My Readers are Brilliant and My Baby Eats Food
The comments that I got on my last post about Bean’s eating habits might have been the best comments I have gotten so far on this humble blog. You all provided so many options for me to choose from and, even more than just suggestions, you helped me feel like I wasn’t doing something wrong but that this was just something some babies go through.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Chris and I took advice from the majority of you (and filed away the rest of your suggestions for the next food phase Bean goes though…) and we started feeding Bean table food. The minute I put the food down on Bean’s high chair tray, it was like the world opened up before him. His little eyes lit up and he knew just what to do. He started shoveling fist fulls of food into his little mouth so quickly that I had to explain to him the “one piece at a time” rule.
The first thing we tried was peas that we had with dinner one night. The kid loved ’em! We put a few on his tray and then smooshed them up a little (because I am overly paranoid about him choking…really…I freak out about it…). We also gave him some smooshed up bananas and a little applesauce. He stuffed his face.
Just like his momma.
When I sent him to daycare the next day, I sent him with peas and bananas. I got a note on his little daily sheet from his teachers that said, “MERRY CHRISTMAS, MOM AND DAD! I ATE MY PEAS!!” They also gave him a few Gerber Puffs at daycare just to see if he’d like them. He had sweet potato flavored ones and he loved them!
Once I discovered that Bean wasn’t actually going to choke on everything, I became a little more adventurous with the food. Like, this morning he had some scrambled eggs. He likes little pieces of bread. And he really liked mashed potatoes. I don’t really give him that much of any one thing, but just a sampling so that he can try new things. And he is loving it!
Bean sits in his high chair most of the time, but he’s always reaching for food we’re eating and I have to tell you how relieved I feel now that I’m getting braver about letting him try things.
So, thanks so much for your encouragement, advice, and support.
Bean says thank you, too. He’s finally full now!
16 Comments
Casey
Yeah for an eating Bean! Congrats!
Michelle, Mom of Henry (7m)
So happy to hear it went well! Henry agrees: table food rocks! Just to warn you in advance, by the rules you are no supposed to give babies eggs until 9/10 months. I gave Henry at 6months because it seems like the perfect baby food- and he still eats them almost every morning (and loves them!). So I recommend not worrying about that ‘rule’ – as my doctor recommend as well. Also some things to try: bits of turkey/chicken deli meat and cheese (Henry likes this for lunch and it’s reallllly filling), oatmeal (as in adults oatmeal) with brown sugar, cans of peas (they are starting with an L…but they are GREAT and so easy to fix and carry around for daycare food option), chinese takeout steamed chicken and veggies (obviously sliced up into small pieces). Also, I read this today (I have the same exact fear of choking) http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-to-reduce-your-babys-risk-of-choking_1004.bc and this one (at the end of article): http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-7-month-old-week-3_1495943.bc?intcmp=timeline. He’s doing great at feeding himself- Henry hasn’t mastered that yet- something to work on! 🙂 GOOD LUCK!!!!
Michelle, Mom of Henry (7m)
Also- wagon wheels by Gerber. They are awesome and they melt in their mouths. Perfect snack esp. while cooking dinner. 😉
Nona
So proud of you! Glad you found a trick that worked. Like the idea of smashing them a little first good thinking. I watched on little one that loved avocado mashed on bread in little pieces. Have a Merry Christmas!!
oregonjudy
Just a word of wisdom from someone who’s long past baby food. As you introduce new food, try to space it out just in case he has an allergic reaction. The rule of thumb is usually one new food a week. Sounds boring but until you know if there’s any allergies, it’s the safest thing to do.
Katie
That’s the advice our pediatrician gave us, too. She suggested a 3 day window between new foods to watch for any reactions, so that’s what we’re sticking with for now. Seems to be working and its pretty easy to stick to that. 🙂
Nate's Mom
Holla for the Bean! Welcome to the world of chow!!!
Katie M.
So glad that Bean’s food worries have passed! He was just too big for that baby stuff 🙂 Good for Bean AND Mom!
Jennifer
Awesome news! And hopefully Lucy and Molly do their part.. cleaning up everything that misses Bean’s mouth.
Mindee@ourfrontdoor
For protein, I used to buy large curd cottage cheese and pick out the biggest curds and put them on the tray. Also, stirring plain or vanilla yogurt into cereal gets the yogurt in, albeit very messily!
Danielle Melnyczenko
WooHoo!!!!
Glad my (along with others) suggestion worked.
Lori @I Can Grow people
I am so glad that Bean is eating solid foods–hooray! We are just now experimenting with Graduates Puffs (sweet potato) and at this point I have eaten more of them than Porter has. I think they sort of taste like Alphabits cereal (if that is still even being made.)
Heather
Good for you guys!
One thing I would suggest is that if you haven’t already, take a Parent CPR class. They cover more than just CPR this should cover what to do if a baby is choking. You don’t do the same abdominal thrusts like we’ve all seen so many times on adults. Babies choke- if it happens often, you’ve got a problem, but I think lots of parents have a story of what they did when their baby choked. If you know what to do WHEN it happens, then maybe you will be less afraid of it.
Welcome to the world of family dinners!
Katie
You know, I have been thinking about looking into one of these classes. I think I would just feel better knowing I knew how to handle the situation. Great suggestion!
Kelly
I’d second that comment about a CPR class. My husband choked earlier this year and no one there knew the Heimlich, and it was terrifying, and since then I’ve learned it and have been practicing. He still actually has a ton of anxiety around food, but it’s comforting knowing that if something DID happen, there’s a way to help him and it can be a lot less dangerous than it would be otherwise. And, yeah, the baby maneuver is really different, and it’d be great to have a professional show you what to do!
That said, I’m sure the increasingly-adorable Bean will be fine. 🙂 Babies are surprisingly great at learning how to eat, and the body kind of instinctively knows what to safely do. As long as you’re mashing foods up, which it sounds like you are, he should do great! (This is something I comforted myself with after being super traumatized by watching my husband choking–it’s a bummer if you aspirate food, but your lungs can handle that if it’s a tiny bit and if the food is small enough, it WON’T block your airways and it’ll be totally fine, and worst case scenario maybe you’ll have a tiny infection that antibiotics can take care of. So if Beanie is eating small small pieces of whatever, he’ll do great. We’ve been cutting things REALLY REALLY small for my husband so that he knows that even if he were to inhale something, it wouldn’t block anything. As I’m writing this it’s weird to be comparing his diet to a baby’s, haha, but, what can you do.)
Glad to hear he’s eating! How exciting.
Kelly
Also (Kelly again–I was thinking more about this tonight), I read somewhere that it’s impossible for dogs to choke! I wonder if it’s true–but so interesting.
At any rate, it’s strangely comforting to think that 🙂