triplets and transitioning to solid foods

mommaoftrips

Hi ladies,

I am hoping for some advice on getting off baby food jars. Currently, my trio do fairly well on eating small portions of solids, they are 16 months since birth but 13 months age adjusted. We start every feeding by placing foods on their trays (such as pieces of veggies and fruits, bread, puffs, cereal, crackers). They happily eat these. We also give them a spoon and let them play around in the mashed foods we give them. I mash fresh fruits for them in the morning but my nanny just doesn't have time to prepare foods for them, so lunch consists of jarred foods and by the time DH and I get home from work, there is just not enough time to prepare our own meal for supper, so again their main source of food is jarred food.

Now, that we are off for 2 weeks, we have been trying to decrease the amount of jarred foods but our LOs are just not that interested in eating more solids. I am just wondering how should we be doing this transition? One LO seems to be doing pretty well on the new routine of eating what we are eating, the middle one is ok but my smallest who has eating issues due to severe acid reflux is just NOT interested and it take him a very long time to warm-up to new foods, so this transition is not going well for him. I am concerned he isn't eating enough. Thanks in advance - worried first time mom

ASmallWonder

Could you just feed them what you're eating?  At a year old, unless your food is unhealthy, they really can just eat that.  Beyond that, preparing food for them doesn't have to be that time consuming.  It doesn't require mixing or mashing.  Black been and cheese quesadillas are great and fast, cut up banana and peanut butter and whole grain crackers, cheese, hummus, cut up veggies, noodles with frozen veggies mixed in, bagels with cream cheese and a side of fruit, eggs, waffle sticks.  All fast and totally fine  They don't need what we'd consider a "meal."   They usually do best with little portions of a bunch of different healthy things.

singingirl96

mommaoftrips said:

my nanny just doesn't have time to prepare foods for them

WHAT?!?!?  That's her job!

That is the biggest horse shit I've ever heard. That's just laziness.

It doesn't take time and effort to prepare foods for your children to eat.  By this age they should be eating cut up fruit, soft veggies, yogurt, cheese, etc. 

mommaoftrips

Just to clarify. My babies do eat those foods that you are suggesting - just VERY VERY slowly and not enough. Which is why we have still be supplementing with jarred foods. I am asking more for suggestions and advice on how to transition to more of the solids and less of the jarred

Please don't make this about the nanny - she is wonderful, truly loving and wonderful. Thanks

singingirl96

if your kids eat those foods, then maybe she should offer it to them more often and offer less jarred food.  She needs to find time to prepare foods and not default to the jars.

It is great that she's wonderful and loving and wonderful... however, she needs to do her job and prepare foods for your children.  It doesn't take that much time to give them more nutritious finger foods rather than just open a jar. 

I really don't think the problem here is the food choices.... you and your nanny need to just stop giving them jarred food and offer finger foods.  I assure you, they'll not starve.  They'll be more interested in other food since they'll be hungry.  

ASmallWonder

I ditto that they won't starve.  The harsh truth is that a lot of parenting shit is an exercise in patience.  Don't make yours or your nanny's timeline the driving factor in when to offer food.  Since she's at your home with only your children, she actually has all.damn.day. to have them eat and if it takes them an hour to eat a quesadilla?  So be it.  They won't embrace what they don't want as long as the more desirable thing is just around the corner and they know it.

ASmallWonder

DaisyBlinks said:

I think PPs are being a little unfair to the nanny. It's a hard transition for anyone, let alone someone taking care of three babies at once. I could totally see myself relying on the crutch of purees if I had to stay at home with triplets all day (I mean if they were my own). 

That being said, I think it's time to just bit the bullet and stop with the purees. I think setting a time limit (30 minutes) for lunch is ok. Then if they're not done, set it aside and come back to it later. They'll learn how to eat faster. It's totally possible that they know that purees are coming and they prefer them. 

I'm not saying that I don't understand that it would be easier but rather, like you said, they've got to bite the bullet.  Diapers are also easier than having a kid screaming that they have to pee in the middle of the grocery store so that you have to abandon the cart and run them to the bathroom and hope you make it.  But you have to do it at some point  This is just another example of ways kids make you have to do shit the hard way sometimes because it's in their best interest.