12-Month-Old Toddler Development: Eating Big Kid Food

Got cow's milk? Break it out! Your 1-year-old can now expand his culinary world to include all the grown-up food you've been dying to let him try. Bye-bye baby food mess ... hello grown-up food mess!"
What you're thinking: "Now if only he'd eat the food instead of rubbing it in his hair!"

While the switch to a full-time, big-kid diet is exciting for you (Yay! No more purees! So long, formula!), for your toddler, the new nosh can be daunting (which, in this case, is just another way of saying "yucky"). The trick is to start out slowly and let your kid warm up to the grown-up grub.


• As you start to introduce new foods to your kid's menu, don't be discouraged if he spits out his first (or 14th) bite.
• It can take up to 15 introductions for a kid to warm up to a new food, so prepare your self for plenty of "He's eating the eggs! Oh wait, he's spitting out the eggs. ..." déjà vu.
• It may also take some time for your kid to switch from formula or breast milk to cow's milk.
• If he doesn't seem to like it, try mixing one part milk with three parts breast milk or formula (or five parts or seven parts ... depending on how picky your kid's palette is!), and gradually up the ratio until you've got him hooked on just milk. You'll want to limit your kid's milk intake to 16 to 24 ounces a day, 'cause some kids love the stuff so much, it's all they'll want to nosh on—which can make that whole "eating the eggs" thing even harder.
• Make sure to introduce your little gourmand to one new food at a time so you can keep an eye out for allergies
• You'll want to watch for wheezing, hives, eczema, vomiting or diarrhea as indications of possible allergic reactions. Most docs suggest waiting about three days before busting out new vittles. (And if you're an allergy sufferer yourself, you might want to hold off on introducing the more allergenic foods for a while.) The good news is that a lot of kids outgrow their allergies—so there's still hope that your kid will get to indulge in Ben & Jerry's! Got a kid who Just. Won't. Eat. Anything? You're not alone. Lots of parents struggle with their toddlers' pickiness. Just heed the knowledge that your kid won't starve herself, do your best, and ignore the strangers (and your mother) who ask if you're feeding your kid.

"My 1-year old is tiny. Not fifth-percentile-tiny, but tiny, tiny. Like not-on-the-growth-chart tiny. She's apparently so alarmingly tiny that people assume I am a total idiot and don't feed her.

"Have you tried noodles?" some random sancti-mommy once asked. Hmmmm, noodles. What an ingenious suggestion. Why the heck didn't I think of that? Yes, I've tried noodles! Considering that's pretty much all any kid under the age of 9 eats, odds are I've tried freakin' noodles. " Read more of "Have You Tried Noodles?" by Deva Dalporto

• Can a year-old baby eat anything an adult can eat?
  
• Are there calcium-rich alternatives for a milk-allergic child?
  
• How can I tell if my child is allergic to milk?
  
• Is it likely that my child will inherit my food allergies?
  
  

Do It: Dough Baby
Let your bambino make his own pasta for dinner!
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Cook It: 1, 2, 3 Rice and Beans
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All kids grow and develop at different rates. So please don't compare your toddler with so-and-so's from across the street—you'll just drive yourself nuts. If you have any concerns, bring them up with your pediatrician at your kid's next checkup.