What kinds of solids should she be eating now?

[*LittleMissSummer*]

A couple of DP's cousins have said they feed their babies lamb cutlets and chicken bones. So i was wondering if thats safe to give my DD and what other foods i should be giving her?

She has 6 teeth now, 4 up top and 2 down the bottom.

[starangelk]

Hi LMS, maybe they are talking about Baby Led Solids (Baby Led Weaning)? We follow this process and DD was eating that sort of thing around the same age. She is a couple of months older than your little one and eats pretty much the same food we eat. I think it's a great concept, there's a thread on BB about it - come have a read and if you are interested, join us - it's a great experience

[*LittleMissSummer*]

Do you have a link? I cant find it

[briggsy's girl]

Like the PP, Miss E was eating pretty much whatever we ate by 7-8 months. we started BLS at 6 months, and would just put some of the vegies on her tray of her high chair while we ate - one thing at a time, and let her gum at it to her hearts content. after a couple of weeks we were putting a few things, but 7 months she was eating spag bol with chilli in it if that's what we were eating.

we didn't really give her bones or things until later - not because she couldn't handle it, but because we tend to not buy meat with bones in it all that often! plus, she isn't really much of a meat eater and never has been. last night she ate a full ear of corn, coleslaw, potato salad, potato, and a sausage - the sausage was only cos she was still hungry and there was no corn left on any of our plates lol

[starangelk]

Baby Led Solids

[MantaRay]

I am a huge fan of BLS. It is so much easier not having to puree food, and having your kids eat the same food as the family from under 1 year of age is wonderful. Even now my boys are 6 and 4 people are often surprised at the variety of foods they eat. I am sure that exposing them to "real" food and a range of taste and textures early contributes to that. I also have a personal theory (based on my sample size of two kids ) that babies that aren't spoon fed pureed vegetables are more likely to like vegetables as toddlers, pre-schoolers and older kids.

However bones are a good idea even if you are not following BLS. Meat is now known to be an important early food as it is the best source of iron and zinc (both vital for brain development) - there are iron and zinc in other foods but it is not as easily absorbed by the body). For babies that are having finger foods as part of BLS there are lots of options - spaghetti bolognaise is often a favourite, chunks of grilled steak to chew or suck on (big enoguh that they can't be swallowed), or meat scraped into something else. For all babies, safe bones - that is smooth bones that are too big to swallow - to chew or suck on are a way of offering meat.

[*LittleMissSummer*]

Its just going to be hard to do this while my PIL are here as they are the ones who tell us off for giving her food. If i had it my way she would be eating proper solids instead of pureed food. She has 6 teeth i think its time she learnt how to use them.

[briggsy's girl]

I also have a personal theory (based on my sample size of two kids ) that babies that aren't spoon fed pureed vegetables are more likely to like vegetables as toddlers, pre-schoolers and older kids.

can i add a few more to that sample size for you? lol

my brothers three kids - first was puree all the way - she is a fuss pot now. won't eat anything new, sits there and pulls EVERYTHING apart (can't possibly have a bit of darker meat!). second kidlet was a mix of puree and BLS - he isn't quite so bad, he will eat different cuts of meat, but will also cry like a baby if you dare to dish him up something with extra vegies in it (little does he know what goes in my spag bol lol). third one was ALL BLS - and she is a dream kid to have around. she eats pretty much everything. she doesn't like "orange potato" (sweet potato) but will happily eat pretty much anything else you dish up to her

DD is a funny one - the first time she was served mashed up veg (we were out for dinner and the friend automatically did it before i could say not to do it) - she refused to eat. took a taste and didn't want a bar of it. she ate brocolli and carrot from my plate that night. she still isn't keen on anything too smooth - if we have shepherds pie (for instance) the meat has to be a bit chunky otherwise she turns her nose up. i made shepherds pie two weeks in a row, from left over roast lamb - the first time, she turned her nose up, and i thought myself the meat was a bit too fine. the following week i left more chunky bits, and she add her meal and asked for more...

[briggsy's girl]

Its just going to be hard to do this while my PIL are here as they are the ones who tell us off for giving her food. If i had it my way she would be eating proper solids instead of pureed food. She has 6 teeth i think its time she learnt how to use them.

time to put on your mumma bear boots and tell them to leave you to it. K is your kidlet, you do what you deem to be best for her. your PIL's had their chance with your OH, now it's up to you to raise K (and yup, i know how hard it can be to stand up to people, esp when they constantly try to put you down - but sometimes you have to step up - plus i'm sure you'd like the opportunity to prove them wrong!)

[*LittleMissSummer*]

Wow thats really interesting and definitely not something i want my DD to be like! I do give her apple, orange, bananas, rockmelon, mango, carrot and whatever else i can get into those meshy looking dummy things LOL sorry cant think of the name.

[starangelk]

I'm with BG on this one LMS, time to stand up to your PIL. If you want to do BLS then do it. Show them some stuff on the internet if it helps. I have found with older generation people that once I sprout the "it apparently should help make her less fussy" - everyone gets straight on board

[luna moth]

I've also noticed through my years of childcare, that BLS babies are just so much better at feeding themselves. I think it really helps their fine motor skills to pick up their own food and shovel it in, rather than sit there and be passive recipients of food.

Tell your ILs to shove it.

[briggsy's girl]

we tried those mesh things - once - she looked at it, threw it away, and cried til i gave her the food properly!

we didn't give her apple til a bit later, and no raw carrot til later either, but everything else she got in her hot little hand and loved it to bits

brocolli trees were a fave, peas (she'd chase them around the tray til she learnt to squish them) - she'd actively search through a pile of peas and corn to pull out JUST the peas... roast spud (we'd make sure there were no sharp bits), roast sweet potato and pumpkin

honestly, if you can, try to give her the same as what you're having for meals. she may not eat much, and you might feel you need to add some puree after her feed, but give her a chance at it. it is part of the nature of a baby to sample lots of things to learn about taste and texture (look at the stuff she was trying to eat at the playground the other week) - so if she is ready to explore, why not give her good healthy alternatives to explore kwim?

[*LittleMissSummer*]

BG thanks so much, you have given me so much great info and i wont hold back anymore! LOL and yes she was after EVERYTHING that day. She wanted that cupcake so much! And shoving leaves and whatever else in her mouth.

I think ill put her in the high chair and give her food and let her go nuts.

whats the go with biscuits, fruit bars and even sandwiches is she still too young for those??

Anything you can tell me is MUCHLY appreciated, im a complete newbie to this!

[briggsy's girl]

fruit bars are something we avoided til much later - mostly from a sugar perspective. she has the occassionally now (they were a life saver on road trip) but i still try to limit the number she has. same with biscuits. we tend to have milk arrowroot or marie type biscuits in the house, and have done all along. she occassionally got maybe half a biscuit but again, rarely - mostly from the sugar factor.

we didn't try bread til about 8 or nine months - mostly because of the fact it tended to go a bit gluggy and sticky in her mouth and she'd be trying to spit it out and we'd end up having to help her. toast she had for breakfast pretty much from 6.5 months, crusts we'd give her - just the soft doughy bread we waited on. we also used grainy bread - we don't have white bread for us, so didn't see the point for her. i have read that some people think grainy bread isn't such a great idea, but E never had any dramas with it (and turns her nose up at white bread sometimes now - my mum has actually got a loaf of grainy bread in the freezer just for Miss E!)

teething rusks we founds were a great idea as she was learning to grasp food and get it in the right place, without having a lot of wastage from food breaking and being too small for her to grasp. she would be entertained for ages while we cooked - sitting in her high chair. we also gave her a spoon at every meal - even before she was eating much - and let her play to learn about hand eye coordination. it helped heaps i believe

have a good read of the BLS thread - one thing that was a sanity saver for me was reading that babies WILL sometimes "choke" - but it's not really choking. it's more that they get food a bit far down and then cough it back up. panicking doesn't help - you just monitor and see if it is a real problem after a couple of seconds, or whether she has cleared it herself (you can generally tell by their coloring if it is a genuine problem or just a reflex action to get something up that went down a bit big). it takes some getting used to the idea of not stressing, and of course, you still need to be vigilant! one of E's first big words was "youright?" i think we said it a lot to her!

i guess the biggest advice i can give you is to trust your gut - and trust K. if you think what you're having seems like something she could handle, give her a go. babies still have a really strong tongue thrust reflex, so she will spit out what she doesn't want.

and if you make spag bol - put heaps of veg in it and let her go to town - it's messy, but the tastes and textures are great for her. E will now eat capsicum raw (straight from the plant if we're not careful) and prefers food with a bit of bite, rather than bland (hence her refusing the sausage roll at the playground - was a really boring sausage roll compared to the ones her daddy makes!)

[FabFiona]

Small corns on the cob and lamb cutlets are favourites around here. The lamb cutlets are good as the meat has a handle for him to hold onto when he eats!

I tend to stay away from biscuits and fruit bars, more because they are very processed. However if you make some stuff yourself that is perfect. The great thing about that age is that they really do eat very little so if you make a batch of healthy biscuits (for example) they last for ages!

Mini vegemite and cheese sandwiches are also a winner.

[*LittleMissSummer*]

I do also give her teething rusks occasionally especially if she is between feeds is a bit fussy and when we are shopping to keep her amused.

I think i might make up some steamed vegies for her to munch on for dinner one night. I was going to buy some milk arrowroot bikkies for her to much on also but i dont want those to be an everyday thing either. We occasionally give her chips off our plate when we go out to dinner or lunch but i make sure theyre not too oily or salty so i suck on them to make them mushy then give it to her and she likes that.

I want to make pikelets and/or pancakes just something soft.

Oh im going to have so much fun lol

[toomanyshoes]

I am a huge fan of BLS. It is so much easier not having to puree food, and having your kids eat the same food as the family from under 1 year of age is wonderful. Even now my boys are 6 and 4 people are often surprised at the variety of foods they eat. I am sure that exposing them to "real" food and a range of taste and textures early contributes to that. I also have a personal theory (based on my sample size of two kids ) that babies that aren't spoon fed pureed vegetables are more likely to like vegetables as toddlers, pre-schoolers and older kids.

I actually disagree, when I had my two (DS9 and DD5) I had never heard of BLS and they were both spoon fed pureed veg and now both each really really well. Both love their veg, cooked, raw, as a snack. I think it comes down to the parents attitude towards food more than anything else.

DD was offered bigger things though, bones to chew, pasta, etc.