Solids/ baby led weaning « Back to Group Discussions

[Astraia]

Wondering when everyone is looking at introducing solids?

We do baby led solids (that being, we don't do purees just introduce french-fry sized bits of food that are soft and let our kids eat them or stick them in their hair as they will)- or have with the other two, at least. Nigella started solids about 6.5-7 months, Orrin started at 5.5 months and I'm trying to figure what the "signs" were that I was following with the other two.

Everett can sit pretty well unassisted, get toys in his mouth with good accuracy, keeps taking food out of my hands and putting it in his mouth (or trying to, at least!) and is starting to throw a right fit if I'm eating and try to divert him with a toy or something because he wants my food. He smacks his lips and makes chewing motions while he watches me eat. He LOOKS ready, but... he's not even 5 months yet! I also confess to absentmindedly offering him a bit of steamed carrot the other day- he was in my lap and I just passed it over without even thinking. He gummed it quite happily but dropped it before he managed to actually eat ay of it. When I realized what I'd done (duh!) I didn't give him any more, and he was pretty miserable after that.

I'm never in here any more :/ Not caught up on how anyone elses babies are doing, so if Ive missed a previous discussion on this I apologize! I'm almost never on the computer at all, it feels like. Or if I am just 5 minutes here and there.

 

[rozziemama]

Grace! Hi!

Well, Kai and Everett have the same bday - and we started solids last week...He has had Happy Baby Oatmeal, pureed sweet potatoes, and, his fave thus far - pureed pears, mixed w/oatmeal. I waited until 5.5 mos w/DS1 but Kai seemed ready. All the same things you described.

[MLog]

We're planning on doing baby led solids.  I can't want to hear what my MIL has to say about that.  She's dying to give him a pacifier which I'm trying not to do, but that's a rant for another post.

Elliott is just barely 4 months so I think we're still quite far from him actually starting solids, but I've started thinking about it off and on.  I'm planning to start with something like avocado.  That's about all my thoughts on it so far, but I'd love to hear about how it's going for others.

[Astraia]

I think I might start giving him bits of food to play with. I expect the amount that will actually make it to his mouth to be pretty minimal, since everything is pretty slippery, but honestly being able to eat a meal without a screeching, lunging, screamingly frustrated baby seems somewhat important to me at this point.

MLog, just as a heads up, I have never personally met a baby who liked avocado. It's probably just me, but I know probably 5 other moms who did BLW and started with avocado and thought their kids weren't ready- nope, just didn't like avocado! Mine still don't eat it, which is a shame because I love it.

[MLog]

More avocado for us then if the babes don't like it!   Thanks for the heads up.

[KM84]

We're on day 3 of her first purees - sweet potatoes. I'm using store-bought jar stuff right now because this week has been nuts, but I plan on making our own this weekend.

I'd really planned on waiting until she was 6 months old to start solids, but I've been having milk supply issues for a couple weeks now (probably due to stress, diet, and returning to work) and we talked to her doctor about either supplementing with formula or starting solids. Her doctor thought she was ready for some veggies, and she LOVES them.

We give her about a tablespoon and a half in the morning, and she's so excited. She'll lunge for the spoon if we don't bring it to her mouth fast enough, and opens her mouth wide for more between bites. 

She's still nursing like crazy, but at least now I get a little bit of a break in the mornings (a whole two hours between nursing!).  

I do plan on waiting until at least 6 months, and probably later, to start any sort of grains. We have wheat allergies in our families, so I'm waiting until 12+ months for wheat. 

[forestmushroom]

we skip purees, too. except as maybe a sauce to introduce flavors... but won't introduce any food until after 6 Months...

We will most likely start with avocado or egg yolk... and then yummy fall root veggies!

But really, we are not in a huge hurry. A can sit, put toys in his mouth, etc. and loves to smell stuff. But we will not do anything for at least another month.
 

[rozziemama]

DS1 wasn't fond of avocado when I gave it to him as one of his first foods (I think sweet potatoes was his first too after I realized how ridiculous it was to feed him rice cereal!), but soon enough when he got bigger and ate it in pieces instead of mashed up, really loved it. Now at almost 4 years old he will eat an entire avocado in one sitting, which is great because it's so healthy, but... expensive! At least Trader Joe's has some good deals on avocados. We eat so many of them in our fam. 

I'm curious about the skipping purees thing... how does that work? You just give them big pieces to suck on? 

Originally Posted by MLog 

More avocado for us then if the babes don't like it!   Thanks for the heads up.

[Astraia]

Yep, once the child is old enough (6 months +), most babies are old enough to pick up foods and put them in their mouths. They're pretty good at making chewing movements at that age and making (totally terrifying) gagging faces to move food back to the fronts of their mouths if it's too big to swallow. Some say it's better for children, prevents texture aversions and stuff like that, but in my case it just seems easier.

You give your baby french-fry sized pieces of whatever you're eating- avocado, banana slices, very well cooked green beans, sweet potato, carrot matchsticks (so they're very soft). In my experience they just make a mess and have fun squidging up whatever you've given them and rubbing it in their hair- but it also makes them happy and gives you time to eat your meal while it's still hot!

[rozziemama]

cool. i'll try that too. :)

Originally Posted by Astraia 

Yep, once the child is old enough (6 months +), most babies are old enough to pick up foods and put them in their mouths. They're pretty good at making chewing movements at that age and making (totally terrifying) gagging faces to move food back to the fronts of their mouths if it's too big to swallow. Some say it's better for children, prevents texture aversions and stuff like that, but in my case it just seems easier.

You give your baby french-fry sized pieces of whatever you're eating- avocado, banana slices, very well cooked green beans, sweet potato, carrot matchsticks (so they're very soft). In my experience they just make a mess and have fun squidging up whatever you've given them and rubbing it in their hair- but it also makes them happy and gives you time to eat your meal while it's still hot!

[Sky]

Our oldest girl showed no interest until around 14 mths! she would then pick small bits from our plate and progressed on her own, ebf until then and then bf on demand until age 3 then weaned herself right about 4 yrs

our middle boy was ebf until around 11mths then starting picking off our plates tiny pieces I would make sure it was tender stuff etc but really let him have what he wanted to try, he then was bf still and weaned on his own at about 4.5 yrs

baby Sång is just over 6 mths now and can sit some but not for a long time yet, she also can get on all fours and is almost crawling. The nutritionist scared me in the behining she said only start with "less" than puree like water no surprise Sång has not listened to the nutritionist she has looked at things and grabbed for things so If i am eating homemade chicken soup, crock pot stew or something like that I dip the spoon and give her the liquid part left on the spoon she loves it! Something I would never have done is when she grabbed my straw that had chocolate shake on the end and got it to her mouth. I was worried about the cow milk in it but it was a tiny amount anyway she like it! I will be a bit reserved as we BLW here but tasting for her seems to go well so far.

[BubbleMa]

I did baby led solids with DD1, although I didn't know it at the time.  I wanna say she was about 8 months or so.  I did try some homemade purees, but she wasn't into it so I just put it off until she could eat finger foods.

With Layla I'll definitely wait until she's 6 months and can sit up on her own.  Definitely skipping baby cereals and jarred food.  Egg yolk will likely be the first thing we try.  Bone broth and avocado will likely be next in line.  :)

[rozziemama]

Quick (? ya never know!) question:
what is the deal with eggs? do i really need to separate out yolks for an 8 month old baby? we were having scrambled eggs the other day and babe REALLY wanted them - no one in my family has any sort of egg allergy but everything I read says egg whites are one of the top allergens. Anyone have any real world experience here? I also know that some guidelines are different now wrt allergies vs. the way they were back in 2008/2009 when I was doing this the first time - now maybe as long as they don't choke on it its ok? except for honey? oy.
Mostly I am curious about eggs because Kai is not psyched about baby food and much prefers to eat what we are eating, so I would love to just give the guy some eggs.
thanks!

[Kamiro]

I've been giving D. full eggs since she was 5 months old. It is one of her favorite foods. We have no history of allergies either.

[Astraia]

Yeah, I give him full eggs. For awhile when I scrambled eggs or whatever I'd try to give just the yokes to him (like, scramble them seperately) but then I figured I'm giving him other things with egg in it- baked oatmeal, bits of my muffin, egg-drop soup, etc- and he seemed fine with it. I think it's just the higher risk of a reaction with the whites, but I don't follow any of the other food rules (except raw honey) so I don't think it's a big deal! Also higher risk of salmonella or whatever in egg whites, so undercooked white is the big concern. I try to buy my eggs local/free-run as much as possible, so I'm way less concerned about eggs, even raw, then I would be otherwise.

I mostly give Everett whatever we're eating. He strongly prefers eating lunch and dinner from a spoon (weird!), so I just give him whatever I can from our meals and mush it up a bit with a fork so it fits on a baby spoon.

[rozziemama]

Grace! How awesome to hear from you!
Thanks to you and onemore - I am going to be relaxed about the egg thing then. we'll see. I guess if he breaks out in a rash, I'll know something's off!
I think its so funny how different babies are. DS1 was just a fabulous eater in general and would chow down anything with spoon, with us feeding him, feeding himself, whatever. DS2 will sometimes let me spoon feed him, but mostly just wants to pick it up himself, and won't do purees unless it's just normal applesauce (not baby food, just apple sauce) WITH cinnamon. Huh. go figure.

[Astraia]

DD would not- absolutely NOT- be spoon fed. If she couldn't do it herself, then she just wouldn't eat. DS1 would eat anything in any form and in endless quantity, if I let him. And now Everett- yep, mostly spoon fed. If I'm not feeding him, then he's not eating. My first wouldn't touch store bought babyfood, and Everett almost seems to prefer it. Strange kids!

And I know, it's been AGES since I've been in here. I think I kind of forgot about it (which is weird, since I thought about the group a lot but it never occurred to me to check in and see what's happening!)

[SaguaroMoon]

How are everyone's little ones doing with food now?

We tried K on solid solids (i.e., not purees) at first around 7 months, by giving him sweet potatoes and avocado in a mesh feeder. He initially just banged and threw the feeder. Then, two days in a row, he ate all of the sweet potato out of it - and had terrible stomach pains those next two nights! I realized that, for him, thinner purees might work best initially, as he seems to have a somewhat sensitive digestive system. We started him on two feedings a day in earnest at 8 months. He wasn't really into it until just a little before he turned 9 months old; he'd mostly want to play with his wooden spoon after taking a bite or two, which was fine with us (he still nurses great, and he's ENORMOUS). But then, suddenly, he started LOVING food!

I've been introducing a new pureed food every other day, usually by itself (except in the case of spices, of course). This was kind of cool because it gave me a clear idea of what he loved (peas, avocados, bananas, cinnamon), and what he wasn't as into (green beans, apples, and broccoli - my favorite!). This way, I could combine things that he liked with things that he wasn't as fond of, and now he pretty much likes everything that has been introduced that way. He's tried a wide variety of grains, veggies, fruits and spices at this point, and has had no real digestive problems after the first sweet potato issue (he does well with those now, too). I've started just mashing up certain foods, as well, and I'm starting legumes next week.

Today, our pediatrician (whom I really respect - he has a laid back attitude, thoroughly answers questions, and cites recent studies - very cool), gave us the green light to start anything, as K has been fine with all that he has tried so far, and neither DH or I have any family history of allergies. Whole eggs, nuts, tofu, dairy, wheat, whatever. He just suggested that we wait a week before starting anything new after introducing a potentially allergenic food. This was my gut feeling, too, but it was nice to have it backed up. (Although, I'm still a bit nervous about peanut butter. DH suggested that we all take a walk one day and feed him some just as we walk past a hospital. He was joking, but that's not a bad idea!)

I'm really excited - I feel like we're taking another major step towards him just eating whatever we eat. This is all so much fun!
 

[rozziemama]

Well, K is eating tons of solid food... I have honestly not been very organized about it all. I've kind of lost track. Part of the problem was his daycare... They would give him stuff unbeknownst to me ... Yep... So we actually quit the daycare and got a nanny. But ANYWAY, he eats so many things now. He has been really into scrambled egg (yolk) this week.
I started him on yogurt and cheese recently. He loves whole milk plain yogurt. My older son did NOT like it at all at first as a baby so that has been interesting.
We are in New England, so of course we have also given him Cabot "seriously sharp" cheddar . And goat cheese too.
Aside from green peas that he eats like finger foods, I am mildly concerned he isn't eating/trying many green veggies because of his aversion to puréed food... Although today I was out with him at lunch time and had to buy a jar of baby food so I bought earths best "summer vegetables" and he ate it all... So, who the heck knows.
He is so oral, and enjoys anything in his mouth be it dust or sweet potatoes or whatever :/
I do think he may be sensitive to tofu/soy as he started to get a little bit of rough dry skin after it. So I'm holding off on that for a bit.
And I've not tried any citrus... Or nuts.

[forestmushroom]

that is cool! We've done very few foods, and mostly whole. Potatoes, lentils, etc.... meats that have cooked for a long time, and some baby box oatmeal on occasion ... A loves food, but seems to be doing well enough with nursing. Food doesn't seem to be digested well (well, when it comes out the other end, in his diapers). But we do let him taste lots of foods.

Tofu is a processed food (and not really a traditional soy product) and I wouldn't expect an infant to digest it-- without extra amino acid at least... maybe another fermented soy food, but just tofu is super hard to digest....

Easter is kind of my marker for when A will be eating eggs... funny, huh?

Edit to add: y'all probably know this but honey is a no no not because it is an allergin, but rather it can harbor botulism... and most people can just digest it without a problem but infants under 1 cannot.... :D