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Solids Question
It has been a week since I have been offering solids to Abe. I've offered them only at dinner time at the table with me/us. Sometimes he is into it and sometimes not. He digs oatmeal with breast milk, banana, and sweet potato.
I'm unsure of when I start sending him to school with food for lunch time (or breakfast or snack). And also I'm unsure if I should be offering him food every night. Like tonight we went to Panera so I didn't offer him anything (he slept the whole time).
BLW is only going OK. He can handle the banana. The sweet potato fries were too tough on the outside. I think next time I will bake the whole potato and THEN cut it into fries so it is all very soft. And I would let him do whatever he wants with the oatmeal but he seems to prefer me to feed it to him. (I suppose that is real baby led weaning...I just do whatever he seems to want me to do)
Can you give me some suggestions on when I should be adding meals? Or cues he will show that he is ready for those meals.
OH. And do you know if you mill oats, will they go rancid?
Re: Solids Question
We started with oatmeal at breakfast about a month ago, and we recently added carrots or a veggie at dinner. This week Felix is constipated, so I am giving him prunes or pears at lunch too. I just follow his lead -- I try to give him the milk first since that is most important and then if he wants a fruit or veggie I'll give it.
What is BLW? Did you hand him the whole frie? I think Felix would love that, but I am so -- overly -- paranoid about choking.
We would feed the boys a half of a bottle, then feed them a fruit or veggie, then finish the bottle...
I think we added breakfast about two weeks after we started dinner, after we had a few fruits and veggies under their belts as far as exposure, and then added lunch last a few weeks after that, we fed them solids every night and introduced new stuff at night.
That's what I was thinking. Babies cannot physically swallow more than a puree or thinned cereal. Our pediatrician strongly advised us not to start solids until 6 months even though she showed signs she was ready. I guess that might be the opposite of BLW. As they get older and truly develop swallowing mechanisms, then you can add chunkier purees, then mashed foods, then soft solids.... Food at this point is to help them learn to swallow, not nutrition.
Feeding is something that I am always thinking about, both personally and professionally since I'm a feeding therapist as a part of my role. So, here's my opinion on BLW. Please note it's my opinion based on experience and continued education (I actually brought this up at the last conference I was at for discussion)...and I completely respect it if anyone disagrees.
So, I think it's unfortunate that there needs to be an approach that's called BLW. All feeding should be baby led. I have had some evals where loving parents are trying to "get food into" their baby by holding their head to scoop contents into their mouth. Until one year of age, the goal is for a child to experience a variety of foods. It's not until a year until it's their major source of nutrition. So, I'd say a couple meals a day is good for now.
The part that I love about BLW is that it's all about when the baby is ready...really focusing on the communication piece and respecting the child. The part that I don't agree with is skipping purees. Eating is a very complex matter. You have to coordinate moving the hand to the mouth, the tongue, cheek, jaw and lips to move the food around, chew, form a bolus, swallow; all while experiencing taste, texture and smell. I think that doing purees right is a useful step. It lets the baby experience and move food without needing to chew at the same time. It takes one less step out of the complex experience. I don't like the gag that often goes along with BLW with experiencing new foods. In my experience, with purees first, there is less of a gag with more solid foods being introduced. Although gagging is a good reflex to have, I personally don't like to gag, nor do I enjoy watching my baby gag.
So, in both my professional and presonal life, I recommend purees..but only purees you'd eat. I won't feed my baby something pureed that looks gross to me. But would I eat pureed apples, pears, bananas, squash, sweet potato, yogurt, oatmeal, rice, pumpkin? You bet! Would I eat pureed chicken? Nope. So I'll save that for when he's experienced chewing and is able to do that in tiny pieces.
So...what's the approach to solids that I recommend? Here's basically what I type in evals.
1) Let your child see you interact with the food. Tell them what it is, taste it, smell it, tell them what it tastes like.
2) Hold the spoon with a little puree midline, but don't move it towards the child. Let the child decide if he/she wants it. If they do, they'll lean forward and open their mouth to get the purees.
3) If the child doesn't lean forward, use terms such as "You're not used to it yet, that's okay". Avoid terms such as "you don't like it".
4) Place the spoon sideways to see if the child wants to grab the spoon to feed themselves.
5) If not, place the spoon on the high chair. Let the child pick it up if he/she wants.
6) If the child still isn't interested, place some puree on the tray or place the bowl on the tray. Let the child get messy.
7) Always keep feedings positive and follow the child's lead. The goal is to experience the food in a positive manner.
So those are basically my thoughts in a nutshell. I'm not sure if this makes sense or is rambling...but feel free to ask me ?s if I was blabbing incoherently.
Baby 411 says this:
4-6 months: 0-1 feedings per day
6-9 months:1-3 feedings per day
9-12 months: 3 meals per day
However, I will say that Lillian is way behind according to that! She eats two small meals a day (breakfast and dinner), and a small snack at lunch. A meal is 2 Tbsp cereal, a stage 1 jar, and then some cheerios, puffed rice cereal, and shredded cheese. She eats so little for lunch that I don't worry if we skip it. We don't skip breakfast or dinner, however, because she now gets fussy and wants to eat at those times. BTW, her favorite foods are also cereal, bananas, and sweet potato.
I really wanted to do BLW, but it just didn't work. She won't try anything, so we actually have to put a new food in her mouth or swipe it one her lips to make her taste it - then she often changes her mind and starts eating whatever it is we've given her. (If she doesn't want anymore, we don't force it on her). And she definitely likes purees. Just tonight I tried to give her mashed sweet potato and she gagged and didn't want anymore. And then I cracked open the jar of pureed sweet potatoes and she ate the whole thing.
Anyway, to answer your question, I don't think it's a biggie if you skip a meal because he's getting all of his nutrition from milk right now. Later on he'll need more substance and then it will be different.
Ugh. I think this got a little out of control. I'm not an idiot and I know HOW to feed my baby purees.
Like I said... I am following his lead and if he wants to eat purees, then he does. If he wants to gnaw on a banana then he does.
All I was asking is when to add a meal and what cues he will show that he wants another meal. So thanks to those that helped with that.
LOL, it pretty much all looks gross to me once you move out of the pureed fruit world! I always tasted everything that he ate, just to see. The veggies were always a little strange in mush form, but tasty enough. Some of the ones that had meat and veg mixed together weren't bad. There was one that was like chicken and star pasta or something- he didn't want any of it. I took a bite, made a face, and told him, "Yeah James, you're right, this is gross. You don't have to eat any more. I certainly don't want any either!"
I am confused by this reaction. I don't think anyone was implying you are an idiot.