TTMA finger foods to send to daycare

[shahoi]

Thank you for starting this! We are really far behind on solid food's - still doing mainly purees. I would love to see what you all are feeding your LOs. I'm just still really nervous for some reason, and a lot of the things I've given her she doesn't like.

[musicfrk2002]

J is only at daycare for 2 hours a day right now, so no help here.

[jillywilly]

+ 1 to pancakes - that's a pretty easy idea.

DS gets Cheerios provided by day care in the morning for "breakfast." Then I normally send oatmeal mixed with some fruit for "lunch," which isn't helpful to you since you're looking for finger foods.

We've been cutting about 90% of our dinners up into bite-sized pieces for DS for him to eat, so for day care if I had to add in another meal, maybe leftovers from the night before? Or you could do bread/toast strips, maybe with some avocado or banana or something mashed on top? Or pasta - you could cook a batch of it on the weekend, and send that mixed in with some veggies or whatever.

[mrsmonogrammed]

I'm so guilty of sticking with purées because it easier, but I think in going to start buying for of those Gerber toddler meals and just have them cut up for her. That way I feel like she's getting a "well rounded" meal more so than sending just 1 thing cut up.

Probably will start sending cut up fruit for breakfast, and then the meals for lunch:)

[Widget123]

LO still gags on almost anything/everything so I am not confident enough to send in something or have daycare feed bite size pieces of the regular menu yet.

However, my favorite easy bite size things are:
raviolis (cheese, beef, veggie, etc.) can cut into 4ths
bread (banana, zucchini, etc.)
yogurts
eggs
+whatever shredded meat/meatloaf, easy veggies like carrots/corn/peas, easy fruit like bananas and avocados

[mrsmonogrammed]

Feb 29, 2016 9:41:57 GMT -5 Kristykristyleelee said:

Today was the 1st day that I sent leftovers for A. It was kinda sad/kinda exciting. All 3 of us are having leftover chicken pot pie for lunch today!

BTW - it is messy, but A LOVED the chicken pot pie for dinner last night.

Could have missed this, but recipe? I'm always on the hunt for a good chicken pot pie! Haven't loved any of the ones I've tried to make so far

[shahoi]

Who all has already introduced eggs? What about PB? I haven't done either because, well, scared.

[mrsmonogrammed]

Feb 29, 2016 9:49:43 GMT -5 shahoi said:

Who all has already introduced eggs? What about PB? I haven't done either because, well, scared.

I've done eggs and yogurt. I just did scrambled eggs for breakfast 3 days in a row and watched her for any allergy signs. It was kind of nerve wracking but we don't have any history of family food allergy so I tried to man-up (Woman-up?, whatever.) but I kind of keep forgetting to do the PB. Probably will do that this weekend on some toast!

[hannahl201477]

Not much to really add but when I worked in daycare I worked in the infant room. I would suggest sending purees as a back up but at this age we suggested to parents taking home the monthly menu and circling or whatever what baby CAN eat. In a daycare facility most of the time lunch will be pasta or whatever, veggie, and fruit.

[hannahl201477]

Feb 29, 2016 11:37:37 GMT -5 carrots said:

Feb 29, 2016 11:24:59 GMT -5 hannahl201477 said:

Not much to really add but when I worked in daycare I worked in the infant room. I would suggest sending purees as a back up but at this age we suggested to parents taking home the monthly menu and circling or whatever what baby CAN eat. In a daycare facility most of the time lunch will be pasta or whatever, veggie, and fruit.

Thanks! I'm hoping we can go all in on the menu in a couple weeks but I'm a little paranoid right now that they wouldn't cut stuff up small enough so I just want to get a little more confidence in his chewing/gumming abilities.

i totally understand! I SAH so I'm not in your position but I would feel the same way! We have no teeth still so he gets super tiny bites of whatever.

[billyhorrible]

So BH's daycare they make the food, so I don't send in anything, and with LBB, we just sent in whatever DH and I were having for lunch, because we did BLW so I wouldn't have to make foods special for him.


But since a lot of you are moving from purees and are nervous about table foods, here are some really easy ideas to send in.

Fruit:
Melon spears
Mango spears
blueberries (I squeeze them slightly between thumb and forefinger to pop them/change the shape from throat blocking balls. I also dip blueberries in coconut yogurt and then freeze them, which is a great teething snack)
kiwi
pineapple - BH is obsessed with pineapple right now, he likes it both fresh and frozen.
cuties/halos (mandarin oranges)
freeze dried fruit

Vegetables:
roasted zucchini spears
cucumber
bell pepper slices
green beans
avocado
tomato slices or halved grape tomatoes

Proteins:
black beans - especially good and easy in quesadilas
hummus - this is also great to send in with veggies or pita for dipping
french toast, cut into sticks
egg muffins (cook egg and veggies in a muffin cup)
meatballs
BH loves fried tofu - I make a batter with nutritional yeast, flour, and water, then dip the tofu in it and throw in a pan.
cheese sticks
meat "nuggets" (this works for chicken, steak, lamb, pork, whatever. Just cut, coat in breadcrumbs, and bake till crispy)

[jillywilly]

So random, semi-related question - how many meals is everyone feeding now on average? I'm usually doing two - oatmeal late morning/lunch-ish and then dinner, and often a "snack" (Cheerios, mum mums or something), but DS isn't really interested in eating around breakfast when we wake up, I've tried solids a few times then, and it can be a battle to get him to take a bottle even, so I'm not even sure how to get a third one in, other than keep trying breakfast and hope he takes to it eventually? I've read that three meals a day by nine months is commonly recommended - I'm just struggling with how to get there. Between bottles, solids, etc, sometimes I feel like all this kid does is eat as it is!

[mrsmonogrammed]

Feb 29, 2016 13:12:05 GMT -5 jillywilly said:

So random, semi-related question - how many meals is everyone feeding now on average? I'm usually doing two - oatmeal late morning/lunch-ish and then dinner, and often a "snack" (Cheerios, mum mums or something), but DS isn't really interested in eating around breakfast when we wake up, I've tried solids a few times then, and it can be a battle to get him to take a bottle even, so I'm not even sure how to get a third one in, other than keep trying breakfast and hope he takes to it eventually? I've read that three meals a day by nine months is commonly recommended - I'm just struggling with how to get there. Between bottles, solids, etc, sometimes I feel like all this kid does is eat as it is!

We're at 2, breakfast and lunch, but struggling to add in dinner....seems like we never have any time and I don't want her to fill up on solids right before nursing to bed. Typically we get home 5:45 and then she's going to bed between 6:45 and 7:15 depending. It feels rushed!

[beersandweirs]

jillywilly she gets 2 "meals" at the nanny's during the day, and I usually give her some food when we get home in the afternoon as well. Like mrsmonogrammed I don't want her to fill up on foods before her bedtime nursing session, because she is less likely to eat, and more likely to bite...

We had to move up when we did the afternoon solids, we were doing it at our dinner time, which was right before bedtime, but now I do it about and hour and a half before bedtime.

[erbear]

jillywilly, we're at two meals a day (between 10:30-11:30 and at 5:30) and an afternoon snack.

My concern with foods is how do I serve it to her? So, okay, I give her a slice of a cutie - do I give her the entire slice? Do I give her sauce with pasta? I gave her ravioli the other day but I broke it down into tiny, puff size pieces. I don't give her bread any bigger than that, either. Should I be?

I gave her hummus and pita once and she loved it but she choked on the pita and I freaked out. She hasn't had hummus since and i hate that since it's good for her and she enjoyed it. Should I just cut the pita into smaller pieces, too?

[mrsmonogrammed]

erbear get out of my head. I've been wondering basically the exact same things!

[erbear]

I swear, feeding my kid is so complicated. I've gotten better at giving her what we're eating, though. No meat yet, but I was contemplating chicken pot pie this week (thanks for the idea, Kristykristyleelee). She's had baby food meat and loves those (Ella's kitchen and Earth's Best blends)

[gilder40]

+2 to erbear and mrsmonogrammed's thoughts.

I give Tins the purées with the chunks in it. She does pretty good with those. We gave her some macaroni and cheese at McAlister's yesterday, and she ate it up. She also loves grilled cheese. I'll give her tiny pieces when I eat it for supper.

How did you know to give larger pieces of food? T only has two bottom teeth, and they aren't even in all the way. She loves her puffs, and eats those like crazy. I just don't know if I need to give her larger pieces or stick with smaller stuff.

Nerve-wracking.

[jillywilly]

Feb 29, 2016 14:12:05 GMT -5 erbear said:

jillywilly , we're at two meals a day (between 10:30-11:30 and at 5:30) and an afternoon snack.

My concern with foods is how do I serve it to her? So, okay, I give her a slice of a cutie - do I give her the entire slice? Do I give her sauce with pasta? I gave her ravioli the other day but I broke it down into tiny, puff size pieces. I don't give her bread any bigger than that, either. Should I be?

I gave her hummus and pita once and she loved it but she choked on the pita and I freaked out. She hasn't had hummus since and i hate that since it's good for her and she enjoyed it. Should I just cut the pita into smaller pieces, too?

We had issues with DS choking when we started "real" food too, so we have been feeding her food, but we still break it down into about puff size pieces as well, he does pretty good like that. I'd try the pita bread cut into smaller pieces, or maybe even try something different - a softer bread that might be easier for her to break down to swallow?

[carolyngrace]

Oscar loves scrambled eggs. They're a great finger food because he can grab a bigger chunk, but it separates easily for chewing and swallowing.

Here's what I'm trying to do most days:

Breakfast: fruit (usually squeezable purée) and bread (little pieces) or crackers/mum-mums.

Lunch: dairy (yogurt, cheese) and veggies (anything steamed). Possibly more fruit.

Dinner: Whatever were having. Try to get some protein in.

Our main finger foods:
Eggs, tofu (scrambled), chicken (tiny!), beans (very mushy), blueberries (cut in half), raspberries, soft pears, bananas (leave whole with part of skin to grab onto), carrots, peas, squash, potatoes.

[carolyngrace]

Feb 29, 2016 14:32:06 GMT -5 jillywilly said:

Feb 29, 2016 14:12:05 GMT -5 erbear said:

jillywilly , we're at two meals a day (between 10:30-11:30 and at 5:30) and an afternoon snack.

My concern with foods is how do I serve it to her? So, okay, I give her a slice of a cutie - do I give her the entire slice? Do I give her sauce with pasta? I gave her ravioli the other day but I broke it down into tiny, puff size pieces. I don't give her bread any bigger than that, either. Should I be?

I gave her hummus and pita once and she loved it but she choked on the pita and I freaked out. She hasn't had hummus since and i hate that since it's good for her and she enjoyed it. Should I just cut the pita into smaller pieces, too?

We had issues with DS choking when we started "real" food too, so we have been feeding her food, but we still break it down into about puff size pieces as well, he does pretty good like that. I'd try the pita bread cut into smaller pieces, or maybe even try something different - a softer bread that might be easier for her to break down to swallow?

Ditto giving different bread. I think we tend to assume pita goes with hummus, but babies don't care Similarly I put guacamole on soft bread for O and he loves that.

[carolyngrace]

Feb 29, 2016 14:30:56 GMT -5 gilder40 said:

+2 to erbear and mrsmonogrammed's thoughts.

I give Tins the purées with the chunks in it. She does pretty good with those. We gave her some macaroni and cheese at McAlister's yesterday, and she ate it up. She also loves grilled cheese. I'll give her tiny pieces when I eat it for supper.

How did you know to give larger pieces of food? T only has two bottom teeth, and they aren't even in all the way. She loves her puffs, and eats those like crazy. I just don't know if I need to give her larger pieces or stick with smaller stuff.

Nerve-wracking.

She sounds ready to me, and it sounds like you're already "doing it". Just keep letting her try more and more things. There will be some things she obviously loves, so give her more of those and she'll get comfortable chewing/swallowing

I don't think teeth matter. I know babies without teeth who eat everything.

[erbear]

Yeah, we chew with our molars anyways, so my LO without teeth chews just fine.

I'll try some hummus on toast maybe tonight!

[dogmama22]

I haven't read everything, but here's what we send:
Breakfast (usually protein, grain, fruit):
Big omelette with kale cut with my herb scissors - ripped it into small pieces, portioned it out and froze it
Watermelon
Pineapple
Strawberries
Cheerios
Blueberries
Waffle with peanut butter
Veggie muffins from Costco
Nature Valley breakfast biscuit with peanut butter
Whole grain oats
Lunch (usually protein and veggies):
Black beans
Meatballs (with a little tomato sauce)
Frozen precooked chicken pieces
Leftovers
Gerber toddler meals
Chick peas
Broccoli
Diced carrots
Peas
Green beans
Cooked apple pieces
Applesauce
For snack, I just do a frozen fruit or veggie or canned bean of some sort
One of my favorite things that I've found from Kroger recently is frozen veggie/ meal mixes. They have southwest, stir fry, etc and it's super easy to just toss some of that in a container with a protein and call it lunch. Since we didn't do cereal, I try to make sure he gets plenty of food with iron. I toss frozen vegetables or fruit in a container in the morning and they're ready to go by afternoon. I also got a great hand out from daycare with finger foods that I'll try to upload later.

[belle0720]

gilder40 Lack of teeth shouldn't matter. G doesn't have any teeth and she's been eating meat, bread, fruit, veggies, chex...everything for the past 2 months (we do baby led weaning).

I like to give her pieces that she can hold onto and put in her mouth easily. She hasn't perfected her pincer grasp so small things like peas and cheerios are more challenging for her, but she does great with a slice of fruit or bread with peanut butter or avocado on it.

[dogmama22]

Oh we've also done tuna mixed with avocado and I'm planning to get some shrimp and salmon to mix in here and there too.

[gilder40]

Duh on the teeth don't really matter. Blonde moment? Mommy brain? Aggie? Blame it on whatever. Lol.

She does pick up the puffs with a pincer grip most of the time. She does pretty good with it. I just feel so clueless most of the time.

[mgrandy]

When we eat slow cooker burrito bowls, DD eats a combo of smashed black beans, rice, and avocado. Maybe that would be a possibility.

[mirage86]

E is eating 3 meals a day. I usually give him some of what we are eating, and then if he didn't have a lot of it I will give him oatmeal/purées. He actually has very little interest in foods if I make the pieces too small, so I have to give him larger ones (i.e., large strips of French toast vs bite sized) and then he typically eats it and gums it into smithereens.

[purple]

L has never let us spoon feed her, not once. It's been finger food right from the start here. She is now dextrous enough to eat from a spoon or a (child-size) fork, which means she's able to eat some more slippery foods that were just making her frustrated before. She has no teeth but chews a lot with her gums.

UK guidelines are that by eight months, a baby should be having three meals and two snacks a day, and between 500 - 600ml of milk only. (Just checked and that's 17.5 - 21oz.) I take this with a pinch of salt as a) I know the recommendations are very different in other countries, and b) if we were breastfeeding I would still be feeding on demand and wouldn't have a clue how much she was getting!

Having said that, since last week I have been more deliberate about snacks. We've been doing three meals since before Christmas, because I have three meals a day and she eats what I eat at the same time. I was more casual about snacks, but now she gets one snack of her favourite savoury biscuits (er, don't know how to translate this. Kind of like crackers? Do you use the same word for crackers?) and one snack of pear.

Sadly, the eat-everything aspect of BLW hasn't really worked for us (yet). She'll eat any kind of carb or protein, including bucket loads of meat and fish, but is wary of all fruit except pears, and most veg. I'm hoping this will improve when she has some teeth!