Can we talk more about solids?

[SheilaTheTank]

Aug 6, 2016 7:52:50 GMT -5 @shakeyjakey said:

Those that are doing BLW and purées, why are you doing both? The reason I did BLW is because it teaches them to chew first, then swallow. Since they don't have to chew purées, I would be worried about confusing them. Just curious!

For us it's because we started with purees and MH is still really wary about BLW. I gave K a piece of mandarin orange today after we fed her banana puree. She didn't really eat it but practiced shoving it and her entire fist in her mouth lol. He was pretty freaked she is going to choke. I'm also wary of it. It's a foreign concept to me so I need to get used to the idea. 

Some of the purees also include foods that I never really make so I can introduce more flavors that way. Today at the store we got: mango, butternut squash and sweet corn, and pear, pumpkin and pineapple. I'm not going to be buying a pumpkin anytime soon and I have no idea how to do blw with corn because I'm pretty sure she'll choke. I also don't really like to buy mangos.   

K chews the spoon when i give it to her and she does "chew" the purees. 

[JoeLies]

We're doing both so he learns how to eat both, nothing too thought out there. We did the same with DS1 as well, and he was eating all our normal foods by his birthday (despite having very few teeth). If things go poorly with DS2, we'll reassess.


ETA: Also Sheila made a good point about wanting to get him foods we may not be eating quite so regularly or that would be tough to share in a BLW-friendly way.

[peachesncream]

I do a mix because some days I am too lazy to cook and baby can't eat Easy Mac or pizza for another few months :-P

[katespade]

Aug 6, 2016 7:47:53 GMT -5 @shakeyjakey said:

Aug 5, 2016 16:07:59 GMT -5 katespade said:

Our pedi said we could start anywhere between now and 6 months but that he strongly discourages starting later than 6 months. We're going to try some baby oatmeal tomorrow and see what happens. If she doesn't seem interested or freaks out, I'll wait another week before trying again.

Is there any reason why he/she wants you to start before 6 months? What's supposed to happen if you don't?

He didn't really elaborate but what I thought was implied was that it's harder to get them interested? I like our pedi generally, but I definitely thought his outlook on solids was a little different than what I've read.

We tried two little spoonfuls of baby oatmeal today and she opened her mouth to the spoon, so that was a surprise to me. I'm not going to jump headfirst into it, just take our time and build it up slowly.

[halfahippy]

Aug 6, 2016 12:34:10 GMT -5 peachesncream said:

I do a mix because some days I am too lazy to cook and baby can't eat Easy Mac or pizza for another few months :-P

Me too. And sometimes BLW is easier, sometimes purées is. I do what is easiest or makes the most sense based on what we are eating.

[kendraj426]

Aug 6, 2016 12:34:10 GMT -5 peachesncream said:

I do a mix because some days I am too lazy to cook and baby can't eat Easy Mac or pizza for another few months :-P

This exactly. Sometimes what is on the menu is definitely not going to be good to give an infant. So, I'll give her purees. Also, DH is very worried about her being able to chew without teeth, and doesn't want her to choke. So I'm meeting him halfway - foods that he's worried about her choking on will be pureed. We have one of those baby food steamer / blender things, so it'll be easy.

[daydreamsam]

Late to the game but wanted to join in. We aren't starting until 6 months at least. Partially because BM poop is so easy with cloth diapers and C is growing and gaining weight like a champ but the other part is that she's not ready. When I give her teething tablets she has no idea what to do with them and I think food would just end up all over the place rather than in her belleh.

When we do start we will do a multi grain cereal and a combo of purees and BLW.

[blackbird]

So I know we're all kinda doing our own thing as far as purees, BLW, cereal, etc.

My question is when are you feeding solids to LO time-wise? I read to feed a hour or so after milk. But B is back down for a nap by then. Maybe my kid sleeps exceedingly much idk.

[JoeLies]

Aug 7, 2016 10:52:28 GMT -5 blackbird said:

So I know we're all kinda doing our own thing as far as purees, BLW, cereal, etc.

My question is when are you feeding solids to LO time-wise? I read to feed a hour or so after milk. But B is back down for a nap by then. Maybe my kid sleeps exceedingly much idk.

Chase is getting his at our dinner time, so usually an hour or so after nursing(or his last bottle). We try to keep him awake after daycare, but he does sometimes doze a bit. He'll wake for food.

I'm not sure yet when we'll time a 2nd serving, but we're not anywhere close to there yet, so we've got time to figure it out.

[JoeLies]

The poop is reason enough to delay. I blocked out how gross it is at first!

[sctiger]

Aug 7, 2016 16:54:27 GMT -5 JoeLies said:

The poop is reason enough to delay. I blocked out how gross it is at first!

And when whole pieces of food come out in the poop! I remember with DD1 seeing whole black beans, pieces of squash, etc. So gross!

[blackbird]

Aug 7, 2016 18:48:52 GMT -5 sctiger said:

Aug 7, 2016 16:54:27 GMT -5 JoeLies said:

The poop is reason enough to delay. I blocked out how gross it is at first!

And when whole pieces of food come out in the poop! I remember with DD1 seeing whole black beans, pieces of squash, etc. So gross!

Things to look forward to. Thanks for the visual! 😝

[rachelilly23]

Aug 7, 2016 16:54:27 GMT -5 JoeLies said:

The poop is reason enough to delay. I blocked out how gross it is at first!

Yes! We JUST started up with cloth diapers this last week. We waited longer than I planned (with my boys we started at 3 months, and K is almost 5 months now...) Not interested in starting solid poop yet!

[SheilaTheTank]

Aug 7, 2016 16:54:27 GMT -5 JoeLies said:

The poop is reason enough to delay. I blocked out how gross it is at first!

I am so, so happy she does the majority of her pooping at DC

[SheilaTheTank]

How much are you giving at a time for both purees and BLW? K DESTROYED an entire 4oz jar of pureed mango yesterday. We had never tried mango before and I was planning on it lasting a few days. But no. Freaked out every time the spoon was empty. If anyone had witnessed it they would have thought I hadn't fed her the entire day.

For BLW I give her a piece or two. Most often it ends up stuffed in various places around her highchair.

[JoeLies]

SheilaTheTank - I was also aiming to finish a Stage 1 container over 3 feedings but apparently my kid LOVES carrots. I'm just following his lead - if he keeps opening his mouth and leaning towards me/the spoon, I keep going. If he shuts down (which he has), I call it a night.


And awesome call on my part doing CARROTS over the weekend - stinkiest poop so far. I should have remembered that.

[paloslee]

Aug 8, 2016 9:48:35 GMT -5 SheilaTheTank said:

How much are you giving at a time for both purees and BLW? K DESTROYED an entire 4oz jar of pureed mango yesterday. We had never tried mango before and I was planning on it lasting a few days. But no. Freaked out every time the spoon was empty. If anyone had witnessed it they would have thought I hadn't fed her the entire day.

For BLW I give her a piece or two. Most often it ends up stuffed in various places around her highchair.

We haven't done fruit purèes yet. He loves the veggies. We tried squash, carrots, peas and green beans and he enjoys them all. BLW we've tried apples, watermelon and oranges. He is getting used to use sing his hand and fingers to grab. Most food ends up on the floor but he has fun and I enjoy watching. He usually will let me know when he's done by shaking his head and closing his mouth to the spoon. No set schedule as of yet.

[SheilaTheTank]

Aug 8, 2016 10:31:56 GMT -5 JoeLies said:

SheilaTheTank - I was also aiming to finish a Stage 1 container over 3 feedings but apparently my kid LOVES carrots. I'm just following his lead - if he keeps opening his mouth and leaning towards me/the spoon, I keep going. If he shuts down (which he has), I call it a night.


And awesome call on my part doing CARROTS over the weekend - stinkiest poop so far. I should have remembered that.

sweet potato is not much better. It comes out the same color as it goes in. 

[megrae12]

W has bananas and yogurt and baked potato. He loves sucking on celery sticks, loves the yogurt, and likes bananas. We are being super casual with solids, like not even giving them every day. Basically, I just follow his lead and offer something he may like.

[jewel441]

In terms of order of importance of readiness signs how do you rate ability to sit. LO's interest in food is rapidly increasing, and for the first time today she absolutely freaked out while I was having lunch, reaching and crying for my food. She is still very unsteady sitting though, it's definitely a balance issue not a strength issue. Look down, fall down. LO will be 6 months is 10 days.

I know different ppl feel differently about when to start. We are definitely in the conservative camp but if I'm eating and that flips LO out idk how I can not give her something. She can lean forward in the high chair if that makes a difference.

[SheilaTheTank]

Aug 25, 2016 17:10:34 GMT -5 jewel441 said:

In terms of order of importance of readiness signs how do you rate ability to sit. LO's interest in food is rapidly increasing, and for the first time today she absolutely freaked out while I was having lunch, reaching and crying for my food. She is still very unsteady sitting though, it's definitely a balance issue not a strength issue. Look down, fall down. LO will be 6 months is 10 days.

I know different ppl feel differently about when to start. We are definitely in the conservative camp but if I'm eating and that flips LO out idk how I can not give her something. She can lean forward in the high chair if that makes a difference.

stage 1 foods are for supported sitters so you can definitely start now. I honestly don't see the big difference between stage 1 and stage 2 foods other than the 2s are blends of different foods and are in bigger containers. Heck I fed K a stage 3 food today and had no idea. It was apple and red bean puree. Looked just like the others. 

I just realized you may be talking about BLW. Trust your gut. If you think she's ready then go for it. Try really soft carrots or avocado at first and just keep an eye on her. 

[peachesncream]

Aug 25, 2016 17:10:34 GMT -5 jewel441 said:

In terms of order of importance of readiness signs how do you rate ability to sit. LO's interest in food is rapidly increasing, and for the first time today she absolutely freaked out while I was having lunch, reaching and crying for my food. She is still very unsteady sitting though, it's definitely a balance issue not a strength issue. Look down, fall down. LO will be 6 months is 10 days.

I know different ppl feel differently about when to start. We are definitely in the conservative camp but if I'm eating and that flips LO out idk how I can not give her something. She can lean forward in the high chair if that makes a difference.

There's no magic switch that flips the day your baby turns 6 months. If you think she's ready now then give it a try!

[jewel441]

SheilaTheTank I was talking about BLW but ya I think she has the strength to sit, but no desire to be still enough to balance. She is such a wiggle!

peachesncream totally agree there is no magic switch... And yet that 6 months EBF is so strong in my head... But it's 9 days, she is essentially 6 months.

We might try it this weekend. Really want H to be there for the first meal!

[kendraj426]

jewel441, I was staunchly opposed to starting R before 6 months, because I had tried with V at 4 months, and it was a disaster (I was following my pedi's recommendation). Then R started getting super cranky and grabbing at my food at every meal. She refused to be anywhere but in my or DH's lap at mealtimes. So I started her at 5.5 months, and she has done really well. I would give it a try. It'll be obvious once you start if she isn't ready, and you can stop and wait longer if needed.

[rachelilly23]

Aug 26, 2016 19:42:12 GMT -5 kendraj426 said:

jewel441, I was staunchly opposed to starting R before 6 months, because I had tried with V at 4 months, and it was a disaster (I was following my pedi's recommendation). Then R started getting super cranky and grabbing at my food at every meal. She refused to be anywhere but in my or DH's lap at mealtimes. So I started her at 5.5 months, and she has done really well. I would give it a try. It'll be obvious once you start if she isn't ready, and you can stop and wait longer if needed.

Agreed. If you start and she's not into it or not "ready," you just stop. We gave K oatmeal cereal for 2 days and she loved it, then on the 3rd day she had zero interest. So a combination of that and just being extremely busy led to us taking a break from it. I'll try again maybe Sunday.

[jewel441]

Ok so now TTMA tooth care... LO has 2 teeth that are just through the gums but not all the way in, but I am assuming if we are starting solids we need to do something? There is a lot of conflicting info on whether toothpaste is ok or not.... Thoughts?

[Missy0483]

Aug 27, 2016 17:32:47 GMT -5 jewel441 said:

Ok so now TTMA tooth care... LO has 2 teeth that are just through the gums but not all the way in, but I am assuming if we are starting solids we need to do something? There is a lot of conflicting info on whether toothpaste is ok or not.... Thoughts?

We used the gel type for under 2 years old. I think Oral B brand. It doesn't foam like regular toothpaste and is fluoride free.

[cinnamonsmiles]

Aug 27, 2016 17:32:47 GMT -5 jewel441 said:

Ok so now TTMA tooth care... LO has 2 teeth that are just through the gums but not all the way in, but I am assuming if we are starting solids we need to do something? There is a lot of conflicting info on whether toothpaste is ok or not.... Thoughts?

I didn't start brushing until we introduced grains/fruit (last on the food types), but a hygienist friend of mine says that brushing with just a little water is just fine when they're this little. According to her, research is conflicting about giving fluoride to little kids. She also doesn't like kids' toothpaste as it just trains the kid to eat the toothpaste rather than spit it out.

 My crunchier friends use coconut oil as toothpaste for their littles, so that might be an option as well if you're leery about baby toothpaste.

[peachesncream]

I always feel like I'm the only one who received this recommendation but my dentist actually said not to use toothpaste until they are old enough to know how to spit. He also said the toddler toothpastes are mostly sugar anyway. So we just use water!

[Deleted]

J's tummy doesn't seem to be handling purees very well so I think we're going to stop and try again in a couple of weeks or maybe at 6 months.