Prior to introducing food, I usually avoided eating breakfast/lunch with the kiddo and dinner found Kev and I quickly eating while entertaining Adam with his Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes, all of the songs which we can now recite by heart. Cue the meltdown and an end to a hot meal!
Around 6.5 months our ped advised to start Adam on one meal a day, but that one meal (dinner) was going so well that we are feeding him 3 meals a day along with us now. I cannot properly describe the incredible improvement in how pleasant meals with him are now. One of the reasons I was drawn towards this method of feeding was that moms I've seen spoon feed often sacrifice their own hot meals and enjoyment at the table to tend to the baby. With baby-led solids, I set the food down and Adam does his own thing. Instead of us constantly entertaining him while we shoved food in our own mouths, he is engrossed in eating his meal, which generally outlasts ours, and we are able to converse and enjoy our meal without incident.
Adam gets 3-5 different foods at each meal, a few bits at a time, and then we refill his tray until he is done eating. We are working on the signs "more" and "all done" in hopes something will click. Generally he's focused, he's concentrating, he's enjoying eating and requires significantly less attention/interference from us so it's a much more fun experience all around. The mess is in great decline (much to Mr. Pico's chagrin), with the exception of eating out at restaurants. We are having problems using restaurant-provided high chairs as Adam is a bit too short to properly sit at table height resulting in a bunch of food hitting the floor. Sure, we could bring our portable high chair and tray to restaurants, but it is just easier to clean up the floor.
Adam does a great job at cleaning his plate, though every now and then he has a meltdown at the table (thankfully only at home!). Usually the culprits are that I'm feeding him too close to naptime or he stuffs too much chewy meat in his mouth and can't figure out how to chew/swallow it all. When he's no longer picking up the food on his tray he will gladly take more food from us if offered by hand or offered into his mouth, but as this is parent-led instead of baby-led I'm trying to follow his cues more and not overfeed him when he may be finished. He generally surprises us with how much he eats. For breakfast he'll devour a whole banana, or half a pear, a strawberry and some yogurt. For lunch and dinner he'll eat a small handful of sweet potato wedges, green beans, a few bits of fruit and maybe 1-3 oz. of meat. You'd be impressed with a 3 year old eating what he eats and he's just nearly 8 months old.
He does take a bit longer than everyone to eat, which results in everyone at the table staring at him or making silly faces at him until he finishes. Though the Gill Rapley book advises everyone eating together, I've started giving Adam his dinner about 10-15 minutes early to help us finish as a family. He is content to eat while I am getting the rest of dinner ready, though I think he eats better when someone is eating next to him. We've found silly faces are also detrimental as he forgets if he has food in his mouth and thus forgets to chew it, then cue the meltdown ("aaaaargh - what is this in my mouth and why won't it go away????"). We have found that monkey noises are helpful in getting a big smile which helps us see if anything else is left in the hatch. We try to mimic chewing to help him refocus, but occasional I have to sweep stuff out of there.
In deciding what to feed and when, we've been using guidance from WholesomeBabyFood.com. For the first month we have been following the 3 day rule, putting 3 days between new foods to flag any allergies. But considering we have no food allergies in our families, and based on the Rapley book and feedback in the BLW group on Facebook, I'm throwing caution to the wind and just offering anything age appropriate, trying my best to mirror/utilize what we are eating.Here's what we've tried so far and how we've prepared it:
- Vegetables
- Sweet potatoes cut into long wedges or chunks, roasted in the oven or microwaved
- White potatoes cut into chunks and microwaved
- Butternut squash halved, covered in plastic film and zapped in the microwave
- Zucchini/yellow squash pan sautéed with olive oil and garlic
- Broccoli spears steamed in the microwave
- Green beans, fresh steamed in the microwave or canned and heated in the microwave
- Carrots cut into sticks or chunks and roasted in the oven
- Meat
- Chicken (boneless/skinless thighs, breasts, drumsticks) baked
- Beef steak pan fried
- Pork chop baked
- Turkey (ground) pan fried
- Fruits
- Avocado raw, halved and chunked
- Apple slices or chunks microwaved with a splash of water for 1 min.
- Banana originally offered in big chunks but now sliced as you would for cereal
- Mango peeled and chunked
- Pears peeled and unpeeled (realized it wasn't necessary to peel!) and chunked
- Strawberries chunked
- Dairy
- Yogurt (whole fat, Greek) offered pre-loaded on a spoon for Adam to self-feed
I have stayed away from processed carbs like bread, cereals, baby puffs, etc., but I imagine I will work some grains like rice and oatmeal into the routine soon. I've seen so many little kids that ONLY like carbs and I am trying to develop in Adam a diverse palate so he will prefer and snack on things besides those types of foods.
His clear favorites so far are butternut squash, sweet potato, avocado, banana, chicken and turkey burger. We started most foods in stick shapes (like a French fry) but realized after 2-3 weeks that he has a preference for finger foods. His pincer grip is also more developed now so I'm cutting everything into bite size pieces. He does better with soft foods, but he's still able to manage/gum more difficult textures like firm strawberries or meats. Pork and beef have a tougher texture than chicken and require more chewing on his part and we've found those pieces need to be offered even smaller. Sure, he has two front teeth, but those don't really play a role in chewing yet. It's all gummed up at this stage.
All in all, at least for now, feeding a baby when you have no experience doing so can be a bit life consuming with the menu planning, food prep, etc. I am hoping very soon that we get to the point where he can share in most of our meals but a challenge is that we eat processed foods or salted foods (have you looked at the sodium in a can of tomatoes?!) that just aren't healthy for him at this stage. Most of our veggies, starches and meats are perfectly appropriate for him if we leave them unsalted and I'm able to stretch leftovers across several meals and add in fresh fruits. Through all of this, I keep repeating "food before one is just for fun." If food gets swallowed or hits the floor - it's all part of the experience of tasting, touching, smelling, etc., so I can't stress too much!
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