first meats

[blumooned]

I gave DS some chicken for the first time & he is having difficulty "chewing" it. I cubed boneless breast meat, sauteed it, and gave it to him cut into small pieces. I tried eating some & couldn't manage without using my molars.

I know meats are fine to feed babies, but HOW do you prepare them!?!
I thought the chicken seemed dry - do you use a sauce/broth?
I am trying to avoid pureeing the meat - that doesn't sound appetizing to me.

TIA!!

[CanBoo]

If it is slow cooked and stringy I just give it like that.
Otherwise, I tend to do it the mommy bird way and pre-chew it a little as we are eating.

I'm also the one to hand a bone with nice little pieces left on.

edit: chicken legs are much moister than breasts

[Liquesce]

I've never given my kids meat other than what I'm eating myself ... usually roasted or in stews, FWIW, but that's just my own preference. If it's a little tough just slice it across the grain; I frequently cut into pieces small enough that if they don't get chewed much they're ok to swallow as is.

[kamane18]

Haven't given DS meat yet but with DD I used to give her small pieces of chicken from soup I'd made. So it was super soft and shredded almost and easy for her to eat. My SIL used to do the same but mash the chicken a bit with some of the veggies (carrots, etc) from the soup but I agree on pureeing. I'm not anti purees in general but pureed or mashed meats/chicken always sounded icky to me!

[JMJ]

DD hasn't been that interested in meats yet. She's 9.5 months old. I'll give her large pieces to play with so that she can chew on it and suck out the juices, but she hasn't even been very interested in that yet. Last week was the first time she ate any, and it was salmon. We got her iron checked at her 9 month WCV, and it was fantastic, so I think she just doesn't need it yet.

[claras_mom]

If you don't do slow cooked, try ground. I've given dd (9.5 mo) bits of ground turkey or ground beef, either fished out of spaghetti sauce or just cut from a larger patty. If I were cooking chicken just for dd (so far, she eats things that are part of what everyone else is eating), I'd probably braise it to make it softer.

[annekh23]

Depends if you expect them to swallow the meat or not! DD gets what we happen to have and she is picking up various pieces of meat and making good attempts to do stuff with it, but it doesn't actually get swallowed!

[YayJennie]

I usually give meats in stews and soups so they're pretty soft and easier to gum up, as my son still doesn't have any teeth!

[kriket]

Originally Posted by CanBoo

Otherwise, I tend to do it the mommy bird way and pre-chew it a little as we are eating.

Can you come cook at my house?

[tanyalynn]

I shredded it, shredded chicken was DS's first food, it worked well for him. The pieces weren't big and didn't need a lot of chewing--without molars, it seems hard to really chew anything. eta: chewing food as distinct from tearing off pieces of food, I mean.

[Abraisme]

Originally Posted by CanBoo

If it is slow cooked and stringy I just give it like that.
Otherwise, I tend to do it the mommy bird way and pre-chew it a little as we are eating.

I'm also the one to hand a bone with nice little pieces left on.

edit: chicken legs are much moister than breasts

[blumooned]

Thanks for all the tips!!
I think I'll do ground meats next or ones that have been in a stew or sauce. The stuff I gave him was going to get sauce for me & DP to eat but I didn't think DS would like it so I left it plain for him. Maybe next time I'll just give DS the sauce too.

[Ruthie's momma]

Originally Posted by CanBoo

If it is slow cooked and stringy I just give it like that.
Otherwise, I tend to do it the mommy bird way and pre-chew it a little as we are eating.

I'm also the one to hand a bone with nice little pieces left on.

edit: chicken legs are much moister than breasts

In addition, thinly sliced (and diced) turkey pieces and flakes of salmon are super easy to chew w/o too many teeth.

[WC_hapamama]

I've always served ground or poached meats at first. For beef and pork it was ground, for chicken and turkey I just poached it in water.

[noobmom]

DS got his teeth really late--first one didn't come until 11 months. Each tooth came in separately and took a few weeks, so he didn't have molars forever. But he loved steak and pork chops! Remember, their teeth are right under their gums, so it's not the same as someone who's lost their teeth.

Sometimes I would pre-chew food...or I would chop it finely after cooking. But mostly I gave small chunks. I don't know how much was chewed and how much was just swallowed whole, but either way, DS loved them.