When do children really start to eat the same as you?

[Em32]

Getting a bit bored of doing special meals for my ds who is 2 in February. His diet isn't bad but I'd like to include him in family meals a bit more (although this is tricky as I don't eat meat) - any suggestions for what goes down well? When do they start eating properly with the rest of the family - at least most of the time? Dd is going to need weaning in the next couple of months so don't want to be doing ridiculous amounts of cooking.

theres no reason why you cant give them a bit of whatever you are having from 6 monthsish. ds3 (18m)doesnt eat meat and is very healthy. i make sure he gets lots of lentils and spinach (frozen cubes are a godsend) but i do that for the rest of the family too. he loves quorn sausages, will eat them til the cows come home. i would start giving him the same as you eat now

ds pretty much eats the same as us and he is 9 months!

that said, i am a sahm so have time to cook everything from scratch. i just tke his portion out before adding any salt etc

btw, we are also veggie!

examples of things linus ate last week:
chickpea curry
vegetable and lentil soup/stew
pasta with tomato/carrot sauce

Agree with starlover - both of mine from around 9 months have eaten with us. The only exceptions are when we have v spicy food or something very rich and creamy (occasionally!) We are all non meat eaters - some things my kids like and have been eating since one-ish are:

Spinach and mozzerella lasagne
Pasta with sauce
Lentil and veg sauce with eg rice, baked potatoes
All soups - eg leek and potato, butternut squash and lentil, minestrone
Tortillas with roasted veggies topped with cheese

If you eat fish, fish pie and home made fishcakes are popular in our house, as is baked salmon.
hope this helps

I plan our meals so that dd (3.5) and ds (9mo) can eat them too, most of the time. Ds gets a lot of it pureed still, with bits on his tray to pick up.

We eat a lot of slo-cooked casseroles to make the meat really tender. And lots of pasta (meat in tomato-based sauce, twirly pasta). If we're going to eat meat like chops or steak, we either make that a night when the kids eat early and dh and I eat later, so they have something different, or give them sausages instead of the meat (dd won't do chewy meat).

Aah, just saw you don't eat meat. Ignore my post!

Must read more carefully...

My DD has chicken or fish 1 or 2 x a week but usually has whatever I'm having (I'm veggie too).

Her fav is cheesy mash with carrots or cabbage. She's a little minx though and doesn't like tomato based sauces or pasta so the nights I have them she usually has what her Dad is having.

Starlover - please post your recipe for veg and lentil stew (I'm always looking for a good lentil/veg stew recipe)

grinning like mad here at the thought of a veggie eating quorn sausages until the cows come home!!!

sweetkitty i usually make it up with whatever i have handy!

generally start by frying off onions and garlic and maybe some celery. then add whatever veg i have and a load o water to cover. bring to boil and add lentils (any colour) and boil up for a while. sometimes add a tin of tomatoes and some balsamic vinegar to give it more body.

if you have stuff like celery and onion and things in then i very often don't even add stock because it's flavoursome enough without it. but if i do use it then i take out ds's before i add ti

I have a 2 years old who is a fussy eater but only gets given wheat the rest of the family eat. The meals he likes and generally eats are spaghetti bolognese or any pasta and tomato based sauce, eg I do something with meatballs and another things with bacon but it is bascially tomato sauce and pasta shapes. Also, he loves sausages and pizza and fish and chips. I can't be sure he will eat any other meal, but generally he has a bit and makes do.

He used to like rice dishes but that is a thing of the past!

I really wouldn't be cooking separate things for your ds, especially as it sounds as though you have your hands full already with the baby. But I do have to say, that after 4 children, I have stopped making cordon bleu meals for dh and myself and we eat far more "nursery food" than we would without children.

It depends on the child.

In practice I have found that Dh and I have had to tailor our diet to accommodate the children. Rather more straight forward food (cottage pie, home made chicken nuggets, veggie omelette) than we would eat if left to our own devices.

A trick is to cook something for the whole family like meatballs in tomato sauce for instance and if you are not sure the lo will eat it, put something with it that you know he will like. So for mine for instance, I would serve this with home made potato wedges and broccoli knowing they would eat the potato and broccoli even if they reject the meatballs

What do you eat? What does he eat?

I would say that from the start of weaning you can give them bits of what you're having - DS used to play with bits of steamed veg from 6mo.

WE all eat the same. Vegetarian like starlover. You can incorporate, hide the veges in pies, soups etc.

Papillon - mine like veggies, it's meat they don't like. We though are confirmed omnivores. How ironic is that!

thats good in my book
we had a fab vege, tofu fried rice at lunchtime with plum and hoison sauce

I serve one meal and that's that. Individual preferences get taken into account whilst planning, but other than that we don't do 'kid' food here and never will. Eat the same from when you wean (within reason of course- no kebabs until 1 ) and your child will likely grow up with a pallette similar to yours.

Gosh yes my ds2 (now 2.5) had our food as soon as he could. once he was 6mo I mashed up what we were having, at 8mo he had Christmas dinner like us! (well, as finger food). Haven't looked back really.
Mine like pasta and tomato sauce, lasagne, fish pie (could do it without the fish and with mushrooms or other veggies instead), shepherd's pie (veggie receipe in delia), roast dinner (not to great for veggies) etc.
Give yourself a break em32!

Note to those of you who are lucky to have such good eaters (and it generally is good luck you know)! It doesn't always follow that if you present them with the same food as yourself they will devour it with gusto.

It's very true that no child will starve themselves to death, but many will reject meals they don't like and persistently.

I don't know about Em's little boy, but she may find that she has to compromise over the food she gives him if she wants to make sure he gets a good balance of protein, fibre, carbs, calcium and vits

ds ate what we were eating from about 10-11 months onwards. Now jsu 2 and eats everything we do. Loves curry and grapefruit??

not together though

dd who is older was completely different. VERY fussy and still is

My kids have both eaten with us since 6 months. I do now give them their tea early and seperately so dh and I can sometimes have ready meals or other unhealthy stuff later on. But tea in our house tends to be bread and something as they both have a proper meal with me at lunchtime. (Which makes everything easier as my dh is a fussy eater and won't eat many veggies).
If I am making something for the family like a stew, I will always make extra and freeze it in 2 child sized portions so I have sometjing teh kids will eat available if I can't be bothered cooking

This is interesting. I don't cook separate meals for my ds who's 2, but then again I don't cook like I used to either (nothing spicy or with too many veg.) A couple we know had us over for dinner, their son is a year younger than ds. They made trout in foil, tossed salad and "artisan" bread with whole garlic cloves in it! Ds wouldn't eat any of it. Obviously they don't pander to children's tastes but maybe that's a good thing? By the way he's French and she's Japanese so myabe it's a cultural thing.

well dd1 was a fantastic eater and then one day, slam, all change.

So I don't think that just sitting down together and eating the same thing is a magic cure all tbh.

It helps of course that they eat different tastes and textures growing up but dd1 used to eat sardines from the bowl when I was cooking, now you would be lucky to get her to even hold the bowl.

DD (20m)has been eating roughly same as us for a long time now.
She likes meat for some reason so she eats happily stuff like
Spaghetti Bolognese
Mousaka
Chicken casserole
Rice, pasta, mashed spuds
Garlic bread
Peas and someitmes green beans, sweetcorn
Fish she has not taken too yet but we keep,trying baked salmon - it's hit and miss

My kids would probably eat trout, salad and bread, with a bit of coaxing for the trout and salad.

We do some children's food and some grownup food. The kids cope. DS2 (14 months) really likes spicy chicken dishes.

At any rate, I agree with offering the same food to all, from the start - DS2 has been eating our food, not mashed up, from the beginning, with no problem.