Inspire me please - typical daily menu for 10mth old....

[Daffodilly]

Title says it all. I seem to spend a lot of time trying to figure out meal ideas for DD (10 mths). She is a bit of a picky eater - knows what she likes and will eat it with relish. If she doesn't like it or it looks unfamiliar it goes straight on the floor without a second glance. I'd like ideas to get more variety in there and thought I'd see what sort of things everyone else feeds.

Today she is having (I hope):

b - 1 Oatabix with milk and a banana (this one is done so that is one down)
l - chunks of salmon, broccoli florets and couscous (left overs from our dinner last night, but I doubt she'll eat the couscous or much/any salmon!). Organix fruit pot for dessert.
d - hoummus sandwich, cherry tomatoes (current fav food), steamed sweet pepper. Blueberries for dessert.

I feel we are stuck in a rut and most days are very similar - though I do change the meat/fish and veg at lunch. Looking forward to seeing some new ideas to inspire us out of this.

that sounds fine to me. a couple of thoughts..

maybe she doesn't eat much of the cous cous because it's quite difficult to handle for little hands? try mixing it with a little plain yoghurt to make it sticky.

is she having pasta? that's a good quick meal at anytime. and if she likes tomatoes then she'll hopefully like tomato based pasta sauces that you can add veg and or meat to.

similarly, try omlettes. again, you can add things to it and it's easy to pick up for little hands.

you'll find loads of fab ideas on babyledweaning.com

Thanks for your reply ruddynorah and the good suggestions. She LOVES pasta and would happily eat it 3 meals a day!

I guess it isn't just ideas I am after - I have loads of recipes - but also reassurance that she is eating "normally" for her age.

For lunch she ended up eating all the broccoli (yey!), one mouthful of salmon (hated it despite having eaten it before), no couscous (didn't seem to like texture, will try yoghurt idea trough). So thinking she'd still be hungry I ended up giving her some banana and plain yoghurt. But I don't feel this is a very balanced meal - no meat protein and not much in the way of carbs.

Would just like to see what other babies ACTUALLY eat in a typical day I guess.....

best to think of balancing the whole days intake rather than each meal. Before about 2 yrs most appetites are too small to munch their way through protein, carb and veg.

DS (11 months tomorrow) typical day:

Toast fingers (hates baby breakfast stuff)
One pot chicken (Good old Ms Karmel)
Sw Pot/Courgette Gratin & yog

Also will eat a couple of biscuit fingers during the day.

He isn't into feeding himselft at all - is that a boy thing? He has no teeth so all food is still fairly pureed.

The Sweet Pot & Courgette Gratin sounds yummy - is that AK too? DD loves both so that could be a winner.

She has recently decided that spoons are no longer the done thing (apart from yogurt and fruit pots where they are an acceptable necessity), but also doesn't have many teeth (bottom two only) so it does add to the complications of choosing foods!

sample day for dd (9.5 mths)

b - porridge and pieces of fruit (banana or pear)
l - fish with cheese sauce, sweet potato & peas then fruit
d - pasta with tomato sauce and some green veg or toast with soft cheese, yoghurt

we are doing a mixture of spoon feeding mashed up stuff and finger food (she likes smallish bits she can put in her mouth whole). No teeth yet...

other things that go down well are mushroom risotto and mashed up veggie lasagne (these last two would be leftovers from mine and dh's dinner). Know what you mean about feeling a bit stuck in a rut - I sometimes feel she is just getting variations on just a couple of recipes.

Over a day I try to ensure that she has had two portions fruit, two portions veg, one yoghurt, some form of carbohydrate with each meal, at least one protein based meal etc. No idea what size a portion should be - I guess she would be having about a quarter of a pear cut into chunks with breakfast? For a main savoury meal I guess she is having about the equivalent of most of a Stage 2 baby jar in terms of volume.

My 11 month old has:

• porridge oats with yogurt and fruit
• peas, carrots, chicken and mash (left over from Sunday lunch)
• finger food dinner of cheese sandwich, sliced avocado and tomatoes

She only has two teeth so still has mainly mushy stuff. Your diet sounds very good. I usually cook up loads at a time then the poor baby has the same dinner for days on end till I make soemthing else (usually fish pie or pasta bolognaise or pasta with broccoli, peas and parmesan).

My DD (8 months) has:

Weetabix/Hipp Breakfast Cereal/Ready Brek
Cottage Pie, Banana & Custard
Cauliflower Cheese, Yoghurt

I struggle with tea time meals as she cannot cope with sandwhiches yet and she has her main meat&veg meal at lunch so I do stuff like veg based meal or pasta or scrambled egg.

My 9 mo had yesterday...

Porridge + stewed fruit + fruit bread toast fingers

Can't remember what she had for lunch but generally it would be pasta + sauce or bolognaise or something!!

Humous sandwiches + nectarine slices + Bubble and squeak with cheese in it (mash, carrots, leeks, parsnips, cabbage) from sundays leftovers)

Bit off topic, but having no teeth doesn't mean that they have to have mush - you'd be surprised what those hard little gums can manage. A friend's daughter didn't get any teeth until 17 months, but had happily been eating the same as them (unmashed) from 8 months, and mine chews quite happily on molar-free gums. Teeth speed things up, but that's about it...

you are right habbibu and my daughter's gums are particularly effective when she tries to chew my finger off...I just meant she doesn't have pork chops or crunchy apples!

Well, apples no, I'll grant you that, but pork chops went down well with no teeth - sucked them to death and then favoured me with the pathetic remains...

My lo is 9 months and has no teeth yet. Today she had....

BF - Boiled egg cut into quarters and toast fingers. 2 orange segments.
LUNCH - Home made veggieburger with veg. Fruit dipped into yogurt for dessert
TEA - Cheese and potato pie (adult portion!!!!) with baked beans (homemade low salt/sugar). Pear quarters and kiwi fruit for dessert.

Eats loads - whoever said that 3 square meals make them sleep though the night is lying though. She is still rubbish at night...

Reesie - would love your recipies for homemade cheese and potato pie and beans - sounds yum.

I try to do things we can all eat. Shepherd's pie tonight (made with low salt stock - marigold's is good), last night we had a soup of my own invention starring various veggies from the back of the fridge - leek, carrot, courgette, pepper, green beans and I bunged in a can of haricot beans. Whizzed up for the boys and with parmesan for us. yum.

Another one feeling a bit stuck in a rut, this thread is helping

dd has oatibix, or wheetabix, dipped in a bit of milk; fruit; toast for breakfast. Today though, she had some cold leftover
porridge, yuk - she loved it.

Lunch today (out): bits of our cheese sandwiches, tuna pasta, cucumber sticks, avocado slices, strawberry.

Supper: pasta with grated cheese; boiled sweet potato fingers sauteed in butter; courgette; fried egg; fruit for dessert.

She also managed to get her gums on a bit of dd1's scone at tea time

We do loads of pasta, shepherds pie, fish fingers (with some of the breadcrumb bit removed), masses of veggies and fruit, eggy bread. And thats about it - am getting very bored of it, dd2 too!