10 months old..what to feed????

[tattlebaby]

Hi Everyone,

So my LO has been EBF and eating simple solids (fruits and veg.) But she's been very fussy lately. Seems like I have to UP her calorie intake perhaps. She pretty much is going through a feeding strike lately though, so IDK what to do. She doesn't really like taking the spoon, so we've been offering diced up foods, but pieces have been offered extra small to prevent choking, because she still has no teeth. But as a result, she has a hard time picking up the food, which sometimes leads to frustration. What should I do?..she still gags on foods too..so scary.

Also what should a 10 month old be eating? I don't know where to start. I want to look into cooking healthy/daily meals for hubby and I, that we could try sharing with her at the table in smaller portions. Any ideas? Tips please???..Let me mention that I know nothing about cooking.unfortunately, but I really want to take my child's nutrition seriously…PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME!!

 

[fieryphoenix]

Have you asked her doctor? I think that may be a valuable resource for you, in terms of what should she be able to eat, when to introduce foods, info about sippy cups, ect. They should have some informational material for you to read I'd think

 

[MindUtopia]

I would just offer her what you're eating (assuming like you said that it's healthy). At 10 months, she can have just about anything you are. I wouldn't bother cutting things up or modifying the size in anyway. Just give her whatever it is in the size it normally is. It sounds maybe a bit counterintuitive at first, but actually chopping up food into small pieces is more of a choking hazard than leaving them big. When a piece of food is big, she can hold it and move it around her mouth with more control. When it's small, she can't keep a grip on it, can't control it as easily in the mouth, and it's much easier to suck down the windpipe. Also, they don't need teeth to eat. We started BLW at 6 months and my daughter had no teeth. She ate steamed broccoli, cucumber, melon, toast, eggs, etc. all with no teeth. My friend's daughter ate 4 chicken strips the very first week of weaning without any teeth. They can chew perfectly well without teeth, so I wouldn't worry about that (unless it's maybe a really hard cracker or something).

So I would just offer her what you're eating. You could roast a chicken and give her some big chunky strips (big enough for her to hold onto the handle bit while she chews on it), mashed potatoes (may seem more like pureed food if that's what she's used to, she can pick it up with her hands), steamed broccoli or roasted carrots/parsnips. Soups with toast dippers are good. Cheesy twice baked potatoes are good (also since the inside is soft, they're easier to eat). There are lots of savoury muffin recipes out there. I used to make some with spinach and feta, or cheddar and broccoli, which my daughter loved. Really the possibilities are endless. She will do just fine. If babies can eat those things from 6 months, she'll do fine at 10 months. It's just going to take a bit of time because starting finger foods means she needs to re-learn how to eat and move food around in her mouth. But she'll get there.

That said, though, the time around 9-10 months can be kinda rough on eating. My daughter, who ate like everything, suddenly would only eat fruit and yogurt for about a month. Turned her nose up at everything else. I just persisted. Offered her things I knew she'd like but also new foods too. Finally, after a month, she devoured like half a 6 in quiche! And after that, she was back to normal. They go through these weird phases. As she's having a feeding strike as well, I imagine she is just having a bit of a phase and will pop out of it soon. But start offering new things and see if you can hit on something new she does like.

And get yourself some cookbooks. We really like the River Cottage Baby and Toddler Cookbook (and all the River Cottage cookbooks in general, because they're all really natural and healthy meals). But there are plenty of recipes online too. Check out some of the baby-led weaning sites. You'll find lots of recipes there. Little Grazers is a good one. That's where I got my spinach and feta muffin recipe.