Time to start moving forward with solids

[celticdragonfly]

I'm starting Alanna on some more solids. Right now she's in the high chair with a bib. She has a piece of soft bread, a bunch of cheerios scattered on the tray, and I've given her a couple of bites of diced pear. Seems to be going over well.

She's been chomping down on me a lot, and showing a lot of interest in solids, I think it's time. I'm not really ready for it, but I think she is. I want to find good ways to get healthy, single-ingredient or few-ingredient foods in front of her - as much as possible just baby-friendly people-foods, not "babyfood".

Comments

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Lessee. Applesauce. Steamed carrots. Apple slices (these are *great* for teething, especially near-ice-cold.) Orange slices (Satsumas or Clementines are the best, but you can cut regular navel slices in half, since the little ones are about to be out of season.) Noodles. (This was one of JJ's first words, "doodle".) (Best for little bitty ones are rotini's, they aren't long and messy. Also, the funky-shaped ones are good.) Banana, in small slices. Any sort of berry you can get. (We had to resort to euphemisms for both "banana" and "strawberry" because when he'd hear the word, he'd immediately want the fruit....) Cheese. Kosher hot dogs. (Minimal amount of crap in those. Still nitrates, but... if you've got a good butcher or natural foods store around, you can find even better than that.)

JJ was fifteen months when I met him, and had already graduated to exclusively grownup food made little-people-sized. By 18 months, we were teaching him to use a spoon, and within a few days he was batting our hands away and insisting on Doing It Himself... the one thing we don't have that a lot of households do is a lot of little jars around.

My late SO used to make her own baby food... strain the peas and the carrots and chicken and whathaveyou and put them in ice trays for storage, then just get out a cube or two of this and that and microwave just before dinnertime.... but sounds to me like you're beyond that stage. (And you've got two bigger littles to contend with, too...)

Oh, and bite-sized bits of chicken, too. We use deli slices, but if you're concerned about the additives you can roast your own, feed the fork-users with most of it, and chop up some white meat for the little one...

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

I tried her on applesauce recently. She was having a hard time with the gooeyness, it kept coming back out. Clementines are about to be out of season? That's a shame, Maggie loves those. I wouldn't give them to a baby - I was told no OJ before a year due to possible allergy issues. Same with strawberries. Bananas, yes, I should put that on the grocery list.

Meat's the food group I'm the most uneasy about, trying to find a way that it won't be a choking hazard.

I did not know you had a late SO. I've heard of the ice cube tray thing, yes, but have mostly kept my babies just nursing past the stage that they'd be fed really mushy.

[lolleeroberts.livejournal.com]

Mashed potatoes. Oatmeal and cream of wheat. You can mash half a banana and mix with an infant size serving of oatmeal.

Be careful with food sizes. Slices of hotdog are just the right size to block a toddler airway. Giving a whole hotdog and allowing her to gnaw on it would be safer. (Considering how many kidlets you've already shepherded through the solid foods transition I feel decidedly odd giving you advice, but you did ask.)

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it is odd - but yet, every kid is different, plus I swear this is a sleep-deprived stage of life when you don't end up remembering all the details from last time.

For instance - I remember Brendan started on solids at about 6 months, grabbing pieces of cheese - and we had to start pushing them on Maggie at 9 months, she wasn't interested, but then I got pregnant and had lost my milk by 12 months. Yet, I can't remember when Jamie started. I remember we had the most terrible time teaching Maggie to drink from anything except me, but Jamie just picked up one of her sippy cups one day and started in. But I can't remember his early eating. I blame this on extra sleep deprivation from having 2 only 18 months apart.

I'm uneasy about hot dogs, yes. Meat in general - I know I want her to get a balanced diet, but that one sounds the hardest to manage safely.

[filkferengi]

Don't forget grits.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Ewww!