After your baby's first birthday, you may notice a gradual change in his eating habits. Pureed foods might be gobbled with lightening speed and his hand-mouth coordination may be improved. But passing the one-year age mark is not enough to determine if baby is ready for table foods. And what is "table food", anyway?

Table food is a term most parents and pediatricians use to describe meals that do not come out of a jar. If you have been preparing home-made baby food, table food is just a step up from what your baby is already eating. It generally means more variety, larger portions, and complex foods that need to be chewed. Pureed foods will only appeal to your youngster for so long - after that, he will want his plate to look more like yours.

Careful supervision is needed when offering larger, more solid portions of food.

Deciphering your 6-month-old's cues regarding mealtime readiness may have been difficult. But clues to your baby's needs are easier to interpret at 1 year. If your baby eats a large variety of mashed foods and finger foods, the biggest introductory faze is probably over. You will continue to offer new foods throughout the next few years, but the trial period will be shorter and less frequent. For example, if your baby has eaten soft, cooked foods like beef, carrots, celery, and potatoes - a small bowl of beef stew would be a good first table food.

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