What do you put in your mesh feeder?

erindawn · December 2012

My LO HATES purees. To the oint that he won't eat solids and has been LOSING weight! We are scheduled to go see the pediatric GI tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I bought a mesh feeder yesterday and put bananas in it and he LOVES it. I do wonder how much of that is really going down the hatch, but it's a start.

What else can I put in there? Ideas?

baloneydisc · December 2012

Watermelon, avocado, strawberries, peach slices, pear slices, grapes.

tjkdlhb · December 2012

I used the mesh feeder a handful of times with breastmilk in it... but haven't bothered with anything else. We do Baby Led Weaning and it has worked well for us.

Have you tried mashing food and letting him go at it with his fingers? I did that for the first couple of weeks while I was getting used to letting her feed herself. It amazed me how much she got into her mouth. Some babies don't like to be fed from a spoon, and some just don't like the taste/texture of puree, but do well with soft finger foods.

We started with mashed avocado, and soft baked sweet potato fries, both of which would work well in a mesh feeder if you're too nervous not to use it. Avocado and sweet potato are packed full of good nutrients too. Avocado has lots of good fats, so we try to give DD a fair bit of that since she's always been itty bitty.

DD also loves grabbing handfuls of grated cheese, french toast made with egg yolk (not the whites) and a little milk...I cut the piece of toast in 3 sticks so she can grab it, but the texture would work well with a mesh holder too... again, the yolk is listed in our provincial guide as a superfood, but you need to avoid the whites because of allergy risk. Pear, watermelon, peach, are also good....consider trying veggies too like steamed broccoli... that can be pretty mushy. Try different squashes... mushy enough to get through the mesh... turnip, carrot would work.

Really, even things like chicken or shredded beef could go into the mesh... he would still get the taste of it and be able to suck out some of the juices... so he'd still be getting some of the nutrients.

ETA: Make sure that he still is getting plenty of BM or formula... that's where the majority of his nutrients should be coming from until at least 12 months

ETA2: Also consider full fat Greek Yogurt. You can give him a spoon or let him use his fingers, or you can freeze it in small amounts to use in the mesh feeder.

rubber_chicken · December 2012

For the first year, food is just for fun, it's not for nutrition. I've read that in several books and our Ped confirmed it. So if your baby is losing weight, it's not because of solids.

Have you looked into Baby Led Weaning? It's where you skip purees and go straight to normal food. We started with banana. There's a book that explains how to do it safely.

jcsntms06 · December 2012

I put really pears, bananas, cooked carrots. Although my DD loves to pick up beans, peas and baked beans now. We haven't really been using the mesh feeder that much.

mrsshawnavanb · December 2012

We've used bananas and blueberries in ours. She loved the bananas, wasn't really digging the blueberries.

LesleyT · December 2012

I've put just about every type of fruit imaginable in it so far- but my kid is a chow hound. He'll eat anything- purees, fruit in the mesh feeder, small pieces of food..... mum mum teething crackers, etc. At 7 1/2 mo, he's cruisin!

But, like PPs said- food at this stage is primarily experience- not nutrition.

I would also suggest LED weaning- you can mash just about anything- chicken, rice, veggies- just make sure LO's tummy and bowels can handle it as much as his mouth. I keep a close eye on bowel movements ot make sure consistency of poop and regularity are ok.

ktpaladino · December 2012

Frozen grapes are great for teething and I also have done plain yogurt with fruit baby food puree swirled in, then frozen in ice cube trays. He might not be a fan of being spoon fed, so try letting him feed himself and getting the food thing going in other ways...the mesh feeder is a great start and it sounds like he's enjoying it! Has he been eating less milk in the middle of the night now? Maybe that is a reason for the weight loss.

erindawn · December 2012

ktpaladino:
Frozen grapes are great for teething and I also have done plain yogurt with fruit baby food puree swirled in, then frozen in ice cube trays. He might not be a fan of being spoon fed, so try letting him feed himself and getting the food thing going in other ways...the mesh feeder is a great start and it sounds like he's enjoying it! Has he been eating less milk in the middle of the night now? Maybe that is a reason for the weight loss.

Oh, I wish he was eating less at night! It's the same. We tried to reduce the amount in bottles and that just had him waking more, then we tried CIO which didn't work at all, then we found out he was losing weight. I'm wondering if he's had silent reflux this whole time. We're going to Seattle Children's Hospital tomorrow morning (at 7:30am and I live an hour away, God help me) to see the pediatric GI.

I should also mention that he's MSPI (allergic to dairy and soy) as well as corn and nuts. Oy.

laoch101 · December 2012

tjkdlhb:
I used the mesh feeder a handful of times with breastmilk in it... but haven't bothered with anything else. We do Baby Led Weaning and it has worked well for us.

Have you tried mashing food and letting him go at it with his fingers? I did that for the first couple of weeks while I was getting used to letting her feed herself. It amazed me how much she got into her mouth. Some babies don't like to be fed from a spoon, and some just don't like the taste/texture of puree, but do well with soft finger foods.

We started with mashed avocado, and soft baked sweet potato fries, both of which would work well in a mesh feeder if you're too nervous not to use it. Avocado and sweet potato are packed full of good nutrients too. Avocado has lots of good fats, so we try to give DD a fair bit of that since she's always been itty bitty.

DD also loves grabbing handfuls of grated cheese, french toast made with egg yolk (not the whites) and a little milk...I cut the piece of toast in 3 sticks so she can grab it, but the texture would work well with a mesh holder too... again, the yolk is listed in our provincial guide as a superfood, but you need to avoid the whites because of allergy risk. Pear, watermelon, peach, are also good....consider trying veggies too like steamed broccoli... that can be pretty mushy. Try different squashes... mushy enough to get through the mesh... turnip, carrot would work.

Really, even things like chicken or shredded beef could go into the mesh... he would still get the taste of it and be able to suck out some of the juices... so he'd still be getting some of the nutrients.

ETA: Make sure that he still is getting plenty of BM or formula... that's where the majority of his nutrients should be coming from until at least 12 months

ETA2: Also consider full fat Greek Yogurt. You can give him a spoon or let him use his fingers, or you can freeze it in small amounts to use in the mesh feeder.

Ok love this post so informative. When can you start mushy stuff? I'm wondering if my baby would love this better than pur?e.

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