What do you feed a 16 month old...

F

FutureHKmom

Registered User
Just curious about what other mums out there feed their 16 month olds. Usually on weekdays, we cook separate food for our 16 month old son at home. The food has basically no oil and very little salt in it. Weekends we do the same, but we usually take him out to eat with us - sometimes feeding him first before we go out and sometimes taking his food out with us. My question is at this age, how much outside restaurant food should I be giving? If we eat lunches and dinners out on Sat and Sun should I just feed him restaurant food for those meals too or should I cook separate for him and bring it out....just not sure how much outside food his little body should take now. I know one or two meals a week is ok - but more? Thanks for any input and advice!
 
honestly, by 16 months your baby can eat everything you do, just in smaller bits and smaller quantities.

if he's eating 2 out of 21 weekly meals in a restaurant, do you really think it's going to hurt him?

personally, i don't understand it. we never really worried about it, we just did it. there was always something on the menu that we knew out little ones would eat, as for health aspects, as i said, 2/21 meals to me wasn't a big deal. even if it is more often, it's going to happen eventually, so long as you make healthy food at home, i don't see a big deal.
 
16 month old should eat normal food... everything - just in smaller portions. it ofcourse makes sense to give "junk-food" and sweets less frequently but they are also not off-limit completely.

my son eats what we eat since he was 12/13 months. he eats at restaurants - the only things he doesnt eat are the things he doesnt like :)

btw - babies need fat and oil for brain development and growth. going low on oil is not a good idea. there are lot of good books on nutrition and feeding for growing babies.
 
Since my daughter was about 12 months, I NEVER cooked her separate food and she eats what we eat - both at home and in the restaurant. She's now 21 months and a very good eater, generally speaking. She does have her preferences, but I love knowing I can take her anywhere and feed her anything. Usually for breakfast, she eats weetabix and some fruit, sometimes some yoghurt too. For lunch, she eats a sandwich, or spread on toast/rice cakes with some more fruit and cheese. For dinner, she eats whatever we're eating - rice with Chinese dishes, or meat/vegetables, or pasta etc... Her favourite things are fruit, cheese, yoghurt, pasta... I can't think of them all right now. But she's very easy to feed. Oh and she loves eggs and sausages too. I try to limit the amount of sweet drinks that she has - she usually only has a half a glass of juice a day (diluted with water) and the rest, she drinks just water. And I try not to eat junk food in front of her because she wants it too (she loves chocolate and potato chips but rarely gets them).

Some of my daughter's friends (also around 21 months old) still get special food cooked just for them - but in my opinion, they tend to be a bit more fussy eaters and also I think that eating together is something that families are meant to do... sharing the same food... I like that we include our daughter in our dinner time too :)
 
A 16 month old should be eating everything you do. There really is no need to be cooking separate meals. Also a little fat/oil is necessary for development.

My little one has been eating our food since he started solids. Previously we didn't cook with any salt, but now we add a little depending on what is being cooked.

He loves eating out at restaurants which we do 1 or 2 per week. Favourites are dim sum, slightly spicy curries and mexican!

Breakfasts are usually toast with jam or pancakes or cheerios or weetabix. Lunch is usually what mom and dad had for dinner the night before (H eats his tea at 5pm - too early for us!), and then dinner/tea is sandwiches or pasta or fried rice etc. Lunch and dinner also include fruit and a yoghurt.

I thoroughly recommend you read Annabel Karmel's New Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner. It has a fantastic selection of meals that a great for your bub and they are so tasty, adults eat them too!
 
We still cook separate for out 18 mth old though with same ingredients as our food. My problems with eating same food are:
1) scheduling. His schedule is different from ours. Eg he has dinner at 6:30 so there's time for him to bath and relax before bed while we eat later. If we cook together our food will need reheating and won't taste good.
2) he still only got 6 teeth so we give him softer food, like cooking his vege longer, pasta softer etc. It's easier to to it separately
3) we like spicy food and also eat semi junk food like deep fried stuff and I don't think he should eat spicy stuff. (again we sometimes hold the spice for his portion but we might as well just cook separatly at the right time)

do others have these issues?

We do give him restaurant food when we eat out but he is not usually interested.
 
A 16 month old can absolutely eat what you eat. My 11 month old eats what we do and has been for several months now - I don't see any reason to cook him special food, why would I teach him that he eats different food to us. The only difference when we cook at home is that we don't add salt any more. Babies need fat and shouldn't be given low-fat versions of anything and should definitely have oil within reason.

Baffelly - with the scheduling we cook what we are having at 8pm, save a portion for The Boy and reheat for him at 6pm the next day. He doesn't have the discernment or palate to tell he's having reheated food yet!!

With the teeth, babies just don't need teeth to chew. The Boy has four teeth and can eat a steak and has no problem with crusty french bread - it just takes him a bit longer than it takes us to gum it into submission.

The spice is more of a problem, there are some things he just doesn't like and even when he does like it he can rub the sauce in his eyes which stings a bit. He likes chilli con carne but I offered him a very spicy chicken the other day and he rejected it. I'd offer him spicy food when you have it and he'll soon let you know if he likes it or not - some babies love it. If he doesn't like it keep some homemade nuggets or fishcakes or something in the freezer that you can quickly cook and offer instead.

We usually eat out with him once or twice at the weekend, my only concern is salt as you just don't know how much they are putting in restaurant food but making sensible choices, avoiding highly processed 'kids' food and viewing his salt intake as an average over the week all helps. We also often share a slice of banana bread or a muffin when we're out during the week. Again, I have no problem with an overall healthy diet and sugar in moderation - I believe I'm teaching him to live in the real world and make good choices and banning certain foods types just won't help him to do that.

If I were you I'd just relax and let your baby enjoy eating out and the occasional treat when you do!
 
by 16 month babies can pretty much eat anything (as long as they do not have allergies) just make sure it is soft and not overloaded with salt / sugar - fat is necessary for brain development before the age of 2 so no need to be too worried about that. my daughter ate pretty much everything and still does - i think it is a good idea to make sure they try a good variety of foods from when they are young
 
I guess the only think I am worried about in letting our son eat the food that is cooked for us is that we usually do put salt or soy sauce in our food - I mean I don't think my helper puts a lot, but then again, i don't do the cooking so I don't know how much she puts in - probably more than what she puts in for my son's food. So does that mean that all of you mommies out there who feed your children what you eat at dinner/lunch don't put salt or soy sauce in your food when you cook? We eat a lot of Chinese food at home - stir fried something or other usually - so you don't put salt/soy sauce in that? Even Chinese style steam mince meat cake we put a bit of soy sauce in when we marinate the meat.....just wondering... Thanks.
 
who's said a 16 month old shouldnt have salt ? too much salt is not good for anyone - children or adults... but normal amount is not a problem.
 
yes, it's all about moderation. you don't use a cup of soy sauce, do you? no, you use a tablespoon or slightly more for a big wok full of noodles, veg and meat. it's not a huge amount when you consider the size of a child's serving.

we cook normally, but as said, we don't add EXTRA salt, we leave that up to the adults at the table.

i am a firm believer that you need to start the way you mean to continue.

IF you mean to continue cooking your child's food separately for the next 7-8 years, then by all means continue. (i'm not judging if that is what you choose to do.)

IF you want your child to be well-rounded, able to be taken to a restaurant, to enjoy a variety of foods etc, then what better time than the present to start introducing these things?
 
Same here, we just don't add extra salt but if salt is there in the recipe, for example from cheese, bacon or soy sauce then that's fine - and bear in mind my boy is still under a year old so I'm much more aware of it now than I will be in a years time. I actually use the reduced salt soy sauce but then I love salty food so it's actually good that feeding The Boy is making me cut down :-)
 
baffelly said:
1) scheduling. His schedule is different from ours. Eg he has dinner at 6:30 so there's time for him to bath and relax before bed while we eat later. If we cook together our food will need reheating and won't taste good.
2) he still only got 6 teeth so we give him softer food, like cooking his vege longer, pasta softer etc. It's easier to to it separately
3) we like spicy food and also eat semi junk food like deep fried stuff and I don't think he should eat spicy stuff. (again we sometimes hold the spice for his portion but we might as well just cook separatly at the right time)
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Here's what I've found with my daughter (21 months):
1) scheduling - we do try to eat earlier so that we can eat with her. We used to eat at 7-7:30, sometimes even later - but it's too late for her. She usually goes to bed at 8-8:30ish. Hubby now leaves work as early as possible, often bringing work home for him to finish up at night. He gets home around 6:30-7ish and we eat as soon as he comes in the door. It's better if we could eat together at 6, and on weekends that's what we do - but 6:30-7 works... family dinners are important to us so we do the best with what we've got.

2) My daughter teethed early (had 8 teeth by 7 months old, had 16 teeth at about 13-14 months) BUT I think that sometimes parents underestimate how much their kids are actually able to gum. I've seen kids with no teeth successfully gum on steak and vegetables that weren't cooked any softer than normal. Same with pasta. The main thing is to just cut it into bits that are small enough for them, OR alternatively to leave it as bigger chunks (the size of their hand) that they can gnaw on as "finger food".

3) There's nothing wrong with kids having spicy food or a bit of deep fried food, also nothing wrong with fats/sugars/salts in moderation. Introducing them to a variety of different flavours will increase the things that they do like and help to make them NOT fussy eaters. If a kid is eating fried stuff for every single meal, there may be an issue, but there's nothing wrong with a bit now and then. Ultimately we want our kids to have similar tastes to us, so that we can eat the same foods. Like Carang was saying, I know some kids who are 10 and their parents are still cooking them cheese on toast because they don't like what the rest of the family is having. The parents will cook pasta and then cook a sauce specifically for their 10 year old and then another sauce for everyone else. That's not where I want to be in 9 years time!! So if I don't allow it NOW, it's less likely to be a problem 9 years down the road.
 
not to mention the "real life" factor... you get on a plane? sorry, no cheese on toast! you go on holiday? no cooking there unless you rent a place with a kitchen, in which case, why go on holiday in the first place?
 
I cook with soy when making stir fries and fried rice. It is very bland otherwise! 1 teaspoon should be fine for a large baby portion. I always make sure H drinks a lot of water at mealtimes and throughout the day.

All babies/toddlers need a wide variety of different textures and flavours or else you run the risk of having a fussy eater, which is no good for anyone in the long term.
 
like those mentioned above, at 16 months, they can eat everything you can. by then too, i was so tired of making separate meals for our son that i welcomed a meal that he ate out. the fact is that they are going to have learn to eat regular food so why not start now? exposure to a variety of food early on is huge....i usually just made sure we were eating in what i deemed to be in clean restaurants and the food was not totally deep fried etc...
 
Just adding on to what nicolejoy said for baffelly:

1. my son has dinner at 7, while we usually have it at 8-8:30. dinner is ready before 7 and we warm it for us or just make some lat min additions.
2. my son has 8 teeth... and he has everything. he was having most things even when he did not have teeth. they can chew perfectly well with their jaws.
3. if your son doesnt like spice he would let you know. spice is quite subjective anyways - i get teary eyed eating at one of my freind's place but her 1 year old daughter enjoys the same food. :)
 
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