Comments on: Developing a baby's palate

By: A.Strange New Parents

A.Strange New Parents — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 19:21:35 +0000

We have a one year old son who loves to taste an try everything that we eat. There are several of the Gerber foods that he will not even taste (and i can not blame him) because it smells and also taste terrible. He eats small portions of all our food even when we are out at restaurants, any thing he takes an interest in we let him taste. He does eat some baby food but anytime he sees us with food he comes running to try it. We think that it is good for him to try all foods even ones we do not like.
We avoid sweets but encourage him to eat fruits anytime we have them, He loves water mellon, cantaloupe, peaches and granny smith apple sauce. These are given to him as treats and snacks. We can only hope that by allowing him to try our foods that he will have the same healthy eating habits that we have through out his life.

By: Genon

Genon — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:58:48 +0000

I gave my baby table food rigt from about 4 months. First it was pureed then when she strted teething , @ 10 it was just cut in peices. she had her fruit grated or mashed from about 4 months, then some lentil soup, yoghurt ,boiled peas and raisins. Gerber Oatmeal was perhaps the only store processed food she had. Now she is about three, and she eats whatever we eat. She loves the citrusy stuff, strawberries, oranges, lemons etc and eats home cooked chicken, fish, pasta, noodles (less spicy) . She was on formula for only the first fifteen days . She did have her share of picky eating and weight -dropping when she was about 2 years, but I think in the long run making her try new foods, and making her eat table foods was the best thing for her becuase now she is not afraid to try anything new and she can eat whatever we eat whithout us having to say no .

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:03:43 +0000

If you can at all possibly find the time to do this, make your own baby food.

I couldn't stomach the nasty stuff in jars, so I got recommendations from other moms and found a great cookbook (Mommy Made – much less pretentious than Super Baby Foods – which I also have). Essentially you either bake or microwave with water vegetables or fruits, wait until they cool, and then you puree them. No added stuff. You introduce a new food about once week as recommended by the book on when certain foods should be introduced (no citrus until 1 year of age, for example)

Real food. Very tasty. VERY healthy.

My two-year old went through this program and now eats what we eat. That includes asparagus, tomatoes, all sorts of fruits, corn cut off the cob, etc. No fits. My two-month old will get the same stuff when the pediatrician puts him on solids.

By: New Mom

New Mom — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:48:07 +0000

Barbara,

I would have listened to the Doctor...giving a newborn grown up food...that just doesn't sound like a great idea. Glad it worked out for you but I wouldn't be recommending that to others.

By: Barbara Upshaw

Barbara Upshaw — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:50:04 +0000

I have 4 children and my pediatrician told me NOT to introduce any foods to the baby until they were 1 year old. He mentioned that they were 'empty calories'.

By one month of age, all of my children appeared to want cereal, bananas or something more substantial than just formual.

At one month, I did feed all of my children baby cereal for a few months, followed by introducing applesauce, bananas, green beans, etc.......very slowly and most of the foods I did make myself (organic) and puree.

They just loved chicken & dumplings, spinach, brocolli, asparagus, et al.

I believe the entire process of feeding your children is based on their specific needs, requirements and be aware of any underlying health issues. Just common sense basically.

Calm down you new Moms and see what your baby wants. It's just one day at a time.........and CONGRATS TO YOU!

Barbara Upshaw
Alpharetta, GA

By: Hayley

Hayley — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:52:24 +0000

I have always just gone with my gut. I add a little salt or sugar have always offered food that was healthy so my children don't know any different. Every night since they could eat regular food they have a meat, starch and vegetable. Both of my sons will tell you that their favorite food is Broccoli – and they get really excited if I add a little cheddar to it on accasion. On the other hand, my peditrician, who is also a dear friend, told me the other day that her son (who is the same age as my little one, 24 months) has not ingested a vegetable in 10 months. I don't force my children to eat healthy, there is just nothing else offered.

By: Alison

Alison — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:51:22 +0000

My son hated the pureed babyfoods so we made our own purees (that actually tasted pretty good). However, the issue isn't really the spices or the varety, but WHAT variety. My son was already diagnosed with several food allergies (through my breastmilk) before we started him on babyfoods, and we were told to use a delayed solids introduction with him. The real risk is introducing foods with dairy, soy, eggs, nuts, sesame, wheat, and corn too early. You can make some VERY baby-friendly and tasty things without those ingredients. My son did and excellent job transitioning to just eating whatever we are eating at dinner, and he likes a lot of foods that most toddlers don't seem to. It never made him stop wanting to nurse or not like his rice milk. I think that is a funny fear.

By: Jen

Jen — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:45:39 +0000

My twins just turned 13 mos. They've been eating table food for snacks and to supplement meals since they were 9 mos. They never cared much for jarred food, and by 10 mos., they were refusing formula. With the OK from my pediatrician, I started them on table food, whole milk, and a vitamin supplement at 10 mos. They had always been smallish, but now they've gained 25 percentile points in weight to be above the 50th percentile. Now, they eat anything I give them, including lima beans!

I think our parents, who fed us mashed up table food knew what they were doing. These feeding guidelines are to benefit the formula companies and the babyfood companies–ever look at the freebies that the pediatricians and hospitals send out? They get incentives to recommend certain products.

I just think you have to figure out what works for you and your kids and go with it.

By: LISA

LISA — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:43:37 +0000

My pediatrician recommended the "Super Baby Food " book to me. The food is natural, no added seasonings, salt or sugar. The best advice it gave is to repeatedly give your baby a variety of foods, if they don't like carrots today, wait a week and try again. On average a child needs to try something 12-14 times before they really don't like it. Different foods every day. My child is almost 5 years old now. We introduced the foods, dairy, veggies, fruits, grains, and meats- constantly rotating the variety. Every meal balanced . There is nothing she will not eat- all veggies including broccoli,asparagus ;all meats, both cooked fish and sushi, oatmeal, cream of wheat; all fruits. She eats more variety than I ever have in my life. As she got older she acquired a liking to regular seasonings, but up until age 3, I didn't add any salt, seasonings, butter, or sugars to any food. I also very rarely gave her fried foods. I am very proud of her eating habits...she also knows what are healthy foods and what are snacks and treats.

By: Ann

Ann — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:02:52 +0000

Sometimes your baby will tell you when he/she is ready. My ten month old, after finding out there are better things to life than rice cereal (can you believe it??!!) swats the spoon out of my hand every time I try to feed him that mush (even if I mix in fruit). But he'll gladly gum Cheerios to his heart's content. Lesson learned: Variety is the spice of life. There are healthy alternatives that I can incorporate into his diet.