How to get protein into DD...won't eat puree's

[midnightinmoscow]

Hi there.

DD is almost 10 months. She was weaned on puree's, but in the last few weeks has seemed to reject them and prefers feeding herself with finger foods.

Happy to munch on cooked vegetables, bit of toast etc,

However, how do I get her to eat protein? Do I just give her bits of meat to chew? I am petrified she'll choke on them. She is allergic to fish so thats not an option.

Any ideas?

TIA

French toast? Cheese? Bits of steamed fish?

Egg - whisk up an egg as if doing scrambled egg, with a bit of milk. Pour into a small bowl (preferably flat bottomed) and microwave for about 1 min 20 sec until completely cooked. Cut into strips.

Yes, you can just give her bits of meat to pick up and chew. Or, for example, spag bol for her to eat with fingers.

Google baby led weaning for a full explanation (sorry, on phone, or else I would link) , but she's still getting enough nutrients from milk at this age and so you can just view meal times as practicing at this point.

strips of roast chicken, spaghetti bolognese (messy!), cheese sauces, eggs, mince and potatoes, etc

Softer options: Scrambled egg is a good one, beans on toast, chicken and mushroom risotto is my go-to cant think of what else to cook meal and you can make the chicken in that as small/shredded as you like and the rice goes all mushy. this is the BLW site for lots of ideas.

You can just give meat when you have it, big pieces they can hold with both hands if necessary and they just chew it the same way they do toast.

Thanks for the tips, spag bol sounds like a good idea, as she can squish the mince together.

Need to be cautious about egg. Her older DB has a severe egg allergy, so most of the time we are an egg free household. However, I do need to start introducing egg in baked form and then progress.

Like the idea of risotto too.

Thank everyone, really helpful.

I've been amazed at how dd (6mo) will chow down on the strips of meat I give her! Make them big pieces and best if fished out of a casserole or something so they're nice and soft. She really loves it and it's by far the most popular finger food so far. I agree it's unnerving about the choking, but I am getting used to staying calm and trusting her gag reflex when she (literally!) bites off more than she can chew. I also did a baby first aid course that covered choking in detail, which has given me a bit more confidence.

Another one I've discovered today.... I made a rataouille type sauce that I blended to a very lumpy sauce consistency and then mixed in some tuna. Then cooked some pasta tubes and (lovingly) filled the tubes with the sauce. She had a wonderful time picking them up and sucking the sauce out. I know your dd can't have tuna, but maybe you could roughly blend some poached chicken and do the same?

Don't think the tuna recipe will be ideal for the OPs dd....

My DS is a nightmare eater but he loves steak strips (I had to google how to cook steak so it's tender!!) and bits of chicken. He won't eat from a spoon so these worked well as he doesn't like egg.

My 6 month old has no teeth but love chewing on a piece of chicken or steak.
Another easy thing to do is grate apple and cheese, mix together and shove it on toast under the grill for a couple of minutes. (I really love this too!)
My ds will also eat a stick of cheese.
Cauliflower cheese very popular too.
Chipolata sausages are good too.

My dd loved sausages and so also loved bean burgers at that age. How about hummus?

Don't forget things like nut butters too although you will probably have to buy smooth rather than crunchy.

If you did a beef casserole then she could pick up the bits of meat / veg with her fingers, slow cooked meat is easy for them to chew. Or just strips of cooked chicken.