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Baby is Ready for Food

Here we go! Ian has started to explore foods. At four months we were told by one of our pediatricians that he was strong enough for foods. But I wasn't ready. I started around five months and we are a few months, full blown into our baby food exploring now, no pun intended.


I found a long lost written post (this seems to be a trend of mine) buried on my desktop from Laila's food adventures. Despite it being two and a half years old, it's still a great one. It is actually interesting and helpful to re-read what I wrote before, as we are going to be doing this again.


Some things have changed a bit, and I am more prepared this time so I added in some updates and our new goals and intentions.


I hope you find it helpful hearing how we approached baby lead weaning/learning to eat. There were a lot of frantic texts and looks while Laila was learning this skill. So just remember, you're not alone!


 

I was going through my dad’s office cleaning and purging papers that have been filed away going back into the 70’s. How that is… I have no idea. They haven’t even lived in their home for that long. So you can just imagine what I found. But what is most interesting and relevant for today's post comes from our baby files.

Inside our pediatrician files, I found a pamphlet that had a food chart on it with the ages listed on it. Most notably, for whatever our age was at the time of the checkup, there were circles with the three approved foods. Three! With the starting age, the hard line, absolutely only option being of six months.


At the time that I found this document, Laila had just turned eight months old and we had already been introducing her to foods for quite some time. Foods that according to this nearly 30-year-old chart were nowhere to be found. Instead of panicking, I burst into laughter. It was a perfect reminder that our knowledge and approach to parenting is constantly changing.


By the time Laila was born, most of our Denver friends had a child or two... or five. I never thought twice when watching their kids eat or if any of our friends told me what they wanted me to feed their kids while I was babysitting. I just went along with it. I don't even think I realized that their approach changed with each child.


Once I had my own little one I started to see and hear all the terms flying around. The most common was "baby led weaning." So, I read the books and blogs, watched the videos, and talked with friends and our pediatrician.


Pretending I was confident, I started with giving her foods. We sat there nearly not breathing, watching Laila squish the foods, throw them all over the place playing with them... and over time putting the food in her mouth. Eating time quicly became zoey's, our dog, favorite part of being a big sister.


After just a few days of Laila trying to eat, I texted our friend, whose a fire fighter, begging for him to give us a baby safety lesson. Sometimes you just need to get that extra help. Every single parent/guardian/babysitter should take a CPR class. So, together with my parents (who were visiting), we had our lesson. At the time this was the best option since so few classes were being offered due to social distancing still in place. This reminds me, it is time to go look up one in person.


Knowing these skills are important regardless to the types of foods you introduce to a kid, baby led weaning or pureed style. We did decided to give both types of feedings. We wanted her get used to both foods, and she was ready to eat. But I wasn’t ready for all that solid food, even if soft and squishy. So my Vitamix, Beaba Baby Cook, and I became best friends. My trusty vitmaix was perfect for meal prepping and my Beaba was my go to for turning that night’s family dinner into softer foods. That way we could all eat at the same thing.


While that was all great, I am not always so creative with making foods, and there are things that Cody and I just do not enjoy eating ourselves. So, Yumi came to the rescue and we supplemented with their wonderful variety. Home made zucchini and peas, that's my jam. Beets and kale and beans, I will leave to others to prepare. Unfortunately, Yumi no longer sells fresh premade foods, but little spoon and a few other companies still do.


All of this is to say that there is no one-way to feed your baby. She needs to eat, we need to eat, and just as equally important, we all need our sanity. There is only one thing I know as a human, clinician, child, and mother… if I make mealtime stressful or put too much pressure on it, food will have more negative meanings than positive ones. So I am doing what I think is best for the moment to try and meet my goal for meal time to be a nourishing and safe place where we are together as a family.


Recipes for the Blender

(Cook/Steam and then put in Blender; or use a baby food maker like Beaba)

Baby Chicken Soup: Chicken, Carrots, Zucchini (Taken straight from family soup pot and blended)

Baby Veggie Soup (This is the first thing Ian kept going for, he sees me eat it multiple times a week. Recipe Here.)

Baby Apple Pie: Apples, Cinnamon, Banana

Baby Spinach Mash: Spinach, Peas, Apple (or Pear)

Baby Mashed Sweet Potato: Sweet Potato, Cinnamon

Baby Broccoli Mash: Broccoli, Avocado, Apple

Baby Butternut Squash Soup: Butternut that is steamed with 1 Sage Leaf (remove sage before blending)

Baby Green Smoothie: Kale, Spinach, Pear



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xoxo,

Shana Bryn

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