Solids - help please!

michelle_1221

Hi - we've struggled with solids.  We still BF, and we waited until 6 months until we began solids. She started off doing well, would eat homemade veggies, etc.  Then she got pretty sick and isn't doing as well. We also introduced fruits.  She is doing well eating those, but it's pretty difficult to get veggies/oatmeal in her without them being a fruit mixture and won't do anything with texture.  She has also had some weight gain issues.  She's always been smaller (25-30%) and dropped to 20% when she was sick.  She is back up to 25% again thanks to avacado/bananas and the doctor suggested doing more protein.  She had a really bad reaction to yogurt so dairy is out.  I was thinking to do either black beans, chickpeas or chicken.  Any suggestions on what might be best as our next new food?  I use a food processor to puree the food.  Or any other suggestions?  Does it get better if I just wait? 

It's my preference to not supplement with formula, but I'm concerned if we don't continue to gain weight well that they will encourage me to do this at our next visit.  Also, she is taking about 25-27oz per day of BF.  She also doesn't have any teeth yet, but has been showing signs of teething for months. 

aboynamedbarry

hmmmm... sounds like for her age she's getting plenty of bm... it doesn't sound like you really need to think about supplementing with formula... what about hardboiled egg yolk? They can have the yolk but not the white before 1. I use a food processor too, it works really well for me. Maybe also since she's not a fan of diff textures letting her figure that out on her own ie giving her chunks of avocado, banana etc to try putting in her mouth on her own... maybe she won't be so turned off by it if she's doing it herself? just a thought, HTH!

fyrefairie

Well, there are multiple schools of thought on the eggwhite...my pedi says go ahead now as the most emerging research suggests delaying the introduction of foods like eggs, nuts etc is correlated with MORE allergies.  But either way yolk would not get you much protein as the majority of it is in the whites, but it has good cholesterol for baby's brain.

In addition, LO loves ground beef although she has a number of teeth, but well cooked its pretty crumbly, small pieces, and might work. Or you can puree chicken.  Mix the veggies with fruit for now.  Keep up the AVO.  If you can find goats milk products and she is not allergic that might be an alternative to dairy thats higher protein.  My DD loves chickpeas and black beans, as well.  Good luck-I find she will eat almost anything mixed into the oatmeal because its mixed with BM and so its familiar (I assume this is why).

michelle_1221

Thanks so much! I didn't think about egg yolk at all.

namara5532

Yep, there are certainly different ideas on giving LO egg white.  I've been told he can have it as long as it's fully cooked.  DS loves it.

I suggest chicken.  DS likes it, plus it can provide more of a texture challenge for your LO.  I agree with PP that what might help with texture is to offer some soft, whole food like avocado or banana and let them practice picking it up and tasting it on their own.  You might be surprised.  I offered DS unpureed avocado one day to see what he would do, and now he takes everything unpureed.  You could also try num nums as it disolves easily.

bigbear

LibraryChica:

My DD never was too fond of purees so we skipped straight to table foods, BLW-style. Even pre-teeth, it worked out really well. That said, we didn't have any issues with weight gain so if she spent the first month or two wearing her food, it didn't matter. I second (or third?) the suggestion of giving her some soft foods to handle herself. Also, we coated slippery foods with wheat germ to make it easier to handle. It has some protein and fat in it. You could coat the food or maybe even slip some in her applesauce. Blackbeans were a challenge for her, even smashed, because of the skins, but they make work better in a pureed soup form.

Also, it sounds strange, but can your LO have fish? DD adores fish and our pedi is fine with it because we have no history of allergies in our families. It's very soft and easy for her to handle. She eats salmon or tilapia twice a month.  

This right here!! My DD LOVES fish! I gave it to her when she was just about 6 months old. First table food actually and she is all over that. I have given her cod, trout and tilapia so far. NO issues at all and it's super soft and easy for them to chew on. And it's so good for them, too! Otherwise try crockpot chicken. chicken is very soft to begin with, but prepared this way it really falls apart. Maybe that could work??? Good luck!

shamilton223

If you're struggling to get veggies in I'd definately recommend starting with sweet potatoes or carrots.  DS loves his yellow/orange veggies and those puree up so smooth with just a little water/formula in the food processor or blender.  DS is also not a huge fan or texture so we're trying to introduce it very slowly by mixing a tiny bit of chicken into his sweet potatoes or combining just a tiny bit of mashed peas with his carrots.  As he gets more and more used to it, I'm increasing the ammout of texture into the mixture.  Good luck!

fyrefairie

I justwant to reiterate that the egg yolk, while fine, is not going to amp up protein intake...the protein is in the whites (which some pedis say are fine).  Go ahead with the yolk, its got other good stuff, but you will still have to find protein somewhere