Introducing Table Food

Updated on July 20, 2010
R.L. asks from San Jose, CA
13 answers

My 6 month old daughter doesnt seem to like baby food. What can I give her or introduce her to as far as table food goes. She likes the baby rice cereal in the morning but that's about it. Any suggestions?

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M.H.

answers from Atlanta on

Baked sweet potato and avocado are almost perfect foods and are easily chewed and digested. Sliced banana is good as well but be careful because of the sugar content.

M.

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V.G.

answers from Portland on

Just keep offering it. If she doesn't want it, don't force it. At 6 months its not a big deal at all if she doesn't eat it.
The point of starting foods at six months is to introduce it to them. She still should get most of her nutrients from breastmilk/formula. She'll come around eventually. My son didn't start liking food until he was around 10 months :)

B.W.

answers from Minneapolis on

We never used jarred baby foods, we pureed our own homemade baby foods. www.wholesomebabyfood.com and make food for her. It has more flavor, isn't processed and is way healthier for her. Plus it costs less and with having more flavor she will have a larger food palate when she's older (ie not a made picky eater).

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B.R.

answers from Sacramento on

She's still young and it takes time to develop a taste for the new foods. First off, have you considered trying to steam and puree' regular foods rather than serving her the pre-made commercial baby foods? The taste is so much better if you make your own and it isn't at all difficult. You can actually just puree whatever veggies or fruits you're serving the rest of the family for her. The only one that I don't recommend doing that with is carrots because you don't know where they were grown and sometimes carrots absorb some harmful (to small babies) elements from the soil. Baby food companies have specially grown carrots so theirs are safe (though still not as tasty).
Mostly, just give her some time. Keep on offering her table food. Give each food a week or so of trial before adding a new food. This not only gives her time to develop a taste for the food, but helps you sort out whether or not she is allergic to any foods. Don't stress too much if there are certain foods she never develops a taste for. That's normal, so just give her a good balance of what she likes.

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M.W.

answers from St. Cloud on

I agree that you should just stop the solids for awhile. Our son was exclusively bf till 9 months. I started baby food and one week later, he was on table food! HOWEVER, there were still days at a time after 9 months where he would choose to only nurse and not eat any "food". Let her lead. Perhaps she's just not ready!

D.B.

answers from San Francisco on

BANANAS!! and cheerios (goldfish too, but sparingly) my daughter quickly forewent baby food with those options around. Wwe also gave her everything we ate, just a little more cooked so we could smash it and feed it to her. My favorite image is of her sucking all the juice out of a piece of lamb - no teeth to chew it yet but her jaws were clamped down on it never to let go until all the flavor was gone - then she'd spit it out of course! so much fun!!

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E.C.

answers from San Francisco on

feel free to back off from offering her solids if she doesn't seem interested - at 6 months, solids feeding is not a nutritional necessity (all nutritional needs for the first year are met by breastmilk and/or formula) so you don't need to worry that she's missing out on important nutrients if she doesn't swallow more babyfood :-).
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com has lots of good ideas for baby food. and this link from askdrsears.com has a nice summary of following your baby's cues for introducing solids http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T032000.asp
Your daughter is growing and developing really quickly at this age and if she doesn't seem interested in other solid food yet, feel free to take a break from solids because her interest could easily pick up within a few weeks or even a few days.

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E.M.

answers from Bakersfield on

Hi Mama-
I would say skip the baby food and if you are not breastfeeding, keep her on a formula. There's really no reason to put her on solids at this age. Again, it's completely up to you. Does she have any teeth yet? If she does, you can give her soft, cut up foods like blueberries (very small pieces), melon, grapes, steamed and pureed veggies, etc. My sister in lawblended up fruit to make mini smoothies for her boys. They are almost 2 now, and it's really the perfect breakfast. She can put all the stuff the need for that meal in the blender, and they LOVE it. =)
Hope this helps!
-E. M

B.C.

answers from Dallas on

Yogurt, cut-up bananas, applesauce, avacados, oatmeal, gerber puffs, gerber dried fruit, gerber apple-wheels, etc. Gerber has a great line for your daughter's age!

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M.

answers from Houston on

I have a 7 mo old girl and she doesn't like baby food either. I think she doesn't like the strong taste to the baby food (jars). When I mix and a bit with her cereal so that it's diluted, she doesn't mind it too much. However, she has grown to dislike the baby food and cereals altogether. I have given her chunks of table foods to eat. I put it in the mesh food holder so that if she bites off chunks, she will not choke on it. She likes apple the most and I have steamed carrots (to soften so she could eat it). If you don't have the mesh food holder (I don't know the name but you can buy it at babierus), cut up the food, eg. apple, in large wedges, large enough so she cannot put it all in her mouth and good enough for her to hold and gnaw at it. I have also tried bananas but I am not having so much success. She likes it but she is having a hard time holding it due to it being so slippery when combined with her saliva and when it becomes so soft, she tends to mash it up in her hands. You could steam some fruits veggies soft enough but not too mushy and then cool them so she could hold them and eat it. You could also mash them and spoon feed them to her.

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W.H.

answers from Phoenix on

My son would NOT eat any jarred baby food, so we just mashed or pureed our table food (depending on texture/consistency & his chewing ability at the time). When you have mashed potatoes, make sure there're no chunks and just give it straight to baby! When you have soft green beans or peas or the like, just give it to baby.

A good test for what foods you can give to a toothless baby is to put it on your tongue then mash it against the roof of your mouth. if it breaks apart and is ready to be eaten without chewing, then give it straight to baby. Otherwise, cut up, mash, puree, etc until baby can handle it.

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D.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Greetings R.,
We have always used table food. What ever we have is what we mash up for the baby. It saves time, money and the child is eatting what we have.

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C.D.

answers from San Francisco on

Avocado, mashed bananas are good choices, does she have any teeth? if so try toast with butter or shredded meats. My baby was the same way, would only eat pureed fruits, Keep trying the baby food, or try pureeing your own fruits and vegetables with some chunks in it and freezing the leftovers in ice cube trays for future use

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