What Should I Feed My 1-Year Old?

I have a 10 month old daughter and I never buy baby food. She eats whatever we eat, minus the seasonings. We just throw it into a food processor and mix it all together. She loves it!! I save a lot of money too!

Once you've gone through the introduction of different foods, and depending on her teeth/tendency to chew, you'll have different options. I would often just chop things up very small for my son, and give him whatever we're eating. A favorite is lasagna/baked ziti. Also, teeny pieces of chicken (just broken up with my fingers) mixed with rice (real rice, not baby rice), teeny pieces of cheese, and well-shredded spinach.

Casseroles in general work well, you just have to cut them up very fine.

She can pretty much eat what you eat! Just cut it up small for her.
Good luck!

Try cheese filled tortellinis...you can cut them in half for your daughter. Don't worry about pasta sauces or butter...she won't miss it. Also, cantelope, avocados, cheese slices, eggs, toast... Basically anything soft enough to chew. Definitely try try again if she refuses something.

Go to a Whole Foods grocery store if you have one near you. She can eat just about anything, but there are great ideas there- I used to keep 'EARTH'S BEST' baby foods on hand- organic and just what the label says on the inside-that way you have some when your in a pinch. My son loved that stuff. They will also have a great selection of all organics- applesauces, toddler snacks, pasta, quality fuits and veges, etc. Take it from another old new Mom- live your life and eat how you normally do- she'll blend right in habits and schedules and be better for it. It's awesome to have all the life experience behind you holding you up when you are blessed with such a miracle!

With all three of my kids, they ate what we ate from a very young age! They can eat almost anything you eat, and it just needs to be cut up very small. Even steak worked for our kids! Anything, as long as it is cut up small enough, works. And that is probably the reason I can't sit down to dinner without a salad! They got some of everything we had and it worked out well. If you figure, the starch and veggie are normally easy for them to eat, so it's just the meat that you have to be VERY careful with!

www.wholesometoddlerfood.com has great ideas and recipes. My son is 10 1/2 months and eats whatever we eat - he has been off baby food for a month now. I keep some cooked food in the freezer for when we do eat something he can't have.
For example, I cook 97% fat free ground beef with rice, onions, bell peppers, celery, egg (and whatever else I decide to throw in). Mix it together, bake it at 350* until meat is thoroughly cooked. Once it cools, I freeze it in individual size servings (I use the Take-n-Toss smalll bowls). I simply pull it out of the freezer the night before I am going to feed it to him.

My son's schedule is as follows:
7:00 wake up (often later, but when I have to work I wake him at 7)
8:00 breakfast (yogurt or oatmeal, cup of milk)
9:00 nap for 1 hr
10:30 snack (cheerios/goldfish/crackers/etc, water)
12:00 lunch (fruit, cheese, cup of milk)
12:30 nap for 3-4 hrs
4:00 snack (see above)
6:00 dinner (meat, veggies, cup of milk)
7:00 bath, brush teeth, read
7:30 in crib for the night (usually goes right to sleep, sometimes it takes 30 mins)

I'm sure you'll get lots of different ideas because everyone eats differently and has different ideas on what's appropriate at what age. My kids both eat what we eat, and I don't do picky eaters; they either eat it or they don't eat. =) They learn pretty fast to eat what's put in front of them. I used a little baby grinder that I believe you can still find at ToysRUs. It doesn't require batteries or a plug in so you can take it with you even when you go out to eat! I fed my kids eggs every morning from the time they were six months old. Eggs are great for their brain developement, for their eyes, and for their bodies in general! Hope this will help!

You already have some other great responses. As some say, just make what you would normally for your family but as bland and you can before it hits the table. Add salt and spice to yours while you blend/food mill a portion for your tot. Also, look for pasta like ditalini that is small and easy to handle for young ones. I like to buy a box of pasta, cook it all, and also prep my own "veggie sauce" (just blended veggies and maybe a bit of chicken gravy or stock) and have that all ready and prepped if and when we have a dinner that I don't think my toddler will like or want. Freeze in individual bags or plastic containers to heat when you need it. And then you can just add whatever protein you want! Hope that helps!

Hi Wendy,

I have a 13month old and he just eats table food with us. We've been pureeing table food for him since he was about 9-10months old. Nothing too salty or too spicy but he loves it and I no longer puree his meals. Since we've weaned him on his birthday h's been eating rice and meats in smaller chunks but it'll depend on what yur baby's used to and how well she likes to eat! My trouble is trying to get my son to drink milk :o

Good luck.

I made all my son's baby food and still am making many nutritious food/snacks prepared a head of time. Any fruit, vegetable, or meat can be made and pureed- than frozen in ice cube trays. It is very simple and i used to do it at night or during dinner prep. Check out this website for ideas and suggestions- it's wonderful!! www.wholesomebabyfood.com
Good Luck!! and you are making the right decision for your baby (and your wallet:))

Hi!
Egg are good, scrambled, high protein.Frozen mixed veggies, spread them out like cheerios. They have those mesh things that look like pacifiers, that you can put berries and stuff in. She can eat most of what you eat. Just introduce one food at a time, and give it 2-5 days before a new one, to watch for allergies. Chop everything VERY small. about the size of a pea. meat especially. It is so much more fun when they can sit at the table and chow down with you! A future hint, for when she hits her picky snobby stage, and she will, use a muffin tin, 6 count, and put a little of each thing in a cup. It will be separated, small portions, and she can even decide what goes where. It helped us out a TON!
Enjoy!

Depending on how many teeth she has she should be able to start to chew pretty well. Mac-n-cheese is great. She can pick it up herself and it usually goes down easy if she doesn't chew very well. Also, green beens, corn, green peppers sliced up. Soft cheese. My son loves the mozzarella cheese sticks. As long as you cut the pieces up you should be able to give her whatever you fix for you and your husband. My son likes almost any noodles. So, you should still be able to have adult but kid friendly meals. I hope that this gives you some good ideas.

I have 3 kids, 7, almost 5 and 6 1/2 months. With my little guy now, I take the vegetable we are eating at dinner and process them in a food mill (Kidco brand from Toys R Us, but any food mill would work, or a blender too) and feed him that. He eats almost no jarred food and prefers the homemade version. I will graduate him up to tiny dices soon when he can move food into his own mouth. He eats softened cheerios and puffs now and small bits of bread or pasta.

My older girls got the same sort of meal plan. At a 15months my oldest's favorite food was chili. My middle one could not stand puree style food, so I waited with her and nursed until she could handle tiny dice-we are talking smaller than cheerios type food to eliminate choking. I believe that this helps kids develop a better palate. My kids love to eat vegetables. Their favorite is broccoli, but asparagus and spinach are close seconds.
(But they happily eat all the rest-except brussel sprouts :)

I think that jarred food gives babies and warped sense of taste so they start to dislike veggies. (Seriously though-have you tasted it? It is gross! I don't blame them) They do get some more flavors from nursing than formula so build on that. More exposure is important for their little taste buds to develop.

Also, think about mother worldwide, they are feeding their babies the same diet they eat, just sized for their bodies. I think Americans have been told to formula feed and feed with bland jarred foods, and it does not help our children. It does help the companies like Gerber who make the food, but I don't think it helps us at all.

As long as you eat a healthy diet, feed what you eat to your child and they will be fine and I believe they will be better in the long run. I don't think you need to worry about making "baby" food. If you make a soup, separate the chunks and give those to her. Any meal you are eating can be modified with minimal effort to fit a baby.

Good luck and best wishes!

(I hope I don't sound like a total nut, but it has worked for me with my older two, and I am sure it will work with my youngest)

I have a 14 month old and made homemade purees for her until she was about 1 year. Now, she has some old standbys mmake up most of her diet - plain yogurt, cottage cheese, crackers, tortilla, pita, and fruit. That is what makes up most of her diet because that is what she loves and eats the most of.

That being said, I always offer from our "adult" meal. For instance, if I make chicken, rice, and veggies, I offer her some, pulling apart pieces with my hands or mashing with a fork.

I too worry a lot about choking, as I did with my older child, and I'm probably on the more causious side. I still mash peas and avoid raw veggies or stringy ones like celery. I slice some stuff like cucumbers and cantaloup really paper thin. And I never give her round things - I will steam carrots very soft and that's her carrot sticks. I quarter cherry tomatoes. She likes raw zuchinni, but if I think its too firm, I steam it.

So, I basically offer her from our meal and try to get her to eat as much as possible, with varying success, and then while one of us cleans up the dinner plates, I supplement with her facvorite - yogurt, fruit, whatever I feel she needs for a more balanced meal.

Just some ideas, good luck.

I fed my children pretty much anything I was feeding my husband and I by the time they were around 10 mos or so. Obviously you need to cut peices up smaller, and make sure you aren't giving them anything that is too hard for them to chew (raw veggies, nuts, etc), but don't be scared to try most (softer) foods with them. At 1 year, you shouldn't need to puree the foods -- my daughter didn't get her first tooth until she was 11 mos old, but by then she was already eating just about everything we ate. Their gums are suprisingly strong, and they can gum most foods.

So long as you are staying near your child when she eats, you shouldn't worry about choking. She will probably choke a few times on things as she learns to eat -- it's pretty much inevitable, and scary at first. If you are really concerned, it's always a good idea to take an infant CPR class so you can feel prepared. But soon she'll get the hang of it, and it's really fun introducing new foods and seeing their reactions.

I would definitely encourage you to start trying finger foods now, though, before she starts getting closer to toddler-hood and developing the inevitable toddler pickiness that my son is just now emerging from, and my daughter is entering. There comes a time when they all start rejecting foods they once liked, and it's really hard to START introducing foods at that point. As PP suggested, I would start with introducing easy finger foods like pasta, veggies cooked soft, grapes cut lengthwise, crackers, tofu (both my kids LOVED it!), bite-sized pieces of chicken or ground beef, etc. See what things she likes, and have fun with it! Good luck!

I tried the jarred foods with my first child, but my sone would not have anything to do with it. SO like many of the other parents, I just gave him smaller portions, with less seasonings than we had with our food. Since then, my other 2 kids had the same diet plan. Now at 13, 11 and 6 they prefer homemade foods to fast foods, except subway and pizza, they love veggies and have a well balanced diet.
I used teh ahd blender when they were younger, to puree, and as they got older, I jsut diced tehir foods.

We have been doing ground turkey tacos about once a week and our little guy can eat most of it. I just reserve some of the turkey before I add the seasonings, cut everything up in small chunks including avocados, cheese, black beans, etc..It's all healthy and he loves it. Plus, I can use the leftovers for a couple of days. He is just about 1 year old..
Send more ideas, please!!! Love hearing what everyone else finds helpful.

I bought a baby food kit. It came with a cookbook, a cd and 2 ice trays. I cannot remember the name but try going to Target or Toys R Us. The cookbook tells you what foods to give depending on the age of the baby. The ice trays are for freezing the food. So that when your baby is ready to eat you just take a cube or two of carrots and warm it in the microwave. It made life so much easier for me because I did not have to cook everyday. As your baby gets older you can combine two or more foods to make it a meal. Have you tried giving your baby yogurt? They make Yobaby and they are organic and very delicious! I hope this helps.

A lot of what you cook for your husband and you can be put in a blender for the baby. Maybe you have steamed vegetables, just blend a serving or two, feed her some and put the rest in the fridge for her later. Ground meat is easy to eat. If you have burger/meatloaf she can gum small bits of that. Beans (kidney...) are easy to mash too - I started my kids on them by cutting them in 1/2 so they wouldn't choke. Then of course there's the can't-live-without pasta. Baked potatos (sweet were a bigger hit in my house)

Try the book "Super Baby Food". There are a lot of good ideas in there.