Feeding table food

When you started giving your dc table food how did you do it? my dd is 8 1/2 months Ive never given her table food before but want to try. She has no teeth how do I try something with her? How do you do it without them choking? Im really afraid shes going to choke on it.

What did you try first?

Suggestions and advice needed =)

Thanks ladies!

Feeding table food

DD is almost 9 months and we started some table foods around 7.5 months. I started with banana. I cut it into small pieces and let her gum it. Then we went to avocado. Then we tried Cheerios. She now can eat pretty much anything as long as we cut it into small pieces. Just go slow. I am kind of a freak about choking, so I understand your fear. If at any point you think she can't handle it hold back and wait a little bit. Good luck!

Re: Feeding table food

They don't need teeth to chew... if you think about it, the teeth they get first are used just for biting and it's the molars that we use for chewing.

I started with soft foods - anything that you could mash with a fork - and cut into tiny cubes.

banana
avocado
scrambled egg yolk
ripe peach
baked apple
steamed green beans
etc.

Once they got the hang of that, we moved onto homemade pancakes or waffles, roasted chicken, soft meats, etc.

At 10.5 months, we moved to all table foods and they just started eating whatever we'd eat for dinner! Lunch was leftovers from dinner and breakfast is batch-cooked on weekends - either blueberry or some kind of mini muffins, buttermilk waffles or pancakes with fruit (usually banana) and sometimes yogurt too if they're really hungry.

Just cut up everything small! If it's really soft, there's not as much worry.

Re: Feeding table food

I took this picture when I was trying foods out with my 1st... this is from when he was about 9 months old eating table foods - with a dime for size comparison.



chicken
steamed zucchini & carrot
diced kiwi

Message edited 3/11/2013 12:26:00 PM.

Re: Feeding table food

they dont need teeth for table food..their gums are quite strong!

We started with puffs (broke them up into 3-4 pieces with our fingernails and gradually worked up to bigger pieces in like a week or so she was eating them whole...same with cheerios

I also did grapes...peeled the skin off in the very beginning cut into pea size shapes and gradually worked up to skin on and bigger pieces in a couple of weeks!

same with pasta...i cooked it longer than Al dente so it wasnt firm!

chicken, cheese, blueberries, avacado, mangos, crackers, those baby teething cracker type things...my DD loved the banana biscuits

**anything really**...it is fun to experiment with anything in your pantry or fridge!

just start with pea size work up to lima bean sizes and go from there!

Message edited 3/11/2013 12:29:28 PM.

Feeding table food

I gave DD puffs at 7 months. Then cheerios a few weeks later. The first time I broke them up and put them in the back, side of her mouth. Once she got used to that, she learned to feed herself and to move the food over to her gums on her own. It did take time for her to get used to different textures and sometimes she would gag but she never choked on anything.

At 8 months I tried anything small and soft that she had already had pureed like steamed carrots or peas (still her fave), or diced fruit. Banana is great since it's so soft but it's really tough to pick up at first. I also gave poached chicken and small pieces of toast.

Trying all those new things made her want to try whatever I was eating so I offered a little taste of anything appropriate. Now at almost 11 months she eats just about everything.

Re: Feeding table food

I started with table food at around 6 months...........and my DD didn't have a single tooth until she turned 1.

I gave her yogurt, soft cheese, pasta, shredded chicken, meatballs, scrambled whole eggs etc. I would just cut up everything into tiny pieces and feed her or alternatively, just put it on her tray and let her smush it around and try to feed herself a little. She LOVED it.

My ped also recommended (to help her learn how to chew) giving her a bagel. You take a bagel, slice it in half then slice it open and let it get stale for a day or two. Then you give them one of the halves and let them nibble and suck. Because it's stale just tiny little pieces will fall off as they chew and suck and they practice swallowing as they suck and bite on it. Worked great.

I also didn't puree anything OR make things different for her, she ate what we ate. I saw no need to make things bland and different for her, I wanted her to get use to eating how we ate. KWIM?

Message edited 3/11/2013 12:48:15 PM.

Feeding table food

This is great! Thank you so much! Thank you for the picture that was great!

I cant wait to start ive just been so nervous so I was only doing purees still. Soo exciting!

Re: Feeding table food

i was a nervous wreck starting table foods! still get nervous when he eats to be honest. i started with puffs and cheerios - then very soft cooked vegetables or fruits that were mushy (sweet potatoes, peas, bananas, avacado, carrots) Pasta is very soft also.

When i started giving him real food i just cut it up very tiny in the beginning and would give him a little at a time so he didn't shove it all in his mouth!

Feeding table food

Another idea is to mix pastina right into her purees. DD loved that and it was a good change in texture for her.

Feeding table food

DD is 9 months and we started feeding her table food about 2 weeks ago. We started with puffs, bananas and avacado's. Since then we moved onto pasta, peas, carrots, green beans, blueberries, rasberries, sweet potatoes, colby cheese and black beans.

This past weekend I gave her a waffle and on Sunday she had silver dollar pancakes :)

Feeding table food

Awesome! Im so psyched to try with dd! Thanks everyone!