Next week, June will be six months old! I can hardly believe it. One thing I’m really excited about is: Solid Food. Of course, it’s not truly “solid” — more like mush (so why do they call it “solid”?). Anyway, we’re about to get the talk from the doctor’s office about how to start her out on this culinary path.
Pre-baby, I imagined myself as a happy chef (in adorable apron) who would blend up anything and everything natural, organic and nutritious and keep it in pretty jars, ready to be spoon-fed into my hungry baby’s mouth. But now that she’s about to start eating, I have no idea what we’ll feed her.
Should we start with fruits and vegetables? Should we leave out meat for a while? It seems like babies eat a lot of mushed up bananas and avocado, right? (I’m gleaning my knowledge from movies like Mr. Mom and Baby Boom, by the way.)
I’d love to hear from other parents: What did your baby eat when s/he first started on “solids”? Any tips for bibs or stains or highchair etiquette?
Let the eating begin!
p.s. Thanks for your brand-new mom advice on last week’s post. It’s great to hear encouragement from the been-there crowd!
I thought the same thing, making my own baby food! But the reality was totally different. With my husbands and mine hectic life, it just wasn’t possible. When starting, make sure to add a bit of breast milk/formula to the food (have you done the baby oatmeal yet? Directions on the package are a great starter!). Other starters: bananas will cause constipation, so be careful (that was food number 6 for us). Sweet potatoes and avocados are great starters too! And of course apples! Make sure you stick with ONE type of food for a few days before moving on (this is to pinpoint allergies). After the first month or so, move onto “mixes” – the food from the first month mixed with an added food (bananas and blueberries for example) – try to stick with just two for the second month (again, pinpoint allergies!). Then move onto “thicker” or clumpy food – textures are key! THEN you can introduce cheeses (cottage and yogurts) and meats.
Key points: if your baby spits something out immediately or does a vomiting face, do not force feed it. Try it again later on. No honey- you’d be surprised how many “older mommies” suggest honey. If you do create your own food, as she gets older don’t hesitate to add a bit of spices to the food. I made apple sauce (one of the few spare weekends. I had!) and decided to add a bit of cinnamon – she LOVED it. Avoid sugar completely – fruits have enough in them.
There are so many exciting things to talk about when it comes to solid food!
Both of my boys (now almost 4 and almost 2) started with rice cereal mixed with breast milk…it was so loose that it was really more of a liquid than a solid food in the begining. Once I knew they could tolerate the rice cereal a little thicker, I introduced carrot, apple, pear, beets, etc. I always alternated with one veggie then one fruit and allowed 2 to 3 days of the new food before assuming the boys could tolerate it and moving on to another new food. I also started solids at 4 months for both boys. I plan to do the same with my daughter (now almost 12 weeks) as long as the doctor agrees. I made all of the boys fruit and veggie baby food and it really wasn’t hard…originally I used a baby food mill but then I realized that my imersion blender was much easy and faster to use. I would spend an hour or two once every few weeks making a bunch of food, freezing it in icecube trays, and sorting it into ziploc bags in the freezer so it was ready to go when I needed it.
I started with veggies and she loves veggies now more than fruit
. One thing about high chairs I never knew was you are supposed to strap them in like they are in a car seat bc it forces correct posture.
My son Carter is about a week younger than June, so we are about to start the journey with solid foods as well! We aren’t doing purees, icky cereal, mashed stuff or spoon feeding at all, rather following the concept of Baby-Led Solids (or Baby-Led Weaning), where you let your baby lead the way so they are in control of what and how much they eat. Baby eats what you eat so it’s so much easier than making baby food and all the hassle that goes with it. You should check it out! http://www.babyledweaning.com/
ok, first whoever this Kirsten W is, I seriously can’t believe she said “older mommies” in any context. Not sure what that has to do with honey. More like stupid mommies. Anyway, starting foods is pretty simple and as an “older mommy” at the ripe old age of 38 with 3 kids, I find most mommies (especially young and stupid ones) make it way more complicated than it has to be. Start simple and as your baby becomes used to different tastes and textures try other ones. I didn’t really start in any particular order but I did avoid, berries for the first few months, and shellfish, anything with nuts or honey until well after 1 year. After about 3 months of mashed fruits, veggies, and meats, I started mashing regular old table food (spices and all). Have a few cans around or now they have squeeze packs, for emergencies, but generally I managed to get through 3 kids never buying more than a handful of “baby foods” and rarely making actual baby food.
Hmmm, not sure what “older mommies” refers to either…as in people in their 80s? I would say most mothers know no honey until after a year….
also yogurt is a great starter food. I like greek yogurt. thicker so less messy, and more nutrition. and pureed fruit or plain.
we started with the cereals, then veggies,meat and beans. fruit came last. I made her food but it was really not that hard. buy some silicone freezer trays and purée enough to fill up a tray. once frozen you can throw it in a ziploc bag and pull out and defrost individual portions. she started herself on table food at 9m and I now have a 16m old that eats raw spinach, tomatoes and Lima beans like she’s eating candy. they love fruit naturally, help set her palate’s baseline on the flavors of your family first.
I think when Kristen W said “older mommies” she meant woman who had their kids years ago (like your mom, grandmother or great grandmother)… not mommies who are in their 30s or 40s who have younger kids. FYI – my grandmother and MIL never heard before about no honey for babies. (so I’m pretty sure that’s what she meant when she said “older mommies”). Anyways, we have a 6m and just started with solids! Right now he gets oatmeal cereal in the morning and rice cereal at night. And starting next week he will be getting a veggie for lunch (which I plan on making his food!). His doc said to start out with veggies (trying one for 2-3 days b/c of allergies).. starting with green veggies before orange. Then after a month of veggies introduce fruits. Its such an adventure, and we love it. Messy but soo much fun. Get the camera and video camera out!
We have a very healthy eater, and we followed much of the same conventional wisdom, except that he started solids a little early. Ambitious as anyone else, I tried the homemade route for a while, but working full time made it impractical when he was this young so I only did it sporadically.
We did rice cereal w/breastmilk first, (we moved onto mixed grain for the texture soon after) and then we began rotating in new veggies and fruits (with the 3-day wait for allergies) until he had a wide array, and he took to pretty much everything. As he handled thicker textures well, I actually liked the fruit/grain or veggie grain combos. We did try some with pureed meats, which seemed to be fine as well.
I’m not really a believer in “don’t give them fruit or they won’t eat the veggies”– his favorite for a long time at that age was PEAS if you can believe it– but we did alternate with lots of fruits AND veggies so he got a taste for everything. Whole milk yogurt and soft mashed beans (cannelini, black, etc.) rounded out the bunch until the teeth started to come in.
Once we got the hang of it and he started reaching for our plates, we started using table food. . . pancakes, tiny pasta shapes (pastina) cooked in chicken broth that my grandmother started me on very young, and other things he could gum.
Now, at just over two, he’s a pretty good eater, but of course chicken nuggets (homemade or otherwise) are his go to. The joys of toddler independence. . . “Jack wants!”
I kept a stash of bibs just for solids feedings– inevitably some of them will stain and you may as well keep using them rather than ruin a whole bunch more. I actually like the vinyl with the soft backing (cotton/terry) because the food doesn’t stick and stain.
As for the mess, I think you just have to embrace it. Let her stick her fingers in it, and explore, especially if she resists the taste at first– sometimes they need to find it in their own way. And if she doesn’t like something, wait a bit and introduce it again. Their palates change a lot.
Have fun, enjoy the mess, and definitely have camera ready
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Yes, that is exactly what I meant by “older mommies”. My 60 year old aunt in law said to give my daughter some honey to help her sleep. I almost flipped. I meant NO disrespect to any moms who have kids at 40 or close to forty (my sister is a proud mommy at 36 and I trust no one more than her!).