cant get my 9 month old to eat protein...any suggestions?

[vannah]

other than milk, she's not getting much protein. Problem:

Each time I cook fish or chicken or lamb with carrots/veg it and puree it, she wont touch it. Ive tasted it and its always got a powdery texture. She doesnt like any of the annabel karmel recipes Ive tried.

She likes hipp jar food - but the protein content is usually something like chicken 5% in a jar. Dont think this is enough.

She doesnt like lentils or cheese, anything else I can try? Mince meat is usually too hard.

thankyou

None of mine had meat before 12 months (because I don't eat it and wanted to be able to taste theier food). They get their protein from milk, mostly.

I would try egg (scrambled, or mixed into mash), and try not to worry just yet.

Just keep offering it along with other stuff, several times a week and take it away without stressing when she refuses. Don't stop offering it because eventually she may very well take it.

could retry lentils with some cinnamon and carrot in a tomato sauce. makes a lovely sauce, lentils tase drifts away nicely...

Why don't you just give finger food protein e.g. good sausages/ meatballs/ omelette? 9 months is getting quite old for pureed everything, surely?

possibly cheating but I had the same problem with my DS when I started him on meat and fish. he didn't seem to like the texture so I mixed it in with the plum pots (I used the sweetcorn and carrot one for fish, spinach for lamb and the sweet potato one for the chicken). To start with I had equal parts, then just a couple of spoonfuls and now he wil eat it with just a little extra water and baby rice to improve the texture.

howabout beans ... kidney beans, or chickpeas?

also, sorry for double post, but quinoa is a good source of protein. use like pasta, but it can be mixed with your veg purees ...

beans? ds (7mo) is only really just starting to eat anything, but baked beans were an early success. Since then, anything with tomato sauce has gone well: beans, peas, omelette.

thanks for the suggestions
Making a list of things to try. Omlette, will try baked beans. Didnt think quinoa was protein..thought it was a grain like rice?

good suggestion about mixing it, she likes plum.
Yes - she is beginning to have some lumpier/finger food

peas are quite good for protein

hummous (chickpeas) on a bit of pitta bread?

quinoa is like rice, but does contain protein. good stuff!

www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=76666

She doesn't need much protein - she's getting most of her nutition from milk at this age. But I would try well cooked chick peas as a finger food - both of mile loved them. Lentil soup too is good.

seeker do you peel the chickpeas? They can have quite tough skins, and I was peeling them for ds yesterday. He's 7mo, only bottom 2 teeth, and doesn't really chew, so I didn't want him to try swallowing them whole, but also it's a faff. Am I going overboard?

DS is 7.5mo and BLW. He likes:

• thin mushroom omlette cut into strips
• humous on bread/toast/pitta
• home made pork and apple burger 'fingers'
• spaghetti bolognaise
• eggy bread (french toast, whatever!)
• tuna mayo
• salmon (with or without philadelphia)
• cheese sticks (mature cheddar or even hard goats cheese!)

those are the favourites - particularly salmon and philly

HTH

But please note apart from the odd occasion he doesn't eat much of any of those things (or really a huge amount of solids at all, though he has 2 meals a day) and I would agree that your LO is still getting most (or all) of what they really need from milk.

However I would try other stuff just to make your life easier in the long run!

sorry no time to read all posts but have you tried tofu? just cold and cubed straight from the fridge? personally i don't like it but my son did. worth a try.

thanks for these ideas everyone, writing some down now..

MamaChris - I didn't peel chickpeas for mine and they managed fine. But I am a neglectful mother in many ways.......!

Chairmum your list made me feel rather peckish (didnt eat supper tonight)!!

Agree with the others, offer nice finger foods, some with protein some not and don't panic, milk is most important still, I read somewhere "food is for fun until after one".

beans made DD (9 months) a bit colicky but she has eaten very well thin slices of roast turkey and chicken. Roast beef was a bit more difficult to eat. Also she has liked both tuna and salmon in cheese sauce. No need to puree, just fork it.

scrambled egg, mash with melted cheese, mashed up butterbeans with butter, agree with fish in cheese sauce, baked sweet potato with melted cheese in.

Adding oil/fat of some kind seems to improve the powdery texture of chicken and fish. Butter, melted cheese, Philly work quite well.

Cheesy lentil bake. I know she doesnt like lentils, neither do I, but in this they are yummy - it comes out like a cross between a flan and a brownie-type thing. Doesn't taste lentily-slimey at all. Mine eat this a lot, got the recipe from the HV booklet on vegetarian babies. Let me know if you want it. Also has egg in so I give it to them once a weekish for a protein fix as they don't eat meat really.

Tinned salmon fishcakes (mash tin of salmon with 1-2 boiled potatoes, shape into cakes, fry) go down very well here.
Also, nut butters spread on toast/oatcakes, lentil dhal, bolagnaise sauce made with half meat, half lentils, shepherds pie ditto.
Rissoles made with well blended mince and onion very popular too.

And lentils aren't slimy -they are delicious in all forms.

Vanna- sounds like my daughter- she doesn't like any of the AK recipes and turns her nose up at them in favour of jars! However, she does like tofu (I'm not too keen on it). If you go to your local health shop you can get 'silken tofu' in cartons (long life) which is apparently good for dips etc so it goes down easy for Miss no teeth. You can steam it for 5 mins with a bit of ginger. the cartons are quite big for a baby but you can use a bit of it and keep the rest in the fridge. Scrambled eggs also popular but you have to feed her with your hands.