Baby Parenting Guide

When can I start giving my son baby food that is more chunky?

He is 7.5 months and right now he is only eating pureed baby food that has no chunks at all. I heard that when they turn 1 they can eat anything they want. Should I start giving him chunkier purees?

Public Response to When can I start giving my son baby food that is more chunky?

1. My son is 8.5 mos old, I tried chunky foods last week and he would instantly vomit. This week he loves them.. go figure. He also has 7 teeth. I'd say wait another month or two.
2. i wouldn't
3. It depends on several factors: your baby's taste and preferences, how many teeth he has. You can definitely try it and see how he responds. My baby who is 8 months still prefers pureed stuff and will reject anything with texture (she also has no teeth yet). Other babies I know hate pureed stuff and prefer texture in their food.
4. Start with bananas and pieces of cheese. Tehy are not going to have molars for a while.
5. I tried at 6 1/2 months (he has been on pureed since 3 1/2 months) he didnt like it. it kind of freaked him out... soooooo hes not ready yet and i will try again in a few weeks. really thats all you can do, some babies will chew it up and some just arent ready at that age.
6. Purees are totally unnecessary for babies who are not starting solids prematurely. "Pureed food 'isn't natural for babies' Feeding babies on pureed food is unnatural and unnecessary, according to one of Unicef's leading child care experts, who says they should be fed exclusively with breast milk and formula milk for the first six months, then weaned immediately on to solids. Gill Rapley, deputy director of Unicef's Baby Friendly Initiative and a health visitor for 25 years, said spoon-feeding pureed food to children can cause health problems later in life She blames the multimillion-pound baby food industry for persuading parents that they need to give their babies pureed food. 'Sound scientific research and government advice now agree there is no longer any window of a baby's development in which they need something more than milk and less than solids,' Rapley said..." http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/jun/17/health.medicineandhealth I just hand my 6mo chunks of steamed veg and fruit and let her gnaw away. See also http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/vast_voedsel/rapley_guidelines.html ; Google "baby-led weaning" for more. & "Yet experts say children over 6 months can handle most anything, with a few caveats: Be cautious if you have a family history of allergies; introduce one food at a time and watch for any problems; and make sure the food isn't a choking hazard." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9646449/ "Baby food" is a recent, probably not very good, invention.
7. Pureed baby food is 'unnatural' http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6762795.stm She said children should be fed only with breast or formula milk for six months, then weaned onto solids to improve control over how much they ate. This could prevent babies becoming picky about food. [...] Solids best After six months, Mrs Rapley said babies were capable of taking food into their mouths and chewing it. Therefore, feeding them pureed food at this time could delay the development of chewing skills. Instead, she said, they should be given milk and solid pieces of food which they could chew. Mrs Rapley argued that babies fed pureed food had little control over how much food they ate, thus rendering them vulnerable to constipation, and running a risk that they would react by becoming fussy eaters later in life. She blamed the food industry for convincing parents that they should give children pureed food. She said: "Sound scientific research and government advice now agree that there is no longer any window of a baby's development in which they need something more than milk and less than solids."
8. It depends on where is in his development. Can he get into a crawling position and lift his belly off the floor? Does he try to mimic your chewing? If so you could try chunkier. I don't know what stage food your son is eating now but my son started eating Beechnut stage 3 dinners at 7 months. Those dinners have whole peas, diced carrots, and small pasta peices in them. He did great with it but then again he had two bottom teeth and was starting to cut all 4 top front teeth. I would try Beechnut stage 3 chicken and stars. It has very small pasta stars that are super soft so he should be ok with them. My son is now 10 months old and he eats the same foods that we eat at dinner just cut into peices he can handle. It all depends on your baby's stage of development. If you are concerned just ask your pediatrician.
9. Now. My daughter never ate purees. She started out with food ground in a food mill, which has much more texture than a purees. The sooner your baby eats textured foods the better. Eating purees up until one year old can leave you with a fussy eater. Don't bother with the gerber foods. "Stage 3" is still a puree with a few chunks in it! Start grinding and mashing foods that you cook. It is much better for you and baby and much cheaper.
10. I've just started with chunkier food with my son at 6 months, he's been eating solids since 4 months and he does fine with them. Mind you Daddy actually introduced chunks with French Fries and Timbits (donut holes) but since he chews, I've started leaving his foods with small chunks in them and he loves it. Babies do not need teeth to chew. They get their front teeth first normally which aren't used for chewing but for biting. Their gums are very hard. All you can do is try, and keep trying until they get the hang of it.
11. Personally i believe that every baby is different and grows at different levels, How chunky are we talking? Are we talking chunkier baby jarred foods? my daughter is 9 months now but for the last couple of weeks i have given her chunky oatmeal and like jarred baby spaghetti things like that, as long as its baby food i give it a try, she has two of her bottom teeth in and seems okay with it, i also give her baby crackers and toasts /cookies, these are all baby food brand so they are okay occassionally i give her table food because she seems so eager to get into adult food already!! lol. they catch on to what food is so fast!! :) So basically its when they are ready, it wouldnt hurt to check with her pedia as well to see how his development is coming along. Best of luck to you and your son, always monitor him with new foods though. :)