Baby Food: Round 2

...Or should I say Toddler Food: Round 1?

Now that Elise is almost 10 months (whaaat?) and eating a whole multitude of foods, I thought it was time for another post about baby food.

Around 5 or 6 months (mommy brain), we started giving Elise puffs (Happy Puffs).  She loved them, and I loved that they allowed me to do a couple of things around the house while she silently ate her puffs. 

When I was a nanny, the parents would bring me finger foods to feed the kiddos.  So, I followed suit with my own child and low and behold, Elise loved eating independently!  The fancy name for this parenting technique is Baby-Led Weaning and there are a plethora of books on the market. But the main gist of it is, baby eats what you eat but in bite-sized pieces and they feed themselves. The only things that Elise has not eaten are peanuts, milk, honey, really spicy things, beef, and pork (the last two are for my own reasons not medical).  She eats 3 meals a day plus a few snacks here and there. 

Some things that are difficult with this path:

1. Babies choke.  99% of the time they will work it out themselves.  It does make your heart drop when it happens but as long as you are mindful of the size you are cutting the food into; there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.  Of course, start your kiddos off on very soft foods (bananas, avocado etc) and work yourself up from there.  Dads are actually the worrywarts in this department.  Mike would always get mad if she choked and tell me to switch back to purees.  As you can tell, I never listened to him.

2. It’s messy!  Our pups get A LOT of treats.  It is a lot easier if you have dogs that are natural vacuum cleaners.

3. It’s Expensive.  Our household has gone completely organic or at least Non-GMO (for things that are not available in organic).  We shop primarily at Natural Grocers, Sprouts, and farmer’s markets because it makes it that much easier to shop (Natural Grocers is the only store that carries all organic produce and most, if not all, of their other products are organic). Our grocery bill has gone up by 30%; however, I do believe this is completely worth it.  I’m feeding not only Elise, but Mike and I, food that I don’t really have to worry about.  I also believe this is so much healthier in the long run.

The PROS:

1. Elise feeds herself.  No need spending time steaming, pureeing, and feeding her pureed food.  Although, I do think parents should start their kiddos off with homemade purees (it’s short lived and helps them get used to food and texture).

2. Elise eats what we eat.  I don’t have to cook another meal every night.  With the exception from above, she eats and most of the time loves what we are eating

3. It’s less time consuming!  Elise eats while we are eating.  Easy peasy!

Some of Elise’s favorite foods:


1. Blueberries- I cut these in half and she devours them

2. Chicken Marsala- This is her absolute favorite dinner.  She eats for about 30 minutes continuously.  She absolutely loves the mushrooms.

3. Peas- Just steamed frozen peas whole

4. Cheese- cut into bite sized chunks

5. Falafel- This was her first favorite food.  Just cut into bite sized pieces

6. Green smoothies- although these are spoon-fed to her.  She has not yet mastered the straw.

Elise loves, loves, loves to eat. She also love flavor.  Funny, because while I was pregnant with her, I ate a bland, bland diet and hated to eat. 

In case anyone is wondering, Elise still nurses anywhere from 6-10 times in a 24 hour period

So, I am interested: What do you feed your toddlers?  Are they picky eaters?





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