Food, Glorious Food!

We have been lucky so far because we have a very good eater on our hands.  Every new food that we have introduced to Eddie, he has liked.  Sometimes with the first bite of a new food, he'll wrinkle up his face and take his time eating it, but he always opens his mouth up for more.  Recently we have introduced squash and green beans, pears and carrots.

So far we haven't used any jarred baby food.  I figure since I am home all day every day, I have the time to "make" our own baby food.  Really it's pretty simple - just bake or steam the food, mash up or put in the food processor and you're done!  I have also started making bigger batches, putting the food in ice cube trays, freezing it and then pulling out one cube at a time as I need it.  At first it was fine to make as I went, but Eddie is up to eating solids twice a day and he eats about 1-2 servings each time.  I usually mix a serving of rice cereal or oatmeal cereal with the serving of food.  He almost always eats up everything.

Overall it's been a great experience.  We have some friends that have chosen to do Baby-Led Weaning with their child.  It has been so successful, I decided to try reading a book about it.  What I discovered is the book I chose to read about it was extremely bias.  It was a little disheartening because basically all of the testimonies given in the book talked about how awful and torturous meal time was when they tried to feed their baby pureed food.  I get that the authors are really passionate about their stance on letting the baby feed him or herself, but I don't see how I am harming my baby by feeding him with a spoon.  What I was hoping to learn is how to combine baby-led weaning and what we currently do.  Basically the book recommended to stop feeding by spoon for a couple of weeks.  I can't imagine doing that to Eddie because quite frankly, I don't think he would be full enough just switching back to formula.  We have always had a great experience since we started feeding Eddie solids.  In the beginning when he lost interest in eating, we stopped, sometimes after just a few bites.  We have always made sure to make his mealtimes fun and positive and as a result, he seems to enjoy them.  I can only remember once when he was fussy while trying to feed him solids.  We think he was really hungry, so we feed him half of his bottle first and then went back to the solids with success.

On Monday we have Eddie's 6 month appointment, so I plan on talking to the pediatrician about when we can actually start giving Eddie solid (whole) food.  I would like to do a combination of spoon-feeding and letting him feed himself.  Truth be told, I guess I have already started.  The weekend we went to the apple orchard, Uncas and I sliced up an apple to share.  Eddie was staring at us while were were eating, so I let him gnaw on an apple slice (while I was holding it).  At first he wasn't too sure about it, but then he just loved it!!!

We also have some baby "feeders".  Basically you put food in a mess bag and there is a handle for the baby to hold on to.  They baby will gum or gnaw on the food and you don't have to worry about them choking.  I first gave it to Eddie to play with, and he seemed to understand right away how to hold on to the handle and to chew the mesh part.  When I put food into it, he seemed to want me to hold it, but when I left him alone (in the high chair) he quickly figured out how to pick it up and away he went!

Recently a mom I know said that if anyone asked her what baby books to read, she would tell them none!  In a way I pretty much agree with that!  Books can be so biased and make you feel like you are the worst parent ever if you don't follow their advice perfectly!  I am learning is that my child often doesn't fit into the textbook model, so it's really hard to follow their advice, when they don't always offer some for my situation.  Ultimately I need to trust my instinct and as long as Eddie seems happy and healthy, then I can't really be doing so badly!  Some days its easier to do that then others!

You'll need to excuse me now because Eddie is waking up from a nap.  I need to go get ready to spoon-feed him some pears and oatmeal cereal.  And one thing I can guarantee is that he will have a huge smile on his face and will be more than excited to sit in his high chair and be fed from a spoon!