Food for a 1 Year Old!

My daughter is still on a bottle at almost 13 months, but she uses a sippy cup regularly for water with meals.

We often give her what we eat, minus the trigger foods like peanut butter. I just cut it up and put it on her plate and see what she does. She'll eat with her fingers, mostly, but has also started trying out a toddler spoon and fork.

She also LOVES fruit, and I will cut up blueberries, grapes, banana, peaches, pears, etc. for her.

Pasta is another good finger food, either with or without sauce. My daughter will also eat toast, chunks of cheese, crackers, Cheerios, triscuits, and waffle-type breakfast foods.

Hope that helps.

We did soft finger foods, like toast sticks, pancakes, grilled cheese, pasta, chicken, pizza, bananas, canned pears, etc. He was really good at gumming everything down. I was shocked one day to find him with a chicken nugget he had taken from my 4 year olds plate and he had really managed to eat most of it.

I don't mean to be negative, but - I have to say this. French fries and cereal is a great way to start your baby on the road to bad eating habits. The average cereal today has more sugar than a Slurpee or a milk shake, waaaaay more than a toddler should have. If he wants to eat himself, that's great...just leave him in a diaper and let him create a mess, as long as he eats, that is ok. At 1 year old the best thing to do is to let him eat everything the adults eat. This will make for a much less picky eater as he gets older. Of course if what you eat is not healthy enough for a baby, that is a different issue. Here are some fun things that you can make for both you and baby (sorry, this list does not contain easy processed food). A lot of it you can make in batches to last a few days:
- Banana nut bread (unless you have nut allergies)
- Cucumber, tomato, and avocado salad
- Pumpkin soup with croutons (just dried bread, you can make your own to avoid the over-seasoned store bought ones). WARNING: a one year old with soup might get messy!
- Apple and banana slices
- Baked chicken and potatoes
- Crepes with any fruit or veggie filling
- Cooked whole carrots (easy to grasp and nice and soft)
If you have a toaster oven:
- Bread, tomato, and cheese toasted
- Any whole grain crackers topped with you choice of topping, toasted to have as a snack...

Lots of good advice already posted - with my son you have to give him a new food for about 4 days before he decides he likes it, so the best advice I've read is to keep offering foods. Have you tried shaved deli turkey? That seems to be a great finger food. Also, the baby puffs (I use Happy
Baby organic but I think Gerber makes them too) and the Mum Mum.s Mum Mums have sugar but that is how I got my little guy to start self feeding. My mom calls the puffs 'baby potato chips' because he is addicted, but tney are OK for a snack and easy to eat because they dissolve in their mouth and are easy to grip. Good luck!

Some kids take to food later than otehrs. My oldest loved solids at 6 months. My second didn't open her mouth for me until she was almost 9 months.

I would n't worry about the food versus the bottle. Just transisiton to the sippy and offer solids. He will eat what he needs to.

My kids always prefered fruit, grains, and dairy. The majority of their diets at their age was some sort of fruit puree (usually apples or bananas), dry cereal or crackers, and plain yogurt or cottage cheese. I snuck in other foods but that was most of it.

Also, don't hesitate to give your son a spoon. They can feed themselves pretty early. Yes it can be messy, but it's supposed to be. Or give him a spoon while you feed him wiht one too.

I wouldn't worry too much. Just offer food and let him eat what he will. I always made my own purees because it was easier and cheaper. Just mash or puree parts of your normal meal (don't season first) or give or cook his stuff until it's extra soft (such as steam his carrots longer). That way, you aren't opening a wasting a jar if he doesn't want it. Give him bread to dip in purees too. And try mashed or diced avacado (alone or mixed with fruit or veggies) - babies love it and it is really good source of fat/protein for them. My kids loved avacado and bananaas or avacado and sweet potato.

Stay with the bottle for awhile longer. When the child is hungry he will eat. Children eat more when they are having a growth spurt. Some children eat more than others. As long as the child is healthy don't worry about how much he eats. Just provide quality foods like cut up fresh fruit and whole grain cereal and vegetables. Take it slow. He is at the age where he will probably start eating more. AF

I agree with the finger foods suggestion. I found some great recipes here when my daughter was going through this stage: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/babyfingerfood.htm

Hi L.. I remember hearing once the idea of mixing baby foods in the blender with milk (either yours or cows milk), to get it thin enough to put into a bottle or sippy cup. If your son takes some food that way, he may get used to the flavors. Then it's a matter of slowly thickening it to regular consistency. You could also try a cup and straw. This also works with the baby cereal. I mixed the cereal with more milk and a little baby food or apple sauce, then let my son drink it. Once he's ok with mushy food, other finger foods include steamed or boiled peas and pea sized pieces of almost any veggie or fruit. Good luck.

One of my twin sons is going through the same thing. At 8 months he started eating solid food - now I have to chase him with food. He wants to feed himself so I try to accomodate by giving him finger foods. He loves chicken, fish, pasta, toast, waffles and pancakes. He also likes corn (he eats one kernel at a time), crushed grapes and sliced steamed carrots. I can't get him to sit still in his high chair so I usually put his food in a non-slip bowl on a low table and let him get his food when he wants it.
BTW, there is nothing wrong with french fries or cereal - you just have to make it the healthy way. I also question the wisdom in giving melted cheese to an infant. I would also be interested in knowing how pumpkin soup qualifies as finger food.

hello , after hearing all the other mothers of small ones talking about how to get a one year old to eat, i had to put my two cents in.. when my sister was one, she decided she was a big girl and was going to feed herself.. after having to put the dog on a diet.. twice. i got wise and started her off on finger foods like carrot sticks with peanut butter and cheerios and french fries , anything she could get her little hand around..she would eat and try to share with the dog, say what you will about french fries but if the child will eat nothing but french fries for a snack and maybe a fish stick or two, then french fries it is. melted cheese and a small child spells nirvana
for your dog and a great big mess for you.. have you tried
giving the child a pickle or tiny sauages? and what about
apple slices or peach slices ?
K. H.

I'd also put in a vote for the Super Baby Food book.
In addition, I'd avoid the fried foods, especially this early. He will eat when he needs the food. Explore all the fruits and veggies. Go to a health food store and look at the variety, and also offer some organic produce. Maybe he doesn't like the texture of the baby food. When my son was little I chewed the food a little first and then gave it to him. The enzymes helped to break down the food a little more for him. You might want to get a hand grinder and leave bigger chunks. Also try mixing the food with breastmilk.
L. M

Hi L.,

Get yourself a copy of the Super Baby Food book, the cover is mostly purple, its GREAT and has tons of good ideas of what works and what is best for babes. Some ideas to get you started are: avocados, oatmeal, brown rice.

Good luck, S.

My 13 month old son loves pancakes and waffles. you can put fruit or bananas in the pancakes or plain is just fine. Pasta with sauce is a good one too. He will always eat pasta even when he turns away other food.

Oh this is a good one. You can get creative with babyfood! When my little one was 1, I used to make different variaties and let him eat with his hands. He didn't like eating with a spoon, he has to do it 'himself'. We had to give him super praise whenever he ate bites of food, and when he saw how excited we got when he ate, he ate more. Babies can be picky, and some jarred baby food tastes really awful! Make some grilled cheese, or and try other easy finger food that is soft, like cheese, yogurt, fruit, even raviolis. I used to take a small serving of whatever we were eating, and just whirl it around in the food processor to break it down so that my sons could eat it easily. This worked great, because now they are not really picky eaters, and they both eat what we eat.
If he is still having difficulties, or not gaining weight as he should, I would give him a can of Pediasure, just once per day, so that he can get the nutrients via a bottle.
Best of luck!
J.

My son never ate baby food - he just ate whatever we were having for dinner. Don't worry about whether he will take "baby food". I would recommend sitting him at the table with you all, cutting somethings up on your plate really tiny, and offering him tidbits on his tray every now and then. It will be vastly more interesting if it is what mommy and daddy eat. I assume he is eating cheerios and such?

Many babies have texture issues - some don't like anything firm, mine didn't like anything soft (like baby food). Just keep trying different textures. My son especially likes watermelon and other melons. by one he was shoveling peas with his fingers, bits of chicken etc.

I would recommend the small frozen bag of mixed vegetables (you can buy organic). It has corn, peas, carrots, and green beans. The grean beans will have to be cut in half, but for the most part, they are the perfect size, cook in minutes, and are colorful and easy to pick up. Undercooking them keeps them sweeter, and they will naturally be a little softer because they have been frozen.

My second son had no interest in baby food at 6 mo, 9,10 mo, etc. Finally at a year I just starting feeding him whatever I was eating (in small pieces). Turns out he loves roast beef, and beans, and most especially chilli.
He never did take to the baby food and still won't eat bananas, carrots in any form.

He loves veggie bootie, freeze dried fruits, yogurt, sandwhich meat of any kind, pasta, italian wedding soup (no broth just the noodles, meatballs, etc that he can pick up himself). He likes fruit bars (of the Nutri grain kind).
Ravoli and pizza are gobbled up too.

In short, try feeding him what you are eating, you may be surprised (feed him at regular meal times, and bottles after eating so is is really hungry at meal times).

The other thing is now that he is on food, I have to feed him every couple of hours- his tummy won't hold enough food to go much longer (or he can't pay attention long enough to eat enough).

Good luck,

Hi - My 1 yr old is being very picky with her food selections and also wants to be self-feeding. Like many moms here mentioned, I give her finger foods. Her favorites are dry cereal, cut up cheese cubes, crackers, pancakes, blueberries, diced bananas, slices apples, etc. She loves to feed herself mash potatoes (it sticks to the spoon so does fall off easily). She also loves meatloaf (I cut it up for her to self feed)and short pastas. I buy bags of frozen diced veggies and steam it for her to self feed to. Good Luck & God Bless!

I did a lot of homemade soups, stews, and rice casseroles with my daughter. she could pick up the bits of veggies and meat (all cut up smaller for her) and the food was packed full of nutrients. I could freeze them in smaller bowls, then get one out for her and warm it up if she wouldn't eat whatever we were having that night. Good luck!

Mine loved sausage, chicken chunks, pasta, cheerios, etc.

She became very assertive about self-feeding even though she wasn't good at it.

Anyway, at 1 year, your child should be on table foods. No need for baby food.

anything you eat except peanuts and honey. just mash it up. mashed potatoes, mooshed pees... they have baby food out there for babies that is nice and soft. if anything go look at what they have to offer so you can make it at home ...i think they are called little entres next to the baby formula. they look like tv dinners but smaller.