P.S. If your comment isn't boring you yet, please share your feelings about bumbos/booster chairs/high chairs. Are they all necessary, when do you start using a high chair? Thank you and good day!
Tuesday 10 November 2009
How did you do it?
Time has flown by and my little Kai-bug is already almost 6 months. SO...I NEED ADVICE ON HOW TO INTRODUCE SOLID FOODS. Let's hear it. Meat after rice. Don't try barley. Fruit last. I want to hear it all. We have started rice cereal a little bit. Mostly I don't know how to balance nursing with solids. You know you are a pro. Shower me with your wisdom.
P.S. If your comment isn't boring you yet, please share your feelings about bumbos/booster chairs/high chairs. Are they all necessary, when do you start using a high chair? Thank you and good day!
P.S. If your comment isn't boring you yet, please share your feelings about bumbos/booster chairs/high chairs. Are they all necessary, when do you start using a high chair? Thank you and good day!
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12 comments:
Hi Kelly! I borrowed my sister's bumbo - we used it here and there but not very often. It was good to have around since I didn't buy it - so I would say it's not necessary to buy. High chair we got one of the ones that clip onto a chair to take up less space..we use it multiple times a day! booster seat...haven't got that far yet but I remember growing up phone books did the trick!
Baby food. I never really fed boston any of the plain meat food. I started with veggies - when we tried all the veggies then I started fruit. Then I did fruit and veggies. Then I did the combo foods like turkey and rice and etc. Hope this helps!
The baby food stuff really depends on the kid. Brandon HATED it, Tyler was fine with it, and Natalie LOVED it so I did different things with each kid. I usually did the yellow and orange veggies first (sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, etc), then the fruits. When they were good at solid foods I would usually try the green veggies and meats and combo meals but my kids never realy liked those...can't blame them! I always mixed the baby food with the dry cereal (rice cereal, oatmeal, etc.) to thicken it up so it wasn't so runny and messy.
Usually people start by replacing a nursing feeding with baby food. Then after a few weeks/months you drop another nursing feeding and replace it with a second feeding during the day.
I never had a bumbo chair, but they look cool. I think they would be more of a toy than for feeding purposes. I used a highchair but never liked it. It was huge & bulky and took up way too much space. I love my booster chair with a tray that attaches to any chair. Cleans up easy and you can fold it up and take it with you when you travel or eat at someone else's house.
With foods, I start with a grain, then go with what is naturally soft. Bananas, avocado, peaches mashed, etc. Many people skip pureed baby food altogether (for instance, something labeled "child led weaning.")
Also, I know it isn't typical, but I usually start giving my babies cheerios right around 6 or 7 months. Stick one in your mouth and use your tongue to try and eat it - they dissolve REALLY easily. Just stick with the plain ones though - the other flavors are too hard (or contain honey.)
We had a clip on high chair for our first because we didn't have room for a regular sized one. Now we do have room, but I often think it's totally worthless. A Bumbo is okay, but doesn't do the job well for an older child - especially since the tray doesn't go right up to their belly and they get to a point where they are big enough to tip it over just by leaning. I highly recommend seeing if someone just has one you can borrow (that goes for a bumbo or a high chair lying around in someone's attic or garage) so you can see what you think of it without spending the money. Or, seriously, buy used!
We used a bumbo with Grady until his legs got to chubby to fit inthe leg holes. Then we went to a high chair and we still use it to this day!
As far as food goes, I would definitely do fruits last. Once they taste that sugary yummy stuff they don't eat much else. I started with a couple foods and rice cereal and just rotated them. I just fed him solids once a day, for a couple weeks, then went to two times a day, and so on. I guess it just depends on your little guy and what he likes.
P.S. Yes!!! I would love to get together. Grady loves the little play area at the mall if you want to do that!
Not that I am very far ahead of you, but I'll give you what's worked for me so far:
I started Hannah with rice, then I gave her bananas first since it's easy on the stomach. I've switched off with fruits and vegetables (ie... i gave her sweet potatoes after bananas, then applesauce, then peas, etc.) I haven't tried any meats with her yet. I still mix foods with the cereal and water to give to her because a lot of foods are too strong of a flavor for her and she doesn't like them right off the bat.
My schedule (right now) that I got the idea from baby center is that I'll nurse her... then let her play for an hour to an hour & a half, feed her 1/3 to 1/2 of a fruit or veggie mixed with cereal.. and put her down for a nap. She naps much better with a full tummy and that's how I got her down to 2-3 naps per day.
As I said before, I love her bumbo/play seat. It taught her how to use her back muscles to sit up. I don't plan on buying a high chair for a while, because the bumbo works. I just set her in it on the table and feed her there.
Good luck! If you have any questions, let me know!
ok...this is my economic side (small as it is) that influences my baby feeding. I don't buy the baby food jars of food, I make it. It just is silly to me to spend so much for so little when I can make it using canned, frozen, or fresh foods. I bought a small $4 food processor 2 years ago and have never looked back. SO this has influenced what my babies eat. Initially, we started with the cereals, single fruits and veggies, then combined. Once they were used to the single ingredients, I combined them. We don't have many worries as far as food allergies in our family, so i slowly integrate OUR FOOD into their diets. I just throw it in the processor and maybe add some water, and they have dinner and lunch for the next day. I did this with my oldest and she got accustomed to our foods so well that by the time she had her first 6 teeth at 8 1/2 months, she was off baby food completely and onto table foods. I just blended her food less and less until it didn't need to be anymore. She's always been a great eater and once she demonstrates to us that she can handle "more difficult to chew" foods, we let her. Our youngest now is eating everything from spaghetti and meatballs to cream cheese chicken to beef stew at 7 1/2 months. If something seems like too much for her, I usually thin it out with applesauce.
Also, the bumbo is great. It was given to me, don't think I'd buy it, at least not full price. Once they are big enough to squirm though, they make them more mad than content, so we already have it packed away. It's nice when they aren't able to sit up on their own, but they don't really use them much after that.
Love my bumbo - got it at a thrift store for $2. I am right now ordering a clip on seat for Kate -I have always wanted one and then she can sit at my bar with me. at about 12 months I put my high chair away. Don't spent a fortune. Get one WITHOUT a cute cloth cover. Hello - gross from spills all the time! One that folds would be nice. Mine doesn't but I have used it thru 3 kids and works fine. Have the tray be one-hand removable. VERY handy. I don't care that mine isn't dishwasher safe. Would take up too much room anyway. Easy to wash off in sink.
I wait until 6 months already gave you my food advice, but re-cap: I always start with rice mixed with breast milk - if i need to thicken, that is when I start the fruits- adding bananas, applesauce to it. Then fruits alone - bananas, applesauce. The advice is always for veggies first. I never do that. I make all my babyfood - very easy and cheap. Sweet potatoes are great - easy to make and you can mix it with other veggies to make them yummier. Oh, avocado and mango - super yum! I have never fed my babies smooshy meat out of a jar. Gross. I never bought a single jar baby food for Lindsay or Kate. Ever. Caroline, some - life was complicated then when my mom was dying. Anyway...Eating right now doesn't necessarily replace meals at the boob it supplements. Have him eat when it is lunch or dinner time for you. Gradually you will add more as his appetite increases. Since I make all my babyfood I quickly as possible get them off purees and on to table food. Let them gnaw on a pizza crust. Run a casserole thru a mini food processor to spoon feed it.
And french fries. VERY important part of a baby's diet. :) I am not kidding! The occasional french fry won't kill anyone. And bites of ice cream. Do it - watch is face light up like times square.
What ever order you decide on (I don't know if there really is a correct order - it depends on the baby) but introduce one item at a time for around 3 days to find out if they are allergic to it. I had 2 children be allergic to a few of the fruits.
Well, you're getting a lot of information, but this is my completely different twist to all of this. With Clark, we did all that these other people suggested: made our own, store bought, rice cereal first, then bananas, and sweet potatoes, then added more each week, etc., etc., etc.
Then we had Peter. And I learned about baby led weaning and I will never do it another way again. It was AWESOME! We kind of skipped the baby-food stage altogether. It starts by giving them whole foods -(but really soft: pears, cooked apples, cooked carrots, etc.)- and letting him figure out how to feed himself. At first you're still nursing frequently because he's not getting much nutrition from the food (most of the time it doesn't end up in their mouths), but then they figure out what they're doing, and how to squish the food around and swallow it. You still nurse and all that, but once they've figured out what they're doing and are actually eating, then you treat it like you were feeding him purees and alternate nursings.
Anyways, this is the quick version (hard to believe, I know), but like I said I'll never do it again. Having Peter be able to feed HIMSELF by 7 months was a dream. No more me spending all of mealtimes feeding him while trying to make everyone else happy and end up not eating until everyone was already done and gone from the table. :) Plus he gained so much more hand-eye coordination and by 9 months we were feeding him normal table foods (noodles, softer vegetables, etc.).
If you want the fun of experiencing baby foods and feedings and all that, excellent, but when you have your second child...I HIGHLY suggest BLW. Ask me and I'll send you some links. :) Good luck!
And I agree with Jenny--as far as a Bumbo goes, DON'T BUY NEW. It's not worth the $30, but if you can find one used or borrow one then you won't regret it.
Okay... bumbo's are good for travel, smaller then a high chair so you can take it in the car. High chair is a must! The soooner they can feed themselves, the better. So let them get dirty in a high chair. And about food.... well, I start feeding them everything we eat... well mostly, you just have to cook the vehetables so you can mash them up, but they can pretty much eat most of what you do, just soft. Lots of vegetables, and my kids really liked oatmeal. Don't make a fuss about fruit, everyone does. And don't make a big deal about eating. He'll like it and won't dependin on what it is, the texture and ect. just keep feeding it. Make a well balanced diet and he will eat what he will, simple as that. You can't make him eat everything you want, so just knkow that ahead. Sit down and eat with them, and they will want to eat too! Make it fun so they want to feed themselves too.... that's a little later down the line. As far as nursing. You should still be nursing for the most part until about 9 months, so those are stil his meals and food should just be snacks right now, again, until about 9 months, then switch to food being meals and nursing being snacks. I could go on forever..... also, baby food is expensive, you can easily make it all... just buy frozen veggies, or canned with no salt, and cook till mushie:) Then just make sure everything is small enough to gum and swallow, I rarely bought things in the baby foood aisle... just a few things. Anyway, I'm going to stop now:)
Oh ya, Ikea has the best high chair, only 20 bucks, small, cleans up soooooooo easily! love it, then we they learn to eat a little cleaner, I move to the chair hook on thta is smaller and good for a 2 year old:)
I would mix my breastmilk with the cereal, adding a little more cereal at each feeding and I actually made most of emma's baby food by pureeying cooked veggies and fruits (you can use a blender too). I would do veggies before fruits. A high chair is a great investment. have fun!
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