I have a few questions regarding my 11 month old and food. She has 6 teeth, is still breast/bottle feeding (about 24 oz a day) and I have been making my own food for her since she was able to eat. I do buy snacks for her (cheerios and the puff snacks and cereal bars) and occasionally jarred fruit. I was wondering at this age/stage what table foods I can/should give her and can't/shouldn't. She has also been walking since 9 months old. She can pick up food (cheerios, puff snacks) but refuses to pick up any other food. At this point I know she can, but i dont think she likes the feel of it. Is this ok? I dont want her to be hindered in feeding herself and being independent, but I also know she will not eat if I put it in front of her! so....what do i do about the feeding, and what foods can't i give her?
ADDED
what about eggs? i know they say not until a year but some places I read egg whites are ok?
Give her a spoon and then feed her with another one. She should, soon enough, try feeding herself.
I give my kids everything, save for honey, starting at 9 months.
except for honey, and additives, she can eat what you eat. My daughter is 9 months and eats everything I do. minced chicken or turkey with a drop of gravy.. chopped pasta, chopped avocado & banana chunks are fun for self feeding, slimy but she gets them! all veggies, cooked and in small chunks, even with no teeth they can "chew". mine doesnt like egg, so i hard boil them, use only the yolk and mix it with fruit and a bit of cereal. They say white ore ok now, but I dont give them too her. I dont use cows milk, but she eats yogurt and a bit of cheese.
It used to be that you had to wait until 1 year to introduce eggs and other common allergy foods, but that thinking has all changed, since delaying the introduction of those foods have proven to have no influence on whether a person becomes allergic to them or not. I've been feeding my 11 month old eggs for several months now - scrambled eggs are a very easy and nutritious meal! I add bits of broccoli and other vegetables too to make it even more nutritious.
At 11 months old, the only foods your child cannot eat are honey, milk, and things that are choking hazards like nuts, raw carrots, marshmallows, etc.
My favorite cookbooks are:
Baby and Toddler Meals For Dummies
Idiots Guide to Feeding Your Infant and Toddler
They have everything in them. I borrowed them at our local Library so many times my husband finally just bought them for me.
I think if you keep it light you should be fine. Stay away from greasy, fried, sugary or processed food and keep her on the natural track. Experiment with fruits and steamed veggies. Her taste buds and sense of touch are expanding, so introduce different textures, colors, flavors little by little. Also, she may want to share what you eat, so show her how much you enjoy these things. Cooked cereals and porridges may also be a good transition for her tummy and her mouth.
Egg yolks are fine before age 1, but egg whites are the part of the egg that usually causes allergic reactions. But, you'll never know if she is allergic until you try it, so keep some Children's Benadryl at home and try it!
Perhaps your daughter has some issues processing different textures in her mouth. Dry, crunchy textures (cheerios, puffs, crackers, etc.) are among the easiest to accept. If I were you, I would work hard in the next 2 months to try different foods/textures, and if you still aren't having any luck, speak with the pediatrician. My daughter was still stuck on just cheerios (and only anything that came out of our blender) at 15 mos, so we needed to get "feeding therapy" for her. She had trouble with various textures in her mouth. She also didn't mouth any toys as an infant, and that should have been an early indication of the problem. It took us almost an entire year to train her to eat a variety of textures, but now she eats everything (that she is not allergic to)--lots of veggies, fruits, meats, etc.!
At this age she shouldn't have chocolate, honey, peanut products, egg whites, or cow's milk. Once she's passed her first birthday, you can slowly and carefully introduce these foods (they have a high instance of allergies, so give them early in the day and keep a close eye on her for about an hour after). Eggs are iffy, my girls had them around 11-12 months and were fine, but if there's a family history (you, hubby) of food allergies, you might want to hold off for anoth month or two.
As for what she can eat....my girls were eating what I was, just well cooked and in little pieces. Some things they fed themselves, others I helped them with. Try exposing her to a wide variety of tastes and textures. And while they're high in nutrients, you might want to take the skins off fruits and veggies until she becomes more experienced. Also, babies don't need teeth to chew soft, well cooked foods - their gums are pretty tough (have you ever been bitten by a toothless baby? ouch!! lol)
You can give her whatever you're eating, but remember her tummy is small and easily filled, so fill it with good foods :) There's changing wisdom about what children can have at what age, and the current suggestion is that if your family doesn't have a strong history of allergies you can try almost any food (except for choking hazards and honey) before 1.
Almost all self-feeding at this age is exploration, not feeding to fill a hunger. She'll eventually like to touch and then eat it!
