When did you start meat and fruit puffs (not necessarily together)

[DrSally]

Hi,

When did you start meats? My DS has been on solids for 2 months now, and I've heard that meats are good for protein. Is it true that they're harder to digest though? Anyone have any problems with their DC digesting meats? I also heard to start with chicken and turkey. The stuff in the jars looks very unappetizing. Does anyone cook and grind their own meat? How do you prepare it--boil, bake, etc. Do you add any water to the finished product?

Also, when did you start fruit/veg puffs? The can says when they are crawling, but that varies so widely. DS eats by pressing food to top of mouth and pushing it back. Sometimes he makes mashing motions with his mouth. Does he have to be doing this full time? As long as he can pick them up himself, should I just give it a try?

Thanks

[nfowife]

We started meat at about 9 months. I think I started with chicken. I just baked it or boiled it plain (breasts). Then I chopped it and put it through my food processer and it looked kind of crumbly. I didn't serve it plain too much, but I would put it in mac and cheese, quesadillas, etc. I did the same with ground beef and ground turkey. I think I started the puffs around 8 months. First I did halves of them and then we moved to giving her the whole ones. I'd say if he can pick them up, try them. They dissolve very quickly so I don't think they would be a real hazard.

[DrSally]

THanks, good idea about halving the puffs.

[JTsMom]

I just counted 3 times b/c I couldn't believe it, but Jason had his first meat when he was a little over 7 mos. I hadn't planned on giving it to him, but he INSISTED he was going to have a bite of some fried chicken I was eating. I broke of tiny little threads of chicken and gave them to him, and he LOVED them! I couldn't believe how much he ate!

I didn't regularly give him meat until closer to 9 mos though. My big plan behind feeding was to get him eating what we ate, as often as possible. I didn't want to get stuck on baby foods forever. Whenever we had a dinner that I thought he could manage, and had foods that were ok for him, I'd give him that. Jason had some weight gain issues after his surgery, so I needed to keep his caloric intake as high as possible, so I kept my 2 high fat backups on hand in the freezer at all times- homemade chicken tenders and meatballs. They were great if he couldn't eat what we were having, and for lunch.


For the chicken, I buy chicken breasts, cut them up, season them just a little, dip in flour, then egg mixed with a splash of milk, then panko breadcrumbs (I'm sure you could use other kinds though). I fry
them in olive oil, drain, then freeze. When I want to reheat, I pop one in the microwave for about 1 minute.

Meatballs- just make as usual, add sauce, freeze on a cookie sheet, then put in a bag. Reheat same as chicken.

I do huge batches of each, and they last me for around a month (DH and I dip into them too!)

I agree meat in jars looks disgusting, plus those mixed dinners have a ton of junk in them! Frozen chicken tenders have really high sodium content and are pretty $$$.


I tried the whole meat grinding thing a couple of times, but it wasn't a hit. He did a lot better with tiny pieces. He never had a problem digesting meats.

Sorry this was sooo long! HTH

[jgriffin]

>I agree meat in jars looks disgusting

The meat in jars *is* disgusting (at least the chicken is)! E wouldn't eat more than a bite, and I can't blame him a bit. :)

[DrSally]

That's so funny and cute that he wanted your fried chicken! My DS was totally eyeing my plate when I was eating Chinese while feeding him cereal and peas. Thanks for sharing your experience!

[Sillygirl]

We get a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store pretty often - it's our usual Sunday dinner. I think we started giving Jonathan some of it at about ten months. He loves it and once ate a whole leg and thigh and most of a breast. That kid is half chicken - the checkout ladies call him the Chicken Man because he goes "Oooooh!" when the chicken comes out of the cart. We used to give him turkey meatballs but he's not liked them much recently. He's never really liked red meats.

[DrSally]

Wow! That's a lot of chicken. Cute nickname and story. I will have to share all these stories with my DH.

[maestramommy]

I started the Gerber puff at the very beginning. I didn't buy it, but a friend offered some to Dora and she was fine with it at shortly before 6 months. They melt so quickly I don't think a baby can choke on them.

Meat I started around 7-8 months. I steamed chicken breasts, then put them in a blender with some water, the froze it in the ice cube tray. DD didn't really like it though. I had to hide it in other foods. Course, she wasn't really interested in eating til recently so who knows? But she didn't have trouble digesting it.

[DrSally]

Thanks, I was thinking you'd have to add water to the meat or it would get crumbly.