Is anyone else out there attempting to feed their child solid foods? And, failing miserably?
We nurse on a very specific schedule, because we feel that Alex sleeps better when he has a more specific nursing schedule. Every four hours, Alex nurses. I attempt to alternate nursing with feeding him every four hours--so he's either nursing or being fed solids every two hours throughout the day. He usually acts hungry before it's time to nurse, but he often refuses to eat his solids when I try to feed him.
This is what I got for my efforts.
He does like some vegetables. Despite the fact that they smell horrid, he apparently likes peas.
Ben has better luck than I do. Perhaps it's because I smell like milk. Why settle for less than the best?
The doctor says there is nothing to worry about; he'll take to eating in his own good time. But, I cannot help but worry. Is he getting all his vitamins and nutrients? Is he starving? Would he eat if I offered something different? Worry - that's the real work of parenting.
Then there is the whole ordeal of attempting to make our own baby food. I really need to get started with that. But, I hate making up a bunch of stuff just to have him scrunch up his nose at it. It's not like it only takes a few minutes to make something. I did buy an immersion blender. Now, I just have to get to work with making something. I'm considering just pureeing whatever we eat at night to feed to Alex the next day. At least then I'm not attempting to make a bunch of special food. Anyone out there have thoughts on that approach? Or, what did you do if you're making your own baby food?
Funny pictures! I'd stick with unadulterated rice, veggies and fruits. You could save and freeze what he doesn't eat in cupcake liners, for later. Best baby feeding book is "Feed Me, I'm Yours" by Ellen Satter.
ReplyDeleteJayme- delany is not a picky eater but did take it better from Aaron at first. Same was true for bottles for sure! If you do make your own foods, it works well to freeze them in ice cube trays and then store in gallon size baggies. We also do some of using whatever we eat or ate the night before. It is also a good way to use the produce or leftovers before they go bad if you have too much! We also only give her solids two to three times per day and she will eat alot most of the time. She loves yogurt, which the doctor told us to try at six months. Hope this helps! Good luck! He is getting everything he needs from nursing so don't worry!
ReplyDeleteBaby-Led Weaning. That's what we're planning on doing. It's basically exclusively breastmilk until six months and then going straight to solid foods. And by solids, I mean, he eats what we eat. Little pieces of veggies and fruits and he feeds himself. No purees or baby food. No force feeding him or stressing about whether or not he eats. With BLW, he learns hand-eye coordination, how to feed himself slowly and safely, what tastes and textures he likes (and doesn't like), he gains confidence and he'll eat at the table with us during dinner and feel like part of the family. I am so excited about it.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, I really wouldn't stress out about any food right now. You know what they say, "food before one is just for fun." Food isn't necessary to get any nutrition. He will get everything he needs from breast milk. Baby food is the same as "diet" food anyway, so he's not getting much in the way of calories or nutrition. Take it slow, have fun with it.
I should also say that he'll continue on breast milk (or formula) even though he's having solids. They say BLW babies don't really eat too much at first because they're just exploring and tasting (not really swallowing and digesting). ALL his calories should still be coming from breast milk.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby-led_weaning
There's a book too: http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Led-Weaning-Essential-Introducing-Confident/dp/161519021X
Hi Jayme,
ReplyDeleteI used smitten kitchen's baby website for baby food recipes:
http://smittenkitchen.com/baby/
and this other website:
http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/
Nothing ever went to waste, although I did buy some applesauce instead of making it myself a few weeks ago, and she's not a big fan so it could be that home made food just tastes better. Also, she was a bit older when she really started eating a lot of solids. She also likes chicken a lot and ground beef. Anyway, it's just a really short amount of time that you're going to be making these purees.
My granddaughter's first food was avocado. She loved it. It is smooth and really doesn't have much taste.
ReplyDeleteWe're not "everything must be organic!!" kind of people, but we figured we'd give him organic stuff at least until his first birthday. We're now at two solids a day, but when we're feeding him solid, he also gets the milk. We'll probably stop the milk at around age one. We try to feed him one serving (2 oz) of fruits and one serving of vegetables a day. Thankfully, he's liked everything we tried. I think we've tried more than 15, and we're starting to mix stuff. We bought Beaba baby cook thing that really simplifies the process so we make several serviings 2,3 times a week and store them in the freezer. Today we tried pureed dried apricot which was sort of too sweet for my taste, but he seemed to like it.
ReplyDeleteRe solids, we skipped cereal altogether (no nutritional value) and went right to purees. Wholesomebabyfood.com is a great reference. I made my own food which is really easy and froze extra in cubes. I tried organic pouch food once and it was gross. "food before one is just for fun" and babies get what they need from breastmilk so don't worry too much - more to try to build a healthy relationship with food and test for allergies. Once we have enough foods on their own to check for reaction we started pureeing and then mushing what we were eating. Email or message me if u want to talk more about food!
ReplyDelete