eating meat without having teeth?

melsie

DD is a year old now... and showing no signs of getting teeth any time soon (she drools like a water fountain and chews on everything available but she's been doing that for months now). Evidently DH didn't get teeth till around 18-24 months. *sigh* oh well 

anyway... what do you do about meat? DD loves chicken (any kind) and Turkey but i'm hesitant to give her ground beef, beef (like steak or roast) and pork. I like my meat WELL DONE and it can be a little chewy... and without teeth i'm worried she will have a rather tough time chewing it. she does ok with most food, but even under-cooked veggies she spits back out after a while of trying to chew. 

we still cut her food up into very small pieces since she can't figure out how to bite things in half or take a bite out of anything. (even bread) 

any ideas? or tips on how to cook meat so its softer? TIA 

babydubs5

the more you cook meat (especially steak) the chewier it becomes.  So well done is harder to chew than medium steak.  Not that I'm advising giving any temperature steak.  DS has had steak, but it was so tender it fell apart in your mouth.  It was a one time thing.

FWIW: the teeth babies get first do nothing in the way of helping kids chew tougher food.  Their molars are what chew.  Instead, they use their gums to mash and grind food.  

I say if you want to, try giving her a small piece of ground beef or whatever to see how she does with it.  My guess is that if she does well with chicken, she might do ok with beef.   Pot roast or any other type of roast might be a good idea, too.  DS had roast from a German restaurant last night and it literally just fell apart it was so tender. He loved it, too.

 

jessicada76

Paige had chicken at 6 months- she had her two bottom teeth.  She would eat ground beef with just those two bottom teeth also.  She didn't get her upper two teeth until 12 months and is just now working on her molars.  I would not suggest steak for any child at this age - no matter how many teeth - it is just a tough food to chew!  I would say ground beef would fine but not steak.  IMO

Lady*

I would think that ground beef is OK. DS loves meatballs, meatloaf, etc. I buy those frozen turkey meatballs and just quarter them for him. He also loves the boca/morningstar products - the 'chicken' patties, the 'sausages', the veggie nuggets, etc.

DS does have teeth, but even when he only had 2 top teeth, I was really surprised at the kinds of harder/crunchier/chewier foods he would eat.   

Brideinbklyn

DD is 14 months and still only has 2 teeth but she eats everything. Sometimes we cut things into tiny pieces and she just puts the whole piece in her mouth. Or she gnaws on things with her gums. She has had meatballs, chicken, turkey, bread...you name it.

Mrs Manners

DS only has 1/2 of one front tooth in. He ate steak on Friday for the first time. We had filet which if cooked properly can be very tender even when well done.

Erika6504

DD has 10 teeth including 2 molars and is getting 2 more molars right now.  Even with that, I still don't give her steak.  She's had a bite of filet once and that's only because it was literally falling apart.  I gave her ground beef at a young age but she doesn't like it.  I think it's the texture or something but she'll spit it out even though I know she can chew it.

She loves fish, chicken, turkey and ham so I stick to those for her meat choices right now.