1st birthday foods for families waiting on solids?

[Stoki3]

We're on a baby-led delayed solids track right now, and 11 mo DS is just starting to eat some fruits and things at the table with us. His birthday is coming up, and DH wants to do the traditional birthday cake and everything, more so we don't look weird to his family, I think. What have you done to still let the grandparents celebrate and videotape the whole shebang? I don't mind special treats or sugar or whatever once in a while, but this kid isn't really eating yet - I don't want to throw junk at his system just to be "normal." How else can I help DH feel like he doesn't have to explain his crunchy wife to his family (yet again)? Thanks for any ideas or thoughts you care to share!

[bama]

Make him an applesauce cake, or Carrot cake!

http://www.fatfree.com/recipes/cakes/applesauce-cake

[nini02]

I made a sweet potato cake for my son's first birthday, and actually most of the people liked it better than the other "normal" cakes. It has a special frosting too - there is some sugar in the recipe but I subbed in some agave nectar and organic raw sugar instead of white sugar. You can also use applesauce.

It was really similar to carrot cake, let me see if I still have the recipe bookmarked....

[nini02]

Here it is. I left out the pecans and didn't put any frosting on my son's piece. You can sub in another frosting though, the one in this recipe never turned out right for me (I tried it a few times, I think maybe it was because I tried to sub for the sugar)

I also used applesauce in place of almost all the vegetable oil.

http://southernfood.about.com/od/swe...r/bl10731l.htm

[2208]

I'm in the same boat! But I don't think I'm making any kind of substitute cake for my daughter. We're going to have a regular birthday cake for everyone else to eat, but she hardly eats any solids and is still 99% breastfed. There's no way she's getting cake. BTW, she turns a year this month, too.

[My Sweet Blessings]

DS is on the same track. He barely touches any solids at all. His birthday is in less than a week and we are doing the regular family birthdya party thing (it may be delayed thanks to Gustav as we do the celebrating down in Metairie next to New Orleans). our plan is to have one cake for the guests and one smaller cake just for my son. It's just going to be a regular cake with frosting and all that. I don't mind since I know he isnt going to eat any of it anyway. He's just going to smash it to smitherines! LOL The most he will get in his mouth will be on accident cause he is addicted to the boob.

[toolie]

I'm in the same boat...my LO is turning one in another few months (planning ahead I guess), but he was 3 months premature so really he is only 9 months "corrected" age when he turns one--so we'll celebrate his bday, but he doesn't really seem that age KWIM. He's eating some purees, but mostly just BM still, so I am thinking of making some banana, rice cereal, BM concoction that he can dig into and make a mess with. I'd like it to resemble a cake in some form, but not sure how I'll do it yet.

Anyone have recipes for cakes with just fruits, flour/rice cereal, and BM? Could I add some baking powder or soda to make it rise a little??? Any ideas?

[dogmom327]

We faced the same issue when DS had his birthday. I just told people that I wasn't about to make a child who had never had flour or sugar a cake and watch him get a horrible stomach ache just so we could have "the picture". I made a dessert for the guests and DS didn't get any (and didn't care of course).

[Stoki3]

Aww, dogmom327, that's exactly what I want to do. The party is next weekend, and so far the plan was to have a regular cake for everyone else and I was going to make something else appropriate for the kid. DH wanted it to be at least cake-like so "we" (read: the grandparents) can have the candle and smash pictures. Since he has yet to volunteer to do any actual work for the food part of the party I think I'll just skip anything cake for the boy (who also has never had sugar or flour). I'm picturing making the veggies that DS loves and we can stick a candle in that! DH's family already thinks I'm nuts, and my parents would think it was funny, so maybe that fits all the way around. I'll report back - thanks to everyone for the support and wonderful ideas! Go mommies!

[honeybuns]

i feel you! my sons 1st is nov 9th im watchin this thread