preparing for solids
Her first bites.
We are SO close to getting Baker’s first taste of this messy and delicious milestone.
At Baker’s four month check up, her pediatrician mention starting cereal, but I hadn’t noticed her increased interest in food when we would eat around her- besides.. I just wasn’t ready yet. The twins started eating oatmeal cereal at four months, and at 6 months I started making their fruits and veggie purees (part I + part II). The first time mom in me really loved preparing all their foods..and it never advanced from the purees and oatmeal. By the time they got to twelve months of age- they had only had a little bit of ‘real’ food and so the struggle was real in the introduction of table foods.
This time around with Baby Baker I am definitely going to experiment and try a hybrid of both pureed foods and baby led weaning. I’m doing this for a couple reasons..
o n e.. I want the transition to solid (non-pureed) foods to be easier and well received.
t w o.. toddlers. twin toddlers. running my life.
Although- I bet they would LOVE to help feed her.
This is going to be such an experience for all of us!
While we are still a couple weeks away from trying our first sweet potato, I’ve put together a guide to help you and me make this transition easier when the time comes- and that time is coming at high speed! I think I might be ready.. and Baker is SO ready- homegirl grabs everything in sight and directly puts it into her mouth.
Here we go!
While I plan to start with soft pureed foods – oatmeal first, as I did with the twins, and then I plan to introduce pureed fruits and veggies pretty quickly. While I’m all set with my baby brezza, I love this Dr. Brown’s mini food masher for a quick mash when I need something quick. A bowl with a rubber bottom- because I had my fair share of bowls kicked off the counter (or out of my hand) by the twins on more than one occasion. Spoons with a wide, shallow base make it easy for your babe to get the food to their mouths – and I love these because of the spatula feature to help wipe away the mess that doesn’t make it into her mouth.
OF COURSE the bib is essential.. and a bib with a pocket would be preferred:) It is time like these when I wish we had an inside dog to clean up after us.
Lastly- the storage. These silicon freezer trays hold about 2 ounces of food in each little pod, and the flexible tray makes popping out the frozen purees easy peasy.
The stackable snack cups make on-the-go really convenient! Feeding Baker while out and about just got simple with these leak-proof cups!
I’m so excited for this next milestone- maybe its the foodie in me, I dunno.. but she is growing just way too fast!
December 30, 2015
When we were starting solids I had wanted to do both and someone (who considered themselves an expert) had told me that you can't do BLW and puréed food at the same time, that you have to choose one or the other because if they learn to slurp the purées, that's what they'll do to the large chunks of BLW food and it tends to be a choking hazard. When you do BLW they learn to eat a different way that doesn't involve the swallowing of the big chunks. Just wanted to share that tidbit, I don't know how true that is!
You don't need a dog, just get a mini pig! �� I have two of them & they're amazing! Lol you can see their pics on my insta @Mrsvale_menard they're totally awesome! They clean up ALL kid messes!! I don't ever sweep anymore just mop! Haha �� ��
We did a combination of BLW and puree pouches when we were out and about. We did this for convenience, because its a lot easier to through a pouch in the diaper bag than a bunch of steamed carrots, and because it is quite messy at first. Don't worry about the mess too much, it gets better as they get more coordinated, buts its not the kind of thing you want to try to manage in a restaurant, along with toddlers : ) The first thing we gave our son was steamed broccoli. It works great as a first BLW food because the stem works as a little handle for them to grab and the florets come off easily and are small enough to help ease into the idea of self feeding and worrying about choking (which to be honest is harder on mom and dad than it is on the little ones, they get the hang of it really quick : ). Hope that helps : )
I've been making purees for my twins for almost 3 months. And they LOVE them but I know I'm supposed to be introducing chunkier textures sooner than later. Problem is, I mashed up some banana so it has small pieces mixed in with the puree. And she gagged:gagged:gagged and turned bright red and vomited everything all over her high chair.
Soooooo, I'm petrified now! And then I read that you did purees until your girls were close to a year and it was hard to transition to finger foods and I'm even MORE petrified! Can't wait to see how things go on round 2 for you!