Currently, my husband is unemployed and going to school. He is the SAHD :) and takes care of Jesse while Im at work. Now that Jesse is 1, he is nursing less and not interested in baby food (even those chunky stage 3 things)... Chuck is asking me what he should be feeding him during the day. Yesterday Jesse had a banana and some chicken noodle soup for lunch. This morning before running out the door I told Chuck where the homemade jam was so that he could see if Jesse would like to try a PBJ.
We have the 12 month doctor appointment on thursday so Im going to bring this up to his pediatrician this week, but I would like more ideas on great lunch ideas (and preferably easy because my husband probably wont prepare an extravagant meal). Jesse has great snacks and breakfast and is chugging down the whole milk. He also eats whatever we are having for dinner which gives him a well-balanced meal. But lunch still evades us. So, besides PBJ's... any great ideas?!?
Thanks for all your help!
Hey Melissa,
ReplyDeleteYou're a brave woman asking for baby advice! :) jk When I've asked on my blog, I've gotten really good advice from other mommies. Hopefully you will too. Here's what I've got.
For food, I actually make my own baby food. Now don't go thinking I spend hours slaving over the oven! I SO don't!! It's really easy, cheaper, and tastes so much better! If you taste the jarred baby food, it's not so good and from what I hear. The simplest way to make baby food is buy the frozen veggies, boil them, then put them in your blender and puree until smooth. Then freeze in small portions (I use ice cube trays). It doesn't take long, is cheaper than jarred food, tastes better, and you can make a week or two worth of peas, beans, carrots, mixed veggies, etc at one time. Super simple. The easiest fruit that I make is I buy the no-sugar added applesauce in the ginormous cans at costco. Costs like $3 and then I freeze that in ice cube trays and that lasts a month. If you're interested, I can give you more info on what foods I do and stuff. As far as table food, I try and give him what we eat for the most part. including spaghetti, tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwich, beef stew, guacamole (his fav), ravioli, hamburger, hot dog, mac n cheese, burrito, etc. I just mash/cut things up in little pieces for him.
Ok, for the sleeping, yes, my little man puts himself to sleep. He's usually pretty good about it, but if he cries for more than 10 mins, I get him out because he usually only cries if his schedule got mixed up and he isn't tired yet. Then after 15-20 mins, I put him back to bed and he goes right to sleep. Right now, my little man is transitioning from 2 naps to 1 and so we're trying to figure out his new sleep needs. Maybe your little guy is too? maybe he's not tired yet? Just an idea. I have no clue either! I just find something that works for me and stick with it. Another thought I have is maybe try slowly cutting down the rocking time each night. Like if you rock him for 15 minutes, cut back a minute or two every couple days. Soon you'll be down to just a minute or two of snuggling and he'll go down. (fingers crossed!!) I don't like to let them just cry themselves to sleep. If he does cry, I will let him cry for a little bit, but not more than 10 minutes or so.
Ok, I'll get off my soapbox. I hate giving advice. Everybody has their own style and ideas. And I don't want anyone to think they're doing something wrong. There is no right way to do anything with babies, seriously. If something works for you, that's fabulous! So please don't feel any pressure to take any of my advice. This is just what works for me. Good luck! keep me updated on how things are going!!
best wishes,
Linda
Now that he's one, pretty much anything goes. Save yourself a lot of picky-eating trouble and just give him normal table foods. Whatever you are having, give it to him. I know that's a little different with lunch, but I give my boys leftovers from dinner the night before for lunch.
ReplyDeleteOther simple fixes(in different combos): grilled cheese, any sort of cut up fruit, yogurt, cheese, those gerber graduates pick-up pastas were probably my boys' faves.
stopping by from SITS!!
ReplyDeletemy daughter didn't like jarred baby food either and wouldn't eat it no matter how I tried to jazz it up..with fruit, with jam, with a little adult food...nothing so I just stopped trying to feed it to her. I gave it to the dog beacuse I had so much of it (we shop at BJ's and Sam's Club).
I have been giving her regular food since she was about 10 months. I would mash things, like white potatoes and sweet potatoes and some veggies and that she would eat. I gave her noodles and low-soduim broth for lunch a lot because she loved the noodles and still does (she is 20months). She also liked fried apples and pears so that became her dessert. I also tried to give her cereal for lunch a few times because she loves it so much...not sure how others feel about that but whatever was working for her to get her to eat was my goal.
Good luck with baby Jesse, don't worry he will eat, my doctor said the same thing about my daughter.
My son is almost 2, but we've been giving him pretty much the same stuff since he started on "real" food. He eats A LOT of mac and cheese (I love those easy microwave cup ones) he LOVES veggies, hotdogs, oatmeal, meatballs (I buy the already made ones from Sam's club)right now he's really diggin' chef boyarde stuff (YUCK). hope that helps
ReplyDeleteGive him a version of whatever your having- sandwich, wrap, soup, salad (yes even a salad!), noodles, pasta, burger, pizza, chicken fingers... anything goes!
ReplyDeleteFor our almost 2 year old we make as much of the food from scratch as we can so it's healthier. When we can't we add other food to it- like buying a frozen cheese pizza and adding fresh veggies to it or adding cooked mixed veggies to mac and cheese. Try using substitutes too like chicken or turkey meat instead of beef for burgers.
Our son also gets an extra serving of fruit at each meal and often thats the first thing he'll eat!
It helps if you make a meal plan for lunches so you can plan ahead and maybe even organize it so your using food from the night before.
Don't worry too much, he'll eat when he's hungry and ready. As long as you are providing him healthy options you're doing fine! I was supprised that my youngest son likes avacodo (it makes a mess, but he loves it!) Just keep introducing new things (with your pediatrician's advice and guidance) and you're doing fine!
ReplyDeleteBeware of PB though - peanut allergies can be severe, and are more common if it is introduced too early - talk to your doc about htat first!