What do you feed your 12 month old?

[Caryliz]

So DS2 is nearly a year old, and I really need some creative ideas for solid foods he can feed himself. His favorite foods, hands-down, are cheerios, teething biscuits, and really hard toast (I use ww sourdough peasant loaves from a local bakery, slice and toast, break into pieces, and let them get a bit stale - he can work on one of those pieces for 30 minutes, which is great). In other words, basically, bread. He also likes bananas, especially if I can hold the banana for him and let him nibble off the end. Needless to say, this combination leads quickly to one plugged up kid if we don't vary his intake!

He will sometimes consent to eat soft foods (applesauce, prunes, pureed veggies etc. ) off a spoon, but 90% of the time he wants to do it himself - and yet if you hand him a foodstuff that is neither bread nor banana (e.g. cooked carrots or sweet potato bites, both of which he used to love), he will throw it, smush it, feed it to the dog, or just outright refuse to touch it (he will literally hang out the side of his high chair to get as physically far away as possible!) He is breastfed, and nurses consistently, so I'm not overly worried about his nutrition. And his babysitter is able to spoon-feed him just fine at her house, but she has also remarked on how he refuses to feed himself anything that is not bread (after an initial honeymoon period of self-feeding soft-cooked fruit and veggie bites).

I'm really thinking I need to spark his interest with new foods, but the kid only has 6 teeth, so I'm feeling stymied. For the record, finger foods he has occasionally eaten include cooked carrots, peas, sweet potato, banana and broccoli. What have you tried?

Thanks mamas!

[Just1More]

When my babies are doing that, I just give them what I know they will eat, and then poke in bites of what I want them to eat in between.  They still feel like they are doing it, and yet, they are still getting some carrots (or whatever) down, too.

Also, some of mine have started with a spoon really young.  Dd3 is 15 months and has been a pro with a spoon for a long time.  Maybe he just doesn't like how it feels, yet still wants to do it on his own.  You could try sticking it in a bowl, and giving him a spoon.  Sticky rice and oatmeal are good for that.

And, since you are giving him wheat, does he also have dairy?  Chunks of cheese might please him?  Can he do a banana in a peel on his own?  Have you tried just handing it to him?  My first still couldn't handle that at 18mo, but all the others could no problem.  Or, also, an apple slice, with peel.  Or, even a whole apple, with a bite taken out of it so he can get some.  Or, bake a potato and give it to him in its jacket. 

[~Adorkable~]

my latest discovery was that i can give a quick rinse in a fine strainer to good cottage cheese and it holds up great, is less slimy and messy and easier to pick up, they eat piles of it at 12 months. also whole seasoned black beans are a huge hit around here, many other beans too, great finger food, they just really want them pretty spiced up, not so amused with then plain.  and yesterday i figured out oatmeal is a finger food if you get the texture just right. i warmed up some frozen blueberries, i huge favorite and poured both them and there sauce in the oatmeal with some butter and they ate a whole goal of oatmeal without stopping, it was the 5th or 6th time i have offered it oatmeal and the first time they have ever really eaten it. i think one of their favorite parts was finding the blueberries, though they ate everything. (they have long loved to eat things looking for the peas)

[Megan73]

Why don't you just feed him what you're eating cut up into small cubes?
Last night for dinner my 11-month-old ate trout, buttered egg noodles, peas and mandarin orange. Tonight he'll eat pot roast, polenta and broccoli.
He likes steelcut oats for breakfast - we leave it to cool on a plate then let him self feed it in chunks. He likes chunks of hard-boiled egg.
For on-the-go snacks he likes Ryevita crackers and cheese cubes.

[crayfishgirl]

Our 10 month old also just eats whatever we're eating, but in bite-sized bits.  We generally don't make anything s[ecial for him, although for snacks or while waiting for dinner we'll give him frozen peas (still frozen...loves them) and cut up cheese.

[NaturalMama311]

My 12 month old eats whatever we're eating just cut up into smaller peices.  Pasta is one of his favorites, I just cook penne or rotini pasta and put butter and parmesean cheese on it/

[anjsmama]

Have you tried giving your LO a fork/spoon? I was really surprised when DD (12 mo next Saturday) went through a phase about a month ago where she suddenly didn't want to eat her fruits/veggies anymore, and it turned out she just didn't want to pick them up with her hands. I gave her a fork and presto - fruits and veggies back to normal. She eats whatever we're eating. I was very surprised to find out how coordinated she is with her utensils. She  can even do spaghetti with her fork, which shocked me.

Her diet is something like this: Oatmeal, canteloupe, strawberries, pineapple, bananas, cheerios, wheat thins (lol), sourdough or rye bread, tofu, broccoli, cucumber, tomatoes, cauliflower, carrots, lima beans, kidney beans, spaghetti, green salad, eggs, eggs on toast, cheese cubes, berries, apples (whole slices), potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans (her very favorite, fresh green beans steamed). We pretty much just cut what we're eating, I really don't cut her food any smaller than I do for my 3 y/o DS, just small enough for bites. 

Also because my DD really loves food that can stop her up too - she loves her oatmeal and bananas! Other than rotating with berries and such, are you offering water? My DD has stayed really regular since she started drinking a good amount of water, and her water intake hasn't affected her nursing at all.

[Caryliz]

Thanks for all the good ideas, mamas!

In answer to various questions - yes, he has been drinking water for some time and manages quite well with the sippy cup on his own. And he loves to *hold* a spoon, so I guess I need to just let him practice with it!

He has real issues with dairy - I can't even put milk in my coffee or he gets screaming cramps and then a tell-tale raised red ring around his anus - but as the older kids had (and thankfully outgrew!) the same issue, I'm used to this. So - cheese is off the menu. I'm also hesitant about soyfoods, after it turned out that the surfeit of soy protein in my own diet (I am vegetarian - including milk when not nursing) was producing green diarrhea in DS. I didn't have to eliminate it, but I have cut back, and that did the trick.

For those of you giving pineapple slices and cut-up apple - how many teeth do your LO's have? DS2 has only 6, which means he's not exactly chewing effectively. The one time I tried giving him mango pieces, he gagged on them and I had to fish them back out of his mouth. I have given him lima beans, kidney beans and stewed lentils (forgot to mention those above) and he loves them, but they also seem to pass through undigested, based on what I find in his diapers

However (drum roll please) I did give him hard-boiled egg off DH's plate this morning, and he LOVED it! I also love the idea of baked potato, which is very easy, and oatmeal as a solid finger food. And pasta - duh.

DS1 was such a GREAT eater (we have pictures of him at 10 months happily munching on pitted olives, hummous, and veggie burgers!), and was so handy so early, that it's taken me longer to figure out DS2. Thanks for the support!

[LM96]

I made some quinoa patties that my son gobbles down.  Basically they were 2 cups cooked quinoa, 2 eggs, 2 tbsp flour, seasonings, chopped carrots, onion, garlic, cheese (but I don't see why you couldn't leave it out), parsley, and I think that was it.  Mix it all together and put into a mini muffin tin.  Cook at 350 for ~1/2 hour.  He will eat 2 or 3 at a time and they are easy for me to just pull out of the fridge and warm up for him for a quick meal/snack.

[Caryliz]

What a great idea! I fed him sweet potato pancakes the other day and they were a huge hit. I'm learning he doesn't like finger foods to be cold (thus cooked carrots straight from the fridge are a non-starter), and he loves things he can hold onto while he snacks - so these look perfect. thanks!

[m0xxie]

Love the quinoa cakes idea, definitely going to try those! Thanks!!

[Glimmersnaps]

Sorry... I need to go to bed and I didn't read through all the suggestions so sorry if I repeat...

DS is exactly the same way. He loves picking up beans and little cut up carrots. Also I give him toast like you but I put things like hummus or dal on it. He also likes to feed himself with a little teaspoon. I usually 'load' the spoon with something that will stay on it like peanut butter (the fresh ground stuff from Whole Foods) or yogurt. 

So going to try those quinoa cakes!! Yum.

[nwatt]

My boys are 11 months old and they eat EVERYTHING that we eat.  They also do not have a single tooth between them.  DD also was eating everything that we ate by 10-11 months and she did not get her first tooth until 14 months. 

[newmamalizzy]

For things like apple and mango, if he's not chewing well it sometimes works better to give larger pieces rather than "bite-sized" chunks.  This will allow him to grate or suck smaller bits off the fruits or veggies.  From my experience, it's not the number of teeth that counts, but the child that's operating them :)  DD has been VERY slow at learning to chew, while I watched kids younger than her eating things like steak tips.  Have you tried meats, BTW?  DD loves cubes of chicken thigh.  Oh, and those gross canned mandarin oranges are a BIG hit.

[IzzyTheTerrible]

My 12 month old also eats whatever we are eating.  Tofu Cubes, mini veggie corn dogs, vegetables, fruits, etc.  With the exception of most raw fruits and vegetables. 

We do a combination of self and assisted feeding. 

For example for breakfast we usually practice self spoon feeding, so this week we are using rice crispy type cereal (cause it clumps to the spoon ok-ish) and defrosted frozen blueberries.  When he starts getting frustrated and reaching into the bowl with his hand, I switch to a few cheerios for him, or banana or whatever.  Something he can hold in his hand.

Snack today was peas (cooked from frozen) which he self fed.

Lunch was brown rice (spoon fed by me), tofu cubes and sugar snap peas - self fed.

By letting him eat whatever we're eating, it gives him the opportunity to feed a variety of ways.  I know how frustrating it can be for him, so I try to give him as many opportunities to self feed while not letting him be overwhelmed - so I give him breaks, too.