When to start transitioning infant to table foods?

My son never wanted anything from a spoon, wanted to do it himself, so I just got creative about what to give him, it's not too early if she wants it. Cold cream of wheat is high in iron and can be picked up easily, tofu, egg yolk, no salt beans especially black or kidney, cheese, yams, no salt canned green beans, peas, whole wheat noodles...

Yes - my son was the same way and it was fine. It is amazing what they can mash with their gums. He eats everything from Ritz crackers to cheese to steak and chicken! If you want to start with something softer, go for frozen turkey meatballs. Put one in the microwave for 45 seconds - my son loves them.

Baby food is a relatively new invention, and as long as there is no choking hazard babies should be encouraged to eat table food...it's a lot cheaper too! Rice, tiny pasta, bread nibbles should all be safe for a baby that can mash food. If you are still concerned about choking, try the "Baby Safe Feeder". I used it for my 2 girls and they loved it. You can put any soft food in (banana, melon, peaches, pears, carrots, etc.) and the mesh keeps the baby from choking. Some people freeze the food like bananas, but I think that would get too cold on sensitive gums. They even make them with a small built-in ice pack and cover now for on the go. They are top rack dishwasher safe too.

I laughed out loud several times reading your story! That little girl wants food! As long as she's only eating foods that don't include "allergy foods" such as honey, milk, strawberries, etc..you should be fine. Also make sure the food is in tiny pieces so she doesn't choke or gag. I wouldn't offer her these foods to her, but if she starts grabbing and you feel they're ok, you can give her a nibble.-www.weelicious.com

If she thinks she is ready, she is. Pasta is easy to knaw on, rice, toast with jelly or my son LOVED peanut butter from a young age (if you think she could have an alergy, try almond butter), mashed potatoes, well cooked vegitables, fig nuetons, pudding, pizza, lazagnia, falafel balls, meatballs, vegi patties, apple sause, chicken nuggets, tofu is great too.

My son also reafused to eat baby food as soon as he started table food, but he had most of his teeth by 9months so I didn't have to hold back on the types of food I gave him, but there are still many choices you can give her. Good luck!

Wow! The child is motivated!! I say go for it, but please be mindful of the high allergen foods (strawberries, eggs, nuts,etc) and be sure to introduce one food at a time. It takes seven exposures to a new food before an allergy will present itself. My daughter was like this too. Always in a hurry to grow up. My little one would gag often, but she never really choked. She was pretty good at dislodging anything that would trip her up (it would drive my husband batty) and was pretty unnerving, but she worked through it.

have you ever tasted babyfood? how about if everything you ate came out of a jar, and she wants to eat what the other kids are eating. She is obviously much more advanced than the other kids for her age!

She is still too young to digest certain foods properly at that age. You may have to cook those foods and mash them a little more for her system. Maybe she just likes the taste of that food better, can you blame her? LOL! I bet if you cooked some of those same foods for her and just mashed them up a little less than baby food she might really like that. If it looks more like your food then she might be more apt to eat it. Just watch what she is getting for her little system is developing.

Robyn M.

Table food seems to be your daughters favorite, let her check it out. I used to give my kids as early as they wanted french fries, they picked up on the finger food easily as they gained experience with using their fingers. Don't worry about much harm since when she begins to explore more, she will try more foods like hot dogs, strips of lunch meat, and soon enough veggies. I also gave mine strips of fruit that they learned to pick up while they were working on the fine motor skills with their hands. You can still give her the baby foods you want her to have but the use of her hands are fascinating to her right now. Have fun with it, the tastes will give them a wide variety to choose from. LOL I remember when my oldest of three first ate strawberries, it is saved in his baby book in a photo, he was covered head to toe with strawberry and he loved every minute of the experience.

My daughter would never take baby food. The only creamy foods she would eat was/is yogurt & hummus. Other than that, it's been finger foods since the beginning. You only have a brief window where they are eager to try new foods -- so go for it now. Fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grain pastas & breads, rice, etc. -- as long as everything is organic. If your daughter starts to choke on anything, don't panic, give her a second to correct it herself. (You can always do hands up or two finger Heimlich if she really starts to choke.) My daughter seems to have very good control over her throat muscles -- if there's ever texture or taste or bite size issues, she executes a gag reflex and spits it out. I'm really not kidding about the window of opportunity -- it is very likely that in half a years time she will get extremely picky about what she will eat and then you will not get her to try anything new, so let her taste and learn to love healthy foods now. Bon appetite!

You might want to look up any articles on "baby led weaning"...since it sounds like this is what your babe is doing! :) Here is one from the same website as the other articles I linked below.
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/babyledweaning.htm
There are some links within the article, too.

There's the "four day" rule that is recommended to follow for baby food...I'd do the same thing with the table food you're introducing. My DD didn't got to table food as early as your babe, but what we've done is give her some selected foods off of our plate, and then I keep some pasta, eggs, cheese and beans prepared for her in the event that what we're eating is too spicy or something. You just want to watch for any reactions.

Someone here said that you can't do egg yolks until a year, but it is actually egg whites that contain the allergens.
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/eggs.htm
You can scramble up the yolks alone and after introducing cheese can put it with the yolks - helps to bond it
together. You aren't supposed to do cow's milk until a year, but you can do cheeses and yogurt before then.
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/dairy.htm

You are doing a great job Mama!

My nine-month old is exactly the same. My plan of attack:

I have a finger-food that I ration-out on his tray and feed him some foods that I've found too difficult to eat by hand (like kale, spinach, oatmeal, etc.) by spoon. I get the spoon-food in between his own bites...he gets very upset when there's nothing to self-feed.

In terms of finger-food, our favorites have been these:

1. organic, uncooked tofu with nutritional yeast sprinkled on top
2. bananas
3. crushable pears (d'anjou is our favorite)
4. kiwi (no skin, same as pears)
5. cheese pieces
6. well-steamed broccoli pieces
7. well-cooked pasta pieces, whole wheat
8. well-cooked beans/legumes (lima, navy, garbanzo, etc.)

I also sprinkle some kelp powder on the food--great source of everything good

Cold food seems to be his preference; I've found that babies don't need to have the "perfect" temp.

The book Super Baby Food Book has awesome recipes for beginning eaters and toddlers. I use almost everyone for myself and my husband: slight adjustments make it great for us too.

good luck, it's so much fun

Hi Robyn,

If your little one wants table food, go for it! My eldest never ate baby food. As long as you keep an eye one how well she's able to chew/mash foods up, I think you'll be fine.

My youngest, by contrast, loved baby food and hated the transition to table food. My eldest, now almost 15, is fearless when it comes to trying new foods. My youngest, just turned 11, still hates new foods and is the pickiest eater. I'd count this as a blessing and run with it.

Good luck.

let her have it lol. as long as its not a choking hazard give your baby tiny cuts of food. my daughter at that age was eating steak chicken and anything i ate. she still does eat anything i do and isnt picky at all. start giving her cut up green beans, cooked carrots anything she can pick up. she seems ready so go with her cues :). my daughter was fully off baby food at 10 months and that was only because i wanted her to have more then 4 teeth before i took her off lol.

I'd say give her the table food. If you think it is something she mich chock on the put it in a blender or mash it up. Save your money buying baby food. I can see why she prefers the big people food over the baby food. Have you ever tasted the babyfood. It's bland & taste less. We fed my grand son inst mashed potatoes at 4-6 weks because he was hungry & would not eat the baby cereal. We also gave him mashed peas & etc. As long as it doesn't cause her to have a stomach or become constapited. I wouldn't worry. My 1 daughter refused the bottle at 9 months.And I started feeding them off the table as soon as I could.

Wow, well your little one is eager to try other foods! But keep in mind you baby's age.... thus, you have to be aware of what foods are 'safe' for a baby.
For example, you CANNOT feed a baby egg yolks, only the egg whites up through 1 year old. NO citrus, until after 2 years old. NO spinach until after 9 months old, NO nuts or peanut butter until after 2 years old etc.
The first 2 links below are VERY important.

Here are some links:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_age-by-age-guide-to-feeding-y...
http://www.babycenter.com/0_foods-that-can-be-unsafe-for-...
http://www.babycenter.com/search/showResultsForContent.ht...

http://www.babycenter.com/0_introducing-solid-foods_113.bc
http://www.babycenter.com/0_food-allergies_12409.bc

You can also try "stage 3 foods" IF you feel your baby can 'eat' it, without choking.

Stay away from "hard" foods (a choking hazard) or any foods that are "gummy/chewy" as these can get stuck in the throat and cause choking/suffocating as well. Some babies can also choke on Cheerios, even though it "melts" in the mouth and breaks down quickly. I have seen this first hand with a friend's baby. Some babies also have the tendency to stuff too much in their mouth... and it can get lodged in their throat and cause safety hazards. As always, supervise when they are eating. Even a 2 year old can choke.

You also have to gauge your baby... with any food.

OH! Just remembered, Kiwi fruit is HIGHLY allergenic, for some. I learned this because my daughter is allergic to it. Kiwi allergy causes a host of symptoms: pain/tingling in the mouth, tongue, throat. Swelling of throat/tongue etc. and ensuing difficulty to breathe etc. My Pediatrician didn't even know about Kiwi allergies. It can be dangerous for those that are allergic to it. The thing is, with my girl, as a toddler she loved kiwi fruit and could eat it with no problem. Then one day, she started getting the adverse/allergenic symptoms to it.

Ultimately, ask your Pediatrician. All babies are different.

All the best,
Susan

Hi Robyn in my experience with my daycare baby's, baby's are doing things much quicker and much ealier than when my kids we born (80's) I would monitor her bowl movements, to make sure the table food is not causing constipation, I would also put some table food a side before you salt and season it, and I'm sure you know this already, make sure it's food that she is less likely to choke on. She like's avacado that's great and healthy. And where ever in doubt talk to her ped. J. L.

Yes!!! If she wants real food, give her real food, provided it's not any of the "highly allergenic" foods she's supposed to wait until 1 year old to eat, like honey, nuts, and egg whites.

At that age, my daughter LOVED black beans and really soft vegetables (steamed broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peas, corn), anything she could feed herself. She still likes avocado and banana, but I can't get her to eat a black bean now to save my life.

Be grateful your child doesn't seem to have food issues, at least for now, and you don't have to keep buying the expensive jarred baby food. Just wait until she's one and you can't get her to eat any protein, or she gives up eating the foods she's loved up until then :-) .