Tell me about your baby's first experiences with food...

kathymarie

The pedi told us today at our 4m appt. that we can start giving M some food--cereal, fruit, veg., etc. I think I'm going to wait at least another month before introducing food, but I am still unsure of what kind, what type, and how I am going to start the food process with him.

What did you feed your baby first, next, etc.?

Did you do BLW, purees, jarred, mashed, homemade?

Pros/cons for your method of feeding?

Sonadora

We did BLW. Which we started shortly before she was 6 months since she grabbed mashed potatoes off our plates.

I didn't start earlier than that for several reasons, first of which was her being able to sit up well in her chair and not be wobbly was pretty crucial.

I like it a lot because we just feed her off our plates which makes it super easy to take her to restaurants and such. As long as we are eating it to she will eat anything.

Plus, I gotta say, the shock on people's faces when they saw my 6 month old eating hunks of goat cheese and fresh tomatoes was absolutely priceless. 

 

[email protected]

Avocado mashed and she loved it!

Leah&Cole

We did oatmeal first at like 5.5 months.  He took to it right away and then we added veggie and fruit purees.  I did homemade purees for a bit, but the transition from purees to finger foods came really quick for us.

Amanda78

we did rice cereal at 5 mos and she hated it. she really still would be happy with mostly BM though. We then tried oatmeal-also a fail. She first finally really liked yogurt.

Mrs.EmmaLouise

We were told we could do at 4mo.  A just wasn't ready, and I was leaning more towards waiting anyways.  At 5mo we started oatmeal with BM.  Not a fan. We did once a day for 2-3w and a bit before 6mo we started avocado then purees.  We did oatmeal once a day, and veggies once a day.  Once we had tried all the veggies we intro'ed fruits and moved up to 3 meals a day.  Now we are still at 3/day.  2 veggies and 1 fruit.  The first veggie i mix in oatmeal so she gets the cereal. At 7mo (maybe 7.5... maybe 8mo) we offered puffs for finger foods.  She did really well with that so now we try to have puffs of another finger food at each meal (cooked carrots, rice, bread), because she likes to feed herself but isn't good at it, so it keeps her happy enough to tolerate me spoon feeding her. 

 

GL.  I always find foods to be stressful.  Too much? not enough?  Not enough variety?  We saw the doc today and she said as long as she ate it didn't matter. 

hopingwaiting

We waited until 6 months, started with good old fashioned rice cereal mixed with breastmilk, added a new food every 3 days, pretty quickly ramped up to 3 meals a day because he loved all purees.  Added finger foods when he got pincer grasp (8-9 mos).  He loved mum mums, puffs, Cheerios, etc but it's only been more recently that he embraces other table foods.  He was really late on that so sometimes I wonder if we should have really pushed them earlier, but I think all kids are different and do things when they're ready.

Ernie52408

I started at 4 months. DS had a hard time getting satisfied with just BM in the evenings and needed some extra calories.

I started with oatmeal mixed with BM but he hated it. I tried mixing the oatmeal with fruit juice and he hated it more. I tried a bite of sweet potatoes one day and he was in heaven. In the beginning we introduced a new food every 4 days, alternating between fruits and veggies. Within the past month we started giving him Mum Mums to snack on at restaurants and he's in love. It's like baby crack and we get to eat dinner in peace!

I do some jarred, some homemade depending on how expensive or difficult it is to make. I really enjoy making my own food, but I realize not everyone has the time or desire.

 I did not want to do BLW weaning or straight to table food because I"m super paranoid about food allergies. My family (including myself) has an extensive history of food allergies. I like to know every little thing that goes into his mouth in case he has a reaction. I dread the day we go to table foods.

KCKSarah

We did rice cereal with breast milk about 4 months about once a day.  At 5 months we did some purees, starting with homemade bananas and sweet potatoes about twice a day.  Not too long after she started feeding herself rice rusks (Baby Mum-Mums).  Then there was a lack of interest so we took a hiatus for a couple of weeks, except for the rusks because she loves feeding herself. Then at six months we are doing three meals, yogurt, banana and cereal mash in the AM, rice rusks and veggie puree at lunch and dinner is sometimes what DH and I are eating (if appropriate) or another puree.   So far she loves it all, parsnips, turnips, avocado...

She's becoming more and more interested in our food now.  I think purees are gonna go out the window soon. Fine by me!

kathymarie

Thanks, ladies!