Teething biscuits/Starting Solids

I think making homemade makes a difference, but I only have 1 child (that eats solids yet) so it's hard to say. We made homemade and made things that aren't available in first foods like spinach and broccoli. It's also not as hard as people think it is and saves a lot of money. My husband does most of the cooking. He would take a big bag of frozen peas and cook it while cooking dinner. Then process it in the food processor. After dinner when it had cooled, and I was cleaning the kitchen, I would scoop it out into ice cube trays to freeze that night. The next day I would empty the ice cube trays into freezer bags. A bag of large bag of peas would make a month worth of peas and only cost about a $1 total. A large bag of organic carrots would also make about a months worth for the fraction of the cost of jarred baby food. Some website will tell you not to use the microwave, but we did. Take a couple of sweet potatoes and poke a lot of holes for steam to vent and microwave for about 10 min. Once cooled, scoop out the insides.
My son will be 3 next week. He loves broccoli, sweet potatoes and carrots. He will eat raw spinach in a salad, but doesn't like cooked spinach, so I guess it's not fool proof. LOL

Mum-mums are a great 1st snack-type food. They are rice crackers (sold at Walgreens and Target and I'm sure other places) that dissolve almost immediately but are big like a cracker so the kiddo gets to hold onto something.

Sorry, I don't have any teething biscuit recommendations, because I didn't use them but I do freeze my DD's bread and mini bagels before giving them to her to help keep her from breaking a piece off and choking. You will still have to watch him very carefully but he should be able to just gum a frozen one.

I did the homemade food thing and it was much easier than expected! I am still doing it and it makes feeding her good food so easy. My DD too turned up her nose at the baby food, even the earth's best. So I turned to Ruth Yaron's book called Super Baby food. I do follow the preparation for all the fruits and veggies and DD really took to it.

Regarding the snacks, it sounds like he is old enough for the melt in mouth things like the "Puffs", the yogurt melts, Greek yogurt (I used Fage brand) and wheat based rice cakes. Also, try some mashed up avacado, banana or sweet potato (baked first). Also apple sauce is good, but make sure it is organic no sugar added kind.

Good luck!!

Teething biscuits are better than bread. Bread is easy to choke on. My kids like the zwieback toast ones.

As for pickiness, no clue if making it your own will help with that. But there are ways to help picky eaters, by limiting their choices and such.

Homemade is almost always better, i have a recipe book for homemade baby food, that also extends to toddler and finger foods. Even recipes for biter biscuits. I can't remember the name of it right now, but there are tons out there.

Bread, gets "gummy" and sticky while in the mouth and becomes a big choking hazard for a baby... and can easily get stuck, in the throat.

Per teething, give him a frozen wash cloth that has been dampened and put in the freezer.
Teething... does not have to be biscuits as a solution.
A 7 month old, cannot swallow or chew well. And can easily choke or put too much in their mouth.

Our Pediatrician, did not recommend crackers or hard biscuits, until much older, and if so only things that dissolve quickly. Like puffs etc.
If it melts or dissolves quickly, then less chance of choking.

As for picky Toddler, she will not starve.
My son, who is now 5 years old, was the ULTIMATE "picky" baby and child. SUPER picky.
We never forced him to eat, nor used rewards or punishments. He ate if hungry and stopped when full.
He knew... his body's cues. Which is the best thing. He is also a "grazer" and does not eat a ton all at one sitting. Just like my Husband.
Over time, HE has increased his palate... and now eats a variety of things. Like asparagus, artichokes, broccoli etc.
ALL on his own. We never had to force him or goad him into it. But he ate. Just not exactly like I do. But...
He is super healthy and always has been and grows like a weed.
All by being his "picky" eating ol' self. And he has always been in the upper 97th+ percentiles for growth, but is very lean and solid.
He knows himself and his own cues for hunger and fulness.
I never... want my kids to "eat" out of emotional reasons or boredom or just to please someone or to get a reward or to avoid punishment.
This creates dysfunctional eating habits.

Just put fruits or veggies on the table.
Saute it. Steam it. Serve it with a sauce. MANY toddlers, like sauces.
Leave these things in small quantities... on a cute bowl. On a cute food tray. On the coffee table of the family room. Put the tray there and let the child get used to seeing it and trying it and poking it around. Then, she may surprise you and eat it.
Instead of being "cornered" by it.... at a dinner table... all cooped up on a booster seat... and having all eyes on her being told to eat it.
That is more intimidating, for a Toddler.
Anyway, that is what I would do with my kids.
They then got more adventurous, with eating.

Each child is different. Homemade or not, food is something personal and each child is different.
My sibling HATED homemade foods. I liked it. And my mom was a great cook. Just as an example.

With my kids my daughter eats anything and always has even as a baby.
My son would not. But eats a lot more things now. Things that not even his friends has tried.
It is amazing. How a child will eat and well, and not by being forced or tricked into it.

This is also an interesting article:
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/extremely-picky-eaters-st...

Homemade purees taste SO much better than jarred food. You can make a lot of different combinations, like carrot/apple, mango/papaya/banana, avocado and a lot of different kinds of fruit, you can also mix various veggies. We went on vacation and I had to buy jarred food. I tasted it and almost gagged. With the fruit purees I made, I would put those on vanilla ice cream!

Try these websites for the baby and toddler recipes:
http://weelicious.com/
http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/
http://www.wholesometoddlerfood.com/

Baby food, according to the manufacturer, has very very very little nutrition in it. It is for teaching babies to chew and swallow, not for substituting formula or breast milk.

I would give this little guy the teething biscuits while he is in his high chair with me sitting right there the whole time, no phone calls, no distractions at all, I would have total focus on him in case a piece did break off but we used them successfully when the little guys were a month or two older. The puff things melt in the mouth almost instantly. There are several of those foods that do.

I would not give the baby anything else that is not for kids their age, he needs his formula to fulfill his nutrition.
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The reason I know that baby food has not nutritional value is this:

I had a friend who's baby decided to give up his stage 3 baby foods and she gave me the bulk of her food storage in that area. I had a lot of stage 2 and stage 3 that was on the verge of expiring. I called either Gerber or Del Monte and asked how long after the expiration date the baby food would be good for and the lady laughed and said:

"Baby food has very little nutrition in it to begin with then it hits lights and exposure to temperatures in the stores and homes so it deteriorates even more. The baby food you have is mostly ready to be thrown out. I would not feed it to my child. parents don't realize that baby food is not to feed their child but to help them have safe ways of teaching their child to chew then swallow what they ate."

This was baby food that was still in date...not expired yet.

This was an employee of the company telling me their product was not for nutritional use, it is to help the parents have the proper tool to teach their babies to chew and swallow with little chance of the food causing choking or swallowing issues due to it not being the proper consistency.

I never did baby foods -- either commercial or homemade; I just fed the kids from our plates. They're both pretty good eaters (although they certainly have a preference for pizza and stuff). However, I think the main thing in getting kids not to be picky eaters is to be consistent throughout their early life and make them eat a variety of foods -- not just when they're starting solids, but to continue for the first several years. Once they find out that you will let them refuse foods, they will; but if you consistently make them eat what is served, then they will accept that.

Add a vote for Baby Mum-Mums! They are amazingly easy for this age--my son is 9 mos and has been teething on/eating them for about 2 mos. Occasionally he gags on it, but he always clears it himself. I just make sure I stay close by while he is eating it.

Well...good luck on avoiding a 2nd picky eater. My first is THE worst and I thought-oh, praise, God! My 2nd likes to eat!!!
...It was short lived. :(
Hopefully, you will be luckier than me!

Definitely recommend making your own food. Tastes soo much better and cheaper too.
Also, recommend the Ruth Yaron book "Super Baby Food".
And can't sing enough praise for Mum Mums (Target and Wal-Mart sell them)!
My babes love them (shoot-I love them) and never had heart pounding scares like I did (w/ my 1st) w/ those hard biscuits. It amazes me those things stay on the market, TBH.
HTH! GL!!!