Am I being to overprotective?

Tzutzie

Mon, Aug 18 2014, 1:00 pm

Suzyq posted in another thread about giving dc tomatoes and it got me thinking.

Dd LOVES fruits and veggies. She'll even eat onions!! Raw onions. Lol. And I want to give it to her now so that her developing taste buds sgould get used to it frim a young age. But some veggies in afraid to give her. She's 15 month tomorrow and has almost all her teeth and chews well.

I give her large apple pieces and she bites it off and chews it just fine. I find if I give her tiny pcs she just swallows it whole and could choke on it..... but peppers and tomatoes and other veggies I'm not giving her yet. Am I overprotective?

My mil gives me a hard time with this. If she had it her way, dd wouldn't eat any fruits or veggies or anything. Her kids don't like fruits and vegetables. Dh encourages dd to eat the fruits and stuff I give her. He doesnt want her to have the same problem as him. Veggies make him gag and most fruits too. He COULD eat an apple. And he eats lettuce. But thats it.

I grew up with lots of fresh fruit always available and veggies too. I always go for the fruits at simchas first and would choose a good salad over ANYTHING (well, not assorted fresh cut up fruits Wink

)

So my question is, is it safe to give dd veggies like peppers and tomatoes and other slippery kind of veggies? or is mil right and im putting dd in danger?
My mother says it's been too long since I was a baby and she doesn't remember...

mom25

Mon, Aug 18 2014, 1:30 pm

Every kid is different. I would watch her how she eats it and see if she could handle it. My 1 yr old eats peppers no problem-b4 he was a year. I wouldnt think of giving him but found him eating peppers from floor that my toddler threw down. I saw he handled it well so I started giving it to him. He eats nuts too without difficulty. Try it!

seeker

Mon, Aug 18 2014, 8:15 pm

Tomatoes are easy enough to peel. Neither of my kids were great about chewing at that age so I wouldn't have given peppers, but if your kid is a good chewer then maybe you could try it under supervision, though what's the rush? Other things I'd give cooked. I give my kids peeled cucumbers to munch on, they like that.

deena19k

Wed, Aug 20 2014, 4:56 am

mom25 wrote:

I'm sorry, but nuts are not safe for a 1 year old, no matter how great of a chewer he is!!!!

FranticFrummie

Wed, Aug 20 2014, 5:20 am

If you watch her, she'll be just fine.

I've never worried about things like that, or even heard of any warning about vegetables and fruits. The key is to just pay attention and see how well she handles it. Sometimes chewing on a large piece is actually much safer than giving tiny bites. I'd let DD eat a whole string bean before I'd give her individual peas. Kids actually did survive before food came in tiny jars. Wink

The one and only time that DD choked, it was on a Cheerio. I had to do the Heimlich maneuver to get it out, and it flew 15 feet across the room! shock

I was never so happy to hear a baby scream in my whole life.

SingALong

Wed, Aug 20 2014, 7:52 am

When I want to give my babies fresh fruits/veggies, I use this baby thing with a net. It's a handle that screws into this cup like net. You can put cut fruits/veggies inside and the baby chews on it getting nutrients from the food without rising choking. It's not as exciting as having colorful cut up food pieces on the plate but definitely safer if your giving baby food that they might choke on.

Munchkin Crash food feeder

HonesttoGod

Wed, Aug 20 2014, 12:54 pm

Tomatoes are soft it is on the list of vegetables I like to start my kids off with (once eating real solids not mashed up) because it is so soft and easy to eat.

Peppers I might wait a bit but try cucumber (peeled and cut up small), boiled baby carrots are good too.
Also just remember that many many many babies choke on foods at the beginning, they have to learn how to chew and swallow some way. So don't freak out if they do choke a bit, keep trying. Just make sure you know the heimlich maneuver in case the choking is really bad (as oppose to gagging and bringing it back up).