Introducing Solids or Should I Say Purees

Being part of a ‘New Mamas’ group on Facebook has been such a blessing.  It has allowed me to get answers to questions I didn’t even know I had, share some of my own experiences as well as hear a variety of opinions on caring for a baby.  I only actually know (like talk to in person or hang out with) a couple of the women and yet I value everyone’s take on being a mom.

One of the topics discussed when I was anxiously awaiting JB’s arrival was when to introduce solids. I followed along with the conversation.  Some were introducing food at 4 months while others waited until 6 months.  At the time I made a mental note and thought to myself we would wait until 6 months.

Ha. So AMATEUR of me to make ‘decisions’ such as these when I had NO idea what caring for a baby would be like. At Jellybean’s 4 month checkup we got the go ahead from our pediatrician to being solids. She recommended starting with oatmeal cereal (skipping rice cereal).

Jellybean has always been a good eater and it seemed as though she was always hungry!  I often said to my husband “Should couldn’t possibly be hungry again” and then baby girl would demolish her bottle in record time.  We really couldn’t make it very long during the day between feedings.  As a result the husband and I decided we would go ahead and start solids at 4 months old since the doctor gave the A-OK.

I was so excited as we strapped JB into the highchair and mixed some formula with the oatmeal cereal.  She looked kind of confused as we moved the spoon to her mouth.  The oatmeal dribbled out of her mouth and down her chin.  Throughout the entire first solid food feeding Jellybean was breaking out some seriously hilarious facial expressions.  They were absolutely priceless!

Fortunately the husband and I were pretty well prepared and broke out the camera prior to giving her the food.  She went from looking pissed off to completely clam {see pictures below} in the amount of time it took to snap two photos!

Guess she was adjusting to the spoon, new tastes, and the expressions on her parent’s faces.  See Sophi in the lower left hand corner of the picture?  She wasn’t going to miss out on all the attention Jellybean was getting.  :)

It took about two weeks for Jellybean to get the whole eating thing down. I was a little concerned after a week that we introduced solids for the first time too early.  So we took a little break.  When we re-introduced the oatmeal with applesauce, per a friend’s recommendation, a few days later we were in business!

We made such a big deal of saying “yum yum” and praising her that she developed an amusing association to being placed in the high chair.  As soon as we put her in the high chair the legs start going a million miles an hour, a huge smile emerges on her face, which is followed by shrieks and babbling.  I get the biggest kick of out it!

For the most part I am homemaking the food – I mean – purees.  Jellybean is a fan of apples, pears, sweet potatoes and prunes.  I decided to purchase pre-made prunes, because I just wasn’t interested in figuring out how to make them into baby food.  :)

We attempted to introduce peas – it was a total fail.  Jellybean gagged in disgust and then acted like she was chocking … which she wasn’t (thank goodness!), but it got my adrenaline going nonetheless.  We thought it was a texture issue so we offered her the pre-made kind and she still refused to swallow it.  Kid already has sweet tooth … not shocking considering how many sweets I ate during my pregnancy.

Next up on the list is cauliflower, butternut squash and maybe carrots. Though, I’m kind of afraid of carrots. Our friends told us the WORST diaper they ever changed was after introducing carrots. Oh my, the joys of parenthood. =)

Once baby girl is a little bit older I plan to have her try broccoli, zucchini and mango.  I’m really excited for her to acquire a taste for a variety of foods!!  How to keep up with the cooking and storage of all this baby puree is a little bit daunting.  Recommendations??

My favorite and must have items for baby girl eating ‘solids’ … I really think we should call it introducing purees.  The kiddo won’t be having a ‘real’ solids for a few more months, but I digress.  Favorite items for eating solids (so far) includes …

OXO Tot Feeding Spoon  /  OXO Tot Roll Up Bib  /  Fisher-Price Space Saver High Chair / OXO Tot Baby Blocks Freezer Storage Containers / Baby Bullet Complete Baby Care System / Earth’s Best Oatmeal Cereal

And all of these, with the exception of the oatmeal, would be perfect items to put on the baby registry!

What was giving your baby solids for the first time like? Any suggestions for keeping up with homemade baby food?

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