I feel stupid asking this question, but at least here I feel comfortable...

[kseltmann]

Emily is 11 months and 1 week old. WHAT SHOULD SHE BE EATING? I mean, I hear stories from other mommies that have babies younger than Emily and they are eating fast food or grilled cheese sandwiches.
Poor Emily is still on stage 2 foods. I mean, I give her fresh fruit, yo baby, bootie, pastina, cheese, cooked canned carrots, and I think you catch my drift.
Am I just in limbo? Am I just too afraid to make the next move? I am a healthy eater (SBD) and I would like to teach her a healthy lifestyle. Anyway, I would be very grateful to hear what your babies eat each day.
Kathryn
Emily 9.24.03

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[pritchettzoo]

There have been a bunch of posts on this recently, so you may want to read back a few pages...

This site might be helpful: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/babymenu.htm

DD is almost 1 year, and she's just recently (past few weeks) started eating much more. She still nurses 4-6 times a day, but she's very into food now, especially what we're eating. She had been eating maybe 1 solid meal and 1 snack before this recent surge in table food consumption and self-feeding.

This was yesterday's menu for us:

Nurses at 8 am and then goes back to sleep for an hour or so

BREAKFAST
Breastmilk
Raisin bread (cut into small cubes)
Cheese stick (pulled apart into small pieces)

SNACK
Veggie Booty
Water

LUNCH
Breastmilk
Annie's Instant Mac & Cheese with peas & carrots (throw frozen in with pasta when cooking)
Grapes (quartered)
Water

SNACK
Banana diced and tossed in wheat germ
Water

DINNER
Leftover Mac & Cheese, peas & carrots, and poached chicken
Steamed apples (small dice)
Water

Nurses before bed


She's now eating pretty much everything we're eating but cut up smaller and cooked a little more. If she's not eating what we're eating, she's been know to pitch a little tantrum. ;) I do like peanut butter, so when I have a peanut butter sandwich, I make her a soynut butter sandwich (the 4 inch whole wheat pitas work really well). We've held off on other highly allergenic foods as well.

As far as eating out goes, most kids' menus are much healthier now. We went out to lunch today for a family birthday thing and ordered her a quesadilla with a whole wheat tortilla off the kids' menu. Usually there's an option for grilled chicken with veggies and rice, and that is great too. The Tiny Diner tray works really well when we're out.

Do what you're comfortable with. She still should be getting the majority of her calories from breastmilk or formula until she's 1 year, but don't be afraid to feed her what you're eating (with exceptions). If you eat a healthy diet, she'll learn that from you. I do think children probably need more carbs than you're probably eating on SBD, but they don't have to be empty sugar/white bread-type carbs.

Anna

[houseof3boys]

Anna gave you some wonderful ideas already but I just wanted to add that every babe is different! Ryan is a finicky eater so he doesn't (won't) eat a lot of things other babies eat at his age (15 months today :)) like cheese/lunchmeat/diced chicken/bland fish/eggs. I just have to be more creative!

I think you are doing great with what you mentioned and I certainly wouldn't want to aspire to give fast food (sorry to be judgemental but there is plenty of time for that bad habit) to Emily! Maybe add some whole wheat toast with butter, microwave up some frozen peas (takes 30 seconds for a tiny serving), graham crackers and any other food that might have a bit more texture that is easy for her to start practicing picking up a variety of food.

There are tons of threads on ideas so breeze through and read them for some great suggestions. :)

[kseltmann]

OK, first of all thank you both for your responses. I think I just might have to clarify 2 things. One, I don't eliminate all carbs, I just eat healthy ones. Two, I don't eat fast food nor is my goal to feed Emily any fast food, it just seemed like such a quantum leap from where we are. FYI, it will be a cold day in hell before she eats a chicken mcnugget.
I think that was part of my fear, was that my whole grain breads, brown rice and wheat pastas would be too harsh on her system. I am not sure what she should and shouldn't try. I am going to trader joes today to get some whole wheat pastinas or something.
Thanks to "my mommies" as I affectionately refer to all of you at home, yesterday my Emily ate cheddar cheese and LOVED it. This morning she had quartered bananas dredged in crushed cheerios. She is really into self feeding and despite her love of sweet potatoes and yogurt, just doesn't want anything in the spoon.
I hope this all came out right...
Thanks again,

[lizajane]

"i have to run out to get schuyler a happy meal because we are all out of coke at home" is one of my FAVORITE jokes to make with a good friend/neighbor who feeds her child the same way i feed mine. seriously. ick.

it really sounds like you are ok! don't worry too much. brown rice should be GREAT for her. but i think holding off on a lot of whole wheat is a good idea. it caused schuyler some trouble at first. but you can always do mushy steamed veggies and little bites of fruits. avacado is a great food! makes a great spread for sandwichs, too!

[deborah_r]

On a recent road trip, I ventured into McD's or Burger King, can't remember which, and was surprised and distrubed to see you can request toddler toys to go with your happy meal/kid's meal. The disturbing part was that some part of me was like, "Oh, he's supposed to be eating Happy Meals now..." and then I snapped out of it. But I bet a lot of parents are sucked in by that. Oh, they offer toddler toys, so my kid must be ready to eat this.

I guess it would be OK on occasion, but I don't see why I should give my child that stuff now, when he's not asking for it yet - there will be plenty of years of listening to him beg for a Happy Meal, I'm sure!

[kseltmann]

You know, it's funny... I grew up in an Italian home in a WASPy neighborhood. All of the kids in school had sandwiches and fast food that I never had. I was not allowed to have it, and as a result I don't like it to this day. (Not that I didn't want it and fight for it as a kid)
Anyway, when I heard about some friends feeding a baby fast food, it really caught me off guard.
I just feel like starting good eating habits isn't a bad idea...

[stillplayswithbarbies]

The "toddler toys" are for kids ages 1 to 3. Their regular toys are not safe for kids under 3.

Did you know that most fast food places have healthy options in the Happy Meals now? You can get fruit in place of the fries and milk or juice in place of the soda.

Logan has had a cheeseburger happy meal with milk at McDonalds (she ate about 1/4 of the burger and maybe 5 fries) and a Chicken Nugget happy meal with mandarin oranges and milk at Wendys (she ate two nuggets and about half the oranges, it was a big serving).

It's not something I want to make a habit of, but when we are travelling and stop for lunch, it's good to know that there are options for toddlers too.

...Karen
DS Jake Feb 91, DD Logan Mar 03
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