Packing Diaper Bag with Solids?

I'm also a firm believer in feeding them what you are eating by that age. I love the portable food grinder. They love pasta with chicken and sauce ground up, etc.

Best wishes, D.

After 3 kids, my best advice is Cheerios are a standby in my bag at all times! They even sell a great "to go" container w/ 2 different sizes openings for keeping little hands busy. I would also bring a jar and toss what's left or bring the smaller jars.

Most jar foods are easy to travel with - I like the Earth's Best Organic- and handy if you need something fast and easy. Mashed Fruits and Steamed veggies can travel easily- just re-use the jars with fruits and veggies from home. Most restaruants will have food on the menu that you can mash up too.

Once she eats more finger foods, Graduates has some finger food snacks that are easy to carry along- I bought a few small childrens tupperware to carry them in. You can also purchase cooler bags that keep milk and other foods cold that will fit inside your other bag - some keep the items cold for 12 hours. Cut up cheese and lunch meat, plain pasta, carrots or other steamed veggies, bananas, and avocados are easy to take with as well.

Having an emergency kit in the car with supplies is great that way you can minimize your bag when you carry it in places, but have it all in your car just in case.

We did a lot of traveling when my daughter was that age.

For a longer trip I'd take a thermal bag with an icepack, but if we were out for the day I'd just use the diaper bag.

I would usually take a couple of jars and an extra jar with dry cereal in it to mix with water or formula and fruit. I would bring an apple and slice off bits for her to eat. At about that age my daughter was taking lots of food off our plates. We would get her her own fries, rice or pasta, but she was also interested in gnawing on vegetables and she would eat meat or cheese if I cut it up small. (Traveling in France we found her very favorite food was duck.)

Now my daughter's 14 months old and I get her a plate of beans or spaghetti depending on the type of restaurant, and then give her little bits of everything else we order. I carry a small tupperware with a mix of different cereals and raisins. (I think I read that raisins weren't a good idea, but she'd been eating them for three months by then...)

By nine months I had given up on the gerber type foods. My little boy hated them from the very beginning and all he ever did was spit them back out. I got tired of the fight, so one day, I handed him a plate with a little of everything that mom and dad were eating. He used his two bottom teeth to the best of his ability and ate it all up. For on the go meals..... lunch meat, bananas, frozen veggies will thaw in a ziploc intime for your little one to eat. A little bowl of pasta, easy for them to eat and not too messy.

I have been keeping 2 jars of #2 and a spoon in the diaper bag all the time, in a ddition to a little tupperware of puffs or goldfish, and cup of water. This pretty much meets all of our needs for an afternoon out. I also ten to keep a formula travel container and a bottle if we may be out longer just in case. It doesn't take up that much room and it is better to be prepared. My daughter is about 10 mos. so close to yours.
Hope this helps.

Try the line of gerber graduates, they have jarred meat sticks, very soft, cubed fruits and veggies and they are super portable. When I was out running with my kids I would pack crackers, cheese sticks and anything that wasn't too messy but easy to get to in the diaper bag. Since you cannot just sit and feed her while shopping get things she can hold herself in the shopping cart or stroller. Even a small plastic bowl of cheerios. I always tossed the food afterwards at the restaurants even if my kids didn't finish as you should do that anytime you feed them right out of the jar. They have those snack sized baggies that are awesome for dry cereal, crackers and goldfish!

I have a nine month old boy at the same stage. I bring it in little plastic containers with a spoon and bib in a ziplock bag. Wipes work fine for me for cleanup. Graham crackers and rice cakes are great finger foods and he loves them.I make my own baby foods and freeze portions in ice cube trays. I pop a portion in a plastic container and they then are usually defrosted right on time. Most restaurants will heat it in their microwave if it needs warmed. A great book, if you're interested, is "The Healthy Baby Meal Planner" by Annabel Karmel. The recipes for older babys and toddlers work for the rest of the family too and are often multiple servings that you can freeze and then just use as you need them.

What do you think they fed children before GERBER????? Feed that child what you are eating. Mash it up and feed him.. My sister gave me this web site and I love it but you guys make things so technical when it is so simple. Lighten up. Your child will be just fine eating whatever you eat. He doesn't like it then he will be hungry the next time you eat. He won't starve. May be a little cranky and cramp your style a bit but will have it figured out after a couple times. Better eat what mom gives me. Life is so much simpler that we let it be!

Have you ever seen the feeder bottles you can get them at Walmart. Doctor's say they need to learn the social skills of being spoon feed, but I only used them when I was traveling or at a restaurant were they didn't have crackers or anything they are great and no mess.

I remember those days of packing the diaper bag full for a day out. The jars do get a little difficult, and you worry because they are glass. Gerber does have solids that they put in a square plastic containers. These fit better in the bag and don't have the risk of breaking. If you want to start some finger foods you can put those in the take and toss containers that fit well in the diaper bag too. Good luck!

On only one occasion have I been somewhere that I couldn't get food when I was out. With all 4 kids I could order a side of steamed veggies or get crackers from the waitress at nicer restraunts. If I knew ahead I'd need a meal I used those snack size baggies for bite size fruits or steamed veggies (ask for an extra plate or use a drink lid and smash at the restraunt)and a mix of cereals that often would occupy the baby longer so I could chat with a friend. Now they have those great snack packs just for babies on the go.

does your baby eat cheerios or anything like that?
can you make some macaroni noodles and just pack them in tupperware?
(no sauce)
I always just take a bib, spoon and jar of food.
it's pretty simple.
:)
good luck.

When my daughter that age, I did have a bottle of water and a "travel" container of formula that I kept with me. However, when my parents would take me out for lunch or dinner, she ate what I ate. I remember going to Chuck-A-Rama a few times. I would get her a plate of her own and put mashed potatoes, squash, a roll, steamed carrots(I had to mash them)on it. She even liked pickled beets which they had already cubed. She ate "big people" food. Now, if we were just out for a couple of hours and she was hungry, I would have a ziplock baggie of cheerios, wagon wheels, etc that I could give her as a snack. On occasion, when we were at church and it was her lunch time, I did have a jar of food along with a spoon and bib that I fed her.

Be careful what you give the baby due to allergies but with a couple of teeth, they can eat pretty much anything you eat.

Good luck!!

I usually try and take food in a jar and the a bowl with a snap or screw on top. I mix up oatmeal at home then add the jar fruit or vegey when my son is ready to eat. It makes it thicker and I can store it at when done for up to 48 hours.

i read your question thought some ideas might help. we take healthy snacks like fruit chews that are 100% fruit and low in sodium things like those 100 calories snack packs they have cookies and we feed them to our son while we are in a car or out to the store to keep him happy. also grapes. and soft foods that wont spoil. another idea is to try putting baby cereal in with the formula that will feed your child and keep your child full.
hope this idea works,
E.

We used Gerber bowls that were leak proof. I usually fed from the bowl and then saved left over food and kept it cold. We travel a lot, so we keep a small refrigerator in the car. I would think cooler would do the same thing. The bowls were hard to close, but always kept the food from leaking if a jar leaked. Our kids both really liked the Gerber meat sticks. One son preferred the toddler foods once he wanted thicker foods. That's a texture thing. I don't think our first would have liked them at all. Part of why we did the bowls was our second one was a picky eater so we mixed everything to hide. Our first one, we just took the food, gave him a place mat, and let him have at it. He went to table foods very early (8 months) which made it much easier. GL This is a really fun stage, although messy :)

I know when I started doing solid foods, it seemed a bit overwhelming, especially if you have picky eater and doesn't want what you bring. I did not use jar food but just mixed up my homemade food (usually a mashed version of my own food) and carried it in a plastic bowl in an insulated lunch bag with an ice pack. Since babies don't usually need as much food as adults, take small serving sizes and foods that travel well, like yogurt with fruit, soft bread pieces, pasta, and small-pieced snack foods like cereal or crackers. Bananas travel well as long as they don't get smooshed, and as he's gotten older I bring whole pears and apples with a dull knife to cut at meal time. We are out quite often at meal time and it does get easier, especially once they can eat anything you do.

I am all for simplicity and always carried along the jars and a spoon. Anywhere I went could provide a bowl to me or I'd just use the jar and not save the rest since it can grow bacteria. There is just too much out there to use and buy...it can become a bit rediculous. I never used a diaper bag bigger than the size of a medium purse because I just can't stand carting around tons of stuff.

I used to take jarred food (preferrably the kind in the plastic containers since they aren't as heavy), but my kids would usually finish the jar. If your baby isn't, you can buy small containers (or keep some of the plastic ones and wash them out) and just put half the jar into them to take with you. That way you won't waste a full jar if she doesn't finish it. Other things are finger foods you can find right by the baby food - puffs, biter biscuits (although these can get really messy), zweiback toast, etc. Also, buy the cheap "disposable" spoons. They are washable, but if you lose one you're not out much. I always kept disposible bibs in my diaper bag, too. All these you can find in the baby section of any store.

I always found foods that my kids could eat in a restaurant, mashed potatoes, peas, applesauce, soups, ect,. I pack with the least possible "stuff" After 7 kids I have learned how to cut back, a typical bag for me at that age looked like this:

Small bottle of water.
container with formual (those ones with the divisions you find at places that sell formula).
3 Baggies with finger foods. (her age can start on cheerios or the puff finger foods you can find in the baby food section)
1 or 2 toys.
2 diapers
Small travel baby wipes.

But in my van I would carry extra clothes, diapers, wipes, blankets, water ect,. This way I had the stuff but didn't have to carry it around. We call it the emergency bag, I even have stuff for my older ones where accidents might happen, I also keep band-aids, neosporin, those kids of things. I keep it in a duffle bag so it doesn't take up much room. Just remember to change the clothes with the weather :). I have done this mistake a few times!

Like most of the other moms have already said, most eating establishments have some type of food your little one can eat. My son loved soup. But I also just kept a spoon and a jar of babyfood in the bottom of the diaper bag for when I needed it. All that extra stuff like travel bowls are bulky and really just a waste of money. If you really want to take prepared food from home, just use the little tupperware bowls that everyone has in their drawer and never know what to use them for. Also if she is wanting finger food all resturants have crackers which babies love, you can just break them into little bite size pieces for her. I also just kept a baggie of finger food like Cheerios or Gerber vegi puffs handy in the car or diaper bag. You will figure out what works best for you lifestyle.