Feeding your little one

[cruzinlisa]

Okay, probably am overthinking this. I baby my daughter (who is almost 13 months) a lot. We had been feeding her purees and I have only vary recently started small cut up soft table food and cheerios. But I find out she has eaten graham crackers, gold fish, and other crackers. Anyway, in a couple of month she will probably still be on soft table food. I looked over the Carnival kids menu and i am not overly impressed with the choices or nutritional value. Plus, if we are eating dd wants to eat, which means if we eat entree app and desert, she will have to as well. Any suggestions. I was thinking soft fruit, one of the chilled fruit soups (from adult menuand I will share with her) or steamed veggies for appetizer, then something from kids menu for meal and then at desert she can have a bite of ours or a scoop of ice cream. Whatever she does not eat DH or I would probably nibble on, its not my goal to waste food or anything. Can they do these in small portions, or do they have steamed veggies on the kids menu.

[katyjeka]

You can get steamed vegies. Breakfast should be easy, scrambled eggs are baby friendly, cereals, plenty of fruits, etc... Fruit and Vegs are also available lunch and dinner. I'm a mom who believes in healthy eating, however, when we cruise, I loosen up a bit. Have a great time.

[cb at sea]

You can order for her off the main menu, if nothing on the kid's menu suits! Doesn't matter one bit! You can share from your plate, if you'd rather.

 

The wait staff is totally into babies...they will bring you what you want...no fear!

[kasil]

If she's like most toddlers, in the next few months she'll hit the "I wanna do it myself, thank you " phase. Why not offer her more finger foods at home? She can feed herself and get used to eating what you eat before you cruise. Talk to her health care provider first, but most likely, unless she has allergies, she's old enough to eat anything she won't choke on. She can even start practicing with a spoon. It will be messy at first, but think how proud she'll be when she masters it and can feed herself just like Mommy and Daddy. :)

[bullieowner]

I would start giving her more options now. My son was 13months when we did our last cruise in 2010. My son would nibble on hot dog ..i would cut it up very small and no bun, cold soup, fresh fruit cup at dinner. He had other things too but the waiter would just come over and say "usual for mr kody" it was so funny.

[mjkacmom]

As a mom of 5, start introducing more finger foods! My twins were my last, and they were off baby food by 8 months (PITA to food 2 hungry babies at once - much easier to put food on their tray). Toddlers can eat almost anything, provided it's cut up. The molars are right under the gums, so chewing isn't an issue. Prolonging solid food will just make it harder to adjust.

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

I agree that starting more solid foods is necessary, not only for the cruise but for her growth & development. We sailed with our son when he was 9 months and we did not bring any baby food with us. Breakfast was really easy - scrambled eggs, potatoes, cereals, yogurt. Lunch was fairly easy too.. veggies, cold cuts, french fries, and such. Dinner wasn't bad either.. mashed potatoes, soups, macaroni and cheese, veggies, fruit salad. DS still got all the nutritional value he needed; he didn't go hungry, that's for sure! :)

[cruzinlisa]

I never said I don't feed her solid foods, we do that every day. I was just wondering what kind of easy finger foods they have for young toddlers that are healthy, besides chicken nuggets and fries (which I know she can eat). Thanks for the suggestions.

[mjkacmom]

I never said I don't feed her solid foods, we do that every day. I was just wondering what kind of easy finger foods they have for young toddlers that are healthy, besides chicken nuggets and fries (which I know she can eat). Thanks for the suggestions.

 

I can't think of that many items you'd find on a menu that a toddler couldn't eat. Fish, chicken veggies, pasta, potatoes - just cut it small. There are so many options.

[TheCalicoCat]

Okay, probably am overthinking this. I baby my daughter (who is almost 13 months) a lot. We had been feeding her purees and I have only vary recently started small cut up soft table food and cheerios. But I find out she has eaten graham crackers, gold fish, and other crackers. Anyway, in a couple of month she will probably still be on soft table food. I looked over the Carnival kids menu and i am not overly impressed with the choices or nutritional value. Plus, if we are eating dd wants to eat, which means if we eat entree app and desert, she will have to as well. Any suggestions. I was thinking soft fruit, one of the chilled fruit soups (from adult menuand I will share with her) or steamed veggies for appetizer, then something from kids menu for meal and then at desert she can have a bite of ours or a scoop of ice cream. Whatever she does not eat DH or I would probably nibble on, its not my goal to waste food or anything. Can they do these in small portions, or do they have steamed veggies on the kids menu.

 

1. Don't worry about wasting food. Many people choose 2 of this & 2 of that so that they don't have to choose.

2. You child can have anything off of either menu & vice versa. You can even ask for no sauce, etc.

[notentirelynormal]

I never said I don't feed her solid foods, we do that every day. I was just wondering what kind of easy finger foods they have for young toddlers that are healthy, besides chicken nuggets and fries (which I know she can eat). Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Actually, you sort of did. You said "We had been feeding her purees and I have only vary recently started small cut up soft table food and cheerios." I mean chicken nuggets are hardly "soft food"which is why you got all the comments about feeding her finger foods etc. No worries on the food. We ordered a bowl of strawberries for the little ones and it was sitting there at the table when we arrived each night. Healthy food, finger food and it takes a long time for the kids to eat so you can get some of your own meal finished before she's ready for her main part of her meal. It also helps take up the time between ordering and receiving your dinner.

[JenAndDan]

Our DS#1 was a little older (18 months) but he rarely ate off the children's menu. He LOVED the chilled soups (called them ice cream) and our waiter would bring it out right away when we saw us coming. We also just cut up everything very small. They have pasta and you can get it without sauce, you can cut up most anything you are eating into small bites. Our DS#2 is 8 months now and he's already eating a lot of what we eat. I'll try to feed him "his food" and he's more interested in eating off of my plate or my DH's plate. He has 4 teeth and does well with small pieces of fruit, small pieces of chicken, small pieces of noodles, small pieces of steamed veggies, small pieces of bread, etc. At 13 months, you should have no problem ordering whatever you want to order for your DD (whether it's off the kid's menu or the adult menu) and then just cutting it up before serving it to her. Don't feel bad about ordering off the adult menu if there is nothing on the children's menu that suits you.

[parrotthead]

We just got home from "the Traveling GingerBaby on the Go" (Kinley - 8mo) s first Cruise Yesterday...

We do (mostly) all organic at home. I did bring (a lot) of pouches for him- and he is of course still on formula, but we knew (from past cruise experience) that my organic menus from home would be out the window on holiday- now, that being said..he has never met a food he doesnt like.... so we bravely went .... he was just getting into textures when we left... "lumpy-ier' baby foods he likes... "puffs" he loves... but crackers, mum-mums etc he still thougt he was chocking on... well, let me tell you... all of a sudden "Chewing" made sense to him...

he ate bits of cheese, cottage cheese, jello,oatmeal from the buffet

~ fork mashed fruits/veggies, mac-a-cheese, cheddar mashed potatoes grilled chicken breast (off adult menu)~ even crackers and bits of toast.

and the biggest hit of all .... an empty IceCream Cone!! he probably ate (or partially ate, should I say) 10 of them during the whole cruise... hey, its holiday... he did not go hungry...and we probably only used about 4/5 pouches.

[inlinesick]

is there anything we need to make sure to avoid, we're going on the ncl pearl with our ds 7 months and 2 week at that point? He will probably be just intruduced to textures

[parrotthead]

Id say dont count of the ships food 100% bring things he is familiar with as a back up. That way if Little one wants something 'comfort food' you have it. and if he is feeling brave and fine then he can try new things. Just remember that the food they bring for him may not always be cooked "Plain"... our little guy is used to spices, herbs etc (garlic, dill, rosemary, etc) so the spices cooked into the foods (even the potatoes) were no big deal to him.

The last thing you want is an allergic reaction at sea. :o

[drenee73]

We took DD on her first cruise when she was 12 months. Exactly. (Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!)

 

We were amazed at how much she had to eat ... I couldn't keep up when we got back. She was into throwing food that she didn't want. We always tried to pick up the big pieces but one day we were literally chased out of the dining room by the wait staff - "no, no, Ms. Renee! We clean this - you have fun with baby. Go now, go!" Seriously - they chased us out. I felt like such a slug. LOL

 

We had been doing some chunky (ish) purees before the trip, but she didn't have any issues with melon, pudding, cheeses, veggies, OMG THE MAC N CHEESE (Carnival), pizza, ice cream, jello, bread, little pieces of meat, etc. She ate like a queen!

 

We found out on the cruise that she likes all kinds of cheeses and black olives! Never would have opened a can of black olives for her to nibble on before that! LOL

 

Have fun! There's only one first cruise! :) Take lots of pictures - we didn't take enough.

[kayhold]

I agree with the others - its past time to get her off the purees anyway. Feeding herself is PIVOTAL to helping her learn coordination. My son never had a puree. He got teeth so early (3 months) that by time we started him on solids at 7 months, he just fed himself or ate small chunks.

[kayhold]

I never said I don't feed her solid foods, we do that every day. I was just wondering what kind of easy finger foods they have for young toddlers that are healthy, besides chicken nuggets and fries (which I know she can eat). Thanks for the suggestions.

 

There must be some kind of misunderstanding, on our end or yours.

Purees are not considered real solids. When pureed they are liquids, so when you say you're giving her those, most people will consider those a solid.

 

Not trying to be rude, but thats why people are responding the way they are.

[bliss_fully_happy]

this is directed to the person with the 7mo going on NCL Pearl.

 

I was on the pearl with my 11mo. I personally brought all his food (besides breakfast cheerios.) I even brought his whole milk (as they only had 2%)

 

I am in FL and have this luxury. I did this because 1) he has allergies and 2) ship food is so different than home food. last thing I wanted was a sick little guy on vacation.

 

I made bags that had the full meal, including disposable spoons and bibs in each baggie. Labeled lunch/dinner. it was easy peasy. This was my choice. And I did bring food home, because I did feed him a few of the ship's meals. I just wanted things to be as normal as possible for his little digestion.

[donaldsc]

I looked over the Carnival kids menu and i am not overly impressed with the choices or nutritional value. /QUOTE]

 

Two issues. With regard to choices, you know what your child will eat. With regard to nutritional value - feeding her junk food for a week if it makes her happy will not stunt her growth as long as you can switch her back to good food when you get home.

 

DON

[Onessa]

When DD was infant/toddler, we never had much of a problem finding "good for her" foods that she could handle: steamed veggies, fruit, plain pasta (one of her fav's), etc. She also liked to have little tastes off of our plates (we found she loved curries).

 

She survived and is now teetering on the edge of adulthood at 16YO. There never seems to be a lack of people who are ready to tell you that how you choose to raise your kid is wrong. But take a look at your options on the menu, ask lots of questions, and do what you think is right and you'll be fine.