Moms,
My son is 11 months old and I was wondering when most babies switch from baby food to regular food. Jackson will eat pieces of fruit in yogurt and will eat bites of things here and there, but never a lot of it. Sometimes he won't even eat 3rd foods that have little chunks in it. He can't eat baby food forever!!
In my experience and from talking with friends with children , not many babies to like 3rd foods , they are basically slop with a few lumps. I would skip it altogether and start to offer table foods cut up small.
My daughter didn't like much of the "3rd foods" either. Try offering him small bites of whatever you are eating and see how he does. He'll probably prefer the taste of "real" food rather than those "3rd foods"!
Try giving him some of what you eat and see how he does. If he doesnt do well then continue on the babyfood for a few more weeks and then try again.
I give my son (9 months) little pieces of what we eat for dinner and a jar of baby food. I have to do the baby food too at this point because it takes him so long to chew (gum) the food that he gets frustrated. I think by 11-12 months my older son was totally off of baby food...I'm hoping the same is true for his brother!
If it is helpful, all three of my children hated 3rd foods (have you ever tried it...YUCK!!!). Around 9 months, they all started to want what my husband and I were eating. We started slow with cheese, yogurt, pastas, pancakes, soft veggies and fruits, etc. As they became better at chewing and maneuvering food in their mouths and got some more teeth we were able to give them more and more. By a year, they were eating everything we ate, just in very small cut up pieces.
Try feeding him what your eating, the flavor is so much better.
They don't ever need baby food. If you wait like you're supposed to until at least 6 months, they can go straight to mashed pieces of table food.
Jarred baby food is nasty:( I don't blame him for not wanting to eat it. Just give him little bits of whatever you're having. He still gets everything he needs from breastmilk/formula and will for a few more months.
Relax, they don't NEED solids until after 12 months, so eating just little pieces is fine:)
I see most people have already hit this on the head. My daughter HATED 3rd foods. She would love the little bits of mushy foods from mine and my husbands plates though. I wouldn't stress out too much, and don't push too hard to try to force him to eat because that can cause a back lash. I'm sure he will out-grow the baby food and start wanting what Mommy has befoer you know it. I think my Daughter didn't eat baby food anymore after 10 or 11 months. You can switch when you like, just watch the amouts of seasonings in it, and avoid honey and peanutbutter (but I'm sure you probably have heard that before) until after a year.
I see my kid isn't the only one who hated 3rd foods! If your son can chew, start him on very small things like Cheerios to practice. Also small veggies like corn or peas are good to start with. My son loved chicken & roast beef at that age, if you cook it until it's very soft and cut it up into tiny pieces. I also liked to make him those mini-pastas, those are the perfect size. Just keep everything really small as he gets used to chewing!
