I shared a while back what food with Miss H was like at 9 months. She was a very, umm, enthusiastic eater. What I never had the chance to share was that around 10/11 months, everything was hitting the floor instead of making it into her tummy. Miss H wanted nothing to do with food. Finger foods were tossed aside and spoons were batted out of our hands. I can’t even tell you how much yogurt splatted onto the floor. Needless to say, we were worried about her because up until that point mealtimes had never been an issue.
But finally, right around 11.5 months a switch was flipped and Miss H was right back on target with enjoying food. And then 2 days later she came down with a crazy bad cold that caused a huge drop in appetite for a week. And we were back to square one.
A little after her first birthday, Miss H was recovered from her cold and her birthday festivities and was really interested in food again. Not only interested, but she fell in love with any and all finger foods! Now at 14 months, we cannot get food on her tray fast enough. Five pieces of mango? Shoveled into her mouth faster than you can blink. Steamed broccoli? Does a magical disappearing act straight into her mouth. My child is having a love affair with food!
On some days I still struggle with what to feed her. We opted not to do baby led weaning (BLW) but instead went with the traditional route with purees followed by finger foods. Now I feel like we should be doing more cohesive “meals” vs. a variety of fruits and veggies and protein, but that might just be the paranoid mom in me and in fact what she’s eating is probably a-o-k!
A few of our go-to favorite “entrees” for Miss H are:
- Turkey meatballs made with a fruit or veggie puree
- Lentil stew made with potatoes, carrots, and yellow onion, seasoned with cumin and cinnamon (smells amazing!)
- Beef stew made with potatoes and carrots
- Pasta with a homemade red sauce (made of roasted veggies and tomatoes)
Here’s an average day of meals for Miss H at 14 months:
Breakfast
Whole milk plain organic yogurt
Fresh strawberries
Fresh mango
Whole wheat toast
Lunch
Steamed broccoli
Turkey meatball
Sauteed zucchini and yellow squash
Steamed asparagus
Steamed carrots or sliced blueberries
Dinner
Beef stew
Steamed broccoli (broccoli is her favorite food, so she gets a lot of it!)
Fresh strawberries or mango
Snacks throughout the day
1/2 of a string cheese
“O” cereal
Apple sauce squeeze pouch
Liquids throughout the day
16-18 ounces of whole milk (sometimes in bottle, sometimes in sippy cup)
Lots of water (in sippy cup)
Here’s a photo of Miss H’s breakfast (minus the toast) and lunch for one day (the yogurt is in the “leaves” of the pineapple). We love our Dr. Sears Nibble Tray for the days Miss H is with her nanny because we can easily pack breakfast and lunch in it. I know a lot of Bee moms had suggested it for an early bento option, and it has been perfect for us.
And, now that Miss H is walking and on the move everywhere, she is even hungrier! Most days it feels like she’s a bottomless pit, but it’s so exciting seeing her eat so well. As a picky eater myself (I cannot stand broccoli!), it’s exciting that she loves her fruits and veggies equally. Now my goal is to do a better job of meal planning for the family so that more often than not Miss H is eating the same exact food at the dinner table that we are.
Is your LO an enthusiastic eater or less than excited with what you serve at mealtimes? How does this impact how you plan meals?
grapefruit / 4817 posts
We’ve been in a food slump for about 2 months now. He turned a year old and decided if it wasn’t chicken or grapes, he didn’t want anything to do with it. I actually called people on Friday because he ate half a sweet potato…that’s how bad it’s gotten. I’m calling people to tell them my kid ate something other than chicken. I’m hoping he’ll come around because he loved so many foods before now, but I won’t count on it. It’s amazing how well your LO eats and I’m jealous. It’s a serious stressor for me right now.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
Yum! I love good eaters, we have one, too (when she’s not sick). I love following your posts about Miss H because she’s just a couple of months older than my M, so I get to look forward to all of the things you are experiencing.
I too find it hard to come up with new things for her to eat every day. Who knew feeding a child could be so time consuming? We didn’t do BLW and we’re still doing a mix of fruit, veggie and protein at each meal. If we have something like pasta or pizza for dinner, I always feel like i still need to pull out some peas for her, just so she gets some veggies in her! It is more fun now that she can eat what we’re eating. That is for sure.
grapefruit / 4671 posts
My kiddo has zero interest in finger foods. She is all purees all the time. Drives me nuts!
pea / 20 posts
Where did you get that bib? So cute
blogger / apricot / 366 posts
@BananaPancakes: We had a solid month of every single thing we gave her landing on the floor – I think toast was one of the only exceptions! She was basically living off of toast. Once we hit on things she really really loved and got her more interested in food, it helped a lot!
@mediagirl: I know, I feel like I’m constantly trying to figure out new things we can give her so it’s not the same old boring stuff! And I love being able to share things with her, although if it’s a snack and we’re just sitting on the floor together, I have her and the dog just sitting there begging for food
@kge: Thanks! It says “The Goo Period” and it’s an art frame. I work at an art museum and found it in our gift shop. I just had to buy it! Here’s a link to it I found online: http://www.perpetualkid.com/goo-period-vincent-van-bib.aspx
guest
My son is a good eater too though he did have that same period where he liked to throw food more than he liked to eat it. I’ve been searching for new foods to give him lately too and just had much success this weekend with corn & bean quesadillas – loved them! And they are so quick and easy to make. And bonus – my husband actually liked them too
pomegranate / 3388 posts
Wowie! That’s great she’s such a good eater. Our 15 month old is not quite so enthusiastic… although she is certainly not the most picky child either. She is easily distracted, so it can be really hard to get her to focus on eating, and often meals take at least a full hour for us!
pea / 20 posts
@Mrs. Hopscotch: haha that’s awesome. thanks for the link. i could tell it was a picture frame so i figured it was something like that…