Exciting baby foods?

[azroc]

My youngest is just over 9 months old and hoping to expand her diet. She loves soups and pieces of fruit and vegetable but recently I haven't been able to find anything she really wants for breakfast. She's not keen on cereals/porridge, fruit doesn't really grab her that early in the day, she quite likes bread but so much of it gets crumbled away that she doesn't actually get full. She really loves the idea of finger food but she's at that awkward stage of being able to bite chunks off things but not chew them properly.
Also, if she's still breastfeeding a lot, how much do I need to worry about protein?
Any ideas and advice would be much appreciated.

[Krista]

Don't worry about protein; food is still just about experimentation and learning to eat at this point.

My son is eating a lot of toast these days. Untoasted bread gives us the same problem as you, but if I toast it (cut the crusts off) and put a tiny thin spreading of tahini on it, he does very well with it. Vegemite is another good, nutritious spread.

I'm still very strict about only giving my babies organic foods, but my one concession this time around has been Cheerios. I can't get an organic version here, so I've let him eat the regular kind. He loves them. He also gets puffed wheat/kamut - these dissolve really quickly so I don't worry about choking.

Also, we're not ready for this yet, but when my daughter was a baby, I would make everything into patties for her. I'd take whatever cereal I had made, fill it up with various nutritious fillers (tahini, nutrional yeast, fruits and vegetables, etc etc etc - I'd usually use a little rice or oat flour to bind it together) until it was a good consistency for making little falafel-like patties. Then I'd fry these in a lightly oiled skillet. She ate pretty much everything this way from about 9 months on.

HTH some. :)

[Christa]

I'd also keep in mind that babies don't really care if what they are eating is typical breakfast fare. They aren't set in their ways like us adults and probably wouldn't care if you fed them beans in the morning or toast and fruit for dinner.

[kjmckenzie]

Azroc -My son who is 14 months doesn't really like breakfast either. He'll eat some dry cereal and that is about it, but then around 10 or 11 am he will be ready to eat. So we just go on his schedule, but he is also breastfeeding so I don't worry too much yet.

Krista- I would love to hear more about those patties you make. What kind of cereal, like oatmeal or dry cereal? I guess it would have to be sticky to make a patty right? That is such a great idea. Could I add some fruit do you think? My son won't eat fruit, dried, juiced, smoothied, anything! But he loves vegetables, so I am happy about that!

[Krista]

About the patties - they really were great; they made feeding my very self-sufficient daughter that much easier when she decided she didn't want to be fed from a spoon anymore!

My memory is hazy (it's been a couple of years, and I have Mommy Brain) but it's all coming back to me now. :) You can start with any mushy food - as she got older I would make sure that there was a grain (or potato) and a protein in there, as well as some veggies and/or fruits. I make homemade baby cereals just by grinding the grains to a powder in a dry blender before cooking. You can do the same thing with dry beans, but I never did that as much because by the time she was ready to eat beans, she was old enough to self-feed mashed beans.

Anyway, start with a mush made up of whatever you like (I often just took a little bit of everything her dad and I were having for dinner and whizzed it in the mini chopper), and then "dry" it up by mixing in brown rice flour or commercial baby cereal, or oat flour, etc etc., until it's dry enough to work with and form into little patties. If it's too wet, it won't firm up when frying and baby won't be able to get it to his mouth without it falling apart (BTDT :) ).

I would think you could hide fruits in here; I know I used to hide kale and spinach on my daughter this way! :)

Also, these patties freeze well, so I used to make big batches when I had the time. I can't wait for my son to be old enough to feed this way - it is SO much easier, and it was always reassuring to know that baby was eating a complete meal.

:) Krista

[kjmckenzie]

Thank you! What a great idea, and I can't wait to try it!

Krista

[azroc]

Thankyou Krista, Christa and Krista.
I'll certainly try little patties - I hadn't thought of making anything like this for babies before. It's a great idea for older children too - unfortunately my older three always eye things like this with great suspicion. When does openmindedness about food take off? My 9-year-old is just starting to get it. It seems however much variety I gave them when they were tiny, they go through some very limited stages!
Going back to the breakfast issue, perhaps it is just that she isn't hungry so early. She generally has a good breastfeed just before she wakes properly. I'll do some experimenting.
Alison.

[Christa]

Wow, there are a lot of us C/Kristas around here now! As far as getting more open minded about eating, it usually happens sometime between 5-8 years old.

I used to work for a food program that was designed to help kids get over "neophobia" (fear of new things). That phase usually kicks in by about age 3 and usually lasts until around 5 or 6. Their research basically showed that some of the better ways to get kids who are in that phase (picky eating) to try new things were:

1) don't force them to eat it; just offer a small amount and let them decide whether to eat/try it;
2) keep offering the same new food over and over (8-12 times) and it will eventually become familiar and less threatening;
3) don't mix foods up (no casseroles) -- so much for patties! Just give the kid a small piece of the new food plain as well as other foods that s/he is fairly sure to like.
4) Make it fun -- things like letting him make a pizza face on an English muffin with some new veggies as possible toppings, etc.

[vegma]

Originally posted by Christa
3) don't mix foods up (no casseroles) -- so much for patties! Just give the kid a small piece of the new food plain as well as other foods that s/he is fairly sure to like.

LOL! And my 6yo still won't eat a bean unless its pureed! Black bean pate, black bean soup, lentil soup - all pureed. I'm glad to hear he's reaching the age to be more adventurous with food. At least I think I am - so far he's been very happy being a gf vegan! I hope that doesn't change!!! :p

BTW, is it ok for a non-Ch/Krista to respond? :D

[azroc]

My 6-year-old is bean-phobic too. He also dislikes tomatoes. Funny, I made a tomato and chick pea (garbanzo beans for you yanks!) soup and whizzed it smooth and he loved it!:)

[Krista]

LOL - I was getting a bit confused myself at all of us Ch/Kristas. :D

As for casseroles, etc. - sadly, the patty idea only worked when my dd was a baby. I'm thinking this change happened about 6 months ago, but it might have been longer. Casseroles, stews, even stir-fries are all out (for the most part), even when the ingredients are things that she'll happily eat separately. Perhaps if I made the patties into fun shapes and dipped them in soy sauce & nutritional yeast before frying, she might consider them, but since she can eat regular table food now I don't bother making them anymore anyway. My son will be ready for them in another couple of months.

I'm very much looking forward to the end of this phase, though! She's not really a picky eater (she'll happily eat brussels sprouts and turnip, for instance, if they're steamed and put in front of her plain, and if her mood is right, lol), but she definitely knows what she likes. :)

[kjmckenzie]

Hee hee. I'm just giggling about the Ch/Krista comments. We should form a club...Vegma, don't worry, you can change your name! :D

Seriously though, I am just happy for all the great ideas from everyone. It is so nice to have people who have been there, done that, vegan style!

[vegma]

Originally posted by Krista
Perhaps if I made the patties into fun shapes

Oh! This worked really well for us (sometimes)! We have some extra-small cookie cutters, and I'd let ds cut shapes out of the patties. In those days we were bread eaters, and he'd cut shapes in the bread, and make little sandwiches. Mamas, save room for the cut-out scraps! :p

vegma-rista ;)

[Jamie Wilson]

My kiddo went through a phase where he would only eat peanut butter sandwiches cut into a star!!!!

Now that he's almost 3 he's defintely going through the "no mixed foods" phase-- if I give him a plate with pasta and marinara, greens and cannellini on it he'll ignore it, but if I make him a plate with plain whole wheat ziti noodles, plain white beans, cherry tomatoes, steamed brocolli and carrots all separate from each other he'll devour it! Oh--especially if I include a ramekin of some sauce for dipping! He loves to dip.

[celtic-womble]

DS is 7 months and he's going through a ccokie and toast phase. He usually has a cookie (maple organic ones, happy something) while he's waiting for his morning fruit which is apple sauce, mango, mashed banana or something similar. Then he shares my morning toast. He has veggies mixed with cereal for lunch and breast milk the rest of the time.

[Krista]

On the topic of fun shapes - we actually have 101 cookie cutters (well, more than that really, but we bought a pack of 101 Wilton ones when they were on clearance) so we are able to make just about any shape we can dream up. :) My dd loves her sandwiches shaped like people (kind of morbid if you ask me, but that's ok). If I have a little extra time, the critters get decorated with raisins, coconut for hair, cut-up fruit leather in whatever shapes we happen to need (shoes, buttons, etc.). Those cookie cutters were a great investment! :D