14 Month Old Eating Habits & Sleeping

Hi A.S,
Regarding your first question, have you tried just going "cold turkey" for 2 or 3 days on the Gerber? I have yet to hear of any harm coming to a child when they didn't get what they wanted for a day or two. He will, eventually, start eating table foods you have chosen for him if you just calmly refrain from offering the "goods." (How else do you think so many toddlers/children out there are chicken-nugget-only eaters?)
Good luck!
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He should absolutly be ready for table food. I would start by taking what ever you are eating and put it in the blender. Gradually blend it less so it is more chunky. You may want to start with foods such as mashed potatoes, oatmeal etc that you don't have to blend. If you stop giving him the jar food, he will eat. Babies won't starve themselves.

Toddler bed ..... a lit bit harder. With a crib he can not escape and get into trouble in the middle of the night! Once he is in a toddler bed, he has more freedom. I kept my kids in their crib until almost 2 (until they started to climb out).

Girl keep in that crib for as long as you can! :())
I had twin girls that I had no choice but to transition from crib to toddler beds at 18 months and the only reason I did was because they were little escape artist. If he isn't escaping then I would keep him where he is at. Otherwise he could potentially get hurt and one of mine did and the reason why we converted so soon. A cousin of mine her daughter was escaping and ended up falling and hitting her tooth which got pushed back into her gums when she fell so it is VERY dangerous and I would urge you to convert as soon as you see this type behavior. Luckily mine just got her leg caught in between the crib and the wall one night. It scared her enough not to do it again the rest of the night but as soon as morning came along we converted both of their cribs to toddler beds.

My 14 month old still eats a significant amount of "baby food" as well. Don't worry about it too much. When toddlers get sick or get more teeth (those molars hurt! ouch!), you will find that it's not unusual at all for moms to have to pull out the baby foods again. Is your son not interested in what you are eating? When we eat meals (dinner, always as a family, no TV, all seated at the table, he in his highchair), after about 11 months, we always offered our son "big people" food (cut into appropriate pieces) first. After he had eaten some of that, but was beginning to get bored with it (as in, starts playing with it moreso than eating it), we would "finish up" with some baby food puree. Our son, like I said also 14 months today, now eats roughly 2/3 "real people" food. The reason I felt compelled to answer your question is that most of my friends' babies (I know, I know-- don't compare! No really, DON'T-- it's useless!) were eating freakin' sandwiches and whole green beans months before this! Well, suffice to say my son is not a picky eater (likes brocolli florets and asparagus tips, even), but he is just not the chewer that their kids were early on. Another interesting tip to try-- our son is the greatest eater when we go out to eat. He will try anything, and wants to eat what everyone else has, without question. Try taking him out foer Mexican and see how he does with beans, avocado, and bell pepper.

As for question #2, the notion to convert my son's bed has not even crossed my mind yet. Keep him in the crib-- so much better to be safe than sorry. My son goes to a preschool program two 1/2 days a week, and when he's there he naps on a little cot (it's literally two inches off the ground), so if you want to get him used to something without sides, this might be another route to go.

Good luck!

On the bed, most people convert when the child is around two, but if you think he is ready you can always try. The earliest I did was 19 months with one of my four and it was a harder transition. The others all did it close to 2 and it was very easy.

For food, each child is different in what they will eat. As long as the food is healthy, I wouldn't worry. He will want what you are eating soon enough; he won't go to school with jars of baby food, I promise!

For Question # 1. Try making the foods you are eating and put them in the blender. and then try getting him to eat bites. There is a different taste to the jar foods. Or save a few jars, clean them out. Put the food you want him to eat in there and feed it to him that way. ?

For Question #2 when you think he is ready, you can make the transition. I know people who transitioned at that age. And my son is 21 months and he is still in the crib.

Hi mommy! Food is the bane of every mommy's existance isn't it? My daughter was the opposite - would never eat purees and skipped straight to finger foods and whatever we ate at 10 months old. My advice is to slowly integrate new textures. For example - cook up a batch of lentils or some barley. Add in his favorite jar foods and over the course of a week slowly reduce the amount of jar food and increase the amount of lentils or barley until you are at a 60/40 blend. Another idea is to cook up a soft boiled (5 minute) egg. Add this to oatmeal or rice. Start simple like this and see how he responds. Most of all - don't stress about mealtime. I have learned that this only compounds whatever issue you are dealing with. Just keep offering him new finger foods at each meal (cheerios, cooked black beans or pinto beans, small pieces of cheese, small bits of graham crackers, etc...) in addition to whatever "puree" you are offering and if he goes for them, great! If not - just move along to what he will eat and try again the next time. I have a friend whose son just wasn't ready for big kid foods until 18 months. No big deal. When he did eat them he went gung ho!

The bed - When I was a baby, I hated being in a crib and my parents put me in a toddler bed at 13 months old. You know your son and only you can tell if he is mature enough to transition to a toddler style bed. Be sure it has a gaurd rail and maybe think about putting a little "padding" on the floor just in case he does get out. My 14 month old sleeps in our bed (never liked the crib) and gets in and out just fine. Make sure you teach him how to back down out of his bed if he doesn't already understand that concept. Worst case - you reconvert the bed to a crib!

Good luck! Go with your gut! It is always right!