How are you meant to feed a 1 year old?

[ChunkyKitKat123]

I've been doing a mix of traditional and baby led weaning with DD...she's now a year old and is becoming resistant to being spoon fed, but there are still very few finger foods she will eat. She'll have soft fruits, toast and baby puffs, but anything else gets chucked on the floor. Anything I cook and mash up is rejected, she'll only eat shop-bought jar food, reluctantly. Help!

What do you give at this stage? The baby books suggest all these fancy recipes that she just ends up gagging on and spitting out.

She's eating grated cheese as we speak so that's a start!

Good to hear about the grated cheese! (Who doesn't like grated cheese )

They are really good at regulating their own intake. My DD would eat a lot one day; less the next. Even at 8 she has some days when she's like the human dustbin and some where she hardly eats at all

I honestly think you can relax a bit and allow your DD to explore the food herself. If she is hungry she will let you know and ask for more milk or more food.

Interestingly, the evidence suggests that the more often you offer healthy things and unusual tastes, despite the food waste, the more your child gets used to a wide range of foods; but that you have to offer the food lots of times without fuss to acclimatise the child to it.

Baby led weaning/finger food can be a faff with clearing up, but I found that when she was older, my DD on average was far less picky than her cousins or peers. She is very happy eating pretty much anything (though she does have her own likes and dislikes as everyone does); and is very relaxed about food -- though it was messy under our table for years! (I mean YEARS )

So it's worthwhile persisting with just giving her suitable bits from what you're having and letting her eat it in her own time.

I've been doing a mix of traditional and baby led weaning

You can't do a mixture of baby-led weaning.

Why font you just cook your normal meals and give a portion to DC?

I just fed mine whatever we were eating by the time they were one.

I went down the super healthy home made route with my first, made lovely purees and finger foods, and rarely let her have as much as an Ella's fruit pouch. She ate F all then and is still the same. She is very fussy.

My second I had really relaxed and she just eats whatever we are having about 80% of the time. I just adapt it a bit if it's spicy. She even had cow and gate jars! She is a far better eater now than her sister, and much more willing to try new things.

One thing I found works is to give them a finger food you know they like, and then spoon feed as well. Mine were happy that they had something to hold and didn't seem to mind the spoon so much. Also, I think dropping the spoon is just fun for them as it clatters to the floor. Doesn't necessarily mean they don't want the food!

I've got a 3 and 4year old, just give her some of what your having at every meal.

Totally cut out the jars. Keep what she doesn't eat (or throw on the floor) and put it in a Tupperware in the fridge for when she's hungry again.

If she doesn't want to be spoon fed by you then don't do it- let her do the spoon. Obviously choose when she gets these foods so it's not too inconvenient for you to clear up afterwards.

@user77hjjy I don't really want to argue over definitions but I just meant I've been doing some meals as purées and others as finger foods, so some meals are spoon-fed and others baby-led.

@irresistibleoverwhelm Interesting...it does make sense that the more foods a child is exposed to early on, the less fussy they'll be. I guess I have a bit of a hang up about DD not eating enough, she was born tiny, then lost more weight as she had problems feeding and even when she regained it has always been on the 25th centile...which is OK, she's following her curve but I always worry she's too thin.

Lots of good tips on this thread though, so thanks to all who have responded.

[quote ChunkyKitKat123]@user77hjjy I don't really want to argue over definitions but I just meant I've been doing some meals as purées and others as finger foods, so some meals are spoon-fed and others baby-led.

@irresistibleoverwhelm Interesting...it does make sense that the more foods a child is exposed to early on, the less fussy they'll be. I guess I have a bit of a hang up about DD not eating enough, she was born tiny, then lost more weight as she had problems feeding and even when she regained it has always been on the 25th centile...which is OK, she's following her curve but I always worry she's too thin.

Lots of good tips on this thread though, so thanks to all who have responded. [/quote]
With baby-led weaning you can only do that approach exclusively.
I guess it's like saying I exclusively breastfeed but with formula at night.

FWIW didn't begin introducing foods till 8mo and at 1yo it was similar to how you describe.
I would make my usual meal on one plate and do it that way.
I still do that for some meals.

@user77hjjy Of course you can do a mix of spoon fed and baby led weaning and the OP never even said she was exclusively doing baby led weaning, what a ridiculous comparison! Why do you feel the need to correct the OP's very standard and normal description of how she feeds her baby? Baby led weaning is not an exclusive club where you have to follow strict rules. Goodness me.

I found with both mine that eating what I was eating well was not an issue where there was gradual progress. It went from horrible, loads of food on the floor, to perfect in about 2 days. It’s frustrating but if you keep going it will click soon.

[quote MaMaD1990]@user77hjjy Of course you can do a mix of spoon fed and baby led weaning and the OP never even said she was exclusively doing baby led weaning, what a ridiculous comparison! Why do you feel the need to correct the OP's very standard and normal description of how she feeds her baby? Baby led weaning is not an exclusive club where you have to follow strict rules. Goodness me.[/quote]
Well it kind of is really. BLW is a specific weaning theory and one of the basic principles is not to spoon feed purees.
The issue is that people have started to use the term BLW as synonymous with feeding finger foods but it isn't. Of course you can mix spoon feeding with finger foods. But it isn't BLW - it's traditional weaning.
The closest analogy I can think of is vegetarianism. I had a veggie curry for tea last night - vegan in fact - but tonight I will be having a medium rare fillet steak. I am not "mixing vegetarianism with meat eating" am I? The fact that I eat meat automatically means that I am not a vegetarian. I also don't share the philosophy/belief system that vegetarians tend to have.
I think most people would agree that there's more to vegetarianism than enjoying some meat free meals. Eating a mixture of meat free and meat containing meals is a perfectly valid choice, and most vegetarians would probably agree that it's good that everyone eats more meatless meals, but they'd be understandably hacked off if we started saying we were part time vegetarians - because no such thing exists.
BLW is the same. Like vegetarianism it is a dietary choice that has a theory/philosophy behind it, and a big part of that is specifically not spoon feeding. Mixing finger foods and purees is a reasonable and effective choice and something that people have done for a very long time. Finger foods aren't exclusive to BLW and never have been, but giving some finger foods doesn't mean that you are following BLW any more than the fact that I make a fantastic lentil curry makes me a vegetarian.

[quote MaMaD1990]@user77hjjy Of course you can do a mix of spoon fed and baby led weaning and the OP never even said she was exclusively doing baby led weaning, what a ridiculous comparison! Why do you feel the need to correct the OP's very standard and normal description of how she feeds her baby? Baby led weaning is not an exclusive club where you have to follow strict rules. Goodness me.[/quote]
Everything @MrsAvocet said

Whilst I understand that, is it really necessary to point it out though? It's clear what the OP was saying and there really isn't any need for any policing of language/terms. It's quite easy to understand what the OP was asking without having to correct her and comes across as very nit picky.

I never made anything special for weaning (just couldn't be bothered). Even to start with, always sat on my knee with a napkin under and allowed them to help themselves to anything they fancied off my plate (obviously cut stuff up small, some stuff I mashed with my fork, and all cooked without salt.) Allows them to taste what they like. I'd say probably 1 1/2 before sitting with own plate again just what we ate. Never made a fuss if they eat it fine, if not never mind something different next meal.
Eldest now 21 and eats EVERYTHING, we did have a few spells of only wanting to eat olives or pasta, and definitely has likes and dislikes (more veggie than rest of family, but still eats it all.

@MaMaD1990

Whilst I understand that, is it really necessary to point it out though? It's clear what the OP was saying and there really isn't any need for any policing of language/terms. It's quite easy to understand what the OP was asking without having to correct her and comes across as very nit picky.

You obviously didn't understand that hence your previous comment.

This is a forum, you cannot police my posts as much as I can't police OP's language.

I'm entitled to explain things as I see fit.

Ok I stand corrected, I should have said a mix of spoon feeding and finger foods instead. But really my question was about how to progress to eating "normal" meals. Thanks to everyone who has given helpful answers.
I've bitten then bullet and left DD to it with cut up food from the family meals. She's started to eat pasta but still boycotting the vegetables. I'll persevere. Still have a few jars as a back up but will look to phase them out.