Solid Food to send to daycare & schedule for 8.5 month old

[rolypoly27]

DD is about 8.5 months old and goes to daycare full-time. Here is her current schedule:

5-6 am (depends on when she wakes up) - Nurses

She'll usually fall back asleep until 7 or so, then DH will get up and start getting ready for work & daycare dropoff. I have to leave the house by 6:20 so I'm usually gone by the time they get up.

11:00 - 5 oz bottle BM + Stage 2 veggie or fruit/oatmeal jar (1.5-2 jars)

3:00 - 5 oz bottle BM

I pick her up from daycare around 4:30-5.

5:45ish - 5 oz bottle BM + about 1.5 jars of Stage 2 food or homemade puree/mashed food

She also has one MOTN nursing (sometimes 2).


How is this schedule for her age? Should I be giving her food for breakfast too? The timing is a concern because DH often doesn't have time to sit down and feed her every morning, but if she eats breakfast at daycare would it be too close to lunch? Should we maybe give her some cheerios or something to feed herself while DH gets ready in the morning?

Also, should I keep sending jars to daycare or should she be eating more "meals" with meat/veggie/fruit? What can I send to daycare at this age instead of jarred food?

I want to start giving her more "real food" but I don't know if she really understands that she needs to gum/chew before swallowing. Jarred food is so runny that she just swallows.

Lastly, how do I stop her from throwing everything down to the floor?! She won't eat finger foods because she picks them up, throws it, and watches it fall down.

It shouldn't be this hard, but being a FTM I feel so confused right now! Please help!

[hoodlims]

I might add a snack to her time in daycare, maybe in the morning before a nap and then have her eat her jarred food for lunch? Or put the snack in the afternoon before you pick her up. Maybe like egg yolk.

You can also make pureed food with meats. The Annabel Karmel book had a few good recipes.

[Penny's Pappa]

DD is about 8.5 months old and goes to daycare full-time. Here is her current schedule:

5-6 am (depends on when she wakes up) - Nurses

She'll usually fall back asleep until 7 or so, then DH will get up and start getting ready for work & daycare dropoff. I have to leave the house by 6:20 so I'm usually gone by the time they get up.

11:00 - 5 oz bottle BM + Stage 2 veggie or fruit/oatmeal jar (1.5-2 jars)

3:00 - 5 oz bottle BM

I pick her up from daycare around 4:30-5.

5:45ish - 5 oz bottle BM + about 1.5 jars of Stage 2 food or homemade puree/mashed food

She also has one MOTN nursing (sometimes 2).

How is this schedule for her age? Should I be giving her food for breakfast too? The timing is a concern because DH often doesn't have time to sit down and feed her every morning, but if she eats breakfast at daycare would it be too close to lunch? Should we maybe give her some cheerios or something to feed herself while DH gets ready in the morning?

By 8.5 months we had added in a solid breakfast of fruit/oatmeal. Maybe you could move the 11AM feeding up a few hours and then do a "meal" (meat/veggie) at 11 instead? I don't think that would bring the meals too close together.

Also, should I keep sending jars to daycare or should she be eating more "meals" with meat/veggie/fruit? What can I send to daycare at this age instead of jarred food?

I want to start giving her more "real food" but I don't know if she really understands that she needs to gum/chew before swallowing. Jarred food is so runny that she just swallows.

Have you tried bumping up to a Stage 3 jar? Even something like "Mixed Veggies and Turkey" is a puree; it was just a bit thicker. I would try that out and see how she does.

Lastly, how do I stop her from throwing everything down to the floor?! She won't eat finger foods because she picks them up, throws it, and watches it fall down.!

Yeah...good luck with that!! If you figure it out let me know, because our 19 month old still does it!!

[Schmitty21]

As far as getting her to gum/chew, have you tried Baby Mum-Mums or similar teething crackers/biscuits? Baby Mum-Mums worked well for us, they are shaped like little surfboards and dissolve while they chew. I know they have them at Buy Buy Baby, possibly Target. You can also order a bulk box from Amazon.

Our DS is in daycare full time, too. Around 9-10 months or so he started doing breakfast, lunch, and 2 snacks there. 8am - Snack, 9:30 - Snack, 11:30 - Lunch, 2:30pm - Snack.

I remember the transition being hard, knowing what to do and how to blend the liquids with the solids. Good luck!

[FTMLuc]

I'd add in a breakfast/mid morning snack. If she does not do finger foods yet, plain whole milk yogurt mixed in with fruit puree would work for breakfast/snak depending on the amount. Depending on what time she is dropped off, they could feed her that at daycare. I also do mashed banana with raspberries as a midmorning snack for DD.

[rolypoly27]

You guys are wonderful!!! Thank you for all the great advice. I feel a lot better now. DH is pretty clueless when it comes to this stuff, but he's very supportive once I do the research and figure these things out.

I spoke to our DCP (home daycare) and she said she doesn't "do" breakfast because she has other babies to take care of so it would be hard to feed her in the morning. I guess that's the trade-off for having a smaller daycare setting with only one provider. So, for now, DH is feeding her some fruit/oatmeal in the morning before he takes her in to daycare. But he's been late to work both days he had to do that this week, so we'll have to tweak her (and his!) sleep schedule a bit so they both get up earlier.

I haven't given her any meat yet because I figure I'd start giving her "real" food around 9 months, which is coming up very soon. But maybe purees is a good place to start. I tried giving her some steamed veggies to munch on last night. She bites off a piece but then tries to swallow without chewing, just like with the purees. I guess I'll just have to keep letting her practice.

We do have mum-mums, puffs, and crunchies that I've given her occasionally. I think I will try giving it to her more to let her practice gumming. Thanks for the suggestion.

I haven't given her yogurt yet either, but I think that's a great idea. I was holding off because I didn't know when yogurt (dairy) was appropriate. I think we'll alternate between oatmeal/fruit puree and yogurt/fruit puree for breakfast.

I think we need to branch out into other "real" foods besides the same jarred food she's been getting so she'll get used to different tastes and textures. She loves avocado w/banana so I think we can start there and then add some more chunky foods.

Thanks for hearing me out and reading my long posts. All the advice is really great!

ETA: What did you send to daycare for lunch when your LO was transitioning from purees to finger foods? I don't think I'd feel comfortable sending them until she was doing well with them at home, but some ideas would be great.

[FTMLuc]

ETA: What did you send to daycare for lunch when your LO was transitioning from purees to finger foods? I don't think I'd feel comfortable sending them until she was doing well with them at home, but some ideas would be great.

I send lots of finger foods for practice eating, but for a more substantial lunch I also make homemade chicken soup with lots of veggies. You can puree it as thin or as chunky as your DD will take it.

It is quite simple to make. I put organic chicken breast and 1/2 onion in the cold water, wait until it starts gently boiling on medium heat. Make sure to collect and discard all that white foamy stuff that collects at the top. Once it is boiling clear, all the foamy junk is gone, add lots of diced carrots, potatos, zucchini or summer squash, and celery. Let bring to boil and simmer until veggies are soft. Fish out the onion. I usually save some chicken breast for finger feeding, as it is not try, like the baked one would be and infused with vegetable flavor from the broth, and DD loves it, and puree the rest. I have added some chicken liver into the soup for an vitam A boost in the past.

[BayGirl2]

You got good suggestions above. We did yogurt with applesauce or fruit puree for a long time for breakfast. You can also add the boxed oatmeal cereal to make it more substantial. The site wholesomebabyfood.com had a lot of good information.

Also, shredded cheese is a good early finger food. And picking it up will keep them occupied for a long time! I prefer to shred whole milk organic cheese myself, since the bagged stuff had starches added to prevent sticking. But you could use either type.

[rolypoly27]

It is quite simple to make. I put organic chicken breast and 1/2 onion in the cold water, wait until it starts gently boiling on medium heat. Make sure to collect and discard all that white foamy stuff that collects at the top. Once it is boiling clear, all the foamy junk is gone, add lots of diced carrots, potatos, zucchini or summer squash, and celery. Let bring to boil and simmer until veggies are soft. Fish out the onion. I usually save some chicken breast for finger feeding, as it is not try, like the baked one would be and infused with vegetable flavor from the broth, and DD loves it, and puree the rest. I have added some chicken liver into the soup for an vitam A boost in the past.

Awesome recipe! Thanks for the detailed instructions. I'm not very savvy when it comes to cooking so this helps a lot. I'm definitely making this! I'll have to make a whole batch and freeze the portions.

Also, shredded cheese is a good early finger food. And picking it up will keep them occupied for a long time! I prefer to shred whole milk organic cheese myself, since the bagged stuff had starches added to prevent sticking. But you could use either type.

Great idea! I guess I will start with yogurt first to see how she handles dairy. Then I'll move on to shredded cheese and string cheese.

Thanks everyone. Time for a trip to Henry's~