When did you guys start stage 3? - Sam is ready

MomofTay&Sam wrote: I am almost out of all my stage 2 baby food and was thinking it was time for stage 3. I give Sam little chunks of food now, green beans, banana's, carrots. He is fine with the stage 2 but I think he would do good with some chunks in his food. He does fine with macaroni also. I havent tried cheerios and won't for along time. LOL Should I just wait or maybe try some stage 3? My 10 year old never ate baby food this far and I am just not sure if it's ok. Sam has teeth almost 4 and chews well.

catou_98 replied: You can always try and he'll let you know if he's ready or not! sorry can't be more help, I've never did the "stages" with camille, she gets some baby food and some finger food too.....!

HTH

Mommieto2Girls replied: Personaly , I think stage 3 is a waste of money. I would give him more solid food . Everything in the other posts , he should be able to eat fine. I am still giving Madison stage 2 veggies and fruits with cereal in it. She gets alot of regular food , whatever we are eating, she pretty much gets now. Sammy is only a month behind Madison , so I don't see any reason why he can't have more regular food now. He has 4 teeth, perfect for regular food. But that's just my opinion.

ooops, I thought he was born in Sept. But he should still be able to start alot of regular foods now.

MommyToAshley replied: The only stage 3 stuff I give Ashley is the meats (usually the dinners like beef 'n noodles) because I am afraid of giving her meats from the table. So, she usually get some stage 3 meats and some table food at each meal. If it weren't for the meats, I would skip stage 3 all together.

Julie (jem0622) replied: Once you leave Stage 2 you are better off going to table food. You can overcook noodles. Offer bits of rice. Mashed potatoes. Smushed soft veggies, or small pieces of veggies. Bits of bread. You can steam fruits and let them cool and then offer those...or put them in the mesh teether so they get it raw.

Stage 3 offers little in the way of variety and it is costly. Gabe has 6 teeth now, so I offer what I think is okay. Just last night he had some boiled hot dog w/o skin and cut up in bits. He LOVES table food! I also cut up a slice of cheese into little bitty squares and let him eat that. He loves it.

Just watch for allergies.

Julie, Nathan (3.5 yrs) and Gabe (9 mos)

ediep replied: I think Jason's doc said that stage 3 is for babies that are about 10 months, but I don't think it really matters. If he's ready, then try it. The worst think that will happen is that he'll gag. Then you'll know.

victoire2002 replied: Question re: table foods!

I cook with A LOT of onions and garlic. I cook a lot of French foods and Italian as well. I often wonder if I should prepare something else for Aidan, as I don't want him to get an upset tummy due to the heavy garlic and onion content. What do you guys do about spices?

Thanks,

Vicki, and Aidan

MommyToAshley replied: I put a litttle bit of onions and garlic in the spaghetti that I made, but not tons. I did watch the salt. I got Ashley's food out and then salted the rest. She was fine with it. If you use lots, maybe you can make a small batch without as much onions and garlic -- he could always eat it over the next couple of days.

MomofTay&Sam replied: Thanks everyone for the good advice! They are on sale now and I will just buy a few and introduce table food also. Slowly I know. How do you guys feel about bread?

MomofTay&Sam replied: Did I say he was ready?? LOL Well ya see I didnt think about the whole entire thing. Sammy has been having little bites of food here and there. One piece at a time. He is NOT ready for stage 3. It never crossed my mind about all the chunks in one bite. He gaged and choked and was not happy! So we won't be trying that again for sometime. Live and Learn!

Mommieto2Girls replied: I would just give more solids so he can get more used to chunck food. Crakers without salt are good, Maddie used to suck on them and get small bites and she loved it. Cheese puffs are good to( I know they are probley not that good for baby but they dissolve pretty good when sucked on). Good luck and let us know how his eating is going.

MommyToAshley replied: ITA with Charlene. Try giving more finger foods. Ashley didn't care for stage 3 until I gave her finger food. She still prefers finger food, but like I said I give her stage 3 for the meats. But, I give her some finger food at each meal. For example, tonight she had Gerber Chicken Noodles (stage 3) and then for finger food she had steamed carrots and baked potato flakes and watermellon pieces for dessert.

blooms21 replied: Sorry it didn't work out for you. Like most of the others, we skipped stage 3 foods and are just giving table foods. I still offer stage 1 and 2 stuff that I have around but won't be buying anymore for this baby.
Jonah LOVES crackers, graham crackers, bread, bread sticks. He hasn't choked on them in about a month, but then today he choked on a stage 2 baby food -- just a fluke I think!