Baby Food Thread

Sanibel21

Did you try anything new in the last week?

Do you plan to try anything new in the next week?

Questions or concerns?

GTKY: What's your favorite meal of the day?

Sanibel21

We tried butternut squash which so far she is not a fan of!! We mixed bananas with sweet potatoes and apples with butternut squash.

We have pears coming up this weekend. Then I want to add plums or prunes for her poops and I need another vegetable.

Some days she barely wants to eat solids. I assume this is normal?

I love weekend breakfast!! Bacon, sausage, eggs, toast with jelly, corned beef hash, hash browns. Maybe not all at once but then again maybe all at once

dancer7889

Did you try anything new in the last week? Egg yolk (from hard boiled eggs) which she LOVED! Something else but I forget.

Do you plan to try anything new in the next week? Peaches and another veggie- maybe zucchini?

Questions or concerns? I want to offer some meat soon but wouldn't like to purée it. Anyone doing bwl have any suggestions for it?

GTKY: What's your favorite meal of the day? Breakfast! I'd make breakfast for dinner a couple times a week if DH let me! Bacon and eggs, chocolate chip pancakes, egg sandwiches, all good in my book!

bumpuser10054788

Did you try anything new in the last week?

I think apples were new this week (is it sad it's all starting to blur together?) She liked them, particularly with a little cinnamon

Do you plan to try anything new in the next week?

We're planning to try hard-boiled egg tonight. (Sheet from the doc claims they can have both yolk and white so I guess we'll try it?)

We also still have an acorn squash and frozen peas that I've been intending to make. It will happen this week!

Questions or concerns?

I'm having a hard time figuring out the balance between formula and solids. Even though we are making our own food, I was looking at the Gerber site resources and their sample menu for an independent sitter had way more food than we've been feeding O.O (We've been giving max of 3 tablespoons for breakfast/lunch/dinner - total of 9 max with ~30oz of formula. They were suggesting 18(!) tablespoons with 24oz) We have her 6 month appointment later today so I'm going to ask the pedi about it.

GTKY: What's your favorite meal of the day?

Probably dinner because all 3 of us eat it together every night (a tradition I hope to continue well into the future )

SurpriseAt39

Did you try anything new in the last week?
- hard boiled egg - not a winner
- scrambled egg - okay
- steak - okay
- asparagus - okay
- toast - devoured it
- with peanut butter - devoured it

Do you plan to try anything new in the next week?
- yes, but I will be winging it, I don't plan ahead, it just happens

Questions or concerns?
- not really concerned, just noticing that he's not as coordinated with his hand & hand-to-mouth as big brother was and has a lot more gagging episodes than DS1 did. I'm not worried, just find it interesting.

GTKY: What's your favorite meal of the day?
- As long as it is yummy, it could be any of them.
I love to cook, and since supper is usually the only meal Cooked, I guess it's supper.
I'm not too picky, it could be breakfast for supper, steak, seafood, chicken, rice or pasta...anything yummy is good with me.

Sanibel21

@g33kyg1rly‌ I have heard that they should take less of homemade food than jarred food because there's way more water in jarred food and homemade food is much denser. No evidence to back that up though so take it with a grain of salt

tsmith312

Did you try anything new in the last week?

Yes, Spinach and potato , she LOVED it.

Do you plan to try anything new in the next week?

Yes pumpkin mixed with apple. We will see if she is like her mommy and loves all the pumpkin things !

  Questions or concerns?

We start zantac today for her spitting up. I hope it works !!

GTKY: What's your favorite meal of the day?

I prefer dinner. I'm not a big breakfast fan .

alfriedeck

Did you try anything new in the last week?

Squash,  she was OK with it, 

Do you plan to try anything new in the next week?

Bananas.  both puree and whole

Questions or concerns?

Worried about letting her eat a chunk of food.  Do you cook the banana first or just big raw pieces?

 GTKY: What's your favorite meal of the day?

Love me some breakfast at any time of day!!  BACON!!!

Sanibel21

@tsmith312‌ thanks for the ideas of spinach and pumpkin!!

kaking78

Did you try anything new in the last week? 

Apples and butternut squash. Both were a hit.

Do you plan to try anything new in the next week? 
I'm trying out chicken this weekend. I pureed some plain leftover chicken breast. We'll see how he likes it. I might mix it with sweet potatoes or green beans if he gives plain chicken the thumbs down.

Questions or concerns? 
I'm kind of confused as to how much he should be eating too. Right now he's still nursing his normal amount and getting about 3-4 TBSP of solids twice a day. I have no idea if that's too much or not enough.

GTKY: What's your favorite meal of the day?

Lunch when I'm at work. I shut the door and have some of my few minutes of alone time for the day.

SurpriseAt39

@alfriedeck‌
I just feed LO overripe banana so it's mushy. Or give it a gentle mash with the fork.
Some people mash it til it's purée. I leave little chunks.

(No cooking necessary. But you could also freeze it. When thawed its usually pretty mush-like)

alfriedeck

@surpriseAt39 Thanks, so worried about giving her real solids that aren't puree

SurpriseAt39

NorthernLghts said:

Now that I am starting LO on solids, should I be giving them to her at the same time every day?

When starting once-a-day solids, most people probably do the same time of day because it fits the home/work schedule.
When starting out, LO may not enjoy them at a particular time of day, so you may want to experiment with it.

My LO wasn't very interested at lunch time in the beginning, so we did breakfast time (usually around 9:30 here) and that worked well. Supper time is hit or miss. (I think it depends on how his naps were that day)

LO now usually has something (sometimes just a cracker type something) 3 times a day. But that's because he sits in his chair when DS1 has his meals. I think he likes to feel like a big boy.

kare_bear_12

younglove316 said:

NorthernLghts said:

And after day 1 of oatmeal, her favorite thing is trying to eat the bowl

I also do a little bit of bottle while I feed solids and her favorite thing to eat is the cap to the bottle if she can grab it or her bib.

our LO is so interested in gnawing on the spoon, so I just try to dip it in the food and let him feed himself/suck it off/teething. Whatever

kaking78

NorthernLghts said:

And after day 1 of oatmeal, her favorite thing is trying to eat the bowl

J reached over and took a pepper jack Cheez-It from my snack bowl yesterday. I don't think he bothered to read up on baby led weaning. (Don't worry, I took it back)

Sanibel21

I've mixed apples and pears, bananas and avocado, and sweet potatoes and butternut squash. I keep meaning to look up good recommendations of mixing.

kaking78

@nothernlghts Here's what we do, though I fully admit I'm making some of this up as I go along. I introduce something a couple of times over four days. If it's a hit, it goes into the general rotation. If it's not, we shelve it and try again later. Right now he's on two meals a day.

At J's daycare they feed solids once during the day at 10:30. I send him with something I know he likes (usually a mix of sweet potatoes and pears or butternut squash and apples). Just before our dinner time I give him another meal of either an old standby or we try something new. He still takes 15 oz of milk at daycare over 8 hours and probably close to that at home when you add up his morning, late afternoon, and bedtime nursing sessions. He doesn't get solids for breakfast because his meal at daycare is so early.

Sanibel21

@NorthernLghts‌ I don't think you can do it wrong. Just don't introduce more than one new food in like a 4 day period. When we first started, we gave the first new food oatmeal every day. When we introduced the second new food avocado we alternated each day. When we introduced the third new food I think we went to twice a day and alternated as much as we could. At this point I can't keep track of what she's had recently so I try to go by what's left hoping its as alternated as possible. But I'm sure she gets the same thing in a row at times. I'm not even sure if that answers your question, haha.

alfriedeck

I feed only cereal and puree,  I am thinking about giving her solids but not sure how to go about it.  Do you just give her mushy foods?  mushed up bananas or well cooked veggies?

I am terrified of her choking...

amybug13

I have a ton of questions too! We just started solids 1.5 weeks ago.

Did you try anything new in the last week?
Avocados and peas (separately). She loved both of them.
We also had to give her a couple ounces of diluted apple juice due to constipation.

Do you plan to try anything new in the next week? Carrots and maybe pears or bananas.
Once we get a few more ingredients under our belt, we're going to start mixing.

Questions or concerns?
I make all of her baby food, no additives. I don't know how often she should be eating. Most days I only give her solids 1x/day, 2tbsp. However, she always is reaching for more. Maybe I'll increase it a little bit.

Have any of you had problems with constipation? If so, what did you do to alleviate the problem?

Lastly, are any of you ladies planning on raising your LOs vegetarian? I'm going to talk to our pedi at our next appointment.

GTKY: What's your favorite meal of the day? Breakfast.

Sanibel21

@amybug13‌ to combat the constipation we introduced prunes. Supposedly all foods that begin with a p help pooping but really only prunes helped us. Bananas can be extra constipating just an FYI.
We are not vegetarian so no help there, sorry!!
We now feed her twice a day probably two tblsp each time.

katka512

@amybug13‌ Bananas constipated LO so we also introduced prunes. Problem solved very quickly!

I am a vegetarian. DH is not. We will probably give her meat even though I really would rather not. However, I feel like she will eventually request or try meat on her own and I want her stomach to be used to it. She'll have it pretty sparingly though because I don't want her to think a meal isn't a real meal without meat.

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bumpuser10054788

kbmac613 Our pedi told us we start trying finger foods at ~7mo so we'll probably start trying around then. The sheet they gave us back at our 4mo appt said we could do meat from the beginning, but we haven't yet. We're probably going to try chicken or turkey soon though.

Sanibel21

We got the go ahead the try meat but there's some more veggies and fruits I want to try first. We were told when she can fully sit on her own and has a pincer grasp we can do finger foods. And she said both of those usually happen and are good between 8-9 months. So that's what we're going with on all that! But I feel like people who do BLW start at 6 months.

katka512

The first puff she had, we gave it to her whole. She gagged but eventually swallowed it fine. It freaked me out too much though, so I've been breaking them into smaller pieces now.
I thought puffs were supposed to melt in your mouth? I tried one first to see and it took quite awhile to melt. Maybe it varies by brand? I had Happy Baby.

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amybug13

Thanks for the feedback ladies! We're probably going to raise her vegetarian for a while, but we've talked about her wanting some of daddy's meat and other challenges. Like @katka512‌ we only want to introduce is sparingly, but I wasn't planning on doing that for a while. I was just curious. Thank you guys!

alfriedeck

Gave LO her first pieces of real food this weekend.  Tried mashed up banana's.  not a fan. It was quite funny to see her take it in then give a little shudder and spit it out.  Also tried scrambled eggs, again same thing.  Wonder if she is just so used to puree that chunks feel weird?

kaking78

Julian didn't care for the texture of pureed meat when I gave him that. It was still a little chunkier than the fruit and veggie purees. I'm shelving the idea for now and returning to it later.

Sanibel21

@kaking78‌ that's good to know the meat purees still chunky.
Had anyone used the mesh food feeder thing?

kaking78

@sanibel21 I'm not sure about commercial meat. This was just some plain leftover chicken breast I threw in the food processor with a little water.

Sanibel21

@kaking78‌ I knew what you meant. I think I was using purees as a verb. I haven't made any meats yet so its good to know that when I do, it will be chunky.

Pinecone21

Egg yolks make my LO puke. She was fine the first 3 times she had them, then she threw up a bit after time 4. Last night we tried again, and oh my goodness the puke. I felt so bad. I hope she's not allergic for good.

sambrownmac10

Colson just started breakfast this past week, so he gets three solids a day.

amybug13

We're just transitioning to maaaaybe 2x/day. I'm worried that if she eats too much, she won't be hungry for breast milk, which is way more nutritionally beneficial.

bumpuser10054788

@NewMomma8 Our pedi said by 6mo solids 3x/day was fine, but to keep doing bottle/breast 30-60mins before solids. (Our LO is usually eating 3x/day, although will skip lunch sometimes depending how the day goes.)

Sanibel21

That is cute @newmomma8!!
We tried pumpkin yesterday: not good by itself at all. Mixed it with apples this morning and was quite a hit!! We also have acorn squash in the introduction rotation this week. I may also start with seasoning (like cinammon, etc) Anyone doing that?

katka512

We tried cinnamon in butternut squash and with apples and oatmeal this week. She loved it in both. I want to add cinnamon to some homemade foods I have too. I'm excited to try other seasonings and spices.

Pinecone21

I've done cinnamon with apples, cardamom with pears, and curry with sweet potatoes. LO likes them all, but the sweet potatoes are her favorite!

mfarmer0811

Those of you making your own purée food, have you ever given already made/store bought? We are going to be out of town this weekend, and I'm thinking it will be easier to have already packaged food since we will be on the go quite a bit.

If so, how did LO like it, and what brand is the best?