on solids around five months but have been working hard to be consistent with her solid food feeding. I began with rice cereal mixed with BM as suggested by my pediatrician. Stella took to it right away and now our biggest challenge is feeding her fast enough so she doesn't get frustrated! She loves it (although I don't know why, the stuff tastes like cardboard!)The whole solid food thing is one of those areas where everyone has their own opinion. I received the information sheet from the American Academy of Pediatrics that offers guidelines for starting your baby on solids. I have read that you should try to give your baby veggies before fruit. Dr. Sear's suggests starting your baby on foods that have low allergy rates and are similar to the taste of BM or formula such as rice cereal, bananas, avocados, and pears. Well, help a mother out here. Which is it? I am assuming that all this mixed info basically means that there is no one way to do it. I think I am going to try bananas next because they are easy and I have a hard enough time staying consistent.
Speaking of easy...I also have been wondering about the jar food/homemade food issue. I used to think that jar food had all this extra, yucky stuff in it, but after reading the labels, I have found that some are impressively simple. Is it worth it to make your own baby food? Is it even that much cheaper? What's the best way to freeze homemade food? Or is it an endless toss up debate like the cloth vs disposable diapers?
And...let's talk diapers. Stella has had a change in her, uh, diaper dirtying schedule. Her solids have come less frequently since starting solid foods, if you know what I mean. And her solids have been more liquid. Oh heck, enough with the coyness, there is no haute way to talk poopy diapers. Her diapers have been horrible! She doesn't poop everyday and when she does - LOOK OUT! We are talking outfit changes here. I have begun to measure them by the number of wipes it takes to clean her and it is up in the 15-20 wipe range. Horrific! And the smell is less than desirable. Some have said this may be due to teething but I can't tell if that is the culprit or if it's her new diet. Either way it is M-E-S-S-Y (insert mom holding her nose with plastic gloves on).
Luckily, Stella is still nursing and I still have a couple weeks before I return to work so there is time to work the kinks out. What have all you other haute moms done or learned along the way? I love feeding Stella with her little bib on and rice cereal everywhere but I definitely need to learn some tricks of the trade.
I remember those days of solid food feeding. My son was a little less enthusiastic than Stella, in fact even today, eating is not on his to-do list. He'd rather play and get into stuff.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, if you cloth diaper. I am doing a contest on my blog for 2 diaper testers. Hope you stop by.
Heather From and Mommy Only Has Two Hands! and Lynhea Designs
if you make your own food (which is crazy simple, according to Noelle), just freeze it in ice cube trays. when it's frozen through, pop 'em out into ziplocs, and there you have single-serving cubes, ready-to-go.
ReplyDeletefor jarred food, she uses Earth's Best organic.
my family tends to mix homemade foods w/bottled ones from the store. especially since i'm asian, you know we have our own set of foods for the kids to eat like porridge type stuff and babies tend to like both kinds.
ReplyDeleteugh, the whole feeding process is just so messy idk if i'm looking forward to that when the new baby comes! haha
i can't believe she's growing up so fast!! wow!
ReplyDeletei would love to say i made all of H's baby food, but from my experience, i'd go to all this trouble to make some, and then he'd turn it away. it's a lot easier for me to throw out a barely-touched 87 cent jar of food than the time and mess i create in the kitchen! so i primarily resorted to the organic jar brands at whole foods and target. either way is pretty much the same as far as the nutrition she is getting...so if you love being in the kitchen, go for it!
the veggies before fruits thing is an old wives' tale. go with dr. sears. the allergy risk is certainly the best rule to go by.
as for the dirty diapers...yes, that change comes with her system adjusting to all the new stuff...and sometimes if there's iron in the rice cereal, that can "stop her up" as well. as for explosions...i'd have to once again sing you the tune of the perks of cloth diapering. still messy, but they contain those explosions amazingly!
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Congrats that Stella is so into solids! I wish my baby girl would take to solids like Stella! My daughter just isn't into it yet and she's a week shy of 6 months. I know it takes time ... I can't help but be jealous LOL :)
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