All 3 of my children were breastfed babies. Aside from getting started with Gabbie, breastfeeding was easy for me and my kids. As a first time mom, I pretty much stuck to my pediatrician’s recommendations regarding starting solid food. At that time, the recommendation for starting solid food was between 4 and 6 months. And for Gabbie, solid food was really liquid! For some reason I can’t find the pictures I’m sure I used to have of Gabbie eating rice cereal mixed with breastmilk from a spoon. After cereals, she moved on to eating various purees from a jar – one at a time to make sure she had no allergies. At about 9 months she started eating finger foods.
By the time Zachary came along, my pediatrician was recommending we wait longer to introduce solid foods – for a breastfed baby the recommendation is to solely breastfeed until 6 months old. Zachary was almost 6 months old when we first gave him jarred baby food. I skipped over the cereals so that once he had eaten vegetables and fruits, I could mix the cereals in with them instead of giving him watered down cereals. Here is Zachary’s first time eating:
Although he looks pretty happy in the pictures, Zachary was always difficult to feed. He had to be greatly encouraged to take any purees, whether the jarred kind or some I made for him. I remember having a mother’s helper who would feed Zachary for me while I bathed Gabbie and it was always a celebration when he was willing to eat. As far as finger foods went, Zachary choked on them for the longest time. He is still my pickiest eater.
With Simon, I decided to take an entirely different route. I bypassed the cereals and pureed foods completely and instead gave him table food from the time he was able to pick things up and put them in his mouth. The theory was that if he was picking up and chewing on toys, he would do the same with food and while doing so he would realize he could actually eat! His first food was apples.
Simon is by far our best eater. He started out eating everything we ate and he continues to eat whatever we give him. He has his picky moments, but he is nowhere near as picky as the other two! He also fed himself from a young age, so while he sometimes asks for help eating, he mostly feeds himself and has been since he started eating solid food. And this time when I say solid food, I mean solid food!
To find out about the best and most affordable food vacuum sealer, click here now.
This post has been written for the Mommy Cubed Blog Hop!