Advice on Getting 13 Month Old off Baby Food

Hello. I am a SAHM of 3 daughters all of whom had different eating habits. The third child is now 21 months old, and I still give her stage 2 baby food. That is not her sole means of food/nutrition, but I feel comfortable letting her eat as little as she wants off of mine/her sisters/her dad's/or her own plate once she has eaten a serving of chicken with vegetables and/or fruits. We went out of town for Thanksgiving, and I didn't bring any baby food with us, and she just didn't eat what I felt was an adequate amout of healthy food. I know she will not be eating baby food for ever, but until she eats more of the solid foods on her own (and, yes, she is progressing in that direction albeit slowly), I will still make sure she gets what she needs from the jar foods. All kids have their own timetables for doing things, and I am not in a hurry to get to any next steps that she is not ready for.

At 1 year, babies should still be getting around 25% of their nutrition from milk. You could check with your Ped if having a set # of ounces would make you feel better, but keep in mind those of us who breastfeed toddlers have no clue how many ounces they get - they just take what they need and stop when they're done. It's not really natural to measure how much they eat. Not that I'm saying measuring is wrong - just not always necessary. I have a 14 month old and I've always fed her table foods since 6 months old and I have no clue how much of it she eats. I give her some of everything (unless we ahve somethign on the "foods to avoid" list) and let her eat what she wants.

Some babies do develop a preference for textures and nutritionally, it is fine to continue on whatever she is comfortable with. If she's happy to eat meats and veggies from your plate, then I would continue with that too. Keep fixing the foods that you notice she will eat from your plate.

You might notice her slimming down a lot too, maybe staying at the same weight or even losing a little at this age. That's common with toddlers, especially when they learn to walk fast or run. If she looks and acts healthy, she probably is.

Hello. My son is 8 months (much younger than your daughter) but he has already started trying to eat what ever I am eating. Instead of trying to make him his own food (like mashed potatoes or noodles) I just made him a small dish of what ever we are having and put it next to my plate. You could try this with your daughter. Also, instead of offering baby food maybe you could mix a fruit with apple sauce and see if she takes it. If she does you could then try to mix fruit with yogurt and see if she will take that. These are great subs for baby food and then when you eat just make her the small dish of what you are having. I would also make sure that she is getting enough juice. Milk is great for her and when her body wants it she will let you know, but make sure she stays hydrated.

Hope this helps.

Maybe she doesn't like baby food? My daughter more or less skipped baby food. We gave her whatever we were eating, and she ate well. Like E., I was never much of a measurer -- I breastfed until she was about 15 months old, and she at as much food as she wanted. She has always been healthy, active and average weight. My advice would be not to sweat it!

J.