is she ready to start the chunky food???? - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

courtluv · 09-17-2006, 12:41 PM

my daughter turned 11 moths old today. she walking from one place to the next, and has two teeth. my question, should i be feeding her the 3rd foods yet???? in the morning i give her fruit mixed with cereal. in the afternoon for lunch i give her jar fruits and veggies. and for dinner i give her chicken, beef blah blah with veggies and then dessert. i only gave her the 3rd foods with little pastas in them 2 times, and her face was horrible and she was gagging on it. is she at the right age to start this, and should i be adding anything else to her daily food intake. any suggestions would help!!!

Jakeysmom · 09-18-2006, 03:42 AM

My DS is 11 mos as well. He eats the 3rd foods that are smooth and he will eat crackers, and many other crunchy things as well as cut up fruit. But when I try to feed him the 3rd with the pasta he gags and spits it out. I think it is a texture thing, kind of like "Okay mom I like crunchy. I like smooth. But I don't like smooth with these bumpy things in it!" So I know he is ready because he will eat crackers and cookies on his own, but he just doesn't like it. I am saving my money on those and just practicing with mashed up table food that we eat. I only by the jarred ones that I know he likes. Will he eat the Gerber puffs? I gave these as practice, first in pieces, then whole with me watching. They are good to practice with becasue they somewhat melt in the mouth. When he could self feed these with no issues I moved on to other things like crackers, cut up watermelon and cut up grapes. I always started with very very small pieces. Now he can eat grapes cut into 4 pieces and loves them. I give him as much "real" (non jarred food) as I can. He also eats yogurt, toast, and real mashed banana. Just go slowly with small pieces and watch carefully. Hope this helps!

courtluv · 09-18-2006, 06:34 AM

thanks you so much. when i go to the grocery store today i will pick up some baby crackers and the puffed things you were talking about. about the toast, is any kind ok, i'm assuming just white? and are those pieces very tiny to??? i might try that in a little bit.

MJCota · 09-18-2006, 09:02 AM

My niece will be 8 months this week and started stage three a few weeks ago. She has two teeth and it almost crawling. Her ped told her to go ahead and start it since she would "chew" her food most of the time. He gets table food as does my son who is 6 1/2 months old (also told by ped to start giving him som). Go ahead and start her on it! She should be just fine.

Jakeysmom · 09-18-2006, 10:04 AM

Courtluv--- I only use whole wheat bread, so baby gets that! I figure, start him early with the healthy stuff ! I just toast it kind of medium and use small pieces. Sometimes too, if I try to put it things in his mouth he refuses, but if I just put a few bites on his high chair tray he usually will pick it up and eat it. have fun!