Jacob is now 6 months old and is showing a lot of the signs of being ready to start solid food. Which means that he’s grabbing for everything, and seems particularly interested in whatever I’m eating. So I’ve decided to offer him his first solids.
With Hannah, at 6 months I set her up and spoon-fed her some yams. She wasn’t all that interested but I really was. In retrospect I made rather a large production out of the whole thing, shoveling food into her mouth even as she spit it back out. To this day she doesn’t like yams, although to be fair neither do Jon or I. I don’t think that her early feeding experiences caused the dislike, so much as they underscore that she just really didn’t want the food I was offering.
With Jacob I’ve deliberately decided on a lower-key approach. I will set him up with food, and allow him to feed himself. That way I know that I’m not forcing something on him, and it’s lots of fun for him, too. Even if he eats nothing he gets to squish things in his fingers and make sculptures out of food. It’s also a great way to keep him engaged at dinner time when everyone else is eating.
Jacob surveys the yams
I started with yams again. Why? I don’t know exactly, considering that no one else in our family likes them. I keep hearing that most babies can’t get enough of sweet potato and yam, so perhaps I’m just a follower at heart. Whatever the case may be, I baked a yam and mashed the contents with a fork. I froze some in baby cubes to use down the line – I do love the baby cubes – and the rest I’ve offered over the past few days. I just put a little pile on the high chair tray, and give Jacob a spoon and let him play to his heart’s content.
Everything goes in the mouth, occasionally even food
I’m not sure that Jacob’s eaten much at all. But he’s really enjoyed himself and I would say it’s gone well. Other than the fact that I seem to have forgotten that babies need bibs or they will cover themselves in food, that is. But Jacob hardly cares if he has yam on his shirt or in his hair.
It’s fun to make messes!
Why did I start with yams instead of the more traditional baby cereal? Kellymom does a great job of explaining my approach to introducing solid foods to a breastfed baby. What it comes down to is that I prefer to start my kids with whole foods that I make myself. (I’m sure some of you are rolling your eyes right now. Hannah sometimes eats cookies for breakfast, I am in no position to judge you for using jarred baby food.) Breast milk remains the primary nutritional source for the first year, and solids are mostly for experimenting, especially at the beginning. Plus breast milk is very high in carbohydrates, so cereal is sort of redundant.
I will admit that I am a little antsy starting Jacob on solids. I really expected to be much more zen and low-key this time around, and I am a little. But allowing him to feed himself is also really great for me. It takes the ball out of my court, and makes the whole experience less stressful. Honestly, I doubt that all of my efforts at shoveling food into Hannah’s mouth actually resulted in her consuming more. I think that the more I can do to just back off and not let my own food issues get in the way, the better it will be for everyone in the long run.
On a completely different note, I’ve decided that my new photos are all going on to Flickr. You can access my latest uploads to my photostream. I’ve added some new shots in the past couple of days, including some great ones of Hannah, so stop by and check them out!
I love your approach. I too didn’t really do the whole ceral thing, although, not for the same reasons as yourself. I started off with veggies (and I did the same with the cooking and freezing in ice cube trays) and let both the girls just have at it. Emma loved to eat and Hannah took some time. Today, they are good eaters who eat everything (sweet potatoe fries is the way we go now) and are very good eaters.
I grew up with mom mother always on some sort of diet and me too – starting at 11 – yikes! I have made a concerted effort to not do the same things with my children as were done with me. Food is there to be enjoyed and eaten – but if they aren’t hungry, I am okay with that. I am not a short order cook though – one meal at a time only.
Jacob looks like her really did enjoy it all – and you are brave, feeding him yams in a white/cream shirt.
green beans have always been the big strike-out around here.
Wow, I’ll have to try that approach on my next go-round. That makes a lot more sense and he seems to be enjoying it a great deal!
I tried veggies first and had some nasty reactions (not allergic, just really wacked out faces from Amelia) However she LOVES the oat flavored baby cereal and hoovers it up. LOL, just like her sister.
I’m going to give the veggies a try again next week. Fingers crossed she doesn’t look revolted by the taste again
He looks like he had a great time! Buster has been enjoying the jarred foods better than homemade so far, but I think it may have to do with temperature. Since the homemade is frozen, perhaps we’re not reheating to the right temp. More attempts to come, after we beat off this virus!