Conference moira::parenting_v3

    Have you tried just cutting up whatever you're having into small
    pieces ?  I think I'd probably cry and spit out the ground together
    turkey, corn and carrots too ! :-)  I give Nicole (1 yr) whatever we're 
    having.  She will generally find something on the plate that she likes - 
    usually the bright green vegetables.  She doesn't usually care for the meat,
    but she didn't care for the baby food meat either.  Sometimes I get her
    to try it, but I'm not too worried about it as long as she's eating
    something.  
    
    -Joy
    

    My opinon is "yes", you are pushing too early.   In fact, it is hard
    for me to imagine just how an almost 9 month old with only two teeth
    could be expected to eat a piece of chicken or turkey - you really
    run the risk of choking at this tender age!   
    
    I know all pedis vary but I have heard several suggest the INTRODUCTION
    of table foods at around this age (9 months).
    
    They grow up so fast as it is...
    
    Carol

    
    Oh how I remember this phase!!!
    
    We were very lucky that JA ate ANY kind of baby food ...
    
    When we tried the transition to "real food" (around 9 months), JA
    balked, too.  She did prefer "soft, mushy" things (cheese, egg noodles,
    yogurt, puffed rice, "real" applesauce, small crackers, diced bananas ...
    
    At 12 months, our "sitter" introduced "fast foods":  sliced turkey,
    breads, ritz bits,  macaroni and cheese, mini Burger King's and fries,
    green beans, thawed frozen peas, goldfish crackers, popsicles, "sliced"
    bananas, "smashed" soup and crackers, boiled HOTDOGS! ...
    
    Now, at 16 months, JA pretty much eats what we are eatting ... but
    still prefers vegies, pasta, potatoes, sauces, yogurt, etc. over
    meat!  Only kind of beef we feed her is "small" pieces of a cheesburger
    or a boiled hotdog ... no ROAST beef.  She still manages to slip most
    of her "meats" to the puppy, though ... and I don't worry about getting
    meats into her since she does so well with the vegies and dairy
    products.  
    
    We followed the Pedi's recommendations on all transitions ...
    formula -> milk (9 months), strained food (3'ish months), soft table
    foods (9 months) ... "real" food (12 months), etc.
    
    For what it's worth ...
    
    Dottie
    
     

    Like many parents, we have a baby book for Ryan which, among other
    things, has a section on favorite foods etc. for different ages. At
    both a year and at 2 yrs. Ryan's favorite foods were sliced turkey
    (deli kind) and blueberries.  Only recently, at 2 1/2, has he begun to
    have any real interest in roast beef chopped up.   Hot dogs and hamburg
    weren't real attractive to him til this summer at age 2.
    
    Regards,
    

   I wouldn't be too worried.  Victoria is almost 2, and she still
   doesn't eat much meat - frozen fish, a little chicken (dark meat
   only - the white meat is probably not juicy enough for her), and
   very occasionally a piece of a hot dog.
   
   I think someone else said it in another note - let kids eat what
   they want (within reason, of course), and if you are concerned
   about their nutritional intake, then use a vitamin supplement.
   
   - Tom 
   
   (standard disclaimer, I am not a nutrition or medical professional,
   and this is strictly my opinion)

    My son David is 3 years old, and still rarely eats meat.  About the only
    forms that he eats are chicken or turkey mini-cutlets and small amounts
    of ground meat in spaghetti sauce.  He eats a pretty good variety of
    other foods, including plenty of dairy products, and he is a big, strong,
    healthy boy.  I don't feel any need to coerce him to eat more meat.  We
    joke that my (vegetarian) sister's lectures to him when he was an infant
    must have really had an impact!

    For David, a "hot meal" is something like a peanut butter sandwich and
    vegetable soup, or tortellinis with sauce, or raviolis with sauce, or
    pizza, or a McDonald's chicken nuggets Happy Meal, or 6 pieces of
    raisin bread toast...

			cheryl

To the basenoter:

At first, we tried *feeding* Michael table food, and got about the same 
reaction you're getting.  In fact, he reached the point of crying every 
time he was put in the high chair; I think he actually dreaded mealtimes. 
What we did was feed him baby food, but also put finger food in front
of him at the same time.  For quite a while he'd just play with the 
vegetables, etc. but he eventually started putting them in his mouth.  He's 
still not a big meat-eater, but he eats all the vegetables and fruits we'll 
offer him, as well as small amounts of chicken, pork, etc.  He's been
completely off baby food for a while now.  The main thing is that he
*loves* mealtime, and fusses to be put into his high chair while his dinner
is being prepared.  A major difference in his behavior. 

Steve

    David has been slow adapting to the foods the rest of us eat.  At
    15 months he still eats about half baby food, half other foods,
    and usually only a few bites of whatever we've cooked for supper.  
    
    It's partly because he's been slow getting his teeth.  Also, the
    muscles of his mouth don't seem to be developed well enough to
    manage difficult foods.
    
    We're not worrying about it.  Maybe we should.  :)
    
    --bonnie

    Its good to know I'm not alone.  I'm another frustrated mother seeking
    advice.  Laura just turned one on March 4.  She was always a pretty
    good baby food eater (I was thrilled).  I am now trying to introduce
    pieces of adult food.  She ate very well the first week (I was again
    thrilled) but now she won't eat anything adult, and she even balks a
    little at the baby food.  Any ideas?  Is she too little to say "you
    can eat again in the morning", or should I try to give her the baby
    food instead?  
    
    The reason I'm concerned is that I also have a 4 1/2 year old who won't
    eat dinner, and I think it may be because I catered to him by making him
    special meals every night rather than letting him eat what we eat or be 
    hungry till morning.  Now meal time is not fun at all.  All he wants to 
    eat is grilled cheese and spaghetti with no sauce.  He'll eat lots of 
    toast with butter for breakfast, maybe half a pbj for lunch, a cookie 
    snack mid-afternoon and can go on nothing for dinner.  I don't care how 
    much he eats, but I do like him to have a little of everything. I'm
    going to try some suggests in topic 458 for him. 
    
    I don't want to make the same mistake twice!!!
    
    Any ideas?
    
    Kathy
                                                    

    My goodness - we must be twins!! I spent the first 3 years of my son's
    life catering to his food hjabits and hating every minute of it.  When
    he turned three my husband and I decided NO MORE!
    
    The day after his third birthday, we set down new rules - he would
    eat what we ate for dinner, a liilte leeway on lunches (not peanut
    butter everyday!!!) and he would try 1 new thing a week for lunch.
    If he didn't eat - too bad (we knew he wouldn't starve!).  The first
    few weeks were tough, but it worked.  He started eating small amounts
    of dinner food and found out he actually liked some of the stuff.
    He got sandwiches for lunch and now that he's in school, he actually
    eats their lunches and survives.
    
    BITE THE BULLET!!! 

    Hmmmmm .... well I have a 3 year old and almost-6 year old.  Until very
    recently neither one of them would TOUCH anything they we ate (unless,
    of course, we didn't WANT them to).  We prepared 'special' dinners for
    them.  It's a pain, but I couldn't see forcing them to eat something
    that they didn't like, and there's enough stress without fighting about
    food too!!  We wanted to teach THEM how to control WHAT they ate and
    how often.  It was/is a little painful at times, but THEN .... all of a
    sudden my almost-6 started to ONLY want to eat what we eat.  He may not
    have everything, but he will sit down and have at least some of our
    dinner.  Of course the 3 year old just wants fish stix and macaroni and
    cheese, but hey...
    
    Anyway, since Christopher has noticed our food, he's much more willing
    to try new things, and to make reasonable suggestions for dinnertime.
    It's taken a LONG time, but I truly believe that he has the RIGHT
    approach to food, he UNDERSTANDS food that is GOOD for him, and he
    almost always chooses very nutritious meals for himself.  With so many
    people with food disorders, THIS is what we were striving for, and have
    finally achieved.  In my opinion 3 or 4 is a little too young to be
    'forcing' food on a kid.
    
    Your mileage may vary.

    I know this is going to sound minor compared to all the other
    situations here, but to me it's a real annoying stumbling block in our
    home.  AJ refuses to eat the crust of bread. (His term is the "skin" of
    the bread)  That may sound minor but by the time he gets through
    leaving what her considers the crust he's left about half the bread on
    his plate, he does eat what's inside usually though.  When asked what
    he wants for lunch it's usually a standard Baloney, but he eats almost
    any lunch meat.  (today it was turkey breast and cheese, the balogney
    is usually turkey balogney anyway) and always one or two pieces of
    american cheese.  PB&J is a frequent lunchbox friend too.
    
    We've tried reasoning and telling him that the crust makes strong
    teeth, but this isn't working.  So what's a mother to do.
    
    Lyn...
    
    .....and AJ's favorite thing in life is Broccoli, just ahead of green
    peppers and carrots YIPPEE!!

re: .13

>AJ refuses to eat the crust of bread . . .  So what's a mother to do.

Well, unless this is one of those "I will not cross this line" issues, simply 
trim the crusts off.  At least the takes care of the waste of bread.  We went 
through this phase (no crusts, plus must be cut in half, on the diagonal, not 
across), but the idiosyncracy is long gone.

>We've tried reasoning

Reasoning with a kid is an oxymoron :^).

> and telling him that the crust makes strong teeth, 

"makes strong teeth", "good for you", etc. is kidspeak for "Tastes awful".
:^)  :^)

Clay

    
    RE: .13   Yeah, it does sound pretty minor.  :-)   What about if
    you cut the crust off beforehand for him?   That might minimize
    what's being left on the plate.   There are some breads that
    have less obvious crust then other (Pepp Farm very thin breads 
    for example), maybe try one of those.  Personally, I wouldn't
    fight over bread crust, if he's eating his meat, cheese, and
    veggies....a wise person once said "choose your battles wisely".
    
    Carol

    
    `	We have a very fastidious just-turning-three year old who also
    will not eat bread crust.  But then, neither will his mother.  I
    handle both of them the same way, cut off the crust before serving. 
    The 3 year old I am sure will grow out of it.  
    
    
    	Craig
    
    

    We MUST trim the crusts, and depending on the mood (your guess is as
    good as mine!), either cut in 4, diagonally, or leave whole, or cut in
    half diagonally.  Failure to pre-determine the EXACT way in which the
    sandwich is made, is certain to result in an un-eaten sandwich because
    it was made wrong.  Sigh.
    
    FORTUNATELY, just this week they *BOTH* discovered that they LIKE
    crusts.  Started with some toast, a VERY late morning, and me refusing
    to cut it off  - the 3 year old decided he liked it that way, and his
    brother was not about to be out-done ... so this morning I was 'yelled
    at' to NOT cut off the crust!
    
    ....I think they just notice the little things they can do to annoy you
    and concentrate on them  (-: (-: (-:
    
    Cut 'em first - it'll save a lot of the sandwich!  And if you cut 'em
    BEFORE you make the sandwich, it'll save some of the insides too.
    
    

    Hi Everyone,
    
    I was just wondering when you parents started introducing "people food"
    to your children.  Spencer is 8 months today and he has been showing an
    interest in what Daddy and I are eating.  So far he has had baby food
    from jars, yogurt and teething cookies, but nothing else.  What type of
    foods did you introduce first, I am so scared of him choking.  At 8
    months do they know they have to chew before they swallow.
    
    First time mom!!!!  
    
    Joanne
    

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Note 596.19              Daugher won't eat "people" food                19 of 19
USDEV1::CSTAREK                                       7 lines  10-JUL-1991 11:30
                           -< We call them "O's" ! >-
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    Cheerios are good to start...they kind of melt in their mouths.
    Also, they really learn to use their fingers to pick them up.  
    When I first started my daughter on them she could be occupied 
    for hours just playing with them.  It kept her busy while we ate
    dinner!
    
    Cheryl

================================================================================
Note 596.20              Daugher won't eat "people" food                20 of 20
WMOIS::REINKE_B "bread and roses"                     6 lines  10-JUL-1991 11:39
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    Whole wheat bread is good too. My granddaughter can be kept happy
    for a considerable period of time masticating bits of the heel
    of a slice of bread. (Chewing seems to be instinctive, she chews
    away at the bread with no teeth at all.)
    
    Bonnie

    I have strange kids - my son's first people food was pizza crust and my
    daughter's was cheese danish. Go figure . . .
    

    re: -1  Go figure....

    I figure that was their first "people food" because that was the first
    people food you gave them :-)

    Daniel's first was broiled chicken, I think.

    Norma

    Steven's was pizza crust, too.
    
    Kat's first food was Cheerios.  In fact, "chee-oos" was her second
    word.  "Mak, mak!" (for milk) was her first.
    
    I don't remember what people foods David tried first, but he
    didn't like most things we offered him for quite a while.  The
    first thing he'd eat regularly was macaroni and cheese.
    
    --bonnie
    
    
    
    
    

We were saving Evan's first meat to be Thanksgiving turkey.  He was 8 months 
old.

The day before Thanksgiving I found a very happy Evan with mouth_covered_by
and fists_full_of...



canned CAT FOOD.

*oh, gross!  (he loved it!)

      Carol

    First people food was flour tortillas to chew on while dinner was
    cooking.  Once Carrie showed an interest in what was on my plate, I
    would mash up a little of it and pop a very small amount into her
    mouth.  If whe liked it we would go with more from there.  Carrie
    didn't get a lot of baby food food because I just couldn't justify the
    expense, she got mashed people food all the way until she could handle
    it without mashing.  
    
    Meg 

    AJ's first food was strained baby bananas, from there I think it was
    and easy ride, he loved scrambled eggs, as he got older he developed a
    love for cucumbers, I could never eat a salad without giving him my
    cukes, he then developed a love for cream of broccoli soup, and later
    would just *die* for plain brocoli, (that made some interesting sights
    a day later in his stools!)  He still loves most all veggies, thank
    heavens for that, his day eats about two veggies, corn and zuccini!
    
    Lyn

	Hopefully  someone out there will be able to help me...

	My 15 month old refuses to eat table food. He was always a peaky
eater. At this point he only eats: Cheerios, Cheese, 1 cookie a day if that, 
wheat bread and Cheese Ravioli. Lately he is even giving me a hard time to
eat his baby food. What should I do? Is this normal? 
	For him to eat his baby food I have to make sure that we have plenty
of toys available to keep him entertained. He forgets that he is eating
and I am able to spoon feed him. 
	I found out last week that his blood test results came back
a little low in Iron. He eats cereal every morning fortified with Iron, and 
he takes his vitamins also, The doctor told me to give him green vegetables,
raisins, prunes and wheat bread. 

	He weighs 25 1/2 lbs and he his 33 1/2 inches long. I wasn't too
concerned before with his eating habits, but now that I know that he has
a deficiency in Iron I am getting  concerned.

	Anyway, Does anyone have any advice on what to do.

	Thank you so much,

                  Marylou