When to Start 3Rd Stage Foods

The only difference in the 2nd and 3rd stage foods is the amount of food in the jar. At one years old you can feed her anything she can chew. I started feeding my son pretty much the same foods I was eating, at a year old. The are these great foods from Gerber that are little green beans or carrots, also apples and peaches. They are super soft and easy for them to chew and to feed to themselves.

There are small cooked chunks in it. Like pasta rings and cooked carrots. It's to get them feeling textures and mashing them up with their gums.

I started my son on 3rd stage at 10 months. My sister on the other hand started her 5 month old on whatever she eats, just in small chunks.. I guess you have to go by your daughter and she shows interest in.

We were worried about choking and allergies so we waited but now my son is giving me the signal he is ready to eat eat eat;) He just started him on the gerber puffs and are now slowly introducing different solids to him. Like spagetti all pureed, scrambled egg yolks, rice, yogurt, He absolutely loves Hummus
Happy eating

You can save yourself money and probably go to regular food, especially if she is a year old already. We bought baby food once in a while, for convenience, but basically made food/gave our son whatever we were eating, once we passed the rice cereal and banana stage. There are a lot of naturally soft foods - tofu, avocado, banana, berries, beans straight from a can, cheeses and yogurt, cottage cheese, she can even have meat that has cooked until soft (chicken)...

3rd stage foods have chunks but they are easily mashed up for those that still don't have teeth. We kind of skipped over most of the jars of 3rd stage. My kids barely had 4 teeth at 1 but were eating table food. You could switch straight to table food instead of keeping her on baby food but beware, once she tastes food that has a taste she might not eat her baby food anymore (like if you tried to pack some for a trip). My kids were eating everything by the time they were 1 and this is when she can now have honey too. If you do start her one table food just make sure you cut the bites real small. Oh and I always gave my kids a fork and spoon so they could start learning to feed themselves as well. Enjoy watching your little girl grow, it goes fast.

Hi
I do not know about 3rd stage foods but about nine months for my children and grqandchildren i was giving them finger foods. at 5 months i started one of my children on table foods coursley mashed with a fork. i kept my children and grandchildren on baby food meats because they were ground finer and they did not choke on them.
Paula

I think every child is different in the eating stage. My daughter ate thirds at about 8 months because she didn't care for the purees and moved to table food by about 9 to 10 months. I babysit for another boy who just turned one and will only eat the purees with oatmeal cereal in it. He is just now starting table food and probably skipping thirds. So, I guess what I am saying is that if she eats the 3rds without gagging or choking, then it is probably fine. At this point, you may also want to start mashing/chopping up your food for her to eat too. Good luck.

I never used stage 3 foods, just went straight to table foods. My boys never liked the jar stuff after the first stage.

I think the difference between 2nd and 3rd stage foods is the food combination and texture.

I never fed either of my kids 3rd stage because they were able to eat table food. I only had a few jars to keep in my diaper bag or I'd pack PB & Jelly sandwich because my daughter could eat those.

My daughter is 15 months and she loves everything! Pancakes, french toast, toast, rice, pasta, green beans, canned mandarines, cold apple slices are great for teething, chicken nuggets, she pretty much eats whatever we are eating just cut up small enough she can spoon it up and keep from choking.

Good Luck! :)

I never used 3rd Stage foods much - it's basically equivalent to a meal you would eat, just mashed leaving some chunks and texture. At the time my kids were used to 2nd stage I started adding in table foods and alternating them with jars for convenience. My kids were pretty much totally on table foods by 1 year or soon after. Have fun, I think that transition is so great!

I think if you aren't concerned too much with food allergies, you can pretty much feed her anything that's cooked well and easy to mash/chew. A lot of people are concerned with how many teeth their child has, but until they are two, most kids use their gums where their molars will be to mash food.

Our little girl was absolutely done with baby food after about three months (so she was almost 7 months old). It sure saved us the $$ to make more food ourselves for her. Steamed everything to the point of super soft, or bought organic canned carrots, peas, green beans, etc., which are all pretty soft.

I think the "stages" can be a helpful guide for parents to maybe see what texture foods can be, but in reality, I bet they are more of a marketing gimmick to get you to pay a lot of money for food you can easily make for yourself and in a more nutritious way!

I think when the baby is comfortable using their back gums to mash small, soft chunks of food. That's the main difference between 2nd & 3rd stage foods: its a bit chunkier & larger quantity.

One year old is a great time to start third stage if not sooner. By one year, my pediatrician told me that my kids should be eating the same healthy thing the rest of our family eats for dinner. He says graduates and jarred foods are for the nights we eat fast food, or steak, or something baby can't eat. All other nights, we just mashed or cut up the food the best we could. Try it. As long as baby is not gagging or choking on pieces, then she is ready.

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Happy photo-sharing! :)

J.

Hello N.,
First thing is first, My daughter is only 6 months old but she has been started on 2nd foods already. But I also started her on solids 3 weeks early too. I think it just depends on the baby really. If you think she is ready then you should start. The best way to figure it out is to start out a little bit at a time and gradually give her more and more each time. If she is doing good with it and it's not making her tummy or anything upset, Then I would she that she is ready. Mamma knows best jsut remember that. Hope this helps.

S.

Hello N.,

Since your daughter is now a year old you can start feeding her regular table foods ( same kind you eat ). Just make sure it is cooled down and cut into smaller pieces to make it easier for her to feed herself. As for the stage foods goes there really isn't much of difference except for the texture of the foods. Stage one would be something like pudding to make it easy for the younger ones to eat stage 2 would be a little course with small chunks of food added same with stage 3 it has more chunks of food added. I started my kids on the stage 3 foods when they were about 11 months old. They didn't care for bottled bananas so I gave them a banana from the table all I did was cut it in small enough pieces for them to eat. Follow the above advice for your one yr old and slow introduce her to the table foods.

Good Luck.

God Bless and take care.
A.