Secondly, I also feel a little crummy that I'm late with the big 6 month (half a year!) old post. I've never been late on a monthly milestone. But I had never been teaching kindergarten full-time while parenting twin babies during a monthly milestone before. The post is brewing, but it takes more mental energy than I've got right now to do it.
So instead, I'm recapping our solids adventure so far (typing one handed while holding a sleeping Sam so I can get my baby fix in since I was at work all day):
First, we started out with Earth's Best rice cereal. I had read that Gerber has hidden dairy and soy in their rice cereal, and didn't want to risk a problem with that, considering Sam and Anna were on a formula made for milk/soy protein intolerance for awhile so that's why we went with Earth's Best brand. We attempted a morning solids "breakfast" about an hour after their first a.m. bottle. We started like this because our babies aren't great morning drinkers especially, and we thought that extra stuff would help tide them over until their next bottle. Also, I had heard that when introducing a new food, a morning feeding is better so that if your baby has issues with it, it will be through their system before bedtime and thus not causing sleep issues at night. We quickly abandoned the rice cereal, because it tasted like formula and let's face it- Sam and Anna have never really been too fond of formula. They weren't too keen on the rice cereal, either, understandably. Plus, it doesn't have a huge amount of caloric benefit and our babies needed extra calories, not something to satisfy a big appetite.
After 4 days of rice cereal, we quickly moved on to avocado , since it is a higher calorie food, and because it was a pretty "safe" food for GERD babies. We also decided to move their once daily solids meal to the evening (about an hour and a half before their last bottle) so that we didn't have to try to cram it in before going to work and we could feed them together, rather than have our daycare provider give them their one solids meals. Avocado is so easy to make- we cut up half of one, blended it in our food processor, and then divvied it up between both babies (so each one got a fourth). It was so simple, we just made it on the spot each day before giving it to them. At first we added a little water to it, but then gradually used less and less water and eventually just gave them 100% avocado. Sam and Anna loved avocado. This food seemed to be the one that helped them learn how to eat pureed food from a spoon (although they are still learning!) I think they enjoyed the fact that it tasted nothing like formula. The evening dinner solids meal seemed to work well for Sam and Anna, so we've been sticking with that.
After a week with just avocado, we bought some sweet potato to try. I cubed 3 peeled sweet potatoes and steamed them for about 15-20 minutes. Then I blended them with a little cooking water, and put the puree into baby food cubes to freeze. It was easy-peasy, as I often say to my kindergartners. Sam and Anna thought they were okay. Each day they ate a little more than 1 oz of sweet potato. Forewarning: that stuff really stains, though! I was just relieved that so far we hadn't had any major food fails.
We stayed on just sweet potato for a week, and then alternated sweet potato and avocado for a while. We didn't want to start something new right before our trip to Minnesota in case they had problems. Plus I couldn't decide between bananas and squash for the next food to try!
I ended up getting organic bananas because the squash needed to be baked, and I didn't have time to do that since we were out of town for a few days. Today was day #1 of bananas, and OMG, we couldn't shovel it in Sam's mouth fast enough. Anna downed her half of a banana faster than she's eaten before too. My husband blended it in our food processor, but mushing it up with a fork would work just as well.
Since we've been on a fruit, veggie, fruit pattern so far, we'll probably just continue that until we run out of options. We'll do squash next. I plan to make as much baby food as I can and as much as my free time allows. I'm not going to beat myself up over feeding Sam and Anna store-bought food though. It's just cheaper to make your own, and since they have reflux/eating issues, I just feel more comfortable feeding them things without hidden ingredients.
So questions for you been-there-done-that (or doing it) parents- What foods have your babies liked best so far? How old was your baby when you added in a second daily meal? Our pediatrician suggested at 7 months, but I'm thinking we might before then and have our daycare provider give that one in the morning. Any tips on how to feed two at once by yourself (My husband is going on four trips in the next 2 months-eek!- and I need some advice on how to accomplish that)? The bibs get so nasty, I use stain remover, but still feel like I need to wash them at least every other day. This is really hard for me to fit in. What do you do to keep clothes and bibs stain free?
And also- Any other random solids advice for us? I kind of feel like we're flying by the seat of our pants on this one, and just taking our babies' unique situation (low weight, small appetite, possible oral aversions, reflux, etc.) into account. So far so good, but I'm terrified we'll choose the wrong food and pay for it for days!
Day 1 of Bananas
(doggie bibs in honor of Benelli)
7 comments:
Bib solution idea: Buy some bibs that can be wiped off (instead of the cloth bibs that stain so easily)!! Although those doggie bibs are adorable! Save those to catch drool...
At Babies R Us and probably wal-mart, target, etc... they have wipable bibs. That's what I have for Little Bug. After meals, the bib is wiped off and ready to go for the next meal! Easy-peasy! :)
We have a wipeable one that is basically a shirt. Haven't used it yet, so I can't vouch for it, but it sure looks like it'll keep the clothes clean!
I love the book So Easy Baby Food. It gives recommendations on which foods to make/give at different ages, along with variations once they get older and good combinations (like apples and sweet potatoes).
So far (my son is 6m also) we have introduced sweet potatoes, squash (butternut & acorn), peas, apples (he loves!) and pears.
We just started 2 meals a day, but he is a big guy. Also, he prefers oatmeal over rice cereal, especially when mixed with fruit. That may be something you could try in the morning when you're ready to add a second meal.
Plasticy bibs you can wipe off are great.
K loves rice cereal mixed with mashed banana or applesauce. Avocado mixed with banana. Sweet potato is the fave.
Prunes aren't too loved. Pears were great, peas ok.
I mush the avocados and bananas with a fork - she can deal well with more texture.
We've been giving solids twice a day for a while, probably too much at once, but she loves them. She's thirsty in the am, so the first two meals are straight milk. Next meal is cereal/fruit + milk (about 2/3 the usual bottle plue 2ybsp cereal and 2 tbsp fruit). Next meal just milk, and bedtime meal some other solid plus 2/3 milk bottle.
Happy 6 months!
My babes ate banana like they hadd been starvong for days. They loved it. Unfortunatel, it kinda constipated them. So I am going to avoid it for another month or so till tgeir system matures more. Apple is supposed to cause constipation too and is acidic (reflux). So we are staying away from that too. Carrots stain as bad as sweet potatoes - so watch out! :)
We skipped the rice cereal and did oatmeal instead, which was a hit. It tastes like oatmeal, not what you mix it with, and is a bit better nutritionally then rice.
As for favorite food, roasted carrots for sure! I make a big batch, then divide out hers, a little salt and pepper on the rest and they are delish for mom & dad too!
We are going to add in the second meal next week, at 7 months.
I love your blog...I can relate as we have 6 month old twins too. Feeding two babies by yourself is a challenge..I just set them up in their high chairs and use one bowl and one spoon and alternate babies. I try to feed them before they're too hungry or else things get hairy!
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