This is part 2 of transitioning your baby to table foods, since I had so much to say on the subject! In the last post, I taught you how to start off with puffs and moving to soft cubed foods like bananas and cooked vegetables, if you missed it, check it out here. In this post, I will lay out how to completely make the transition off of baby food, avoid choking hazards, and what to do when it isn’t going well.
And, look out for the free printable cheat sheet if your baby is having a hard time transitioning to table foods at the end!
Transitioning from Baby Food to Table Food
How do you know they are managing (eating) foods well? When they are chewing it with little to no coughing, choking, or gagging, and swallowing easily (not hard gulps), consistently, for a week or two.
Some examples of softer foods to move onto are (increasing in difficulty): avocado, banana, scrambled eggs, boiled potatoes, muffins, pasta, deli meat, cheese.
At this point you can also try pairing crackers and other crunchy foods with spreads like jelly, hummus, and cream cheese to maximize exposure to table foods and different textures. Spread right on the cracker or show them how to dip it into a glob on their tray. Then, start giving them these foods first, before the baby food, at a meal and allow them to eat as much as they want or will.
Continue to present a larger variety of table foods slowly and as they eat enough of them give less and less baby food during the meal. There will come a meal when you will say, “I think they ate enough of the toast, eggs, and strawberries. I don’t think they need the baby food.” Once you reach this point, it is okay to dip back into baby foods for a meal here and there, but ultimately you have to take a leap into letting go of the security baby food gives. Keep trying different table and finger foods. If you are looking for finger food inspiration, see my Mega List of Table Foods.
I have been mostly focusing on actual cubed food that babies can easily feed themselves, but as they eat those softer foods and the spreads well, you can start to slowly experiment with mixed textures like soups and casseroles. Again, you will want to keep this slow, maybe starting off with macaroni and cheese, and then moving to spaghetti and meatballs and then chicken noodle soup. The latter has a lot more changes in consistency in one bite of food. You can give baby a couple of pieces on the tray of these types of food, but will probably be mostly feeding by spoon.
The Big Picture: Step by Step Introducing Table Foods to Baby Guide
Let’s sum up everything we’ve talked about in this saying bye bye to baby foods series with a list that you can use a quick guide. Remember to ONLY move onto the next step once your baby is safely and consistently eating the previous step for a few days to a week or so, depending on your comfort level and the time it takes your baby to learn, which varies widely.
- Give baby puffs (this is my favorite brand) as their very first table food. (Follow instructions in part 1)
- Give other food that have a crunch but melt easily, like cheese curls and graham crackers. (See full list in part 1)
- Give soft foods that you’ve cut into a small cube.
- Give soft foods with irregular shapes like scrambled eggs, noodles, and ground meat crumbles.
- Give crunchy foods that don’t melt as quickly like cheerios, toast (add toppings like hummus, avocado, etc.)
- Give mixed foods like casseroles and soups (start off with foods that don’t have a lot of chunks in theme and monitor closely)
Helpful Tips for Babies Learning to Eat Table Foods
- The best way to present most of these foods is in a small cube shape. This will make it easier for them to pick up and control the size of the bites they are eating. Babies will often choke as they are learning to eat, it is normal, but we can minimize risk by giving them smaller pieces until they are ready to manage more.
- Puffs have next to no calories. They are great to use when they are just starting on table foods, but as you pull away from baby food they don’t offer enough to fill their little bellies.
- I am using the word “transition” intentionally. Getting your baby onto table foods is a process that is a little like a dance, taking a few steps forward and then one back. Many parents find this to be a challenging time.
- Hot dogs, grapes, marshmallows, large dollops of nut-butters, nuts, lettuce, popcorn, hard candy are all potential choking hazards. Hot dogs, grapes, and marshmallows can be cut into small pieces. Spread nut-butters thinly on foods. Food larger than a pea could get lodged in the airway.
What to do if Baby Won’t Eat Table Food
Some children have a hard time moving onto table foods. Often these babes were pros at baby food, but turn their noses up and refuse many or all table foods. It is common for this to be related to sensory defensiveness and/or difficulty chewing. Generally speaking, as every child has specific instances and circumstances, it would be helpful to encourage play with food.
If there is sensory defensiveness, this will help break it down. Try bins of dry foods like rice, beans, and birdseed first. As they tolerate this, move onto wet bins such as cooked noodles (Check out Sensory bin ideas and instructions). Depending on the age of your child, this will require close supervision.
Also, try playing with their food during a meal. Take the pressure off of eating and make a game out of those bananas they won’t touch. See Exploring New Foods for more help on this.
Lastly, your baby watches you closely and will be motivated to imitate. Show them how to chew by leaving your mouth open and dramatically chewing for them to see. Be positive about foods they try, even if they refuse or spit it out. Keep presenting it over and over, at least 12 times. And, if your baby allows you to, place small bits of food (at whatever table food stage you are in, see the list above) directly onto their gums, where their molars will be.
Some babies have a very sensitive gag reflex if that’s the case head to What You Need To Know About Baby Gagging, you’ll find tips for how to overcome and when to know if it’s a problem you need help with.
If you continue to struggle with moving forward with this process, consider feeding therapy. If you are in the states you may qualify for free help from Early Intervention.
Do you feel like your ready to tackle table foods?
Still Have Questions? Get the Free Printable!
I totally get that when your baby or toddler isn’t eating table foods it can feel super stressful. That’s why I have the free Learn to Eat Table Foods Cheat Sheet printable . I’ll send it right to your inbox.
Click here to get your free printable and put those worries to rest.
More on Baby Table Foods
The Best High Calorie Foods for Babies
The Ultimate List of Baby/Toddler Meal Ideas
Ultimate List of Mealtime Must Haves for Baby
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There’s a lot of info in this post, you might want to get to it quickly again later!
Our son is nearly 14 months (was 2 months premature) now and the doctor got after us at his 12 month checkup for not being on more table food yet. He will eat a good variety, especially if its finger food, but just not at meal times. Can offer him just about anything and he’ll eat at least one bite, often more, so long as he’s not settled for a meal. He only wants his puffs then the pureed baby foods, even if he’s had what were offering before and liked it. How can we teach him those snacks are also meal foods?
Hey Lindsay,
Thanks for reaching out! I’d try to look at your scheduling of meals/snacks as sometimes even a couple pices of food before a meal can hinder their appetite. You can check out feeding schedules HERE
Best,
Desiree
I can feed him any snack while he’s standing in his playpen. Pineapple is one of his favorite things, but at the table for a meal he refuses it because it’s not baby food. I can feed as much baby food as I want and he’ll eat it, but if we do a no baby food meal he’ll refuse everything. But I can strip off the bib and put him in the playpen and he’ll gobble it up. How can I change this place association?
Hey Lindsay,
I’d look at his seating to make sure it’s a good fit for him and we have an article that will help look at that, you can find it HERE Also, I’d try to offer those foods at the table with no pressure for him to eat. See if you can get him to engage in the foods with play/touching and removing all pressure. This can be super helpful!
Best,
Desiree
Thanks! We’re trying no pressure meals, but it can get mighty frustrating when he won’t touch anything that he gobbled up the day before in the playpen. We’ll look at his seat too, he is growing mighty quickly and it may be getting too small now.
Hey Lindsay,
Yes, it can get frustrating at that age, but taking away that pressure he will get the hang of it!! Glad you are looking into seating as well 🙂
Best,
Desiree
Hi! I have a 10month old and she used eat EVERYTHING ok. Whether spoon feeding or eats alone for snack. Then she suddenly became finicky. She now became choosy with her food. And when i spoon feed her she wouldn’t take it either. Everytimw she sees me with a spoon about to feed her she just moves her head left or right. What do i do?
Hey Jen,
Sorry you are having trouble with feeding. I’d try to provide your daughter with a spoon in play and during meals to see if she will engage with any of the food. As well as providing opportunity for her to touch and play in the pureed foods! We do have a free workshop full of great information for helping them to eat. You can save your seat HERE
Best,
Desiree
Hi! My baby boy he is going to turn 1 year old in two weeks. I am really concern not sure about if he is doing ok but when he needs to eat he is fine grabbing a small pear without me pealing it and he can eat it ok. Also the puff snacks, toast bread, bagels with cream cheese but I can’t give him pasta, or a flour tortilla with cheese because he is like what is this !? And he won’t eat it. Is it something I can do to help him to eat all variety of table food !? He now walks and try’s to talk. Make animals sounds when reading a book.
I am really stressing out and concern not sure if he is ok with eating a mix of thickness purée food and a little bit of table food.
Hey Linda,
So glad you reached out! Sounds like he is doing some good chewing and manipulating of some table foods which is great. I’d try to see if he will touch some of the other foods such as pasta in a play environment (as touching is the first step in eating) to get him comfortable with this type of texture. Playing and touching can help move him forward with the eating. If you’re not signed up we are currently having our free picky eating video series where you will learn some great steps to help kids with eating! You can save your spot HERE
Best,
Desiree
Hi there,
My daughter is 10 months old. We started BLW when she was 6 months. Took her couple of months to get the hang of it and figure out how to swallow. She did it and things were going great until teething started 😔 she’s got two teeth on the bottom and one at the top that’s cut through. For the past month and half she’s been eating very little table food. She knows how to put the food in her mouth and chew and it seems like the foods she used to love (broccoli) she now hates. She eats a few bites and then doesn’t want to eat anymore.
I’m trying not to stress but it’s easier said than done. Not sure what to do or if I’m overreacting. I offer her food about an hour or so after she’s had formula. Sometimes I put the food to her mouth and she’ll take it ( sometimes) but that isn’t a habit I want to get into or continue.
Any advice would be so appreciated. Thanks so much:)
Hey Sabrina,
We know how hard and stressful this time can be! Teething can cause kids to decrease their eating, etc. I’d make sure she is comfortable on her gums and give her something cold prior to eating to see if that helps. Also, making sure that she has plenty of opportunity to play with all the foods can be extremely helpful as well! You can provide these opportunities outside of mealtimes!
Best,
Desiree
Hi, I have a 7 month old. He used to eat baby food fine then all of a sudden he doesn’t want to eat it anymore. I do see him reaching for the foods we eat. What can I do to help him eating again?
Hey Clara,
So glad you reached out! I’d make sure to continue offering the baby food with allowing them to touch/interact with it. I’d also start offering some other meltable foods to see how he does with those in his mouth. We have a free workshop that will take you through all of this in more detail, I think you’ll learn a lot! You can save your seat HERE
Best,
Desiree
My baby is 10 months old and she just isn’t chewing. She acts like she’s chewing. Moves food to the side of her mouth with her tongue, munches up and down then swallows her food whole. She will only eat about 20 pieces of food then she’s over it because I think it’s hurting her throat to swallow stuff whole. We started with puffs and bambas but she crunches those with her front teeth then sucks on them until they dissolve 🤦♀️. Do you have any tips on how to get her to actually chew! She also picked up drinking from a straw and 360 cup right away at 6 months. Thanks for any advice
Hey Kelly,
I get how hard this can be! So glad you little one is drinking from a straw cup, that is great! As for chewing, I’d work on her biting down on some chewy toys/teethers. This can help get the motion down and build up strength. We do have a lot of other tips for chewing in this Article Here
Hope that helps!
Best,
Desiree
My thirteen month old was eating table food fine- scrambled eggs, pasta, rice, lunch meat, etc, then about two weeks ago he won’t eat any adult foods that he used to! He makes faces and spits them out, then refuses. He’ll eat baby food and “snacks” (puffs, baby biscuits, yogurt drops, etc) but none of the adult food he used to eat. He does have about 5 molars coming in, could he be stressed about chewing or something? Or possibly just wanted the comfort of pureed food?
Hey Bethany,
Thanks for reaching out. Teething can have a lot to do with it, especially with molars it can be sore and they do not want to chew. I’d make sure to keep offering the foods he was eating with some of the more “comfort” foods, during the teething phase and see how he does after. You can also try to provide some cold teethers prior to eating as this can help with pain.
Best,
Desiree
Hey! So my daughter is 19 months old. My husband is a stay at home dad, and for meals he finds it easier to just feed her pureed baby food. She eats it like a champ, and gets lots of fruit and veggies. But when I get home, I try and feed her what I’m eating or at least ginger foods, but she’s incredibly picky! Is it ok she’s still getting 75% baby food still? I know she’s not hungry… I just wasn’t sure if it was preventing her from wanting to try new foods. Thanks!
Hey Andrea,
So glad you are reaching out! Sounds like you are doing a great job at trying to offer her what is on your plate to give her some variety. At this stage I would be trying to move past purees and get her eating some table foods. There could be a number of reasons that she is showing you that she is “picky”. I’d watch our free workshop as it will give you tips on what foods to try first from purees and what to do if they are not accepting of them and moving forward. You can save your seat HERE
Best,
Desiree
Hi there I am a first time mom and just got done reading both parts of this article. I am one of those nervous freaks that is too scared to try finger foods. When I started my 6 month old on baby foods, she would gag (normal) but wouldn’t want to continue. So I stopped forcing her because I didn’t want to create a negative association. I gave it another month and tried again. She got more interested but has never eaten a lot of baby food at all. She would eat a few bites and be done. I think she ate half a jar once or twice. I’m feeding her stage 2 baby food and she handles it fine if she eats it. Now that she is almost 9 months old she is refusing baby food. She turns her face away when I offer and grabs the spoon to chew on it. She is imitating us more when we eat and is grabbing for our food.
I know she wants to eat finger foods. She probably would have benefited from baby led weaning but I’m too much of a chicken.
If I gave her a puff, there’s no way she would choke on it right? I’m absolutely terrified but I don’t want to fail her. And if she were to choke on a puff or a cracker, if I hit her on the back a few times, will it dislodge? I’m sorry I sound crazy. I just don’t have help and I want to move on from the baby food and let her enjoy eating.
Everyone keeps telling me to let her have cheerios but I’m too scared. 🤦♀️
Hey Ashley,
We understand how scary this can be for parents! You are doing a great job at reading cues from your daughter. I wouldn’t start with cheerio’s as these to have a coating on them so that they do not dissolve easily (designed to not get soggy in milk) but starting with a puff is exactly where I would go. You can even break it in half to make it smaller for you to feel more secure! I’d also try it out for yourself so you can see how quickly they dissolve 🙂 We do have a free workshop that talks about this and transitioning to foods and what comes next. It might be good to help ease your mind and get you on the right track! You can save your seat HERE
Best,
Desiree
Hi Alisha! I am sooo happy to have found your blog, as it’s helping me transition my 9 month old to finger foods slowly. It also confirmed that I was doing some steps right (like thickening purees with baby cereal). We are now on step 2 – crackers, teething wafers etc.
I have two questions for you:
1. Do I give her the whole cracker/mum-mum/cheese puff and let her chew off little pieces, or do I cut it up into bite-size pieces? I already gave her a whole thing once and she was doing great, but not sure if I missed something and I should’ve cut it up.
2. How big/small should pieces be? 1 cm, 1.5 cm, 0.5 cm? Approximately of course!
Thank you in advance!
Hey Amna,
So happy that you are finding this article helpful and are slowly making the transition. If your child did great with holding the cracker then I’d continue with that. It’s great for them to learn to bite and move the food around. Keep up the great work!
Best,
Desiree
My now 18 month old still refuses to eat any kind of table food. Me and my husband have tried everything we know to try and he will not eat it. All he wants is baby oatmeal and milk. He had his 18 month checkup yesterday and his doctor made it very clear that he should be eating table food by now but I’m not sure what else I can do to get him to eat. Does anyone know any tips on how I might can get him to start eating table food?
Hey Jennifer,
We understand how hard this transition can be. I’d start to be trying to see if you can get your son to play with the foods outside of mealtimes to see if he will engage with the foods (this is the first step in eating). We do have a free workshop that helps walk you through this as well you can save your seat HERE.
Best,
Desiree
Hi,
My son just turned 10 months. He is doing great with the crackers, teething crackers, and puffs. We have him banana and he is going good. Introduced him to a blueberry and Mandarin orange (both cut in quarters) and he was gagging and threw up. Am I doing something wrong? Do I just keep offering? Thanks!!!
Hey Cassandra,
I’d try more foods that are soft and easy to chew without much effort like banana ie: muffins, avocado, cooked potatoes, etc. The blueberries can be harder to locate and chew in the mouth due to shape and texture. We do have a free workshop that can help walk you through this transition. You can save your seat HERE
Best,
Desiree
Hi
I have a 15 month old who likes crunchy snacks and pureed baby food. When given table food like chicken, cooked veggies, fruit or noodles she makes faces when touching them. She will sort them off on the tray or throw pieces on the floor. If I try to put a piece in with her baby food she spits out or if she does eventually swallow it, she will stick her finger in her mouth to try to gag it up.
We are also battling introducing a sippy cup so we are behind in the eating department.
Hey Megan,
We understand how hard this can be! I’d walk through the steps in the article for what foods to introduce next to work your way up to harder foods to eat. I’d leave the chunks separate from the baby food, as this can be hard for a baby to distinguish to be able to chew. We recommend straw cups for kids. If they are having trouble learning how to drink from a straw you can learn about it HERE
Best,
Desiree
I am so sad I did not find your blog earlier! I feel like I have very much failed at teaching my 11.5 month son to eat. I’m currently overwhelmed with the transitions I’m attempting: weaning from breastfeeding and trying to get him to eat table foods. He is still eating just baby food. He gags and shudders with a lot of different textures and then when he is hungry I think he is too impatient to bother with having to feed himself and chew. The times he has been interested in table foods is when he can eat off of my plate, he ate some veggies, cheese, and pizza crust the other night after eating all of his baby food. The last couple of weeks I’ve been attempting to give him bits of my food if he is acting interested, and today I made a point of sitting him on my lap during lunch with the hope he would also eat table foods, and he did for a while eating noodles, ground hamburger and cooked veggies, eating off my fork and even feeding himself with his hands (something he has refused to do) but soon he was throwing food on the floor and thrashing around if I tried to bring something to his mouth. After he calmed down I brought out some baby food and he got all excited and allowed me to feed him that with no problems. If I put anything on his tray that isn’t in a baby food container he’ll throw it on the floor and go on strike until I give in and give him baby food. He has mastered puffs, but still chokes and gags on more difficult to dissolve things like chips and crackers. I haven’t tried it recently, but he has thrown up mashed bananas multiple times after gagging on them. The last three times I’ve made him scrambled eggs, which was probably 2 weeks ago, he’s gagged to the point of throwing up as well. I have kept putting off giving him table foods because I thought he just needed more time for his very sensitive gag reflex to be desensitized, but now I’m even more worried since he is almost 1 that I’ve messed up his self-feeding and ability to eat table foods.
After reading your blog, I am going to work on thickening his baby foods with cereals and trying to give him some table foods at each meal. Is there anything else you would suggest I do?
Sorry for the long post, I appreciate all that you do to help others. Thank you!!
Hey Jessica,
First off, you have NOT failed! I know how hard this transition can be! I’d recommend continuing to offer foods that he can touch and play in (you can even do this outside of mealtimes) as getting them touching the foods is the first step in eating! We do also have a free workshop that discusses other activities to do in transitioning from purees to table foods. You can save your seat here
Best,
Desiree
Oh wow, this is my exact struggle to this day and my daughter is turning 1 in a week! How is it going now and how were you able to make the transition?
Thanks so much for this. Its really very informative. I am very late to this. My son who is now 3 years old eats only pureed food. He used to eat table food but very rarely. Last time he ate was about 7 months ago. I continued on purees. I didn’t offer sufficient amount of table foods during whole time. Now he refuses to take any food except his pureed food into mouth. Tried forcefully but he removes everything. Not sure what to do. Developmentally no issues. He’s growing well and speaks a lot.
Any suggestions?
We totally get it, this transition can be hard, but it is good you are looking into ways to help! I’d suggest trying some play with food outside of mealtimes for your son to get used to touching new foods, as this is the first step to eating. We have a free workshop that would be great to provide you with some more tips and tricks that can be helpful for you!
Save your seat here: yourkidstable.com/free
I’m so sad and I feel like I have completely failed at teaching my son how to eat. I found your blog when we started solids around 5-6 months and we just cannot get off of baby foods. We cannot move past dry crunchy foods. He is one now and won’t even it typical baby favorites (bananas, avacado, etc). I don’t see any red flags sensory wise, although I am not an expert, and I asked for a feeding eval at his most recent checkup. His pediatrician recommended only serving table foods and stopping purees cold turkey And giving that until 15 months of age before an eval. I know from reading just about every one of your posts that’s not in my son’s best interest. I don’t know what to do between now and September when we could get an evaluation. I don’t know what I’m expecting to come from this given that I have read and implemented so many of your feeding precepts already. But it feels like nobody cares that my son only wants baby food except me. If you have any insight I may not have already seen here (or on feeding bytes or CanDo Kiddo) it would be much appreciated. Should I just keep offering a variety of table foods and “supplementing” with Purees until his pediatrician will refer us to therapy? I am so lost and feel so alone.
YOU HAVE NOT FAILED!!! You are looking for resources and figuring all of this out! I am so glad that you found our blog and have been following along, that is GREAT 🙂
I am glad that your son is accepting of the crunchy “meltable” foods as this is a great start. Even though you do not see any sensory red flags, it still may be helpful for you to complete sensory bins and play with a variety of foods so that he can touch and experience these foods before eating them (No pressure environment).
You’re right, we do not believe in the wait and see approach. If you are in the US, you may want to look into Early Intervention Services. They vary from state to state but do address feeding. This referral comes from the parents directly, you can just request an evaluation. We do have a post with more information here: yourkidstable.com/help-for-infants-and-toddlers-early/
Also, keeping that communication open with your pediatrician that you are not comfortable waiting may be helpful as well!
Keep us posted and let me know if we can help in any other way!
Hi Alisha! This is such a great blog. My 12.5 mo is doing great transitioning to solid foods so far – she eats small pea sized bites of soft veggies, avocado, banana, grated cheese and shredded or small diced meat. When will she be ready to bite off something and get the right size amount in her mouth to chew and swallow – I’m wondering specifically about breads and crackers. When you say t introduce crackers (graham or Town House) do you mean breaking them up into small pea-sized amounts? If so, how do you spread things on them? Thank you!
I spread first a thin layer and then cut it, a lot will turn into crumbs, but the pieces about a pea size and a little bigger I put on the tray. I’ll also help them pick it up if they need it!
Thanks Alisha! I’ve been spreading hummus on bread and cutting it up a lot.
Just curious for the future, at what point will I know she’s able to pick up a larger piece and take a bite off of it?
I usually test a strip of toast or bread and help them the first few times with close monitoring. I don’t try this until I can see they’re chewing well though.
Hi Alisha!
Looking for help for my 1 year old. She did so well with purée food and eating in her high chair, even ate probiotic oatmeal every day! Around 10-11 months starting getting fussier and fussier in her high chair and all out refused the spoon coming at her despite my best attempts and even letting her hold the spoon. She was started on Gerber Puffs around 8-9months and did well…we slowly started working different things into rotation, but sometimes she will eat 1 bite of table food, sometimes she will eat 10! One day she will eat something, the next she won’t. We usually have about 5-10 minutes in the high chair before she starts slamming her tray and swiping things off in an all out tantrum! What do I do?! I’m also nervous about weaning weaning formula because there are some days I feel she eats nothing at all!
This is tough for sure, you might want to look into early intervention, just to make sure nothing else is going on, but one thing I’d check in on is your schedule. Do you think she’s hungry? If she’s having milk right before she might not be.
I’d also check out this post on why babies don’t eat, does anything resonate with you? You’ll find some tips on how to handle the different causes there:)
Hi and thank you (thank you thank you) for all the useful information
My son is 19 months old and is currently “transitioning” from purees. However, on occasion, when he is eating his pureed lunch (which consists of vegetables and meat), if it is not completely pureed and he finds a piece of food like carrot etc in it he starts gagging. So I have to be very careful with pureeing the food. How will he ever be able to eat a dish that contains different consistencies (like the chicken noodle soup you mention, or even yogurt with fruit pieces etc.)?
Looking forward to your insight
Yes, stage 3 foods that have pieces in them are actually more difficult because they have to sort through the little pieces. He needs to learn to eat other foods before he’s managing the pieces well, if that makes sense!
Thank you Alisha!
Hi! My son has just turned 11 months old, his is typically developing and loves to play in his food. He used to eat all kinds of baby food but since transitioning him to table food he has become very picky. He will only eat soft breads like pancakes, french toast or waffles. He will eat any fruit, PBJ sandwiches, and some potatoes. Im having a difficult time getting him to eat any vegetable or any meat. I am feeding him table food for Breakfast and lunch and stage 3 baby food for dinner. I feel like he is beginning his life with poor eating habits! Do you have any suggestions on how to transition him to a wider variety of foods like meats?
This is actually more common than you think, although frustrating. I have this recipe on eating veggies and this one on eating meats that I think will be really helpful!