Bored to Tears with Food Options for My 10 Month Old

My 11 month old sounds very similar. Besides what you've been offering, I've also been giving my little one the following: frozen diced squash, cauliflower and sweet potato, frozen peas, avocado, sliced blueberries, raspberries, mandarins, boiled zucinni and carrots, tofu, granola bars, smoothies and toast. Good luck!!

Have you tried black beans? They're pretty easy, you can pop open a can and rinse them off and they're soft enough for them to eat. Good luck!
A.

Do worry kids get use to the foods.I would say that you can try almost anything if it is cut fine.There are some hot dog like meat sticks with the baby food.My kids love them.Carrots are 1 of the most chokable foods.Try french fries.When we would travel I would that the ends of then give them the middle.I even gave the a baby spoon they have some that are soft.Lay down a mat if you have carpet and give them a bowl of spagetti's and let them go.
someone said jello that made me think of making jello jigglers

I have a petite daughter who has always been in the 5-25%, so we're careful to make sure her foods are calorie, fat, or nutrient packed. Here's the list of foods she was eating at 10 months. At that point, I didn't wait the 3-7 days between new foods (for better or for worse) because we just needed to feed her!

avocado
banana
applesauce
pears
peach
pineapple
blueberries
watermelon
cantaloupe
peas
cauliflower
broccoli
zucchini
asparagus
beans (green, black, kidney, etc.)
pasta (plain)
brown rice
salmon (or other fish)
hamburger
chicken
pork loin
roast beef
potatoes (white and sweet)
hummus (spread on tortilla or whole wheat bread)
cream cheese (spread on tortilla, whole wheat bread or waffle)
refried beans (spread on tortilla)
baby yogurt
cheese (cheddar, swiss, jack, havarti, gouda, etc)
mini pancakes

Basically, she eats whatever we were eating (with the exception of forbidden foods - citrus, berries, tomatoes, egg whites - and I fill in whatever food group was missing. I keep a lot of frozen fruits and veggies on hand. Also, whenever we cook meat for dinner, we cook an extra portion for her. I cube it up, and put it in freezer bags in the freezer. We always have meat for her that way.

My ECFE teacher taught us that as parents, our job is to offer our children nutritious meals. The child's job is to choose what they eat. In other words - you can't control what they choose to eat, so try to not get upset, and be happy with what they DO eat!

Good luck!

When my son started eating solids he loved things like canned green beans and carrots (they are really soft and nutritious, just make sure you rinse them before he eats them to cut back on sodium content). Also things like mashed white/ sweet potatoes, or augratin potatoes. Rice and pastas where also a big hit you can also add some veggies to those. I used to cook the orzo pasta and add sauce to it.... he loved it! Also, we fed him things like applesauce,yogurt and scrabbled or hard boiled eggs (which he loved). Oh and those little meat sticks from gerber! Those are just some suggestions that I remember my son liking.

My daughter loved cottage cheese and mac n cheese when she was that age. I found an organic whole wheat mac at Cub called Annie's in the organic section. If you're in to healthier options, check out the organic section.

Cubed tofu is yummy, i like it with soy sauce. Also I remember my daughter liked gnawing on a big chunk of cold cucumber around that age.

my babies hated baby food. they hardly ever touched it.
once my kids have decided that they are ready for table food that's what they get. I give them what we are having. just cut up the portions into small enough bite sizes and everything should be fine. Then watch like a hawk so they don't shove a handful in their mouth and choke.
my babies love peas, carrots, small bits of meat and/or pasta from hotdish that we all were having for supper. they love well cooked broccoli. as long as it wasn't too crunchy for my baby (like taco shells or something hard like that) they did very well.

Ah yes, the food-dropping stage. You end up wondering if they will ever stop!! Rest assured she is doing exactly what she ought to be doing at this age by dropping food and seeming picky. Your daughter is enjoying her power.

My daughter still loves to devour this particular food which I accidentally stumbled upon one day when she was around your child's age...in the freezer section you can find Amy's organic whole wheat crust broccoli pot pie. We cook it in the microwave (turns out better than cooking it in the oven for some reason). It does not have all the added junk that regular pot pies have in them (including gmo's and preservatives), and best of all it is organic. This is a wonderful way to get your child loving broccoli, potato, and carrots. I totally recommend this pot pie.

My daughters liked eating fresh tomato slices, with a hint of sugar sprinkled on them. They also delighted in eating chunks of baked and seasoned tofu. You could probably give your baby sticky white mushy rice she could eat with her hands.

Even if she rejects food you give her now, she will eventually eat it--until then it is a constant, laborious task involving much mess and waste but believe me, keep introducing the foods like chicken chunks (not breaded, but the real thing) and fruit because she'll eventually eat it and it is worth it.

how many teeth does she have?

ive found that even with few to no teeth, babies can have small cut up pieces of just about anything! pineapple, apple, orange, grapes, blueberries, strawberries, melons, (my son ESPECIALLY loved watermelons) anything you eat, can be cut up into small enough pieces for baby to have! even carrots!

dont limit yourself to anything because either way, baby isnt nutritionally reliant on anything but breastmilk or formula up to one year of age. so dont worry that she needs anything yet, just give her a taste of anything and everything that you eat (with the exception, at this point, of dairy products - because of allergies, dairy is not recommended under one year of age or even longer... soy products is EXCELLENT for girls and since it is not dairy, can be given before one year of age)

recently i have learned of research that is discouraging the use of cow or other animal products at all (this is a bit off your topic, but interesting) our bodies do not need the amounts of calcium that they tell us we need, and besides, the proteins in animal milk and products actually turns to an acid during digestion and that is eating away our bones causing osteoperosis. www.thichinastudy.com is a book that was written with a HUGE study on diet and so called aging diseases. check it out if you are interested.

but yeah, anything you eat can be cut up small enough for baby!

Here are several ideas!...Don't know if your daughter (or you) will like them all but here goes-
peas, lentils, brown rice, quinoa, non-wheat noodles (like rice noodles), soft broccoli, unsalted rice cake (in small pieces), blueberry halves, watermelon cut up small, and banana slices.
Hope this helps!

Oven fried potatoes and/or sweet potatoes (toss chunks lightly with olive oil and bake for 30 minutes @ 400 degrees)

Avocado chunks

Kidney, butter, pinto or navy beans right out of the can - rinse and serve... you may be surprised at how much kids like beans...

Toast with sesame butter (tahini) or jelly

Noodles - Most kids like butter and salt. Noodles come in so many shapes and colors...

Frozen peas thawed or steamed fresh peas. Green beans well-cooked. Carrots - steamed to soft.

Frozen blueberries (serve them frozen - it makes their gums feel better) or fresh

Watermelon, cantaloupe, pears, apples, bananas, plums - skin removed

Scrambled eggs

Babies love fresh, colorful foods. Little things they can pick up that pack a lovely flavor or color will always do the trick. Stay away from cereals - they are unnecessarily fortified and are just filler. What's important is to stay away from serving the same foods every day so that she decides all she wants is one thing or another.

try the cookbook called "The Sneaky Chef" It gives good ideas on how to prepare healthy foods that kids love. Our son is 10 months and when we go out to eat I give him whatever we are eating (watch salt content, it's h*** o* the kidneys). At home, I feed him lots of cut up fresh fruits and canned (I rinse off the excess sugar), cheese sandwiches (cut up, of course), cooked carrots and frozen veggies. He also loves whole wheat quesedillas with cheese and avacado!

Avocado! Yum-yum! My daughter loves it! It's super good for you too!

I've mentioned this in a couple of other posts. My daughter (1 year) loves pizza and quesadillas. I will put tomoto sauce or spaghetti sauce on a pita bread and add cheese, bite sized pieces of meat (chicken, ham, beef, whatever I have leftover in the fridge), cooked veggies, pineapple, and even mushrooms and olives. Bake it 5 min or microwave it for 1 min, just until the cheese is melted. I cut it into small pieces, but my daughter also likes to "graze" on the top and eat the ingredients that she wants.
For quesadillas I just put cheese, bite sized pieces of chicken or beef and even black beans. I heat it in a frying pan (2-3 minutes on each side) until the cheese is melted. Then I cut it into small pieces. My daughter has even eaten a little mild salsa inside of them too.
Try mini ravioli too. They are just the right size for little hands!
It may take several introductions to a food before your daughter will eat it. I think our daughter tried pizza 5-6 times before she started devouring it!

My girls have both like noodles and veggies. I add a little butter to the noodles which makes them a bit tricky to catch but they both liked them and cooked carrots, green beans, broccoli, and peas went over well too:)

C., try a variety of things, mac and cheese, you mught have to cut them a bit smaller, jello, spahgetti, cut up, hot dogs cut up really small, they can choke her, hamburger patty, also cut up, try a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich cut up, just rule of thumb cut up everything, hard boiled eggs, egg salad sandwhich, peices of balogna, cut up, just have fun with it, and cut it up, hahahaha D. s

At 10mos you can slowly start feeding her just about everything your eating at meals just make sure it's chopped up small and not chokable.

Try canned fruits and vegetables. Soft noodles.
Any soft small pieces of meat. All most anything that you eat she can eat. Besides anything she could choke on or may be too spicy.

My daughter (15 months) has always LOVED avocado chunks (if you've never gotten one, buy when the skin gives way slightly to pressure, cut in half around the seed with knife, pop the seed out with a spoon and scoop out the fruit). Also, lunch meat-within moderation, shredded cheese or bits of a slice of American cheese. Macaroni and cheese, spaghetti-ohs, and rice dishes are also all good options. Keep in mind that until she hits that one-year mark, the majority of her nutrition and calories should come from formula or breastmilk. Once you hit the one-year mark, there are a lot more options for foods since the risk of allergies decreases. Good luck!

What about applesauce, pudding or even jello? My emerging eaters loved all three of those- then you can change the colors of jello, too, for a change of pace- or add small bits of fruit (peach, pear) for nutritional value and to expose them to something new??? Just a thought~

I haven't looked at what other advice you have received, but I went through the same thing a couple months ago with my 11-month old. Quite by accident, I found that she was more interested in combinations of foods than single-ingredient meals.
This is what I do: I make my own salt-free vegetable stock (just finished making a batch a couple hours ago) and then freeze it in ice cube trays, transferring it to a freezer bag when frozen. They last for several weeks and make cooking super easy!
When it is meal time, I just pop 1 or 2 stock-cubes into a pot, add a variety of vegetables (fresh or frozen ones I have already cooked), pre-cooked chicken, beans, or whatever I happen to have around. I then serve the mix by itself or over whole-wheat bread, pasta circles, cooked rice, or whatever grain we are eating that meal. I even mix in grated cheese at the last minute, letting it melt. I have found that my daughter will eat vegetables that she normally refuses on their own, and she usually won't eat plain cheese, so this works great for her.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions - I'd be happy to clarify :)

Hi, C..
I felt the same way with my twins. What about blueberry pancakes, whole grain pasta, frozen veggies (thawed or warmed up), quesadilla cut-up in little pieces?

feed her what you eat - just cut it up really small.

I agree with everything Becky said. By 10 months my boys were completely done with jarred baby food and eating all table food. It takes many, many times for a little one to try something so even though your daughter dropped her chicken on the floor keep trying it.

I am freaking out at what people are suggesting! Tuna?!? Spaghettios?!? Maybe it's just me, but the salt or mercury content of either of those scares me half to death! A ten-month old can eat a lot more than a six month old, but is not quite to the point where they should eat anything off of your table. It has nothing to do with their teeth and everything to do with their digestive systems. Talk to your doctor, he or she will know what foods you can jump to and if your child is healthy enough to digest some of those scary foods.

I highly suggest the wedges on a popsicle stick idea that someone had said, using the mesh baggie feeder for just about anything, or taking parts of what you currently eat and adapting it for your daughter's meal. For instance, you make a bagel for breakfast covered in butter and peanut butter with a glass of milk. Take part of that plain bagel and lightly toast it, and then use some of her baby food as jam before you slather yours. Tear it up into pieces and let her give it a try. My daughter enjoys the Hodge's Mill brand of buckwheat pancakes, plain bagels, and whole wheat toast with this same premise. Just remember, ask your doctor first!

My daughter loved all kinds of pasta. She would eat spaghetti as long as the noodles were cut really small. She also loved lasagna and raviolli. In order to get more veggies in her we did spinich lasagna. To my suprise she loved it. At the time I was working and in a hurry I would buy the smart ones frozen dinners so I wouldn't have to make a whole lasagna.

keep working with the chicken. Sometimes kids need to be exposed to the same food more than 10 times before they will choose the eat it.

Other suggestions: ground meats, tuna, beans, egg yoke (white has potential for allergy), canned or frozen veggies, pancakes, noodles (elbow is good size), tortillas, toast, rice, meat-loaf.

try cut up melon, such as cantelope, honeydew, watermelon. Also try blueberries. Our son loved them at that age & still does. try cooking sweet potatoes or regular potatoes till they are extra done & cut them up for your daughter. toast w/ some light butter cut up in small bites. keep your mind open to everything. even the things that you don't like try giving them to her. the more choices you give her the less picky they will be when they get older.

Have fun!

Give her what you are eating. By 10 months my boys were eating chopped up breakfast of pancakes, toast, applesauce, banana's (roll the banana pieces in crushed cheerio's so they are easier to pick up), other small fruits or cut up fruit, waffles (without syrup of course).

For lunch they liked quesadilla's (tortilla with cheese, micro until melted, fold in half and cut up into bits, crackers, cheese, cut up or shredded meats, grilled cheese cut up into bits, fruits cut up, veggies cut up.

For dinner I just gave them a plate of whatever we were eating, just made sure it was cut up small enough.

Also, give her a fork and spoon, that way she will learn how to use it and she'll be more interested in her food to eat. My boys both had a spoon since starting solids at 6 months, and by 10 mos they could both eat perfectly with a fork. And put her food on a plate, don't just toss it on her high chair tray. Teaching her 'manners' now like having food on a plate, eating with a fork, will ensure she keeps manners as she grows.

But she's big enough to eat all table foods, just give her waht yo uare eating, on a plate with a fork, and let her eat what she wants. She should still be getting a good amount of nutrition from breastfeeding still.

Also babies don't need teeth to eat... how often do you chew with your front teeth? Never, and most kids don't get molars until long after they have started solids. They use thier gums and saliva to mash food. No teeth required.

There are lots of great ideas below. My dr said to stay away from citrus, egg white, strawberries and nuts until after a year. We wait until 2-3 to try nuts/peanut butter. We did discover sunbutter, made from Sunflower seeds and yummy. My son eats it on crackers (I thin it with a little bit of natural applesauce) or toast in the morning. I've even put it on little cereal pieces. Avocados he loves too. Whole wheat pasta, broccoli, sweet potato,brown rice, barley, oatmeal, cooked apples, blueberries, .... when I make waffles or pancakes I made him his own without egg whites/only yolks. Remember, what you feed them now makes such a difference. Picky eaters are not born, they are made. Feed them what you eat within reason and dr guidelines. Do not make special meals unless you would like to do that forever. :) Good luck, have fun.

Pasta, Pasta, Pasta! Elbow macaroni, spiral and penne are small enough (and soft anyway). Try with different sauces and vegetable - For example: Schwanns makes a "Bowtie Pasta" that is tiny bow tie noodles with corn, carrot matchsticks, red bell pepper pieces & peas. Its frozen and you just boil it for 5 minutes. It has no sauce, so I usually added some shredded cheese pieces. But you could make your own. After she get's the hang of picking it up, you can try a little red sauce (it does make it more slippery) for added nutrition. You can also slip tiny chicken pieces into the mix. The variations are endless. Easy to make your own version - if you don't have time, find a friend who the Schwanns man visits. :-)

At times when you cannot feed her what you are eating, I use low salt soups, drain off the juice, rinse if still too salty. It is ready to serve right out of the can, slow cooked and soft. Be careful of the "White" flours they are addictive. Also crusts of bread are great for teething.

If you are worried about choking like I was.. I was actually a bit of a freak about it in hindsite! I used this little net chewer thing I got at Target. They have it at babies r us too. It is shaped sort of like a pacifier and has a little net pouch on it. You cut up different types of food and put it in and the baby goes to town chewing the daylites out of it. Pretty much all that is left is a bit of pulp. It is a bit messy, but no choking hazard! I used to put watermelon, cantalope, apples, bananas (those were sooo messy though) strawberries, carrots, sweet potato.. you get the idea.. I even tried chicken and steak in it. She actually preferred the steak! haha Good luck.

There is a loooong list of finger foods in FEED ME I'M YOURS.

My daughter would not let a spoon in her mouth starting around 6 months so it was a list of interest to me.

Also my kids ate off of wooden popsicle sticks (everything from apple slices to pieces of cheese) for what seemed like, years!

V. L