New Traveling Worries

avocados are great and fresh figs are in season right now (at whole foods)--just have to cut them into small pieces. Try the Super baby food book--it's excellent

Hi J.. I have a ten month old too. My doctor told me to give him more table food at our last appointment. So I pretty much try to give him what we are eating. I also worry about the choking, so I bought this manual food mill that chops everything up. Today he had beef stew and loved every last spoon of it.

I don't know about introducing your daughter to any dairy products before she is one. I would call your doctor and ask first. With the exception of yogurt and cottage cheese...those are suppose to be okay before their first birthday.

Hi there -- I also have a 10-mo-old girl who loves table food! Yogurt is a big favorite, in small doses. Here's a small list of ideas for you: noodles cooked a min or two longer than needed (mac & cheese, chicken noodle soup, for example); mashed potatos (my daughter likes this w/ little lumps); yogurt (kefir), cheese, gerber dried banana & strawberry snack, minced meats (chicken, beef, pork); cereal (total cereal or life cereal in milk, let it wilt and then let her go at it!); organic oatmeal (Costco has this in bulk); very ripe bananas, nectarines, peaches, and i've been cutting grapes into 8ths which she picks up and eats heartily, gumming them. Note that the grape skins end up in diaper next day :) Hope these ideas help.

My son is 9 months. Soft fresh fruit that can be cut into small pieces, cheese, pasta, cooked veggies (sweet pot, broccoli, corn, peas), and plain yogurt are some of his favorite things. If she can handle cheerios she should be ok with most table foods. It is good to try to avoid anything with added salt. Just be sure she is sitting up and someone is watching her. The infant and toddler cookbooks by Annabel Karmel are great for ideas. Your library probably has a copy. Good Luck.

J.,
You don't need to be in such a hurry introducing solid foods that it makes you nervous. Especially since she self-weaned at 3 months, do not introduce too many different foods too soon. She will guide you in what she wants to eat.
Amy

My pediatrician recommended that we start by colors: do red/orange foods first (beets, sweet potatoes, carrots, etc.), then move on through the different food groups (corn, parsnips, etc...) to green last (peas, broccoli, asparagus, etc...) Meats, then fruit was to come last of all. I pureed everything -- steam, then blender with filtered water. Froze it all in ice cube trays since that was the perfect serving size. I did this with my twins (now 4 y/o) and they loved everything -- still do.
Good luck.
C.

I just gave my daughter what we ate. She loved mashed potatoes, french fries,spinach, peas, bread, lunch meats anything soft. She loved the puffs. They make a bunch of snacks.

Wow, a bunch of us have 10 months olds! We should get together! I give my son cubes of avocado, mango, steamed zucchini, he eats everything!

My daughter (J.) is now 12 months and she's been eating table food for several months (at the pediatrician's urging).

I recommend that you go to canned foods isle and look for little jars of fruits and vegetables that don't have added salt or sugar. (My daughter liked these better than the frozen kind.) You can find some good variety and the babies love to have food they can try to eat with their fingers.
At first I cut these up so there wasn't any pieces that were "whole", but now she's fine with larger pieces. She especially loves lima beans, peas. She also loves all melons we've tried and watermelon is especially good at first because it is easy to bite into.

Have fun and try lots of foods. My daughter has tried and likes green and black olives, dill pickles, onions, squash - who knew?

J.,
I have a 15-month old, and I feed him lots of cold cuts (especailly turkey and ham), american cheese -- always in small peices. Like you, i am freaked out about choking! I also buy chicken nuggets and cut those up. I also get some jarred fruits and cut up the peices to try to move beyond the baby food . . .
Hope that helps.
A.

I am a member of an excellent online group all about baby food. Go to Yahoo, then go to groups and type in 'babyfoodclub' all one word. You will get every possible question answered, it is an excellent resource.
good luck.

I was always (and still am) terrified of my son choking. He is now 11 months but we began him on table food at about 9 months. If your daughter is eating cheerios and has 4 teeth, it sounds like she can manage almost anything:

Here are some things we successfully tried:

* Baby Yoghurt (YoBaby)
* Apple Sauce
* Grilled cheese sandwich or bagel w/ cream cheese in little chunks
* Peas (whole defrosted)
* Vegetables (cubes of carrots, potato, sweet potato, zuccini, broccoli etc)
* Mac & cheese
* Cottage Cheese
* Rice Pudding
He loves spaghetti (just plain) - it is great to keep him occupied while we are still eating.

Great Finger Foods for self feeding:

* Small chunks of cheese
* grapes, peeled & quartered
* Whole blueberries
* Chunks of strawberry
* Other soft fruits cut up in tiny bits - mango, plums, peaches etc
* Scrambled egg (or just the yolk if you are worried about allergies)
* Bread & toast (without the crust) or bagels- cut/ torn into little bits
* Freshly squeezed orange juice mixed with rice cereal
* Tiny bits of ham or chicken (he loves chicken)
* Tuna fish, smoked salmon

He more or less eats everything we have but cut into little bits. The cutting up of everything can be tedious and time consuming but worth it to see him eat well and enjoy his food!

I hope this helps,

R.