Two things I had forgotten from feeding the Older Sweet Pea at this age (10 months) that I remembered recently and thought I would pass on to you:
1. Feed vegetable finger foods, especially ones for which your little one may not yet have developed a taste, first. Baby Sweet Pea hadn't been that into broccoli for weeks. Then I fed it to him first (and checked the consistency to make sure it was very well steamed) and bingo! he gobbled it up.
Think of it this way--if someone gave you a plate of your favorite pasta and a plate of plain steamed vegetables, if you didn't know the nutritional importance of the vegetables (or maybe even if you did!), you would probably would stick with the pasta. But if the vegetables were given to you when you were hungriest and you had no other options, you would probably eat them!
2. If you are still feeding baby lots of pureed food, alternate bite between less- and more- favorable foods. If I try to give Baby Sweet Pea nothing but pureed green beans, after about 3-4 bites, he refuses any additional beans. But if I alternate a few bites and then a few bites of any fruit puree, he tolerates the green beans.
I am sure you might be going, "duh!" But for this busy mom, I had forgotten these two tricks and they have made a world of difference.
I welcome any other tips, as I am always learning...
3 comments:
That "steamed veggies before pasta" trick would work well for us adults too!
We do a variation on #1 for the girls now. When they are super hungry and waiting for dinner, I "give in" and let them have a snack of fruit or vegtables while they wait. They are happy to nosh on something, and I know that even if the eat too much to eat a full meal, at least they got some good nutrition.
Great tip Slacker Mama. I love the feigning "give in." Love it.
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