When did YOUR baby start sharing food from your plate?

Question

My friends son is a week younger than my son [her son is a little under 6 months old] and last night we went to dinner at a mexican resturant and she was feeding her son beans off of her plate [along with rice and some other things] is that ok? is it reccommended to feed them 'adult food' this early?

Her husband even gave the baby some SALSA! and it's spicy! When he did that she just said, 'that's not nice' .. and then gave the baby some more beans.
I would never think to give my son EITHER of those at this age.

I was just wondering everyones take on this because she was bragging about giving her son some of her CHOCOLATE milkshake the other day, and I haven't even given my son rice cereal, and she acted as though I'm depriving my son of all the 'good food' her son has been getting.

Answer 1

At about 8 months I started to share with him. But only stuff that I cooked here. And at 9 months he gets little bites off my plate when we go out. His ped said since he can be started on more table food. He has 6 teeth and chews everything. Tries to feed himself. So I think he is ready for it. He loves to eat what mommy and daddy are eating. I make sure that its not to heavily seasoned and I bring along his lil baby spoon and fork. And we let him have little bites.

Answer 2

My son was about six and half months old when he started eating from our plates. If he could reach our plates, he was grabbing at food, so we just started letting him taste what we were eating. We haven't ever given him anything that is highly seasoned, spicy, or greasy though. Usually we would let him graze or veggies, carbs, and fruits rather than the meats.

As far as your friend's baby, chances are it is fine. Some babies just take better to 'adult' foods than baby foods.

Edit: Except maybe the chocolate shake. Letting a baby have a taste of it is one thing, but more than a taste on more than one occasion sounds like the beginning to a diet full of junk food and fast food.

Answer 3

Well to be honest my 8 month old loves enchiladas and they are a little spicy I make them myself but I think it's the same idea. If the baby is fine with the food, then yeah it's o.k it's better than that rice cereal crap, although I wouldn't give a chocolate milk shake, that's not healthy.

Answer 4

My SIL's boy has been eating off their plates since he was around 6 months, pretty much as soon as he was able to reach for it, they let him try it (within reason). He's 10 months old now and I was shocked to hear that they let him eat peanuts and popcorn and that he no longer gets formula but 2% milk in his bottles along with juice and whatever they throw in front of him (usually fills up on bread). They wonder why he always has a cold and is actually on the skinny side. I could tell them why but for family harmony I don't.

My son is 5 months old, I started him on solids early because he was such a big eater and he was showing an extreme interest in what we ate. He loves his breakfast and dinner and would prefer to eat solids instead of his bottle already LOL. However I know he needs his formula as his main source of nutrition for the first year (although I will when he goes to 3 meals a day switch to the 6 mos and up formula just so he doesn't get overloaded with calories and gets the extra iron and calcium he needs). That being said, Christmas dinner after he had eaten his green beans and cereal and had a bottle we let him taste some of the things on our plate. Mashed potatoes (no gravy or salt, he wasn't fond of them), we mushed peas up in our fingers and gave them to him, he spit the skin out but liked them since they tasted familiar, stuffing just to see his reaction, he screwed his face up, did a shiver and then opened his mouth for more LOL. Seems he likes spicy things. Oh, and he had fun gumming a roll. However what he got amounted to less than a tsp of food. He also grabbed a french fry off the table when we were out last week but I don't think he really liked it as he spit it out, even when I broke off a tiny piece for him to try again.

This morning I made him his banana oatmeal and purposely left some bits in it and watched him carefully. He is actually chewing his food as whenever he got a spoonful with a chunk he chewed it and I noticed that even with the smooth spoonfuls he still tested it before he swallowed. That tells me that after we run through some more allergy checks with the regular foods that if I can mash up what's on my plate easily then I have no problems giving him some. However right now it's more about experimenting, learning and having fun, I don't rely on it as meeting his nutritional needs. I have no desire to give my son nuts, strawberries, popcorn or some of the other well known problematic foods before they are recommended. However if he wants a taste of my soup or stew or veggie or whatever else I am eating that doesn't contain those problematic foods, then why not? I'm the one who has to change the diaper! (and before anyone says anything, my son hasn't had diaper rash since after he was 6 days old when I was still breastfeeding and ate spicy chili for 3 days in a row).

Answer 5

Well for one thing, I never let either of my kids eat right off my plate. I think it is the first step in teaching good table manners: eating off of one's own plate and not grabbing things off of other people's plates. Also, it seems like an awful way to spread germs.

Anyway, that's not really your question. Her kid is WAY too young for the food she is feeding him, and could lead to digestive problems and food allergies later on. At 6 months he should only be having baby cereals and possibly some first foods veggies and fruits. I wouldn't start table foods until at least 9 months, but probably closer to a year, unless a pediatrician adviced otherwise.

Answer 6

Age is something that is suggested. Only you know if your baby is ready for table food. I was feeding mine cereal at 4 months and he started eating of my plate around 8 to 9 months. I wouldn't give no huge spoonful but just a little taste is fine.

Answer 7

I think that is way too early, especially at six months. His stomach will have a hard time digesting food like that, especially those beans and spices. My son started eating table food at 10 months old, but it was very limited to; soft scrambled eggs,mashed potatoes, etc. never any meat of any kind. I continued to feed him baby food until he was about 15 months. He really liked it so it was easy to keep feeding him that.

He was a very picky eater anyway. I started giving him chicken and baked fish closer to 2 years old. I was afraid to give him beef, because I know how hard that can be for some adults to digest. It was much later,when I would give him beef in his spaghetti.

Just the other day, my neighbor told me her grand-daughter was in the ER because she became sick from eating french-fries from McDonalds, she is 20 months old, but that food was way too much for her too.

I don't there is any rule that says you shouldn't feed them "adult food" that early, but why would you?? I can't imagine ever giving my baby that type of food!

Answer 8

I don't believe in baby food, I especially don't believe in baby cereal--that junk is processed flake food, you might as well feed a fish with it.

My baby started to eat off my plate when he was a week away from being 8 months. He helped himself to sweet potatoes. They were his first solid food. If a child can help themselves, they are old enough to eat real food.

That being said, I don't think any child should have solids before 6 months, unless they are also able to reach out and feed themselves. Until children can physiologically feed themselves, they probably lack the enzyme to digest the food--babies and all mammals are protected in that way.

My almost 9 month old helps himself to beans, REAL rice, lentils, veggies, fruits, breads, etc. I'm not, of course going to let him eat anything unhealthy, I just don't think that shoveling pureed food down his throat is the best idea either.

Answer 9

my daughter did at around 7 months... depending on the food.

if I made baked sweet potato, then I'd give her some, I'd give her brown rice, veggies.... lots of stuff.

BUT, I tend to cook w/out a lot of fat, salt, or spicy stuff (making up for it w/ herbs, onions and garlic usually) because my husband has some high blood pressure issues and it's just healthier in general.... though I LOVE spicy foods, I always reserve the hot sauce for my own plate, and leaving my daughter a corner of it w/out the hot sauce of course.

I would be concerned w/ the amount of salt put into those beans at the restaurant more than the beans (or if they use MSG)

there's no rule that baby's first foods must be pureed and out of a jar.

Answer 10

My daughter is 13 months, and she really didn't start eating "adult" food until closer to 10 months. At 5 1/2 months she started getting pureed food, but I was always a little hesitant about real food. Even now, she doesn't get everything we eat, such as fastfood or fried things (even though she loves french fries LOL)
I think it really depends on the child when adult food is given. My daughter eats solid food pretty well, but she still likes some pureed things, which my doctor said you give them until they don't want it anymore.

AS for beans...heck those things hurt my stomach now!
No telling how it made his poor tummy feel...