Absolutely no cereals or puree at 11.5 months

[Moma of two]

For the past month my 11.5 month old has refused all puree and cereal.  I have been giving her whole wheat bread, waffles etc instead of cereals.  She will eat tons of fruit feeding herself of course, meat as long as she feeds herself and cheese.  The problem is the veggies and cereal.  I am afraid about her iron content at this point.  Any suggestions as I have made my own with chunks of meat and chunks of veggies and she won't touch it.  A little frustrated and worried.

[Lolly]

It sounds to me like your LO is doing really well! Refusing puree and cereal really isn't an issue - the fact that she is feeding herself is great! You don't want her on puree at this age now so I would stop trying and concentrate on giving her whatever finger foods she will eat - chunks of any thing is ideal. Have you given her veggies as finger foods - my two used to love holding and munching on broccoli and cauliflower florettes and there are plenty of veggies that can be steamed or roasted in chunks.

She will still be getting iron from the breast milk or formula that she has too as well as her foods.

Some parents choose to go the baby led weaning route so those babies have no puree at all from the start. If you want her to eat things like yoghurt you can try loading a spoon for her and let her use the spoon herself - messy but fun!

Have a look at this thread Baby-Led Weaning

HTH!

Laura

[Moma of two]

Thank you so much!  I have tried peas, butternut squash and carrots on her tray all steamed.  No luck so far.  I am worried about very limited veggie intake at this point but she eats fruit at every meal.

[*jazzberry*]

I used to make little bean burgers or omlettes/fritattas with veggies in them, they can pick them up and eat them themselves. I'm sure there are lots of things you could make into finger foods like that using veg and/or meat. I agree with Laura though, sounds like she id doing great!

[Moma of two]

I will keep trying thanks.

[*Ali*]

Have you tried baby musli with just a tiny bit of milk so it is thick and can be rolled into little balls? She might like to feed herself those. Also, what about pancakes or savoury muffins? You can add puréed or grated veggies to those and they don't even know. You can do the same with meatballs or mince like bolognaise.
I would just have her sitting at the table with you and offer her a bit of everything you have.

[Moma of two]

I am not familiar with musilli with milk.  I will look fr it.  As far as hidden veggies that is a great idea as nothing is working thus far.

[We Three]

 ^^ French toast (eggy bread) is a good way to get some protein into her too. 

 Muffins/homemade breads are a good way to get some good stuff in there too, like pp said.  You can make pumpkin muffins with wheat germ added. There are a jillion healthy recipes out there. I make a banana muffin with whole wheat flour that is great.  I used to give dd 1/2 a muffin and some yogurt for breakfast at that age.

 Add ground flax seed to pancake mix. I have done that with dd since her first taste, and she is 6 now. Added flax along with fresh blueberries really can make a pancake healthy!

 You can add spinach and cheese to scrambled eggs (quiches are a GREAT way to add veggies...! Just chop them up fine).

 If she refuses veggies, just keep offering...don't give up! Offer in different ways too. My dd never liked raw carrots until I gave her the match-stick ones.  She might refuse cooked broccoli but like it raw or vice-versa.  Just keep trying, different ways, different preparation, and do always offer her what you are having as well. 

[creations]

I am not familiar with musilli with milk

I use this
http://www.boots.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10052&catalogId=11051&productId=1218013&langId=-1&callingViewName&cm_mmc=Paid%20Search-_-Plusbox-_-Link-_-CowGate10mMyFirstMuesli330g&cm_mmc=bmm-_-google-_-Boots+Beauty-_-Beauty+-+PLAs
There is a banana flavour one too.  My DS still likes muesli balls even at 2.5yrs old although I often make omelet for breakfast to ensure he gets some protein in the day.

I did lots of the things pps have already mentioned, bean and veg burgers, fruit and veg muffins and pancakes, frittas.

Does she like soup?  Mine has only just started to take soup but I have heard of babies as young as 6 months happily drinking soup from a cup, just depends what they like.  Great way to get veg in by drinking what is essentially a watered down puree rather than being spoon fed.

Does she like to dip?  I found DS will try almost anything if he has a little something to dip into. I will sometimes give him a teaspoon of tomato ketchup, bbq sauce or mayo, but I also make healthier dips too or an olive oil and lemon dressing, or tom puree, he'll even dip into water!  If I had my choice he wouldn't need the dips but I don't mind a teaspoon of even the shop bought (with salt etc) sauces so long as it means protein/veg are being eaten.  He also likes mint so I toss veg and potatoes in a bit of mint sauce if needed.  I like to change up the dips/dressings so he doesn't become a ketchup addict

[Moma of two]

Thank you guys so much for suggestions I will give them all a trt