Transitioning to "Adult Food"

I will start asap otherwise she might get too used to the baby jars and might bot want to try real food.
I kind of had the same problem with my daughter who is now 19 months old.

By 11 mo, my kids were eating table food. Whatever we had they had...cut small...none of my kids had teeth..just not too small or they can't pick it up

Hi A.,

This is my 3rd baby and I still dread this stage. My son is 11.5 months and he's been having more and more of "adult" foods. I usually start out with putting adult food in a chopper or processor, like pastas and soft meats; whatever we're eating, we just throw it in and chop it to get them started.(at 10 months) Then I go with with tiny pieces of soft foods (at 11 months) like pastas, pieces of cheese slices and fruits from the cups (room temp). You can mash them with a fork too. A good rule of thumb when giving small pieces vs. mashed foods is to keep the pieces the size of baby's pinky finger nail. And, soft foods.

For soups try Chicken & Stars or Raman Noodles broken into very small pieces. Great starter soups.

Nilla wafers are my favorite cookie to give because they beakdown pretty fast.

A great first cracker is Townhouse buttery crackers. I sill give pieces only because my son will take huges bites and I'm just not ready for that. He is, but I'm not.

I still give baby food too sometimes.

Remember, take your time, there's no race. That's what I tell myself!

Every baby and family is different so go at YOUR own pace. And baby's too.

Good Luck!

There is a phenominal book that is written by a mom with the knowledge of how little time you have as a new mom to read a book! :-) It was even featured on Good Morning America on ABC (channel 7). It goes from starting solids to 3yrs of age. She had twins that were born 9.5 weeks premature and because of the diet that she fed them they have NEVER been sick!!! Even her pediatrician laughed at first in disbelief and now is totally supportive. She also tells you how you can pay 1/3 or less for the food and teaches about a child's emotional,physical & psychological development in relation to mealtimes, etc. It even has hundreds of super healthy-easy & quick recipes along with fun stuff like making your own play dough, wipes, diaper cream, finger paint, bubbles, and cleaning products. Anyway, check it out yourself, but it is an amazing book in my opinion as you can probably tell! It's called Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. Make sure you get the 2nd edition though. If you don't want to or don't have the money to buy it, go to the library or check out discount sites like ebay, etc. You will not regret reading it. Best of Luck!!!

She is probably ready to try some new foods if she can do the stage 3 foods with the chunks in it. I started Lilly off with stuff like mac and cheese, and cereals like cherrios and kiks. The we just moved her up to things like green beans, peas, carrots. Once they can master those things well we moved up to the full Gerber meals( we eat at weird times so these are best for our family) My daughter still eats baby cereal in the morning mixed with fruit cause she loves it, and it doesn't hurt her so why not. Just do what feels right for you, I was super worried too, but it all worked itself out. Hope that helps a little, and good luck.

My daughter is almost 11 months old now and I would say for pretty much the past month or so she's been eating mostly "adult" food. She still usually has baby cereal mixed with a fruit in the morning unless we are having pancakes or french toast- then she'll eat that. She does not have any teeth yet, but this doesn't prevent her from eating. The pediatrician had told us with our oldest that they don't actually use their teeth for chewing until they are closer to 18 months.
My daughter eats pieces of ham, beef (ground or roast), chicken, polish sausage, turkey... as well as any type of pasta, many cooked veggies (peas are her favorite, shredded cheeses, crackers... sometimes for lunch she will have a gerber toddler meal, but will eat jelly sandwiches or grilled cheese when I make them. Just make sure you aren't feeding her foods she shouldn't have yet like peanut butter. Take it slow at first... just give her bits of things off your plate but have a regular meal for her to eat until she is used to it, but before you know it you'll be making her her own plate ( I am!!!).

I used the book Super Baby Food VERY much when my 4th son was transitioning. There is a 6 year age difference between him and son #3 and I just didn't want to buy the jarred baby food, so I got this book. It was very helpful about introducing new food. I got a black & decker mini food chopper and just threw in our dinner and ground it up. I got a hand help grinder to use when we went out.

If you can get her to eat a mashed avacado, they are so great for them. It has to be really ripe so you can mash it up. Mashed potatoes, carrots mashed up, green beans, pasta, soggy cheerios and bananas are what I remember.

I didn't think the jarred food was really bad, I just was kind of done with the whole baby experience and had other kids that were 10,8 and 6 when I had the baby. So I just didn't want to do the jarred stuff. I also kind of skipped the bottle, just nursed and went to the sippy cup.

Just remember you are the mom and don't get a complex from other people. You know what is best!

hi,
unless your daughter has had any reactions to food, it is ok for her to eat what your eating , but none of the high allergen foods-egg whites, honey etc...
my daughter is 10 months almost and we just started pureeing her what we are eating, some of the time, as long as its healthy and balanced. we also just started finger foods. she only has one tooth on the bottom so its only a few super mushy foods like cottage cheese and egg yolk what she can chew. if our meal is not real healthy i use meals ive prepared and froze or jarred food. i love the website wholesomebabyfood.com for recipe ideas, food combos, nutritional info.
good luck! hope this helps some. were sorta in the same boat right now, the transitional phase...
L.

Better ask your dr. that question. If her teeth are in front and our food is chewed naturally by our back teeth, she could choke to death with unchewed food in her throat. Please speak to your dr. We mommas can't be responsible for poor advice on this one when the consequences could be hazardous to your child. love & best wishes.

Hi A.,
At 10 months & with 4 teeth, she is definitely ready to eat adult food. Try avacado, rice, steamed veggies (carrots, peas, broccoli), oatmeal (regular, not baby), cheerios, soft fruits (cantaloupe, watermelon, peaches, pears). Just make sure that everything is cut up into pea size pieces. My daughter is almost a year but I haven't given her baby food since she was about 8 to 9 months old. I think you will find that your daughter & you will really enjoy eating together! Good luck!

she can eat soft finger foods - so you can cut up little pieces of bread with butter, bananas cut up are fine, mashed potatoes - finger food in general, pasta, strawberries cut up, raspberries, blueberries cut in half, grapes cut up, mince meat and lots of other items that are easy to chew with her gums. it gradually progresses and by 12 months you may find she doesn't eat any baby food only finger foods. they love feeding themselves and learning to use the spoon - it is messy but fun.

my son is about the same age and is really excited to be eating some of the same foods that we are. he can handle lots of finger foods, which i was nervous to give him at first. it seems like you got a lot of advice about types of food and textures, but you also want to watch out for salt content. prepared foods and things you cook for yourself are often loaded with salt, which babies can't handle. i try to either separate a portion for him and then salt our food after that, or just make him his own food.
there are some foods you should avoid, too - honey, uncooked strawberries, peanuts, eggs and fish.
you should keep going with the baby food cereal if your child was primarily breastfed in order to meet her iron requirement.

Hi! May daughter is 9 months old and has 2 teeth on the bottom. She has 3 slices of banana every morning after her cereal, sometimes has bits of cracker in the afternoon, and depending on what my husband and our 4 year old daughter have for dinner, she will have some with us, or just baby food. I've just recently been venturing into the 3rd stage foods, but don't really care for them. I like to give her 2nd stage still and then adult food in addition to that. She's also tried avocado, chicken, apple, lentils, cooked carrots, rice, bread, pancakes, broccoli, and pasta. Of course, all small bites! Hope this helps!!

Hello. We only gave our daughter baby food probably 4-5 times and then the cereal with breastmilk is how we started out. She just always ate the soft stuff that we were eating and went from there. She's 27 mths now and has never had a problem eating solids and generally is willing to try lots of different foods.

One of the best things I have given my kids since they were 6 months old is great northern beans. They are soft, yet have more texture than baby food. They come in a can. Open the can and rinse them in a strainer. They give your baby practice feeding themself and are not messy. It the perfect food. My kids are 4 and 6 and still eat them often. It is a good source of protein too.

I have found that if you wait too long to give your baby solid food they get used to the puree type of texture. Then then don't want anything other than baby food and you're stuck. She can eat most of what you eat as long as it is cut up small. Steam carrots, green beans, a potato anything that gets soft. It's good practice for her and will save you months of misery in the future. Good luck!

My daughter wanted asult food from the time she could eat solids LOL. Around nine months I want to say she had maybe six teeth. Anyhow, I gave her a lot things like very well cooked veggies and fruit cut up small of course, and things like couscous, rice, and pasta, although definately not al dente :) Boiled measts cut up small too. I also let her have beans too, she seemed to tolerate them fine. Hope this helps and good luck.

IMO, it's certainly time to switch. Since baby foods are highly processed, they have to be loaded up with artificial vitamins. If you prepare her food fresh, she'll get the natural, and more easily absorbed, form of the vitamins. I highly recommend Superfoods by Annabel Karmel. It teaches you in an easy to understand (and remember) way so that you can make great food for your baby. Plus, it saves you SO SO much money. When you think about how much you pay for those little jars--eek! You can also get an older book titled The Natural Baby Food Cookbook by Kenda and Williams for next to nothing on Amazon.com

I too have a 10 month old and he wants very little to do with jar foods anymore. He has 6 teeth but he does really well with most things. He almost always has some Ritz crackers, Cheerios or Kix to start his meal as finger food, then some kid of soft fruit cut up into small pieces (banana, canned pears, peaches...in juice, no syrup) or steamed soft veggies. I just recently also made some meatballs and pasta and I broke the meatballs up and he loved them...pasta I overcooked and cut up (Rotini). He also eats cheese shreds. Every baby is different. My first I couldn't get off baby food, this one wants to stay far away from it. Just follow your babies lead. I still do jarred meat most of the time as I am not sure he is ready to chew the textures of more solid meat, but for fruits and veggies he loves to do it himself. He also likes plain bread torn up and grilled cheese sandwich cut up into little pieces with no crusts. Someone else suggested avocado...that is a good one too just can be hard to make sure you get one that is at the appropriate ripeness. It's got good fats for baby's brain development.

Yes! Let her try anything and everything, but keep the pieces small. If you concerned about her not having enough teeth, don't worry her gums and jaw are strong enough to chew soft foods.
Just to tell you my experience, my daughter was 15 months old before her FIRST tooth came in!! I'm not kidding. She was a late bloomer in regards to her teeth. We were one doctor appointment away from going in and taking x-rays to see if she was born without teeth in a mouth. Finally, one tooth popped out just in time!

Yes, she should eat more real foods. Cottage cheese, baby yogurt, avocado smooshed up, banana smooshed, cheerios, puffs, pasta cut up small. Our ped gave us a written guide. The book by Karmel is good, but somethings have strange ingredients. My little guy is 9.5 months and barely eating any jar stuff anymore.