My daughter is 9 months old, and she eats solid food 3 times a day- breakfast around 8:30, lunch around 12:30, and dinner sometime between 6:00 and 7:00. I am still breastfeeding as well, and it is all going very well. My husband and I, however, are very active people and are on the go and out and about quite a bit. Our daughter is great about it. She loves going to new places and being out and about seeing new things and taking it all in.
My question is- what should I do about feeding solids when we're out and about, whether it's out shopping, at a baseball game, or at a restaraunt, when she needs to eat? I make most of my own baby food, and it cand be hard to defrost frozen cubes (or keep them frozen until needed). I've tried taking along boughten jar baby food, but she doesn't do well with it if its not heated up a bit (and there aren't microwaves everywhere). Finally, I try to find things or bring other things that she can eat (cheerios, puffs, noodles from soup, mashed potatoes and then like from restaraunts or other places), but this doesn't always work either.
If any body has suggestions about feeding solids for a family on the go I would greatly appreciate it.
One thing that I did when my son was that age, he was the same way, only wanting his food warmed. i would get his food really hot, then wrap it in paper towels to insulate it. Then by the time he ate it, it had cooled off but was still warm enough that he enjoyed it.
Hello L., the best advice I could give is bear with it. I know you've had several responses about trying to please your daughter, which is great, but every child is different. She will eventually eat whatever you place in front of her as long as she sees you doing the same. My husband and I are very lucky that our daughters eat everything...broccoli, fish, rice, even thai food. But you know what, it is soooo hard taking them out to dinner. They are very energetic & frequently can't sit for too long. But as they get older, it is easier. Do what is best for your daughter. My first daughter breast fed for 6mths & would take a bottle with breast milk from anyone. However, my second daughter breast fed for 14mths & wouldn't take a bottle from anyone. It's so hard being a mom, but you will figure it out. I wish I could be more helpful, but honestly what works for one child may not work for another. Good luck & God bless, D. Schnuelle
L.-
We have a cooler that plugs into the car that is either hot OR cold. That might be good for you. When you are at the baseball game you can put things in that and when you are geady to heat them upi just flip the switch and it will get warm. I think that if you are planning on going somewhere that there is a microwave just make sure that the food is cool and not frozen. Even if you are at the mall they will be happy to heat something up for you!
the thing that worked for me was the bottle warmer that you can plug into the cigarette lighter. it takes a little while though, so be sure to plug it in about 15-20 minutes before she will be ready to eat. we got ours at wal-mart
I think giving her finger foods is the best thing for her. It's always hard when first starting out. Slowly get her use to unmicrowaved food. It shouldn't take her long to get use to that.
Good Luck!!!
Hi L., I have a 4 month old and he eats solids to just started not to long ago and I want to keep him on a schedule also so he eats solids 3 times day Im not always home either what has been working for me is to take them along. He is on the 1st foods so they are in a plastic container and just room temp is all and he will eat them he loves green beans! He will eat them also a little warm to but only if were home can I do that to so maybe take your food out of the freezer when your ready to go or before so it wont be frozen and that should be ok. Just try room temp for everything and see how that goes. Other things for her to eat are good to but if you want her to eat the baby foods more often then just take it out and thaw it before going and see if that will work. If I take his food out of the frige before leaving then by the time we stop to eat somewhere it isnt really to cold anymore. Hope this will work for you! L.
How about foods that don't really need heating like avocado and bananas? You can just mush them up as needed. And they come in handy prepackaging! :)
I have seen in the stores bottle warmers for the car. They have the adapter for the cigarette outlet. Most of them work for the jars too. Something else too, I don't know what kinds of foods your daughter eats when she is at home, but my nefew loves the Gerber Graduates foods. If nothing else it is worth a try. Try looking at Target for the bottle warmer.
i let our baby eat whatever we eat when we are out and about. Yes it is not the most healthiest for her, however she loves eating the same stuff as the rest of us, so I feel as long as she still gets her bottle its ok.
My kids ate table food at 9 months.... well, I guess I should say that they gummed table food. French fries are a great staple when you're out. They are soft inside and crunchy outside for teething. Also, you can bring jar food with you along with plastic spoons from The First Years so you can just throw everything out when you're done. Another good thing is Yo Baby organic yogurt. Just get a small cooler and you can bring that.
Good luck!
You should invest in a baby food grinder. They have them at once upon a child and probably other places as well. You can just put in a plastic baggie and go! Now you can share whatever you are eating with her! It worked well for us.
most resturants that I have asked were very williing to bring me some hot water to warm it in or put it in their microwave. You just have to ask. I have notices that most of them have no clue how long to put it in for so check it and stir well after they have heated it up for you. I have ask at a varity of places from high end resturants to fast food places, I never had any problems. The resturants microwaves tend to be much more powerful than our ones in the home so if you tell them how long to put it in for cut you normal time in half at least.
my children where the same way , at first.. then i slowly weaned them off of needing them heated up. and made sure i took with me what i knew they would eat. and it's always good to keep trying the foods that they might have not liked so much the first time. keep trying them..like the mashed potatoes,,all those outing are such great opportunities to have them try new things. i can't recall the exact number,, but i've read it can take a child trying something new,,,,something like a dozen times before they might like it..strange..lol so keep trying.
i found that i was limiting my kids on what i THOUGHT they could only eat.. then i'd see my mother in law or husband feed them something i thought they weren't ready for and sure enough,,,they did fine with it..lol lol.. as long as the pieces are small enough..
I also have a 9 mo old breastfed baby girl. She is the same way with her jarred food needing to be heated. I have found that I have to adjust what I feed her. I know she'll eat her fruits unheated and and she has been doing ok with sweet potatoes and squash cold. She refuses to eat any green veggies cold. I can't blame her though! Basically I take what I know she'll eat cold and make sure I make up for it when we are home!
Not sure if she is old enough, but if not, she will be pretty soon- but since I also feed mine what I cook or make, and stay away from processed foods- especially when out of the house (almost 2 yrs old, they've still had NO french fries! YEA!)
But what worked for me was to keep bananas in the diaper bag- even if not old enough to chew them herself, you can open one and mash it with a fork almost anywhere.
Also, greenbeans from a can (rinsed and put in a small container with a lid)makes for great finger food out on the go! I do the canned because they are softer (also like .50 cents a can!) then rinse them just in case of whatever they might have been canned in. We would even take these to McD's playland so they would have something to eat (once they were walking, about 12 months or so.).
Another suggestion is to ask friends for baby food jars- empty of course, and fill them up with your own baby food to take out with you. Just be mindful that they are not "sealed" and still need to be watched for temp control.
Note that heating up baby food is one thing, mine liked it that way too, but that greenbeans, etc at room temp they always like just fine.
Sliced peached/pears- whether home or jarred/canned (make sure they are not in syrup and not with added sugar or artificail sweeteners- they can be found like that at any grocery store, but ya have to look)- then other fruits if she is good with those.
I probably have many other suggestions if I think about it- let me now if you want more!
