Food Ideas: Feeding a One Year Old

My baby girl just turned one and a half and boy can she eat. I miss the good old days when I could give her some breastmilk or open a jar of baby food and be done, but since she turned one the pediatricians are like no more booby milk, no more baby food; start her on whole milk and finger foods but no peanut butter, no fish, no meats, no sugar, no salt and the list of nos' goes on and on so we are left with the question, What can my one year old eat?

If you are at all like me you will go through the whole trial and error process trying to figure out what your one year old likes and doesn't like. I literally went out and bought a mini hand broom to keep under the highchair for a fast clean up. Plus my baby girl didn't start getting teeth until after she was one so it's hard to feed her certain things since she can't really chew them yet.

I felt like I was feeding her the same three meals all the time so I tried to come up with more ideas to feed her. This list is geared toward the early stages of  one. Once your child gets closer to two and has more teeth, they will be able to eat a lot more items than on this list. Transitioning your baby to solid foods can be tricky but once you get the hang of it and find out what your child likes and doesn't like it will be worth it... minus the mess...

 Food ideas you can feed your ONE year old:

Not everything on this list is super healthy but it's not horrible for your child. 

The unhealthier food I only give to my child every once in a while. 

Drinks:

• Whole Milk- at least 2 cups a day
• Water
• Juice (75% water, 25% juice) - too much straight juice can burn their private parts at this age so wait till they are more of a toddler for straight juice.
• Fruit Smoothies - made with real fruit and yogurt

Breakfast:

• Dry cereal - Kix, Berry Kix, Cheerios, Multigrain Cheerios, Lucky Charms-easy on the marshmallows, Fruit Loops, etc...  Add milk ONLY when your child is ready and good with a spoon, probably closer to 2
• Oatmeal
• Quaker Popped Rice Crisps
• Scrambled Eggs
• Muffins - Homemade or the Little Bites muffin packets are great for the go 
• Pancakes - no syrup
• Waffles
• Bagels
• Toast
• Nutri-grain Bars
• Breakfast Biscuits 
• Coffee Cakes
• Pop-tarts
• Mini Donuts
• Yogurt
• Fruit Bowl

Main Dish:

• Spaghettios
• Spaghettios with Meatballs
• Ravioli 
• Spaghetti
• Pasta
• Mac-n-Cheese
• Grilled Cheese Sandwich
• PB&J Sandwich
• Oatmeal
• Scrambled Eggs
• Chicken and Dumplings
• Chicken Pot Pie
• Beans
• Meat Sticks - Baby Food aisle 
• Vienna Sausages
• Hot Dog - cut into small pieces, #1 cause of choking in infants
• Ground Beef
• Rice
• Stir Fry- rice, peas, carrots, egg
• Ham, Turkey, Roast - lunch meat broken into small pieces
• Ham squares - the ones on a salad bar
• Shredded Chicken 

Fruit: at least 1 cup a day

• Strawberries
• Bananas
• Grapes 
• Peaches
• Pears
• Blackberries - messy and can stain
• Blueberries
• Cantaloupe
• Mandarin Oranges
• Melon
• Plums
• Apples
• Apple Sauce
• Avocado
• Yogurt
• Cucumber
• Pickles
• Fruit cups
• Canned Fruit Melody
• Canned Fruit 

Vegetables: at least ¾ cup a day

• Frozen Mixed Vegetable Bag- Defrost handfuls at a time
• Vegetable Melody in a can
• Green Beans
• Peas
• Cooked Carrots
• Corn
• Diced Tomatoes
• Broccoli Heads - not steams 
• Mashed Potatoes
• Scalloped Potatoes
• Black Olives

Meat/Beans aka Protein: at least 1½ oz a day (1 egg)

• Beans
• Scrambled Eggs
• Meat Sticks - Baby Food aisle 
• Vienna Sausages - cut into small pieces, cheaper than the baby meat sticks, dissolves about the same and has the same amount of protein as the baby meat sticks.
• Hot Dog - cut into small pieces, #1 cause of choking in infants
• Ground Beef
• Ham, Turkey, Roast - lunch meat broken into small pieces
• Ham squares - the ones on a salad bar
• Shredded Chicken- we sometimes use the can chicken when cooking because it shreds into tiny pieces so it is easy to eat it.
• Peanut Butter - once they are ready and don't put a lot on the bread/cracker because it can cause it to stick together making it hard to swallow. 

Breads & Grains: at least 2oz a day, at least ½ should be whole grain

• Whole Wheat Bread slice
• Rolls
• Biscuits
• Toast
• Cereal- Cheerios and Kix are my kids favorites
• Crackers - Buttered or Saltine
• Goldfish
• Cheese-Its
• Animal Crackers
• Graham Crackers
• Teddy Grahams 
• Quaker Popped Rice Crisps - the apple cinnamon ones are softer than blueberry ones
• Oatmeal
• Muffins
• Pancakes - no syrup
• Waffles
• Bagels
• Nutri-grain Bar
• Pasta
• Chicken Flavored Noodles
• Rice

Snacks:

• Goldfish
• Cheese-Its
• Cheese Puffs / Cheese Balls
• Crackers - Buttered or Saltine
• Animal Crackers
• Graham Crackers
• Teddy Grahams 
• Vanilla Wafers
• Quaker Popped Rice Crisps- the apple cinnamon ones are softer than blueberry ones
• Cubbed Cheese
• Shredded Cheese
• Dried Fruit - Raisins, Cranberries
• Nutri-grain Bar
• Homemade Yogurt Melts
• Yogurt - Go-gurts are less messy
• Welch's Fruit Snack Gummies - Real Fruit, break in half
• Gerber Graduates Snacks - Yogurt bites, puffs, lil crunchies 

Try to stay away from:

Nuts, Popcorn, Seafood, Hot Dogs, Hard Candy, Marshmallows, Seeds, Gum, Raisins, Salt, Sugar, Peanut Butter, Most Meats, Gummies, Fries, etc... mainly because these foods are harder to chew and can lead to chocking.

Yes I know I listed a few of them (Hot dogs, chicken, nuts, raisins, gummies and peanut butter.) above but wait until your child has more teeth so they can chew them better.

If you feed them meats make sure that it is shredded into small pieces making it easier to swallow. The same goes with gummies and fries. I cut or break up almost everything I feed my daughter from fruit to bread to avoid choking because she still doesn't have a lot of teeth.

I have fed my daughter meat, gummies, and fries occasionally but I try my best to listen to the pediatrician and stay away from these foods. I figure that my kids will have plenty of junk food when they are older so then need to eat healthy while I still have a say. That is my parenting choice so more power to you if you want to feed them those items. 

Keep in mind that every child is different and will like different foods just like we do. Also make sure that your baby gets at least 2 cups of milk, fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and protein each day to keep them healthy and growing. I hope this list helps when trying to decide what to feed your one year old!

Disclosure - I am not a doctor, pediatrician, or a food specialist. This list is based off of items I feed my daughter and know that one year olds are aloud to eat.

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