When to Start Tablefoods?

Every baby is different. I skipped pureed jar food and went straight to table food. If you want to give it a try I suggest mashed bananas, cubed sweet potatoes, mashed or cubed avacado, cooked apples. My kids also like soft broccoli. Really anything that is soft!
Blessings, K.

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Food is more of a tactile experience and mimicking you at this point. If he can sit on his own and has teeth, I *might* offer him soft foods, but the main diet should be breast milk or if you must, formula for the first year. Check out the AAP site for more info about that. My daughter didn't start food until she was 14 months old, and my son was diving for our plates at 5 mos. We gave him baby food at seven months once he had a tooth and could sit up and he was very happy! Every child is different. Listen to yourself over others, your are hs mom and you know best.

I would agree that it's time to start table foods unless you want to buy baby food for the next couple of years. Kids can get used to eating the non-texture of baby food and refuse others. I understand the concern about chewing some foods, but even babies with teeth don't really chew basic finger foods, they just sortof disintegrate. Although Cheerios are the typical start, we used Kix and Rice Krispies (as long as they've been exposed to corn and rice already). They're smaller and "melt" faster. Also, Gerber Graduates are great they have some "Puffs" (my kids are both in school, I can't remember exactly what they're called- they're in a can) that break down quickly, designed for just this situation. Hope this helps.

H.

Hi M.,
I think your son should be okay with some table food. I give my son puffs and he loves them. I started when he was about 7-8 months old. It took him awhile to get used to a solid like that, and he also has a bad gag reflex but now he eats them like a champ! I also did give him cheerios, I broke them up in 1/2, or even I think I did 1/4's when we first started. Other foods I tried were mushed up bananas, broken up fruit loops, and saltine crackers which are all easy to gum and swallow. Something else he loves is the Gerber Biter Biscuits. I just make sure to watch him because we had an issue with my little sister who chocked on one of those (as if that won't freak you out!). Since I sit right there and watch him while he eats it, I feel better and he does fine with them now (granted he is almost a year old).
Once your son gets some teeth in he will be able to eat a lot more. My son has 7 teeth right now and eats like a champ when it comes to table food!
Good luck!

When my oldest daughter was 7 months old, we couldn't leave the house without a bag of cheerios! You'll find that you'll be amazed what a infant with no teeth is able to gum.
If you are nervous, and with your first child you probably would be, Gerber has a huge selection of toddler foods. Try the stars, they are veggie and banana flavored and they melt in the mouth faster than cheerios. Take your time and ease him into it.
My daughter was eating small pieces of steak by the time she was 9 months old, and she didn't get a single tooth until she was 10 months.
We still kept her on formula until her first birthday.
Just trust your mothers instinct, you'll be fine.

Hope this info is helpful!
K.

I always started by breaking the cheerios into 2-3 pieces that could easily be slobbered to death. My godchild didn't get a tooth until she was 14 months and she ate steak! So anything is edible if it is broken up small enough. I chose to forego all prepared babyfood and made my own from the time my girls were about 6 months-I would prepare veggies and cut them up teeny tiny. As long as he isn't able to stuff a whole bunch in his mouth at once, he will be fine if you break things up really small :)

I say, try it and see if he is ready. I have two girls who were night and day different. My older daughter had a terrrible gag reflex, and did not particularly like eating in general and did not eat cheerios. Now she is a healthy 3 year old and eats just fine. My 10 months old LOVES to eat. I starting giving her cheerios around 6 months and she eats like a pro. She rarely gags, pushes the food around her mouth, gums and mashes it up and swallows. The Gerber puffs are great (Walmart also makes a less expensive puff), but I found that my baby is great at eating and can eat all sorts of things. If you are nervous, just make sure that you watch carefully. It is not too difficult to sweep food out of his mouth if he begins to choke or gag on it, but also don't be too quick, he needs to figure the whole thing out and begin to strenghten his muscles. My daughter would gag, and if I let her be, she would push the food to the front and mash it up more. Good luck.

my son is 7 months too!! he just finished 1/2 pear cut up. he does the oatios thing but they arent quite as soft as cheerios but as we do the organic thing cheerious arent in our repitoire :) anyway he loves a bit of bread or french toast or basically a little bit of anything! we are just transitioning him from puree to ground and finger foods. it is different per child just go with your instincts!

It is ok to start a baby on table food if the able to act like want to chew (mouth movement). I work in a daycare where my 10mth old goes they will give them cherrios at 7 months. You have to watch them, they will choke a little because it is new. That is normal. if your not comfortable with that then just don't do it. YOu can also try the puffed fruit and veggies they sell Gerber, Meijer, Wal Mart (they can chop easier) they melt in mouth.

Do what you are comfortable with. They can have green beans, peas, cooked carrots and mashed tatoes, soft peaches, pears as long as the mouth has chewing motion.

Hi M.,
Don't worry what people are telling you to do. If you think he is ready then start. I always started with Gerber puffs because they kind of melt in their mouth. It shows them a different texture and teaches them how to eat. My first son started table food around 1 but my second was done with baby food at 10 months. He wanted what we were eating. I cut it very small and he ate whatever we ate. Every child is different and it's your decision if you think he is ready. Good luck.
Chris

I would recommend the Gerber puffs too. Meijer also makes their own brand of puffs that taste just as great, but less expensive. My daughter started eating them with no teeth as well and she loved them! :) Also, Gerber biter biscuits are great for babies to gum on, although they are quite messy. Good luck!

I started my daughter on the Gerber Puffs at about the same age, I did not give her Cheerios until about 8 1/2 to 9 months, they made me nervous. The puffs dissolve easily, I also gave her pieces of the Gerber Little Munchies (or Crunchies, but I think it is Munchies). Do what YOU are comfortable with, if you think you should wait then do it. You know your child better than anyone else.

My older kids (twin girls now 22 and a son 20) didn't cut their first tooth til the age of 16 months or so,(they walked before they got teeth) so if i would have waited for them to get teeth to start solids, they would have been waiting a long time! Start with soft foods, and just make sure he doesn't shove in handfuls at a time, you have to teach him to eat one at a time. Babies tend to enjoy the experience of eating real food, it really doesn't matter if they have teeth, they gum things just fine. By the time my kids got molars, they were pretty much eating whatever we ate, and so long as you keep an eye on them, you wont have a problem.

The readiness cues for finger foods is that he can pick things up with his forefinger and thumb. Start with easily desolvable things (like Cheerios or Gerbers Puffs) and just keep an eye on him, but he should be fine.

Hi M.,
I know it is scarry. I started my daughter on table foods when she was about 7 months old. Cheerios are great. They practically melt away in a few seconds. I was always affraid that she was going to choke, but she never did. She would sometimes gag herself, but I think that is part of learning how to eat. You would be surprised at what those little gums can mash up :). Make sure whatever you give is cut into small pieces and is pretty soft.

Good luck to you and enjoy it. It is a really fun stage to see what your baby like and dislike!

K.

Hi M.,
Gerber has some finger foods that melt in the mouth. They are puffy and come in various flavors. I started my daughter on them a few months ago and you shouldn't have to worry about your son choking with these. Good luck!!

Hi M.,

My daughter is 7.5 months old. I started her on soft cooked vegetables at about 6 months. She does fine. If he is exhibiting signs of 'chewing' ... then he is most likely ready to have some table foods. When they can mimick chewing then they are developing the skill to move food to the back of their mouths and swallow it.

Their gums and masticate soft cooked veggies and things that dissolve easily (like O cereal) and they have no problem swallowing it.

Honestly, the best way to give soft cooked veggies is to cut them into sticks... like thick french fries. They can easily manipulate food with a handle. At this age they often aren't capable of realizing that what is hidden in their fist can be eaten as well... so chunks that are too small, they won't eat well. Also, not all babies have the pincer grasp mastered at this age. So, stick shape is best. Of course offering something like O cereal does encourage that pincer grasp.

My daughter eats celery, broccolli, carrots, parsnip, apple, and pear. This week we will introduce zuchini. She loves to eat what we're eating. It's SO fun!

If you want to look up more info on this... google 'Baby Led Weaning'. There isn't alot of info out there on it... but there is some.

Hi M.,
I would definitely start on table foods. Cheerios are of course great, and we really like the puffs too. I would definitely start giving the baby different textures though. I waited too long with my son I think for texture foods (I purreed all of his vegetables creamy) and now at 14 months he is a super picky eater. Most things that are not crunchy or completely smooth he spits out. By the way, he has 8 teeth and rarely uses them. He still gums everything with the back of his mouth. Good luck!

Like everyone said. The Gerber puffs are great. Also, try mashed potatoes, green beans, peas, chicken cut in small pieces and mini gold fish crackers. Any soft foods will do. You might notice what seems like choking, but it could be from having something new. I have a grandson who at 7 months and no teeth was chewing on rib bones.

Both my kids were on table foods early (about 7 months old)and did not have teeth--and never choked on anything. Of course never leave a child eating unatended!! You'd be surprised what they can eat!

So fun:)

There is a great book called Child Of Mine by a nutritionist named Ellyn Satter. I have followed her advice which encourages advancing babies with textures and then solids from pureed food at a pretty good rate. I have followed her advice and my 10 month old is currently eating just about everything we eat, chopped small of course. She is actually sitting next to me right now eating a black bean burger... She only has one tooth but does just fine.

If your child wants table food go ahead and start. Cherrios are great. The hole in the center will allow air to pass through even if he swallows it whole. Other great starter foods are found in the baby food aisle. Any of the toddler foods with holes or that are easily dissolved will be fine until you are more assured that he will not swallow them whole. He doesn't need teeth to eat and mash food. That's what most kids do at first anyway even if they have a few teeth. I let my own kids eat some basics around 6-7 months. I also have a daycare. Most of the babies I have watched started cherrios around 7-8 months. It usually depends on when the started eyeing my food. Just watch him at first, but most babies do just fine.

Good Luck

Hi M.,
You might want to consider Gerber Puffs - they dissolve in the mouth. I have a 20 month olds and I too was very cautious with giving him table food - he only had 2 top teeth for awhile. (I still cut things up into small bites just to be safe) However I have a friend whose son didn't have any teeth for quite awhile and her doc told her to start giving him table food because his gums were hard enough to do the work. I would check with your doc and see what he/she suggests is best for your son. :-)

Hi M.:

I started my guys on very small bites of mushy stuff, like liverwurst, soft cheese on saltines, they like to lick it off and then the cracker gets mushy, they eat some of it. No hotdogs, canned fruits or marshmellows. I did not do cereal until they were over a year, just the rice with banana's or apples. I did do newtons cut up in very small bites on their trays, as well as green beans cut up small on the tray.

I also started them on yogurt (no fruit) the yoplait thick and creamy has active cultures, which is good for tummies at 8 months, they loved it! I gave them the spoon to lick and they then became use to the purpose of the spoon. That stopped my daughter from putting things in her mouth, once she realized putting some yogurt on a spoon in her mouth was much better!

Anything you think they may choke on, just wait! There are so many other things out there for them. Trust me he will be eating you out of house and home in no time:-)

M.

Hello M., Try soaking the cherrios in formula or breast milk. If they are soft, they shouldn't be a problem for your child to "gum" them.

Hi M.---You might consider cutting some of the cooked, really soft vegetables to him in small chunks with the pureed. Another great food to put on his tray is puffed rice. It tends to stick to the fingers once they get a little 'wet' if he is not able to 'pick up' other foods just yet. The cheerios and puffed cereals are likely to dissolve before they cause a choking hazard. Another great food to give little ones when they start to feed themselves is a frozen mini bagel, especially when they are teething. It does make a bit of a mess as they gum up the bagel, but it really keeps them occupied for a time. I also used to give my kids frozen corn and peas to munch on while I was making dinner. It was a good way to get veggies in them while they were hungry. Good luck. In health, D.

I have a 7 month old boy too and we've started table food slowly. First I started with those Gerber puffs. I put a few on the high chair tray at every meal and let him play with them and learn how to pick them up. It took a while, but he now is a pro at eating them. It took a bit for him to learn to "chew" and swallow it. So far he's had the puffs, cheerios, diced pears, diced bananas and today for the first time scrambled egg yolk. If there is something we're eating for dinner that I think is ok for him to have he'll have a bit. He doesn't get much of this table food actually in his mouth and it makes a huge mess, but he's learning how to chew and swallow different textures.

I know people that have waited to introduce table foods and their kids have issues with different textures and it takes forever for them to learn to eat different things at that point.

I make sure I stay right by his side and make sure he doesn't put too much in his mouth at one time. He has gaged a few times, but he has not choked. I think he's doing great. He still gets the pureed stuff for his main solid meals, the table food is just practice for now.

Good luck!

hey M.
yes your baby is ready for somethings like tost cherrio's bananas avoid anything like hot dogs raw carrots (grapes unless you cut in 4 ) well good luck they are so much fun at that age

Funny you should ask. My baby girl is 6.5 months old and I've been receiving the same advice from friends and family. I just went to her pediatrician yesterday and he gave the "all clear". I was hesitant at first too because she doesn't have any teeth either. Her doctor suggested Gerber rice puffs (they come in different flavors) because they dissolve really fast and also Gerber makes these little tiny dehydrated fruit puffs - they dissolve super fast too. I haven't tried either of these yet as I just got the go ahead yesterday and haven't been to the store yet. I plan on trying them out maybe today or tomorrow. I personally would try Cheerio's until they have at least one or two teeth, but if you do, my doctor said to make sure you cut them in half so they are easier to dissolve and gum.

Good luck :)
J.