Food Info Pls

Can I start giving the babes some finger food? Little bits of stuff that they can pick up and feed themselves? What stuff should I give them (they are 8 months now)? Must I chop it up really small?

Then, I thought of giving them chopped up bits of strawberries, but my mom said it might cause a reaction in Kate. Her skin is really sensitive and with that rash / eczema thing, I don’t want to take chances. What do you think?

Then, do/did your babies also puke so much? Mine are always puking up a bit of their milk or their meals. Without fail. Not a lot, but enough to mean they are constantly wearing bibs.

I’ve made a Dr’s appointment on Thurs. Kate’s skin is getting worse and I also want to find out about Adam’s blocked tear duct.

Comments

[gkk]

Hi Tertia

I would stay off the strawberries for now, they are a common allergy and the advice is to wait until after 12 months. I started my girls on cheese (thin slices), bread, fish fingers etc - soft enough to not be such a choking hazard, chopped up finely of course.

I had two chuckers, both stopped pretty much as soon as they were sitting unsupported.

HTH
Georgia

[Pepper]

Small bits of squishy fruit (rockmelon, peeled grapes etc). cheese, rusks (it's amazing how they can get through those suckers..even with no teeth!). Shreds of chicken, sultanas...

Gromit got his nickname from Vomit Gromit, so my sympathies. But like everything else..it does get better

[colicmommy]

Cheerios, tiny bits of banana, teensy tiny bits of cheese, little bits of soft bread are the typical things they recommend in the U.S.

If Kate may have allergies, stay away from citrus fruit, strawberries, eggs, any kind of nuts, tomato, spinach, soy.

Some kids are barfers, some aren't. As long as it's not the whole meal and the kids aren't upset by it, it's not a problem.

[Elizabeth]

Here in the US they make these small puffs that disolve pretty quickly in the babes mouths. I think Gerber makes thme? They are pretty good and I eat them for a snack sometimes!

[Amber]

Do you have a teething net? That was the best thing we used for DS. We would throw grapes in that thing, and he would chew it for 15 minutes. warning: bananas ruin it, so use them when you think it is almost time to replace the net.

The net part eliminates the choking worry. When he was older, perhaps around 12 months, we even put steak in it, and he would go to town. You need to get one! (or 2, actually)

[Andy]

Steamed broccolli is a favourite with my 10mo. Also grated cheese, bits of banana (baby crack), and little bits of toast with Vegemite or cream cheese. Any of the veggies that you feed them cooked until they are very squashy and cut up into small bits would be good.

My bub has only just stopped spewing. He vomited so much that he had a constant rash under his chin and we carry him facing outwards from habit so that he wouldn't vomit on us. since he has been crawling and sitting upright more it has virtually stopped - which is nice!

[Kate]

If you have any worries about Kate's immune system, the major things to worry about are cow's milk, peanuts, eggs, wheat, soy, shellfish, and tree nuts (from aaaai.org). Though I think (?) you have used formula, in which case you already know cow's milk is OK.

Sears & Sears' "The Baby Book" has a great list of most and least allergenic foods on p. 271. Some easy ones for finger foods on the least list are apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, pears, grapes (choking hazard on the grapes so only if you cut them up tiny).

Bananas were the first food I was fed, and I puffed up in a rash (that looked like Kate's) all over my body! I am still allergic to this day. They are not on the least allergenic list!

[bec]

Give them toast and vegemite.

Would suggest no strawberries either - not fot any other reason but I always thought you shouldn't give a baby under 1 strawberries.

[Susan]

By the time B was eight or nine months old, he'd look at A's plate and scream until I gave him whatever she was having. None of this wussy baby food stuff for him.
So he got basically anything that could be cut up enough for him to eat. He loved whole bananas - he'd eat two at a sitting if I allowed it. (which I rarely did, because of the "binding" issue)

[Judy]

Have you seen any of those videos of kids puking (home video type things)? Okay, my kid can bury those tikes. We're the quintessential spitter. As long as they are gaining weight, it is alright, and it does let up. Tyler is almost 11 months and only spits up about 3 - 4 times a week now, as opposed to 3 - 4 times an hour.

As for the finger foods, as long as they can pick them up with a pincer grip, then they are ready. We started with Cheerios/cereal, then moved up to quartered grapes, pieces of banana (which is really fun because it is squishy), cooked carrot pieces, steamed broccoli, and now we're on to toddler meat sticks (cut up - like hot dogs), peaches, toast pieces, etc. My ped's rule is if he wants to try it, let him. And, if he likes it, then let him have it (within reason - no burbon shots for the baby). There are just a few no-nos: peanut butter, nuts, fish, oranges and strawberries (for allergy reasons here), but otherwise he eats pretty much everything we do. He's eaten hamburgers, pizza, chicken...not his main course, mind you, just tastes, but I'm being much more lax in letting this one eat what he wants so I don't end up with the Pickiest Eater On The Planet like my older son!

[Mollie]

There are several who would say that holding off on certain foods until a certain age does nothing to prevent allergies. So there you go. It can't hurt to hold off, but it also may not hurt to go ahead and feed, either.

Finger foods? Oh, the babies will adore it. The basic rule is anything you don't need molars for. If it can dissolve in the mouth in short order without need of grinding up in the back teeth, then it's safe. Likewise anything cooked soft enough to be "chewed" with the tongue by just squishing it around in the mouth. If you are in doubt, take a nibble and pretend you don't have teeth. How easy is it to swallow?

As much as you can, share what is on your plate with them, and eat at the table with them (I recommend those seats that clamp on to the edge of the table). It's an important part of socialization, the whole "meals in a group" thing.

Have fun with it. And don't stress over the allergies thing. The item my kid is deathly allergic to he didn't eat until well after a year old.

[Anny]

I just wanted to mention that all 3 of my kids had the blocked tear duct thing. With the older two it cleared up on it's own by a year old but my youngest had to have surgery to correct it. It was a pretty simple outpatient procedure, the only hard part was they had to put him to sleep and dealing with an 18 month old coming out of anesthesia is like dealing with the most belligerent drunk you've ever seen!
You can try warm compresses and massage with your pinky finger in the inner corner of the eye. Sometimes that can help.

[Jillian]

Well, according to my pediatrician, after the child is walking for about 3 months, the spitting up normally stops on its own, if it hasn't already. As far as finger foods, if they are already picking everything up and putting in their mouths, then they are ready. Stick to easy things like fruit or soft veggies, and of course, anything else they want to eat. Try to make sure you take pictures of them eating anything messy like spaghetti or bbq sauce. Those will be fun to look at when they get older.

[Leah]

I agree with your Mom on the strawberries thing-my son develops a rash everytime (which is not a lot!) he has had anything with strawberries in it. I remember at 8 mo the doctor telling us we could start feeding our son what we were eating. A good investment for me was a food processor. You can throw in a little bit of whatever you are eating for dinner and it grinds it up into babyfood consistancy.

[Suzie-Q.]

No strawberries yet! They are an allergy inducing food at this age.
Also, i call my babies "The Spitters" b/c they spit up every day also and have to live in bibs. They have acid reflux and take medication for it as well as drink Enfamil AR (added rice to thicken it for spitter babies).
Evan likes to spit up when i am holding him facing me right down my shirt and into my bra!

[Blondie]

Gerber makes a very good first finger foods starter called Fruit puffs. They melt in the mouth on most occasions. They were a very, very, very "First Finger" food & good for my kid to learn with. He still would choke on almost anything but you'll notice that sooner than later, they'll become savages about snacks like that.

Everyone gave some very good advice...small tidbits from dinner...very soft chewy fruit - I gave pieces of finely chopped strawberries, pears, bananas and even mango (OF COURSE, not all at once).

Just keep in mind like with all foods, spring the new things on them slowly just so you can be aware of allergies.

Have fun...this stage of eating makes for interesting dirty diapers too (lmao). Gross but you know its true!

[Pam]

Zach has always loved bits of melon chopped up - watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew - not sure what's available or native in SA, but he is a melon FREAK. Also likes grapes, but the skins come right out the other end intact (we cut them in half so he doesn't choke on them).

He also did chunks of sweets potatoes/yams that had been steamed and were squishy.

[liz]

Cheerios, noodles, goldfish crackers. Chopped up apples, halved or quartered grapes.

[Ute]

As for the rash: Try dabbing it with really strong black tea once or twice a day (tepid of course, not hot).

Our little daughter had the same problem (and still has, from time to time, though it's never been that bad again so far): http://www.ute-gerhardt.de/050501_02_kl.jpg .
As you can see, her skin was _really_ bad.

Ten days later she looked like this: http://www.ute-gerhardt.de/haut.jpg

[Kristin H.]

I am absolutely not good for advice on this topic, since I am not a mom yet, but I have come across some people who rave about this thing:

http://www.babysafefeeder.com/home10.htm

Good luck! Yum, yum!

[transmogriflaw]

Tertia,

Maybe try taking cow's milk out of Kate's diet and see if that controls the exzema. A good friend of mind had a baby with the same symptoms (rash and lots of vomiting) and when she cut dairy out both stopped within days. It turns out the baby had an allergy to cow's milk.

[juliette]

Jake is now 14 months old and yet I still worry about him choking on things; he eats most everything but I tend to break it up into tiny bits first! When he was K and A's age he pretty well just had everything mushed up ie pureed fruit/veg etc and just the baby food jars. He was a chucker also; some days he would go through 5 outfits (me too as I used to get splattered; it was awful!!). He suddenly stopped around the 8 month mark and I think it was because then he was on a lot more solids. I hope A's tear duct comes good; Jake had a blocked duct when he was born, I used to just clean his eye with saline and it went away.

[Lisa Sipka]

Hi Tertia, I haven't been giving Charlie many table foods yet, and I figured I better get with it. I don't want him to be like my friend's nearly 2 year old, who still wants baby food all the time.

So far he's had Cheerios (he has been eating these for a long time and loves them, great way to occupy him while I eat my dinner, fruit (in the little masher / net thing), Nilla wafers, Zwieback crackers, Arrowroot cookies, and Gerber puffs. Mainly snacky stuff. Here's what I'm going to start with this week:

Canned peas, corn, and green beans
Waffles
Banana
Chicken (cut very tiny)
Macaroni

I don't expect him to do very well at first - but I figure better to expose him now than later.