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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

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Original poster

9 months old in a dinner rut

25 replies

booboobunny · 29/03/2007 12:17

i am really struggling to find new things to give my 9 month old for her dinner. she seems to have to got to the stage where she'll only eat a very few things for her dinner. she'll try new things but always spits them out. so at the moment we have pasta spirals with tom sauce one day, then finger foods (cheese, pasta, breadsticks, avocado) the next. i've tried adding new things to the finger foods (spud, quorn ham, egg, tomato, cuc, steamed veggies) but she just spits them out. i need to find some new recipes/ideas to try out at dinner. any thoughts? we are veggie and i'm not worried about her eating too little, as she eats her limited menu well, but just need to get a few new things into her tum. i have a friend whose son (now 11) has insisted on spaghetti napoletana just about every night since he could express a preference and i desperately don't want to end up in the same boat. thanks

OP posts:

tasja · 29/03/2007 12:32

mixed veg mixed into mash? my 10month old loves it.

GandWJ · 29/03/2007 12:35

Baked sweet potaotes?

asleep · 29/03/2007 12:36

DS is 9.5 months. we're vegetarian. he eats pretty much what we eat. he loves things like cheese on toast, eggy bread, pitta bread, etc as finger foods. jacket potato with beans and cheese is something he particularly likes.

AitchTwoOh · 29/03/2007 12:43

if you look at the www.babyledweaning.com blog there are loads of recipes for chickpea burgers and such. what do you eat? wouldn't she like a cheese sandwich?

docket · 29/03/2007 12:55

cauliflower/broccoli cheese?
fish pie?

docket · 29/03/2007 12:55

doh, sorry, you are veggie so no fish pie!

BizzyDint · 29/03/2007 13:30

if she likes tomato type sauce then maybe try pizza. you can then add things to the pizza.

Original poster

booboobunny · 29/03/2007 13:35

sorry should have said, she has a cold lunch of various types of sandwich with her childminder, so i'm trying to give her a warm dinner. as i said so far veg has met with a resounding rejection, but i keep on trying. i do hide carrots and courgettes in the pasta sauce as when it's blitzed it doesn't stand out and i think it gets hidden by the tomato taste. i've tried her on jacket spuds with various things but she just won't eat them. sadly i think she just doesn't like spuds as i've tried cheese and spud pie. fish pie not so daft as her dad eats fish, but i don't and have a real complex about it, made worse by my current preg. so i think fish is something we'll try and introduce when we're out for food. i'll give the sweet potato a go and maybe a few other roasted veg as i think this brings out the sweetness in some veg doesn't it?

OP posts:

TrinityRhino · 29/03/2007 13:38

she may well start to accept those foods she isn't st the mo
if she is putting them in her mouth, if only just to spit them out, then she is getting used to the taste
I have a 23 month old that I can't get to put anything but a few things in her mouth at all

Original poster

booboobunny · 29/03/2007 13:38

ooo pizza also good. i could try them on half a pitta or a muffin. only potential issue is the lack of teeth....she'll give most things a try but without teeth it might be hard to tear things such as a pizza base maybe....

OP posts:

AitchTwoOh · 29/03/2007 13:40

seriously booboo, what do you eat? dd loves veggie lasagne, bean and veg casseroles, and puy lentils and sage, stir fries and noodles. but these were all things we ate anyway, iykwim? and my friend's wee girl has never liked potatoes, either, funnily enough.

BizzyDint · 29/03/2007 13:40

no teeth doesn't matter at all. they have teeth it's just that they're covered in gum..not like an old person who's teeth have all fallen out so they have soft, weak gums.

ChocolateSucksWithoutSugar · 29/03/2007 13:42

My dd wouldn't really eat potato at 9 months either, but now at 13 months she seems to really like it, so do frequently re-offer things that have been rejected before.

You do know that any food can be finger food don't you, so just give her some of whatever you're having to have a play with/eat with her hands.

ChocolateSucksWithoutSugar · 29/03/2007 13:44

Agree teeth don't matter.

Just bear in mind total salt in a day if you're giving her muffins for tea as well as bread at lunchtime. Should be no more than 1g a day at that age (a single crumpet, for example, varies from about 0.75g to 1.5g of salt).

BizzyDint · 29/03/2007 13:45

my dd has gone off plain veg, she likes it best when it's fried in olive oil or roasted. so get your boiled poatoes, slice them up, fry them in a little oil (dd likes garlic oil best at the moment!) and give them a go that way. have you tried omlettes by the way? you can stick the fried potatoes in that and hey presto, spanish omlette.

Original poster

booboobunny · 29/03/2007 14:14

but how do you find time to make things like lasagne etc.? i work during the day, pick her up from the childminder at 6, dinner is 6.30, bath at 7 and bedtime 7.30. then i have to zoom around getting her stuff ready for the next day, tidy up the dinner mess and maybe think about having something to eat myself! being in the early stages of preg i'm ready for bed by 9pm! or do you buy the ready made stuff? (what is the rda for salt btw? i find the adverts on tv really irritating. they tell you to watch out for overloaded foods but don't make it clear how much is too much) re: the frying thing, i have to confess i'm a bit confused by all this. i'm keen for her to have a varied diet, but had thought i should't be giving her fried foods just yet. you may have worked out i'm a first timer at this and find it all really confusing hence my tryin to give her foods i've made myself.....

OP posts:

lori21 · 29/03/2007 14:20

my lo loves red lentils so i just boil these up and he eats them with his fingers like he eats mash. you can add anything to them for variety and serve them with pasta spirals. my theory is to just keep offering them a little of everything and after a while they will hopefully start eating it.

AitchTwoOh · 29/03/2007 14:31

i'm a first-timer too...
i never fuss too much about salt as most of our food is home-cooked. you know that fried food is fine for babies, they're not low-fat iykwim? what about omelettes, they are easy and quick and you can put broccoli and asparagus or peas in. also risottoes, they're a twenty-minute job when you get home. there's a quick cannelloni on the blog as well. and if you make up lots of bolognese one sunday you can freeze bits for lasagne later.

ChocolateSucksWithoutSugar · 29/03/2007 14:32

No, I wouldn't buy ready made stuff. If you are working full time then perhaps make up some meals at the weekend ready for use during the week (you could freeze lasagne and get it out of the freezer for use at the end of the week, whilst using up stuff that you made at the weekend which doesn't freeze so well earlier in the week).

I mentioned already the RDA for your dd - 1g until she is 1, then 2g. For an adult it is 6g.

ChocolateSucksWithoutSugar · 29/03/2007 14:34

Oh and try the sweetcorn patties from the blog - you can make up the mix except for the eggs the night before, then when you get in from work, add the eggs and cook for a few mins and hey presto, dinner's ready . If you eat with her too, then that's one less thing you'll have to do once you've got her off to bed, before you can go yourself.

AitchTwoOh · 29/03/2007 14:45

those sweetcorn patties ae nice, aren't they? i like them with a squeeze of lemon (and some salt, goddammit).

Original poster

booboobunny · 29/03/2007 15:17

ok i am going to try a pitta pizza thingy tonight and keep my fingers crossed. if she doesn't like it she'll just chuck it all on the floor and i have some pasta in reserve, just in case. i'll check out the recipes on the blw website to see if there's any that are quick. it's such a shame. i love to cook but simply don't have the time since i became a mum. was looking forward to that all chaning, but with number 2 on the way i'll either have to get loads more organised or just give up on it for a while.....

OP posts:

kels666 · 29/03/2007 15:26

Falafel - my toddler's been eating them since she was around that age. Check the salt though.

ChocolateSucksWithoutSugar · 29/03/2007 15:43

Might I be bold and suggest that you don't have pasta in reserve, or she'll soon get wise to this and refuse anything that isn't her favourite, and then you will have created exactly the scenario you said you wanted to avoid.

If she doesn't eat what you give her then just offer milk, as that's all she actually needs at this age.

She'll soon starting eating a wider variety once she realises that there's no alternative.

AitchTwoOh · 29/03/2007 15:46

agree with csws, don't stress about the amounts at this stage, it's all good experience. if she doesn't want what you give her she can have as much milk as she wants anyway.

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