When to Begin Table Foods

I started on table foods around 9 months for my son (at his 9-month appointment his doctor said he should be trying these already). I started with the Gerber puffs and also did soft foods (applesauce, mashed potatoes, etc.). Once he got used to those I added in other "chunkier" soft foods like cubed baked potato, cheese, and bread (all in very small pieces). My pediatrician said that by a year old he should be eating only table foods. But, don't sweat it--he WILL eventually get it (you won't be sending your son to kindergarten on babyfood!).

We started our son with table foods around 9 months. Our doctor told us not to do stage 3 foods because he said that they are more trouble than they are worth and they are actually bad for the kiddo. He said that with the different textures mixed together there was more of a potential for them to choke. We started our son off with cheerios, and soft foods like applesauce, mashed potatoes, very soft pieces of ground beef and shredded beef, cooked veggies, and we supplemented with the stage 2 foods. We eventually got brave and just started trying him with different foods. I hope this is helpful for you and good luck to you! It was actually a very smooth transition for all of us. He did not have a lot of problems with this.

I would say keep offering him the food. Due to all the international travel our family does, our son was on only table food before he was 11 mos. Our son did not like the taste of any of the 3rd foods at all. Can you blame them? Would you eat anything that tasted or smelled like baby food? We would simply mash up whatever we were eating. I think all the different countries he has been to and all the different food experiences have made him a better eater. He's 16 mos. old now and will eat nearly any fruit or veggie we put in front of him. Good luck!

Hi S., I personally went by no rules or books with my kiddo's if they were hungary I fed them. Put different things on their high chair tray to let them try. About that age they are into using their hands anyway and I gave my kids little baby spoons and forks even though they didn't really know how to use them thats how they learned, if they make a mess no big deal, not like they came with a dry clean tag. My only rule of thumb was make sure to read your ingredeint lables, try to stay away from processed foods, high fructose corn syrups, artificial sugars and trans fats. little pieces of fruit, smashed up, and pieces of cheese, nothing really spicy. Let them try everything, you won't get an argument at that age as in if you try to introduce Brocli at age 3 and they won't try it and scream they don't like it. All my kids ate anything put in front of them. Good luck to you!! Mom to 4 Grandma to 10. :)

With my kiddos I did canned veggies if not fresh and steamed and offered those they took to them right away this wasn't until they had teeth and was intriduced to all foods usually by 9-10 months have you intoduced all the foods to him such as veggies and fruits that come as baby food in a jar.Maybe he isn't liking the 3rd foods because they do contain more testure and may be harder for him to chew.Try to go back to what he does like for a while and if its greenbeans he loves but doesn't like peas offer them in the same bowl for him.It does take a lot of trial and error my son never ate eggs hes 5 now up until a yr ago and I have to tell him they are McDonalds eggs or esle he refuses to eat them.Alot of times it does come down to texture with foods some kids don't like it

I agree with the other responses. Simply just keep trying and don't feel guilty continuing baby food on days when he gets frustrated and needs to eat. Baby food is nutritionally sound! Try cheerios and other fun foods like Gerber puffs and soon he will be eating everything. Avoid mushy foods that are hard to grasp. Good luck!

I would talk with your pediatrician. My son is 9 months old and I am not even planning on attempting this until he is a year old. What is the rush.

What is his teeth status? Does he have any yet? I would wait until he has both top and bottome front teeth. If he has those already then it is just a matter of persistance and time. He should be on table food by the time he is a year. So you have time. Don't fret it. Take it slow. Good luck and God Bless.

I started all 3 of my kids (now 3, 4 and 5) on table foods around 4 months-- obviously we started then with mashed potatoes, applesauce and other mushy foods... within 2 months or so, they were eating little chopped bites. I know it sounds young-- but my mom did it with all of us kids and my grandma did it at that age with her kids... and so on :) Just avoid the foods that they can't have until they're 1- peanut butter, honey, etc.

You should start with cheerios and puffs. He needs to get used to picking things up on his own and feeding. This not only teaches him self-feeding but is also great for the pincer grasp a fine motor skill. They are both great b/c the cheerios have a hole and the puffs dissolve quickly so you should not have to worry about choking. Make sure he has been fed or at least had his bottle first. You don't want him to be hungry or he will just get frustrated. I would always feed my kids their morning cereal and then give them cheerios and puffs while I cleaned up the rest of breakfast and fed myself. Bananas cut up small are great too as they are soft. Just start small and work your way up. Stick with soft foods, peas, cooked carrots, pasta cut up very small etc and work your way. The first thing you need to get him used to is just picking up and feeding himself and then you can start adding new foods.

I started my baby on 3rds about 9 months. My baby went back and forth on whether or not she liked 3rds all the way up to her 1st birthday. I don't know if teeth have anything to do with their preference towards 3rds and then finger foods, but my baby just recently got her top two teeth (the bottom 2 were already in). She preferred the pureed foods when teething (strangely enough) and just now will tolerate finger foods and she's 1. She's always had texture issues, but I think that's very common. Basically I'm a short order cook, making multiple meals for her, hoping she's eat one. Some days she eats well, other days she doesn't. For finger foods, I'd cut up ravioli's, cheese sticks, bannanas, turkey meatballs (from Trader Joes), cheerios, Gerber Puffs, waffles/pancakes, peas...you get the idea.

My sis's baby had a mouth full of teeth by 9 months and ate everything! I've never been so jealous! Except over her kids full head of thick hair. Good luck. The worst part of feeding isn't the preparation, it's watching them make a gross mess of what you made. If that doesn't ruin your appetite, I don't know what will.

Usually they say to start table foods around 12 months. At 9 months its ok to do little finger foods such as cheerios and crackers. I wouldnt start on giving him foods you eat until he can chew pretty well and is around 1 year old. Hope this helps. Just make sure what you give him now is something that will kind of dissolve with saliva. Crackers are a great example. If he's eating baby food, mix something that is a bit more lumpy in it like rice or very small pieces of chicken or turkey. Baby's dont really like the texture at first so introduce it slow. Maybe you feed him 3 jars of baby food. Have one be very textured and the others not. Give a bite of the textured one to him then the two others. That way hes not getting so frustrated. He'll get the hang of it!

Let him see you eating the food and how "yummy" it is??? My son is almost 20 and started eating mashed potatoes at about 3 months old, so other than that, I don't know??? Does he eat rice cereal? or something like that in the morning?

Hi S.,

Your little one sounds like mine was...and still is sometimes, and he's 4! Some children have sensitive palettes...my son is one of them. It took me a while to start ANY new food with him. I pretty much just played guessing games with what he may like or not. I don't know how many times I tried to get him to eat mashed potatoes, and he STILL doesn't like them. I always just tried to get him to taste something, and I knew if he REALLY wasn't going to like it, because he would gag and throw up...very frustrating. But on those that he wouldn't gag on, but maybe turned away at, I just kept trying to introduce them with something he was used to. The more he tried them, the more he decided he liked them. My son didn't really graduate from stage 2 baby foods until almost a year old, and he didn't get past stage 3 until he was about 18 months. From the time that he was about 14 months, I just kept introducing soft, easy to chew items (or easily dissolvable) from different food groups until he learned to accept them. I don't know if this will make you feel worse or better, but my son still only eats one kind of FRESH fruit (bananas), but he will eat canned fruit. He only likes about 5 COOKED veggies, but his favorite is broccoli(yeah!). He will not eat raw veggies. He just became a big meat eater around his 3rd birthday, so protein had to come from non-meat sources...that was a tough one for me. He loves any dairy and grain product. I never really had to fight him on those. Don't worry though, they say as long as your child is getting a variety of foods in a healthy portion during a week's times, and they are not under or over weight, they will be fine. Good luck, and don't worry, you and your son will be fine and you both will soon figure out what he likes. There really isn't a special age or list of foods that you must start with, but be careful of peanut butter or strawberries before a year old. And I didn't much pay attention to those moms around me whose kids were eating table foods at 8 months. My son and I worked at our own pace...anyway, he only had 4 teeth at age 1 too! Hope I have been some relief for you!

My kids did much better with bites of food they could pick up rather than spoon fed foods. Have you tried that? I just cut up most anything we were having into small bites, soft meat, soft fruit, steamed veggies, etc. The other thing is, breastmilk or formula are supposed to be their MAIN food for the first FULL year. Some babies with food allergies seem to reject table food, and later the parents put it together. Your son will eventually eat regular foods. It's good to try other things, and give him the opportunity, but following his lead is often the easiest and healthiest way to go!

K.

My son went from the 2nd stage foods to table foods. He hated the 3rd stage foods and forget about those Gerber toddler meals! I would just be persistent. Around that time I would let him try some of my stuff and if he didn't eat then he got baby food. For about 6 months after he started eating table foods I still gave him vegetables in the baby food form because he refused to eat them. I think it doesn't matter if you feed him baby food for a while longer just so long as your feeding him. LOL! Good luck!

You said you're "afraid that he won't ever begin to like the foods that we eat." Come now, do you really think that by the time he's 15, he will still be eating 1st Stage baby foods when he could be eating PIZZA with his friends? ;-)

Seriously, though, there is no hurry. Give him time.

Personally, we completely skipped Stage 3 stuff with our first two because it tasted *awful* (though hopefully it's improved since 10+ years ago). We skipped Stage 3 with our 3rd child, too, because by then we knew we didn't need it.

Since the textures were new to the baby, we usually started with familiar *flavors*, such as bits of banana, cut up cooked green beans, and bits of cooked sweet potato. Same tastes as the stuff you find in the Stage 1 baby food section.

When the baby shows interest in table foods, that's the best time to start them (within limits, of course). Our first child started table foods at about 10 months. He showed interest a little early, perhaps because I just sat him on my lap and fed him while we were eating, rather than separately, in a high chair. On the other hand, other than Cheerios and crackers, our second child wouldn't touch table foods until close to 14 months. Our third child started table foods at about 12 months. The only exception is that we did give him chunks of fruit or veggies in a mesh teether/fresh food feeder thingy starting at about 8 months old. (You might try that!)

In other words, when they are ready really varies from child to child, even in the same family. Don't force it; you want this to be a *positive* experience. You might try letting him "play" with a new food, such as a few cooked carrots, while you're preparing his regular baby food. Like everything else (lol), he'll eventually get some in his mouth, and he might decide he likes it! Also, some children do better with a new food/texture if you offer it at the beginning of a feeding when baby is hungriest; others, near the end, after familiar foods so that baby isn't as easily frustrated because he's hungry. It just depends on your child.

Also, be sure that he's actually rejecting the new foods you are offering. Some babies will make awful faces or even cry when introduced to a new food, but still want more of it. They just may not be sure how to handle it (they have to learn how to use their tongue and gums/teeth to manipulate the food instead of just swallowing it). The new experience may upset them even though they may like the food itself. It may take a few times for him to get used to it.

HTH! Good luck!
--A.