Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months

how big is your LO's food?

HI, My DS is almost 14 months.  He has about 8 front teeth and I don't think any molars yet. I am still cutting up his food very small and I am not sure when I should just hand him something bigger to see if he is ready to bite and chew. I am even still cutting up things like bananas and bread.  What do you all do?  He is starting a part time day care at the end of the month and I have to send meals. Right now I am cutting while he is eating. I have an older DD and she was in full time day care that provided meals. They kind of helped me advance her food-wise because I would find out she had been eating x and so I would do it at home too. I can't remember at what age though! 

 Please share your food prep tips on things like veggies, fruits, chicken, etc.  Thanks! 

Re: how big is your LO's food?

  • Our case is a little bit different as we did baby led weaning so I have never really cut up DD's food. I do now because she likes to use her fork and usually wants small pieces. At that age we did lots of slivers (think french fry size) of thing suchs as pasta noodles, chicken breast, veggies etc.  Bread I never cut.  I would try to not cut as much up and see how he does. Hope this helps a bit.

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  • My DD is a really late teether and only has her four front teeth, but I stopped cutting up most of her food once those four were in because now she can just bite off pieces and chew them.  If I see she is having trouble with a certain food, then I cut it up into thubm nail sized pieces for her.
  • I think it depends on how your LO chews.  SOme are better chewers than others.  Cut what you feel nervous about and give him the rest whole. 
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  • imageANJ410:
    My DD is a really late teether and only has her four front teeth, but I stopped cutting up most of her food once those four were in because now she can just bite off pieces and chew them.  If I see she is having trouble with a certain food, then I cut it up into thubm nail sized pieces for her.
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  • I cut things that are harder to chew, like meat.  But other stuff is normal.  If he has trouble I will tear or cut it up.  He was late getting teeth too but he does fine with chewing/mashing his food.
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  • DS will eat things like Banana whole. I just peel the skin back and he eats it just fine. He can eat whole grapes, apples, peaches, pears etc. Meat gets chopped up unless it's meatballs of something else made with mince or slow cooked where it's super tender. Sandwiches get cut into quarters.
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  • Hadley is just now getting her 3rd and 4th tooth, but I haven't ever really cut up her food. They do most of their chewing with their gums.
  • Doesn't anyone's kid shove as much as will fit in his mouth at one time like my kid? If I ever gave him a whole banana, he'd shove the whole thing in his mouth. I can only put 2 little pieces of anything on his tray at a time. He only has his 8 front teeth so biting off a piece of something is no problem, it's just that his idea of a "piece" is the whole thing of whatever I'm offering. All that to say, I never give him anything larger than a Cheerio.
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  • That's exactly my thinking as well. My child will shove a lot of food in her mouth.. I'm concerned she would choke if I just hand food to her!

    Use your judgement... you know your child

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  • imageMyPunkinPie:
    Doesn't anyone's kid shove as much as will fit in his mouth at one time like my kid? If I ever gave him a whole banana, he'd shove the whole thing in his mouth. I can only put 2 little pieces of anything on his tray at a time. He only has his 8 front teeth so biting off a piece of something is no problem, it's just that his idea of a "piece" is the whole thing of whatever I'm offering. All that to say, I never give him anything larger than a Cheerio.

    YES. My DS does this.  It's like he thinks the food will be taken away if he doesn't shove it all in his mouth as quickly as possible.  I usually have to hold his sippy cup of water to his mouth when he has a huge mouthfull to encourage him to wash it down - stresses me out!

    I'd say basically prep the food so anything could be swallowed whole without choking him.  That's what I do.  It's ideal if he chews it, but it's soft enough or small enough that it could be swallowed without a problem.

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  • Another BLW'er here - I generally don't cut her food if I can help it.  I cut up chicken, because she'd rather have small pieces than a big one she can hold.  Ditto with steak - mostly because it's really hard to eat large pieces!  She gets whole beans (loves 'em), halves of things like peaches/apricots, quarters/large pieces of apple (she's always done just fine with them), whole broccoli florettes, and pretty much whatever we eat.
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