Meals for a One-Year Old

Honestly, I made the mistake of "special meals" for my first. I didn't do that for the second, he simply ate what we ate for dinner, the main dish and side dishes. It's fine at a year to have some seasonings or simple sauces. Don't limit her to bland tastes.

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Honestly, I made the mistake of "special meals" for my first. I didn't do that for the second, he simply ate what we ate for dinner, the main dish and side dishes. It's fine at a year to have some seasonings or simple sauces. Don't limit her to bland tastes.

We have a cookbook called First Meals by Annabelle Karmel. It has a ton of great recipies that we all love. Our daughter ped is very picky about what foods to give when and I checked with them a lot in the beginning, but now we give her pertty much everything but nuts.

The cookbook is great because there are a lot of fresh things, but you can make some ahead of time and freeze. For the most part the stuff is quick and it's even broken down by age groups of the kids and has sample menus.

Just give her a plate of what you are eating. If its good enough for you its good enough for her. If you question what you are eating isn't good enough for her, then start changing your food habits too to be more healthy.

She only needs a few small bits of whatever you are eating, 10 bits of chopped up chicken, a few chopped up noodles, a few peas, or corn, or choped up cooked carrots. Mixed veggies are great for this age group, small and soft, but easy for her to pick up. Give her a small toddler fork and spoon too so she learns proper table manners early on.

My boys were eating table foods by 9mos old. We never used jarred baby foods, the boys ate homemade baby foods.

Just give her small bits of what you are eating. She will enjoy it.

My daughter loves roasted chicken and chicken off the grill. I do not put salt, but a sprinkle of garlic or a garlic rub, but not too much.

If you are making sweet potatoes, make one for her, boil it until soft and just use a hand mixer or blender and whip them (no need to add anything but some water to smooth it out) You can use some of the baby food jars to store it in the fridge, not the freezer.
Same for white potatoes too.

You can make a super stew that my Grandmother-in-law showed me and Alice LOVES it.

1 white potato
Winter squash
-Buy one of the sections of winter squash from the super market
peeled carrots
green beans or asparagus (peeled)
spinach - not too much

cut the potato, squash and carrots small so it can boil and soften quickly
towards the end, add the green beans and spianch

drain, put in blender. You can add meat if you like when you blend it. This is a good base.

also, check wholesomebabyfood.com great website

Most of what you cook should be fine for your daughter... I would pass on the fish for now & not give her honey or peanut butter either, but everything else sounds good. But make sure you cut things up really small for her - about pea size or smaller.

Other ideas would be homemade soups/stews (beef, veg, chicken noodle or whatever kind you like), pot roast w/ veg, chicken pot pie, pastas (any flavor - including spagettii), stir-fry w/ rice, breakfast for dinner (pancakes w/ sausage, eggs & bacon or sausage gravy w/ biscuts & potatoes), fresh fruits, baked apple slices, apple sause, plus you can give her puddlings or jello for deserts or treats.

I know salt & sugar is an issue w/ a lot of people (it's even all over the news), but I do use both of them to "spice" up foods when I'm cooking. As long as you use it w/ respect I don't think you will have any issues with your daughters health if you use them. I do have to admit, that before we had kids our eating habits were a bit different... we do eat more balanced meals now then before we had our 6 yr old. We now have 3 kids (2 1/2, 4 1/2 & 6) at home w/ one on the way. We try to have a meat, starch (potatoe, noodle or rice), veg & a fruit w/ dinner, plus the kids & I drink milk w/ dinner.

By starting your daughter eating healthy this young & introducing her to multiple foods, you should have less issues with eating habits later in her life. My kids are good eaters & have very few things the dislike. We do have them continue to try the things the dislike to get seconds of the things they like, but I understand everyone had different taste buds & that they can change w/ time - which is why I have them keep trying stuff & don't get upset if they say they don't like something.

Have fun w/ the food - sometimes you can find things you didn't know you would like... the net can be a huge help for new ideas. As for the chicken, marinade shouldn't hurt you daughter, but you can also bake it with a little water or chicken broth (kinds like you would a turkey) & make garvy for your potatoes, or bake it w/ a little bbq sauce (my kids love it that way).

We asked the pediatrician at our daughter's 1 year well baby visit a year ago. She is our second child, and we wanted to reaffirm what we'd learned from him 2 years earlier.

In 2 short years, the American Academy of Pediatrics completely changed their position on food and when to introduce them to children.

The only precautions you need to take in terms of what kind of items to give her are those that pose choking hazards (such as peanuts, raisins, etc) and those that are a known family food allergy.

Otherwise, they can have anything you're preparing for yourself, and it sounds like you try to do a good job of making it relatively healthy. Our kids loved fresh fruits at that age. We'd give apple slices for them to gnaw on, grapes, blueberries, plums, etc.

Frozen vegetables are a good alternative to fresh as they have to be cooked and are often very soft enough for kids learning to eat.

Things like tacos that are messy and hard for them to hold, we'd just skip the shell/tortilla and give them the meat, cheese, tomato, lettuce mixed up a little bit. Quesadillas were a little easier.

The only thing I always make sure of is that, if the whole meal isn't healthy, they at least have fruits or veggies on their plate.

Here's what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends as a sample menu for a 1 year old:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/f...

Idiots Guide to Feeding Your Baby and Toddler
Baby and Toddler Meals for Dummies

Two books every mom should have, mine are well used.

BeckyW is on the same page I am. We always gave our daughter the 'naked' or pureed versions of what we were eating. She therefore became a phenomenal eater. I also felt in general that if she couldn't eat it, I shouldn't have really been eating it either. If you don't present condiments, she won't look for them. We tended to eat a lot of the softer foods (avocado, sweet potato, etc) bc it made it easier for me. In general, except for difficult-to-chew foods like lettuce and foods with nuts, we shared everything: fish, chicken, rice, beans, carrots, asparagus (not such a hit, lol), etc, etc. Even now, she tries ANYTHING. She might not enjoy it, but she always tries.

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PS-I was (and am) not a fancy chef myself, but I experimented with seasonings (try turmeric and cumin) with great success. Don't withold seasonings. In general, kids enjoy them (and their health benefits).

Hi there,
I am not sure what ideas people gave, but I am sure you got a lot of advice. However, you can give your baby fish... just not shelfish, swordfish or tilefish as they are high in Mercury. We make a lot of salmon and talapia and my daughter has loved both since an early age. Also, you might want to try fish sticks, there are some healthier versions, and they are an easy alternative to nights you might order out. Other than that, just give her what you are eating (might want to try some healthier versions of some things)... everything in moderation and lots of variety. Good Luck!

Two ideas for you: A great first food is tofu. I know it sounds weird, but it is inexpensive, a terrific protein source, great finger food, and easy to prepare. You can "cut" it into small chunks as finger food, or mush it up and mix it with fruit. It can be served warm or cold too. Both of my boys loved it.

A whole grain pasta like rotini is super easy to prepare, and if you add a little butter and cheese, even better! Very easy for little fingers to pick up.

Wholesomebabyfood.com has tons of great meal and recipe ideas.

At a year, my son was pretty much off baby food and just eating whatever we were...for the most part. It's different with your second child!!!