Starting Solids - Lavalette, WV

I don't know if you have been there but it is a great website. Wholesomebabyfoods.com. My son is only 4 months so I am not there yet but I read the site all the time. Good luck!

My son really struggled w/Cheerios until he got more teeth, so be careful ... he did really well w/cheese & bread cut into small pieces. Stage 1 & 2 baby foods worked great too. And if we were out, mashed potatos or a baked potatoe always got rave reviews.

You could boil some pasta like rice or macaroni a little longer that you would normally and give it to her with her vegetables. You might also try giving her some pears and other soft fruits. I would wait for abbles unless you want to boil them first.

Any baby food stage1 is good, especially since he/she is so young, once they get to about 12 months start on stage 2, then 3 months or so later, start on stage three, then on regular table food and graduates. pureid things such as applesauce, or pudding are usually okay to start out with.

Some things to try:

shredded cheese (my daughter LOVED shredded cheese at that age)
small pieces of toast
avocado
small pieces of baked sweet potato
canned peas (they are mushier than frozen)
Gerber diced apples
canned fruit (like peaches, pears)
mandarin oranges - these are GREAT! You can freeze them, and they get REALLY cold, and fun to gnaw on when they are teething

The teeth thing is a common misconception. Babies don't need teeth to chew - they gum everything to death. None of my kids had a tooth before their 1st birthday (it's somewhat hereditary and normal). However, by 9 months, both kids were feeding themselves 100% with with fingers. I would simply take whatever we had for dinner and cut it into small bits -- they couldn't take bites off because they didn't have front teeth. Most babies don't have molars anyways and the front teeth are useless for chewing.

If she's been doing well on all those food, simply cut everything into pea-size chunks and put on her plate for her to pick-up and eat. For meats, shred with finger or fork and add some gravy/broth/liquid to make it a little softer. She should be able to eat anything you do... cooked veggies, fruit, breads, sandwiches, meats, cheese, crackers, cereal, eggs, etc. Most babies that age can chew/gum pretty much anything - just give her a chance to practice.

my son has just started solids recently and hes on stage1 jarred baby food. he likes the sweetpotatoes, peas and the bananas. they have variety on the jars, we pick some and try them then go with what he likes.we are gonna try greenbeans and then carrots. then we are gonna try applesauce and the pears. try some of these, good luck

Have you tried Mash Potatoes, Green Beans. My son ate anything that was soft like that when he only had one or two teeth. You can also find the Gerber Graduate Meals for young children. Oatmeal is another good thing. You can also find finger foods that melt in there mouth. That is a few suggestions that i have.

J. D.

Welcome to WV first off, I just recently moved back here but this is where I was born. Next babies can have almost anything don't let them fool ya'. My daughter loved mashed potatoes sweet potatoes, Green beans, and any other veggie. I had a hard time with getting her to eat fruit at first but she eventually came around. She liked to eat hamburger and chicken, just make it small pieces. Have fun with the feedings.

I always started my kids out on baby jar or home made foods before the table foods. Especially when they didn't have all of their teeth yet. I would think anything you can mush up like bananas, avocados, potatoes, pasta overcooked and mushy, just anything that you can mush up. Check with your peditrician too to get some healthy ideas and good luck.

My son loves Vienna Sausage (Chicken in the yellow can). It doesn't have the skin that hot dogs do, so it's really mushy and easy to chew.

What about sweet potato chunks, avocado chunks, pears, peas, green beans cut up in small pieces, or cheerios?

My little one is eating solids now also...I give her those little cereal bits by gerber/parents choice that can disolve. She gums them and then they disolve.

Also some table foods that she likes are...cooked carrots, mashed potatoes, green beans, and corn. We also cook whole brocolli and let her gum on the top....she wastes the stems, but loves it.

I have also given her little tiny strands of chicken...which she seemed to do well with. I also think that small peices of chopped fruit (softened by cooking) would work.

You could just stick to softer foods, or get a food processor. They are wonderful! This way you can blend up all the good stuff you eat and give it to your baby. My aunt used to blend up things like pot roast and put that into an ice-cube tray. That way you can have quite a few meals saved up. Just put the ice-cube in the microwave and it's done. You could do that with pretty much anything.

my little girl loved the microwave chef boyardee meals like the ravioli and that kind of stuff when she was that age and she only had a few teeth, just make sure you mash it good, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, stove top stuffing is good also, but yogurts and all that good stuff, but as long as you tear up the food in little pieces she'll be fine :)