My son will be 1 years old on June 26th --- First time mom with toddler?

Question

I am little nervous with my son who turn toddler and will be on real food and I am neverous because I am worry if it will choke him or whatever will happen. Ofc he's my first child and is my first toddler to be.

Anyway, I wonder what foods is the best for him to have that will not make him choke? I go to gerber.com & went to see toddler menu but I don't have all those kinds of foods on menu list. I want to have something simple from my home foods.

I also have another question what kind of milk can he go on? whole milk or? how much should I give it to him an oz a day of milk? how much often he can have milk? daily? what about juice how often do I give it to him? even how many oz juice a day? Soooo sorry to ask you alot of questions.

Answer 1

Just give him 1 spoonful of each food that you are eating.  Put it on his tray, chop up whatever needs to be chopped and let him feed himself with his fingers.  There's no reason to buy special foods for a toddler... he should eat whatever your family usually eats.  And he'll not likely to choke if he's putting it into his mouth on his own.

Give him whole milk and/or juice.  Don't worry about how much.  I usually give milk at meals and juice with snacks.  If they drink it all, then maybe offer more.  If they don't drink it all, then they're not thirsty right now so save it for later.

Answer 2

You know it's funny you ask, a co-worker and I just had this conversation today.

First off let me say that I'm a mother of 3 kids age 10, 7 and 2 years old so I have had a lot of practice!

As far as food goes, I like to save as much money as possible so I say don't buy Gerber graduate foods, instead try Chef Boyardi spagetti, spagetti-o's, and things like that they are much cheaper and toddlers love them, you can even  buy them in small microwavable dishes so you don't waste food. And Ramen noodles are a toddlers first choice also. Of course you have to cut them in smaller portions but these things work great!

Next milk is not to be given until the child turns one. Whole milk is what they need. Children at this age still need the nutrients and fat in milk. how much is up to you however too much milk will make the child not want to eat real food so be careful. But don't be skimpy, toddlers need the milk still it is important for bone growth and also their teeth too.

As far as juice goes, too much juice is not a good thing. Juice is very high in sugar and can rott at their teeth and also make them hyper.

The last thing is when a infant goes from formula to real milk and food you have to watch for constipation. The best thing to due for this is avoid too much of foods like mac n cheese, apple sauce , etc... However if they child gets constipated apple juice works really well. This is a juice that you should limit your child with because it does cause diahhrea.

I hope this has not been to much info but enough to get you on the right track! Good Luck!

Answer 3

Whole milk.  I gave my son milk with every meal, and he had some while we read a story before bed.  Stay on whole milk until he is 2.  With food, he can have whatever you're having, just chop it up into very small pieces.  He can have meat, just cut it up...corn, fruit cut up and peeled, spaghetti (messy) anything.  He doesn't need juice but you can give it to him if you want.  I water my son's down 50/50 with water still so he doesn't have too much sugar, and limit to a cup or two a day.

Answer 4

I recommend The Family Nutrition Book by Dr.William Sears. It's full of good nutritional ideas, especially for toddlers. I trust him because not only has he been a top pediatritian for over 30 years but he's also raised 8 children.

The gerber baby foods that look like mini tv dinners are not good for your baby. They contain high amounts of sodium, which isn't good for baby. I don't normally cook with any extra salt, and use fresh ingredients as much as I can. I would normally juice give our son what we were eating, but I'd have it chopped really fine in the food processor.

Whole milk is best, 8-16 oz, 2% isn't recommended until after the second birthday. Juice is OK, white grape juice is easiest on the intestines, 4 oz. I used to give my son juice twice a day, mixed with equal parts of water - so 2oz juice, 2 oz water.