What should I feed my 9 month old son when we're on holiday..?

[pmac]

I know that I should know this - all mothering skills & knowledge being instinctive rather than being learned the hard way - but I'm worried about what to feed my son when we go away on holiday.

At the moment, he has formula and a variety of well pureed foods which I make & freeze. My son doesn't eat lumpy food though he has 5 teeth. I stupidly gave him a rusk at 6.5 months when he had a cough, which caused him to gag & vomit violently (those instinctive mothering skills again - work every time) and he's had a cough on and off since then, so am slightly fearful of trying him more 'solid' foods.

I presume that once my son can have lumpy food, if we go abroad, I can just mash 'normal' foods with a fork and give it to him...? He's a fantastic eater - loves his his food and eats anything, so long as it's pureed.

I'm not in the least judgemental about ready made food, by the way. I'm a first time mum who works full time, so making my son home made food is important to me (I will stop feeling guilty, I will, I will....)

I'd appreciate your advice. Also, how do you sterilise bottles when you're staying in a hotel...? I think I may be making all of this very complicated...there must be a simple way?

Are you sure the on-and-off cough is from one try of lumpy foods?

I'd just go for ready mades. Otherwise you're tied to defrosting etc. I think by now you can clean the bottles with hot water (from a kettle) rather than sterilising. Or there are some sterilising tablets you drop into a bag of water to sterilise bottles. (There may well be a more modern version by now.)

Have a good time. Where are you off to?

I took steriliser tablets and a tupperware container (You can fill it full over other things in your case so it takes no room) and a little container of washing up liquid. I must admit, for food I bought some ready made, plus fromage frais and supplemented this with bits of ours. Whatever dd would go for really. It depends where you are going really...

Gagging and vomiting is very common when babies first try finger foods - I know it's worrying, but please try not to let it put you off too much - they learn to control the gag reflex with practice, and this can be easier with finger foods, where the texture is obvious from the start, than with lumpy purees, where a lump can come as a surprise, iyswim?

Rusk is quite firm, even though it breaks down easily - how about trying a bit of very ripe peeled pear, and see how he takes to it? Being able to just give them food off your plate - be that mashed or whole - is so helpful when you're out and about.

I know that if you've had a fright before it can be scary to try something again, but if you make sure you know what to do if a child chokes (important at any stage, not just weaning), you may feel more confident to have another go.

Hi cthea. My son's cough isn't from trying lumpy food - he's had a viral bug thing, on and off, for a while. It's just that he was sick the last time I tried him on lumpy food when he had a cough, so I'm just worried about doing it again

We haven't booked a holiday yet - I keep putting it off due to food anxiety re baby. I do realise this is pathetic . We're hoping to go to Spain in May and India in November.

I'd try and get him a bit more used to finger foods before you go away, if I were you. You can get cheese, bread, cold meat, vegetables and fruit pretty much anywhere and that sort of thing will keep him going if he doesn't like the kind of main meals that are on offer. If you're going anywhere in Europe, you can get jars in the supermarkets just as you can here.

It's not pathetic, but it's something you need to get over. You might find reading the articles here helpful - it's Aitch's blog.

we went to turkey when DS was 8 months and just fed him different stews and soups, mashed up. we took porridge/cereal with us which he had with a banana for breakfast. If your DS isn't going till May, he could well be having normal cows milk by then, so no more sterilising/bottles needed I suppose. also by then he could be getting used to more lumpy food. you actually have quite a long time till may, why not start just lumpifying the food a little bit more gradually, and book the hol and don't worry. Don't think you have to 'get over' pureeing, it's more that you can just gradually make it more and more lumpy till he's basically eating your meals just a bit mashed up, and introduce some finger foods if he feels comfortable. My DS liked rice cakes and bits of banana, that kind of thing.

many hotels will blend something up for you if you ask.. and it's amazing what you can mash.

Also, we have this thing called a Babycook which is bloody fantastic, it's a mini blender, cooker and puree thing, you just bung the veg or whatever in and it cooks it and then purees it. It could easily fit in your luggage. just a thought. but he will be getting towards eating real food age by the time you go, in any case.

Thanks all! I felt so heartened by your advice I gave my son pureed fish casserole with bits of lumpy potato mash in it - it took a lot longer to feed him as he seemed to be testing every mouthful, but he only did his "i'm coughing and it looks like i'm about to gag & vomit" impression a couple of times. I want to take him away for a weekend somewhere soon other than my Mum's where I know the catering situation is covered!

Try to look as calm as you can when he's eating, even if you feel all nervous - he'll pick up a lot from your demeanour. Pretend to chew along with him, so he gets the drift. And do try him with finger foods - he may surprise you!

well done, pmac.
tbh i think every parent should sign up for learning about choking and infant resus, really, cos they could pick something mad up and put it in their mouths anywhere, anytime. so it might be worth your while thinking about doing a class or reading a book or something. for me, it really helped my anxieties when the nurse doing our class said she'd never in a twentysomething year career had a baby die in a choking incident.

Well done, pmac. Hope it all continues to go well!

Thanks for your help everyone. Habbibu, thanks so much for the link. Really helpful in terms of ideas for finger foods

why thankyou...