Now that the formula is gone, I need food ideas!!! - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

Delia79 · 07-13-2008, 11:22 AM

My daughter is in the process of giving up her formula and bottles. She is down to just taking a bottle before bed. With that said, I am a little nervous about feeding her throughout the day now. I try to make sure she eats as often as she should, and gets the nutrition that she should, but I worry that I might not be doing it right. What do you all suggest as far as food goes throughout the day? Example, what are you doing for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Snacks are pretty easy but I worry more about the real meals.

Brooke85 · 07-13-2008, 12:43 PM

Right now is a good time to just experiemnt with all kinds of different foods...anything you think she can eat. Cheerios are always great for the morning...maybe give her those while she waits and you can cook eggs and see if she likes them (my DD didn't, but some kids I know do!). I also started giving mine waffles. I just put them in the toaster and gave it to her whole at the table and she would nibble on it. There was other foods, too...I just can't remember right off hand.

Also a good option at night would be to use a food grinder to cut up the food a little bit, so that way she can still eat what the rest of you eat. I think I found a little food grinder with a crank (nothing fancy, but it worked!) for $9 at Walgreen's. I would put things in it like spaghetti, stir-fry...all the stuff we ate. Since she was still so little I let her eat it with her hands. I encouraged the spoon, but at her age it wasn't as big of a deal since she didn't quite have the coordination yet! Doing this was just as easy as giving her those baby meals out of the container (but it was healthier & cheaper)

Just try not to sweat it too much right now. I know I did, lol...but it will get easier. Your little one probably won't like a lot of things to begin with. I remember I thought my DD was going to starve to death because she didn't like everything I gave her. They even held her back from going in the toddler room at daycare because she wouldn't eat any of the food they served. All she wanted was jarred food and nutri-grain bars!!! Now she is 2 1/2 and eats everything!

youneeak · 07-13-2008, 02:28 PM

Hey Delia,

Ella's been on food for about a month now. I'm ALWAYS looking for new food ideas to keep things fun and new for her. Here's some of the things we do a lot:

For breakfast Ella usually eats a fruit (peaches, pears, gerber has diced apples that are pretty soft). Ella will eat nearly any fruit, so I don't worry too much about that. Also for breakfast we may have a mini waffle, cereal (that she can pick up she love Rice/Corn/Wheat Chex in milk), yogurt, toast with butter/whole fruit jam, eggs (although she's not crazy about that), silver-dollar pancakes. For lunch and dinner she usually has a fruit and a vegetable and something else...she can eat all kinds of pasta (usually with just a LITTLE sauce or butter), gerber makes "meat sticks" that are kinda gross, but they make due in a pinch, "turkey sandwich" which for her is pieces of turkey, piece of cheese, pieces of bread...she pretty much eats anything we are eating...and gets quite angry if she knows we are eating something different from her. She also really liked when I made my own chicken noodle soup. I used the bigger noodles and cut the chicken to just her size. It also had lots of veggies in it (carrots, peas, etc.) but not as much sodium etc. as a can of soup.

I try to find different ways to hide veggies (ALREADY she's a picky veggie eater...takes after her daddy)...so I'll make ravioli with veggies in it...or put veggies in the soup, etc.

I worry about her eating enough of everything (vitamins, proteins, etc.). Does your Ella take any vitamins? A friend of mine has her little boy on a perscribed vitamin. I'm planning to ask my dr. about it at her 1-year check up next week. Also- how does your Ella do with fork/spoon. Mine wants NOTHING to do with them. I give her one at each meal and model for her, but it's usually the first thing to get thrown over the edge of the high chair tray.

Good luck,
Sarah

Brooke85 · 07-13-2008, 04:30 PM

I started giving my daughter the gummy Flintstones vitamins around that age. I broke them in half until she was about 18 mos. & could chew them better whole.