What Are Some of Your Babies Daily Menus Like? When Did You Start Table Food?

Updated on June 02, 2010
K.B. asks from Islip, NY
5 answers

My son is 7.5 months and his menu has pretty much been the same since he's started eating food at 6 months.

8am-5oz formula
10am-cereal with fruit
12am-5oz formula
2pm-yogurt or custard and some fruit if still hungry
4pm-5oz formula
6pm-stage two or 3 dinner with one jar of veggie
9pm-5oz formula
2am-wakes up for 6.5 oz big bottle of formula.
Juice or water sipped throughout the day

It works for us but maybe something different for lunch? I'm curious to see what some other menus are like to compare and see if they're are some different things I can be doing?
Thanks~!

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T.G.

answers from St. Louis on

I made my own baby food from what we were eating, so my children all had table food at about 6 months old. I followed the same guideline that you would if you were feeding them jarred food. They still need a softer and smoother consistence at 7.5 months old.
They make these little mesh pouches that have a handle on them. YOu can get them at Walmart. I put fresh fruit in them and let my little ones chew and suck on them while I would prepare their meals. You can also put chunks of freshly cooked meat in them like chicken or turkey.
After my kids were introduced to veggies and fruits, I started introducing meats to them. By 12 months old they should be able to eat whatever you are eating. You just might have to watch the texture.
Right now it sounds like you are on track. I wouldn't worry about rushing into adding more items to your childs diet. There is plenty of time for that. ONce they start self feeding, you will have fun. Then you can introduce cheerios and diced carrots and chicken and other such foods.

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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

We started "tasting" before a year whenever kiddo was actively reaching for food we were eating... but his 99% source was breastmilk until I lost it at 9mo, and formula until right around a year. Then it was about 50/50 formula & table food until 1.5.

When we started table food seriously around 1 year he ate whatever we were eating, just mushed or chewed up if it was too hard (sounds gross, but the enzymes in our saliva are beneficial and help to prevent digestive problems in our little ones). Obviously noodles, curries, and other soft/wet things didn't need help.

We only have until age 2 to introduce as many chemical signatures to the brain as possible (right around age 2 a neurological thing happens that tags all unfamiliar chem sigs as "poison, yuck, spit".... and you'll notice a LOT of mom's with picky eaters at 2ish-5ish. The brain reaction gradually wears off around age 5. Unfortunately baby & toddler food is bland and repetive and uninteresting... so unless you want to be serving the same things over and over and over for 3 years solid... introduce those chemicals before 2!!! It can happen as early as 18mo & as late as 2.5... you never know when the "switch" is going to happen). I say chem sigs instead of flavors, because cilantro is cilantro is cilantro whether it's in asian, italian, or mexican. Ditto the chemicals found in tomatoes, eggplant, bok choy, beef, fish, pork, chicken... any and all foods are made up of chemicals. So we REALLY want the brain to tag them as "safe".

Anyhow... we took age 1-2 as our culinary adventure time. So we made sure to introduce as many ethnicities as possible. Greek, Italian, Spanish, Mediterranean, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Mesoamerican... we just toured the world in regards to food. You'll also find you make a LOT of friends at restaurants. Every culture in the world believes that their baby food is best. When you ask for 0 stars for a 1 year old... or a dish good for a baby be prepared for BIG smiles that an american is actually feeding their baby "correctly" ;) It's grand fun.

Our son had some interesting favorites, including some I never would have thought. His hands down favs since he was literally in arms include:

Hummus & Pita
Gyros
Schwarma
Eggplant Parmesean
Phad Sie Iew
Phad Thai
Seafood Cocnut & Lemongrass soup
Chicken Tikka Masala / butter chicken / any mild tomato curry
Saag Paneer
Pho
Dim Sum of EVERY type... but particularly turnip cake & palace tofu & shrimp balls
Udon
Miso
Shrimp Tempura
Carne Asada
Gumbo / Jambalaya
Crawfish Etouffee
Tomato Basil Mozz baguettes
Calamari
Prosciutto
Portobello Mushrooms
Poi
Fried Banana's dipped in Guacamole
Chicken Marsala
Grilled Oysters with Sorrel Sauce & Bacon
Cabbage (in anything, from irish boiled dinner to sauerkraut to Korean)
Broccoli (in anything, as long as it's not raw)
Spinach (raw on sammies or cooked in anything)
Fruits of all kinds

He had all of these things and several hundred others before he was 2 (but after age 1)... but these both were and still are some of his favorites.

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C.O.

answers from New York on

Sounds really similar to where we were at the time, but you have the option to do a couple things. You could eliminate the juice during the day (it only serves to fill him up, it supplies little real nutrition), and start giving bigger bottles at 8, noon, 4 and 9 so that you can eliminate that overnight feeding. By this age he can go all night without a feeding. I stopped feeding my almost 10 month at night old at around 5 months. That will help you get more sleep.
If you are noticing that he is chewing more and opening his mouth for the food, then he understands the mealtime routine and you could slowly introduce table food. By 9 months I was totally off baby food from a jar, and while that seems daunting it is actually awesome. I feed my baby organic yogurt, oatmeal (instand or one minute oats are perfect as is, steel cut oats have to be cooked really really soft), bananas, avacado mixed with a little breastmilk, any kind of very soft cooked beans or lentils mixed with a little breastmilk, rice (white or brown), pasta that is minced, cooked carrots, sweet potatoes, yams, regular potatoes, meatballs made out of any organic ground meat, cheerios, soft bread or homemade muffins. Recently I have started giving him meats that are minced and mixed with whatever smooth thing I have for him, mashed potatoes or avacado for example. and I am now giving him blueberries cut in half and melon cut into small pieces.It takes them some time to get the hang of it, but don't be afraid of table food. My rule of thumb is that if you can mashed the food between your two fingers then he can chew it. And once he gets the hang of chunky food, minced meats are no problem (and I mean minced, like run a big knife through it several times until it almost resembles a paste)
I have a couple recipes on my blog. Below is a link to a soup that I made for both my boys http://thetableofpromise.blogspot.com/2010/05/baby-soup.html
This soup was a total lifesaver for me. I always knew that it was there and if we stayed out playing too long, lunch was just 20 seconds away by microwave. And of course it is filled with veggies and good things!
Let me know if you like it!

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D.W.

answers from Nashville on

Hi!! I too have 7 month old...little girl though.

This is her schedule.

7 am-Wakes and has 6 oz bottle and 1 jar stage 1 babyfood ( won't eat a big jar in the mornings)

10am-6 oz bottle formula

1pm-jar stage 2 and 6 oz bottle

5pm-jar stage 2 and 6 oz bottle

8ish (bedtime) 6 oz bottle
(doesn't wake for night feedings)

Sometimes she snacks on puffs between 1 and 5 and has just a bit of juice diluted with water around 3.

Your menu looks fine to me, The only tip I could give would be to see about giving the babyfood and the bottle at the same time, I can only imagine how feeding every 2 hours is time consuming.

Many people alternate bottles and babyfood but I found early on that my girlw ould take both at once and would go way longer between meals.

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J.P.

answers from New York on

I would drop the 2am feeding. Its not at all necessary at his age. Plus, he'll be hungrier during the day so you could try more things! Remember, no hard foods like Cheerios until he's perfected the pincers grasp.

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