Introducing Solid Foods (Parenting Lounge #4)

Charlotte Menke

9 years ago

[tps_header]Introducing solid foods is like a rite of passage for baby and mommy. It means your sweet infant is growing up and needs to start getting their nutrition from drinking only milk (breastmilk, formula, or a combination of both) to solid foods. It can be a confusing and scary time for everyone. Here are some tips from moms who have been there, done that.

Introducing Solid Foods

Starting my daughters on solid foods was one of the scariest parts of motherhood for me so far. I was constantly afraid they would either have an allergic reaction or choke.

Those first few months when they are trying everything new are thankfully behind me, but my 14 month old still only has two tiny little bottom front teeth. It seems my kids get their teeth late, since both my girls had absolutely no teeth on their first birthday. So I still have to be vigilant about cutting things up small and making she it is soft enough for the baby to eat.

Advice and Stories from Real Moms

Start with Cheerios

We used the typical cheerios and little cracker snacks. Noodles with sauce was very popular with my girls when they were young. – Michelle Lepak from Dandelion Patina

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Start with greens

Start with the greens! I made the mistake with my first in giving her sweets like apples and pears first. It was a tough job getting that girl to eat any of her veggies, especially anything green. – Brittany from Pennies Into Pearls

Feed them what you are eating

My kids never ate baby food, I would just feed them whatever I was having. Mostly I just gave them tiny little bites and hold them on my lap so that I can watch them. By feeding them what I was eating helped introduce them to a wide variety of foods. – Trista from Mamas Little Minions

Another vote for feed them what you are eating

My 9 month old was having the hardest time adjusting to eating baby food. Then one day I was sitting on the floor eating ravioli and the little stinker crawls over and sticks his fingers into my bowl and starts eating the sauce! so we tried grinding up what we were eating for meals and now no more problems. He eats everything like a pro now. – Rikki from OMG Mommy Momments

Start with real foods

Don’t start on baby cereal. It is bland and has very little if any nutritional value. Start with real foods like avocado and banana. This way, they will learn to like flavors from the start. – Stephanie from Managing a Home

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Stuff you need when starting solid foods

here

Fresh Food Feeder, 2 Pack, Blue/Green Feeding Baby: Simple Approaches to Raising a Healthy Baby and Creating a Lifetime of Nutritious Eating Munchkin Soft-Tip Infant Spoon, 6 Count No More Dining Mess – Baby Feeding One-Piece Mini Happy Face Placemat Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide to Introducing Solid Foods-and Helping Your Baby to Grow Up a Happy and Confident Eater Summer Infant Deluxe Comfort Folding Booster Seat, Tan Silicone Mini Placemat, Silivo 10 Silicone Baby Bibs,Ikevan 1PC Cute Cartoon Silicone Waterproof Baby Bibs Super Soft Infant Feeding Bibs Burp Cloths (Blue)

Follow your kid’s lead

We had one kid who loved jarred baby food and another who refused to let us feed her anything. She wanted solid food, not pureed and she had to do it herself. – Ginger from Gingerly Made

Teach them how to chew

For solid foods, I find it is best to place the food directly on the molar teeth. As this is the natural way to chew, the child is feeling the input from the food. As the child learns to chew, they will take initiative and within a few feedings, be eating the food like a grownup. – Lady Lilith from Little Lady Plays

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There is no right way

I have no right way for this. It is all different for each child. I try to “go green” first and fruits second. This way they get used to eating what we eat. – Tahnee from Sincerely Rose

Thank you Moms!

As with much of parenting, there is no right way to do anything. We have to learn as we go and every child learns and reacts differently.

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