Introducing meats to my 7 month old

[Kathy.young1011]

Hello. 

My LO is 7 months old and we have been doing fruits and veggies for a little less than a month now.  I am pureeing them myself and so far we have done pears, bananas, applesauce, carrots, green beans, sweet potato, butternut squash, and zucchini.  He has also had brown rice cereal and oatmeal.  So far, he is an excellent little eater - no problems at all.  He has loved everything!  So I decided to try to introduce meats and bought a nice organic chicken.  I boiled the chicken and then pureed it, thinning it with the broth.  He really didn't seem to like it at all.  He made several faces and wouldn't swallow the puree.  It was a totally different reaction than I've seen from him so far.  So I made a bit more chicken and this time pureed it with some sweet potatoes.  I waited a couple days and tried to reintroduce it - same reaction.  What I'm wondering is if he may just be too young still to be ready for the new flavor/texture of meat.  Should I try some other meats or hold off awhile altogether on meat?  Any advice would be appreciated :-) 

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Here they now recommend meat as a first food - but like you I am not sure how to make it palatable! DD1 would eat well cooked and shredded meats with her hands in a "sauce" of sweet potato or squash but DD2 was not a fan of meat so I did not push it. From whatI know it can take many many tastes of a new food before they accept it so I would keep offering.

[debo620]

I used to mix chicken and apple sauce and will probably try the same for our daughter soon.

[tamlev]

Hi,

I started introducing foods at 4.5 months (simple small tastes). started with veggies and fruits like you did. Regarding meat, I am not sure it really tastes good on it's own. I suggest you make a real simple chicken soup (chicken, carrots, sweat potato, onion (not necessary if you prefer not)) and when done, puree the solids only (you can use the stock for a different recipe, freeze etc.). We also prepare turkey soup (the same way). A next level chicken/turkey soup can be with a bit of rice and/or lentils (orange are best to start with). In this case, you will have less stock (or non at all) because of the rice and lentils.

It is indeed possible that your LO prefers other tastes but keep trying. I personally would try not to mix meat and apples since then your LO will always expect a sweet taste (that is the general problem with sweet fruits- they are basically lots of sugar).
I had a similar issue with avocado. We tried several times and it did not seem like our DD liked it at all. When I mixed with Tehini (which is not sweet at all) she loved it and eats it happily. The mixture actually has a bit of a bitter taste which is important too!

Good luck

[creations]

It may be the puree meat your LO doesn't like the texture of.
Mine has never really been a meat fan until he was a bit older but at 6 months he chomped down on a huge chunk of roast beef with great gusto. It was large enough to hold (at least adult finger size) and he gummed and sucked away on it until all that was left was a thin strip of fat which he discarded.  At other times he has liked slow cooked lamb shank in sauce (again large pieces to pick up, not pureed), slow cooked pulled pork, slow cooking gives a soft texture without the need to puree.
Fish and beans are also great sources of protein, just take care to de-bone fish and for younger LOs make bean patties or fritters rather than individual beans which may be a choke hazard due to the size/shape, but again no need to puree.
I agree with Heidi that it helps to keep offering, easier to offer a bit of the family meal rather than puree and dump loads every week.

[cuckoochick]

My little one loves chicken. We had a roast chicken yesterday and she was scoffing pieces of that (tear it against the grain of the meat) and we had the leftovers in a curry today which she ate with great gusto.

Her first meats were homemade meatballs and homemade mini burgers/patties. She also likes casseroles and sausages (remove the skins) occasionally.