Solid foods

When did your LOs stop eating mooshed gerber veggies and fruits completely? Mine just turned one and I'd like to let them eat entirely on their own but I'm afraid they aren't getting enough without the jars of moosh.

 

My girls just turned one and they have been eating regular table food instead of pureed food for a couple of months now. I really like to give them canned mixed veggies and canned fruit cocktail. It's already cut up and it's not too hard and crunchy- perfect for them to feed themselves. I know a lot of people who supplement, though, with baby food throughout the second year.

 

I supplemented with baby food (in addition to solids) up until 17-18 months, I stopped when mine were no longer into the baby food anymore. It was good for them to get in extra fruits and veggies :good:

 

With the boys...around the one year mark, I made the conscious decision to move to self-feeding foods/table foods (mashed potatoes/spaghetti/etc...some things requiring me to help feed them) instead of the "moosh" as you call it.

With baby girl, she's been doing really well transitioning to table foods and eats very little "moosh" now (I feed her applesauce, yogurt, or homemade sweet potatoes/squash/etc) but otherwise she likes to self feed. I do canned/fresh cooked and diced veggies and fruits as well as bits of cheese, toast, etc.

I just try to offer a variety. Plus you got to remember their tummies are like the size of their fist, roughly, so they're not necessarily going to eat "alot." When giving table foods it's hard to visually equate with the same amount of puree...for me at least. Plus there is nothing wrong with supplementing with purees to make sure they're getting what they need.

Good luck!

 

I always offer a variety of table foods to my boys and let them self-feed while we eat. Then, if I feel as if they haven't gotten enough of something (usually vegetables), I'll supplement with a jar of pureed baby food. We're doing this less and less as they are learning to eat better, but I want to make sure they at least get some vegetable/fruit, protein and carbs at each meal.

And we're still feeding them a huge bowl of yogurt mixed with fruit after every meal as "dessert". My guys are very skinny so I'm trying to fatten them up. I'll keep this up until they refuse, or they get to the 25% on the weight chart, whichever comes first!

 

11.5 months here... they refused to be fed at that point.

 

Once their pediatrician gave us the okay to start table foods at 9 months, they finished off what was left of the jarred, pureed foods (stage 3--I think). They had already been eating "finger foods" for awhile, so they did not have any trouble stopping the "moosh." I try offer a vegetable, a protein, a fruit, and a carb at each meal. We still feed them yogurt and applesauce but the majority of their foods are self-fed. In fact, I pack their entire daycare meals which are all self-fed. I agree with the previous post--you can still feed purees if you want to make certain they are getting the nutrients they need.

 

You can start with whole grain bread with peanut butter (basically a peanut butter sandwich cut into pieces). I toast the bread a bit so it doesn't become mush in their mouth. Also pieces of banana and cheese. Those all still a big hits even today. but I STILL have to supplement with veggie purees sometimes since lately they have boycotted veggies!

 

Mine are 17 months old and I still feed them the pureed (but lumpy) stuff as they wont eat much table food. I wish they would as Im tired of the fight at lunchtime!

 

Mine are nearing 16 months and we still offer some purees. If it's a food that they could chew up on their own, then I would just give it to them in pieces. Though I sometimes still give them the gerber fruit mixtures and let them feed themselves. Sometimes it gets messy, but I think of it as them learning how to use utensils. And what better to train them to use utensils when they're eating something they love? [that way, less mess and more food goes IN the mouth :lol:]

ETA: I started giving them their own utensil to use during meals around 12-13 months.