I might be a little stupid...

Hey guys, I was @ our pedi's yesterday, and she threw me for a loop. She said the twins should now be getting most of their calories from solids. :umm: She wants me to start introducing "people food." I am so not ready to do that BUT I am going to try. I told her that the twins gag on stage three foods, and she said it's just a texture issue, that they are ready. Anyway, I do the puffs, and the biter biscuits, but I would like to try some foods I can make myself?

Any ideas?

Also, I heard that once they start "real" food, they refuse baby food, can you share your experiences about this?

 

Mine were never good baby food eaters. Ever. Once we got them to accept textures they took off on real food and it was so much easier than trying to get them to eat baby food all the time.

The way we got them to start eating was for us to eat what we wanted them to eat. The first food we got them to eat was Kraft Mac 'n Cheese, and it's b/c DH was eating it and he'd share a little with them. We also started between 9 and 12 months old, but it wasn't until 12 - 13 months old that they actually accepted the real food. It took a lot of time and patience, my girls would gag on any texture for a long time.

 

That's baloney, at least for breastfed babies! Solids until a year then are just practice. I don't know if you formula feed or breastfeed but I know this is true for breastmilk. If they're eating things with texture then I think you're fine but I wouldn't push them to take more than they're ready for! It will come - whether it be now or later but it certainly doesn't hurt to try people food. The PP had a good suggestion with pasta - it's nice and soft. Also things like soft blueberries and bananas and avocado (not mashed) are good ideas. Little bites of meat and bread, etc. It'll take time but it'll happen! Don't stress about it if they don't like things right away.

 

I started with small pieces of fruits & veggies, pasta, little cubes of bread & cheese, Cheerios, etc. Almost anything you can think of that can be cut into small enough pieces. And, yes, once they started being able to feed themselves, those purees were out the window! There was no turning back.

ETA - Here is a link to the thread in the FY Handbook with tons of suggestions for finger foods.

 

My boys hated stage 3 foods and always gagged. We just skipped them altogether. We went right onto small finger foods ... mostly anything we ate and could cut up, we would let them try. We were able to keep with the purees for a little while but once they really got things figured out they did refuse those. GL!

 

I disagree with your pedi's advice. Breast milk/formula should still be the primary source of nutrition until they are one year. I would make sure to offer milk first and then solids. At around 9 months mine started refusing purees and went mostly to finger foods. For me it was easier that way since I made their baby food. It was easier to just offer finger foods.

 

As others said I feed anything that is soft/mashable with their gums, and can be cut into small pieces. Pieces of bread and toast, grilled cheese sandwich, banana's, soft cooked veggies (I like the frozen veggie medley), pasta's. Gerber also has "meat sticks" that I like to use, they stink, they taste gross to me, but my kids like them well enough that it helps get their protein intake in on days I don't have any soft cooked meats.

 

Formula or breastmilk should definitely be the emphasis through the first year. In my babes case (they are smaller) that will carry probably easily to 14 mos. I would feed the milk first, then practice solids. We have good luck grating cheese, using full fat yogurt, chunks of sweet potato, avocado, macaroni/cheese, grilled cheese, and banana. They love toast and cheerios. They still gag on things they don't want to try, but we keep trying...chicken being one thing. I am going to introduce tofu this week - hoping that will be easier than chicken. Anyway, it takes a TON of patience and I have resigned myself to the philosophy that meal time is just going to take an hour and I will be patient. Good luck! And you are not stupid. For me personally, this new finger food practice is the most challenging thing yet!