go with some small pieces of meat as well.

I gave mine mashed potatoes, rice, green beans, small pieces of meat, soft fruits cut in to small pieces, small bites of block cheese, cheerios, grits, oatmeat, pancakes cut up, crackers, tuna salad, yogurt, cottage cheese, soups, noodles cut into small bites, bisquits, cooked veggies, fish, eggs, and so on.

As with any new food be sure to always introduce one new food at a time in small amounts so you can watch for allergies...particulary things like shellfish, peanut butter, eggs, strawberries and so on. Just a tiny bit the first time with no other new food so you can watch them for the rest of the day for any signs of a reaction.

The only thing that is really off limits according to the newest medical research is honey. Wait until after their first birthday before giving them honey. It can cause a fatal reaction that their little bodies can't fight if less than a year old.

I gave mine anything that I didn't think was too spicey in small amounts to start and then more and more later. They were pretty much eating off the table intirely by the time they were a year old.

Hi H.,

I'd try give her the foods she already likes in teeny cubes rather than in pureed form. If its cut very small it'll reduce her choking risk. I'd still avoid things like peanut butter, eggs, honey, shellfish, etc. because of allergy risk. And generally kids tend to have a higher sensitivity to bitter flavors than we do, so watch out for that.

Our daughter was surprisingly fond of grouper and steak (smart girl!). So don't be afraid to give her what you are eating depending on her age.

There are schedules available for what to feed them at what age. Try this one: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/solids.htm

You can mash up macaroni with a fork, mashed potatoes, bits of scrambled egg, soft veggies from chicken soup (again, mash a bit with a fork), mashed bananas (have some prune juice on hand, too - we all know what bananas do to babies), oatmeal (real oatmeal, not Gerber).... with the exception of strawberries (wait 'til she's older), really anything that can be "gummed".

If you ever had your tonsils out or your wisdom teeth pulled, think along the lines of what you were able to eat then.

Try to avoid sweet stuff, though. They leave a bigger impact on the taste buds and she may shy away from regular food in search of the sweet things.

Our doctor told us that if you can mush it between your fingers, then your baby can "chew" it with their gums. Gums are much harder then our fingers. And she was right. I started with the Gerber Graduate Soups, strained the liquid and served the veggies/pasta sliced in half depending on the size. Once she mastered that I would give my daughter whatever we were having, as long as it wasn't one of he foods your not supposed to give until the 1yr mark. Good luck.

Just give her tiny tiny pieces of whatever you are eating. Don't be concerned if she plays with it; all kids are tactile and that's part of growing up. Got to touch the food!

But if she sees that you are eating the same stuff, she will probably be more than willing to eat more.

I started my 2 year old daughter on things like mashed potatoes and soft fruit without seeds like watermelon and cantalope. You can also give her apple sauce, and jello. Anything soft but may have a different texture because it sometimes takes some kids a little while to adjust to different textures.

Mother of a 2 year old daughter and 4 month old son.

I am a SAHM of a 17, 14, 5, and 2 yr. old. When I transitioned all my kids, I started w/ soft foods. Mashed potatoes were a great starter. I used a little milk to make them a bit runnier so it was more consistent with the baby food. I added veggies next. My kids loved trying to pick up corn or green beans and peas were really interesting! None of them liked the conisistency at first, but I kept giving it to them and they eventually came to like it. My 5 and 2 year old like almost anything, thanks to a grandma who cooks really well-balanced meals!! Good luck!! -A.

You are so lucky you babay has enough teeth to make the transition! Try mashed potatoes, and any cooked vegetable first. As for meat my kids seemed to like chicken the best, I think because of the way it shreds. Once they got the chewing down really well, I tried everything.

Our doctor said it's OK to give baby food for as long as you want and as your baby wants. Especially because of choking worries. But, we just started our daughter on whatever we were eating in little, little pieces. At 11 months she didn't really want baby food anymore so that is when she really went to table food. She loves avacadoes.

There's nothing wrong with putting what you make for dinner in a food processor for your daughter. However, in the first year, you may want to avoid the common food allergens, such as strawberries, eggs, peanut butter.

My eldest is 23 years old and my youngest is 16. Their favorite was my homemade pot roast dinner (roast beef, potatoes and green beans...all pureed together in the food processor. Both Mom and kids were happy !