My third child is now 7 months old. I waited to start solids until a few weeks ago and so far we have tried rice cereal and some banana. She really does not seem that interested and spits most of it out. Honestly I am so busy taking care of my 5-year-old and 3-year-old that feeding her solids every day seems like a pain, especially when she doesn't even want to eat them. My older two were the same way, I kind of had to force them to eat babyfood. Once finger food got involved it was a little easier. I kind of feel like this neglectful mom by not feeding her solids but part of me feels like it's no big deal. She still nurses on demand day and night and is in the 90th percentile for weight and height. So my question I guess is, what's the deal with babyfood???? Should I really have to work so hard to get her to eat it or should I just feed her when we both feel like it and not sweat it. Anyone ever skip right over babyfood to finger food when they were old enough? I guess they need the iron in cereal or something. I believe there's a debate about that to though. Thoughts?
Have you ever tasted the baby food from the supermarket? It's vile.
I mashed up whatever I was eating, seasonings, spices, and all, and gave it to my daughter.
I think you should feed her babyfood. Just my opinion. She has to learn to eat it before she will get interested. When I first started feeding my son baby food, o boy...It was a NIGHTMARE!! But, after about 2 weeks he really got the hang of it! And we both learned what he liked and it didn't like. Now feeding him is a BREEZE!:) One jar of baby food takes hima bout 5 minutes to eat, and there is practically no clean up. I know it seems like a complete pain, but if you give it some time it will get easier. :) But, do whatever works for you guys!!:) Goodluck
Mine went straight from breast to table. Yes, I had a baby food grinder and would often grind up whatever we were eating, but honestly they weren't that interested in the whole "baby" food stage.
I personally LOVE cooking and food and I just don't get why so many moms get so stressed out over eating/nutrition (?) Even if your kid is picky, this is America, your child is almost certainly very fine and healthy, and has access to the best of everything, so stop worrying so much and enjoy!!!
It apparently is REALLY important for them to have a wide variety of different foods early - this is a large part of what determines the lifelong habits of adventurous eaters v. picky ones. Sorry, I know I'm going to hear a lot of 'well, this is not what my kid did' but there is fairly good research in this area. When my son was this age, we just pureed whatever we were eating and fed him the same things (no honey until a year) so it really was not a lot of work.
It is not terribly important for nutrition. It is very important for developing a palate for foods later and a willingness to try new things.
No!! You don't need to feed them babyfood. Yes, maybe the cereal for the iron, but you should check out Baby Led Weaning.
It goes through the bigology of how babies develop orally - that we are probably too overly concerned about our babies choking. My little girl has gagged - gotten food stuck on the back of her tounge, but never actually choked (food caught in her airway).
I fed my daughter baby food for a couple of weeks - never really enjoyed it (mom) and she got bored with it quickly. I went straight to finger foods and never looked back.
I can't tell you how many comments I've gotten from people regarding how well she eats and feeds herself. She's always been a good eater, so I don't think I can take credit for that (this one on the way will probably be the complete opposite =D). But as far as feeding herself, I will totally take credit for that. I stopped feeding her. She wanted to eat, so she had to figure out how to get the food from her tray to her mouth, then how to get peices off and swallowed.
Again, check out Baby Led Weaning. Totally revolutionary way to think about feeding our children.
BTW - a question written after this one asked about why they have to remove the skins and peels from food they're pureeing for baby food - I started to write back that the real question was "why do I have to puree my baby's food" but thought better of it. Thanks for giving me an opportunity to share this without being snarky!
I never used store bought baby food.
We used a baby food grinder, hand held type that you can use anywhere.
We just put in everything we were eating, would add a tablespoon of water or milk, and spoon fed.
One exception, I did use baby rice cereal in the beginning, with yogurt.
If she is breast fed then no, you don't have to start food till after a year. I think the big push is because formula leaves nutritional gaps that breast milk does not so babies need those nutrients from baby food. However, at a year old my son only does a little table food and LOVES his baby food. It is the ONLY way he will eat veggies, so ya never know, maybe it's just to soon for your little one. Nutritionally nothing is lacking though so don't stress it.
The primary nutritional source is breast milk or formula. Baby food serves NO nutritional purpose whatsoever, even in babies who are fed formula. Even though breastmilk is best, there is not a nutritional deficiency in formula that has to be made up for with baby food.
Baby food is for "practice". It builds the "skill" and introduces them to different flavors and textures. But it will be fine if you don't do that and just go right to easy to eat table food.
Just do baby led weaning. Basically, the baby eats when she starts to feed herself. That's the way people have done it for centuries, after all. :)
Breastmilk should be her primary source of calories until 1 year, so food is basically for practice at this age. Some babies simply aren't ready for food yet, and that's fine. Within a couple of months, she'll probably become interested in feeding herself bites of soft food or being fed. I'm not big on actual babyfood, anyway. Bits of banana or avocado or anything you can mash with a fork (potatoes, eggplant, etc.) make good "babyfood" but they can just be what the rest of you are eating as well. My baby has been eating mexican, japanese, indian, etc. foods since about 7-8 months ... it's so much easier to just give her some of what I'm making for us, anyway!
My third child refused baby food too. I made my own babyfood, but she still wasn't interested. She finally decided to eat solid food at around 9 months old. By then we went straight to finger foods and it was soooo easy! I wish I had done that with my other two! She was breastfed and as happy as can be without the solid food at an earlier age and so much easier! We totally skipped the pureed food stage!
Hey! So both of my boys wouldn't eat the rice cereal stuff until I started mixing it with all the stage one foods. It did take a little while though for them to get used to it. Eventually a routine formed with it & that made it a lot easier. It's so hard because you're in your routine now of breastfeeding and now your changing things up a little. That's what was hard for me when they were little...well..when they were infants (2.5 yrs & 18 months now :-). Um.......not to mention your two other children! Seriously?! You're doing a great job! I know you're stressing about it ...I find something to stress out about all the time..it's so ridiculous:-), but as long as she is growing at a healthy rate I wouldn't put pressure on yourself. Doesn't the American Academy of Pediatrics say breastfeed as long as you possibly can....don't rush into solids? We'll always find something to make ourselves feel like we should be doing something that we're not, but you're doing a wonderful job :-) Oh and I wonder if you could put a little cereal in a bottle with your milk & give that to her a couple of times a day....so she's getting the iron...or DHA??
hope that helped a little.....good luck & you know from having your first 2 things always get easier!! :-)
no don't bother. If she's interested do it. My son who is my third child is about to be 8 months old and is very interested in food. I have the same issues as you do - I also have a 4 yo and a 5 yo so it is an extra hassle. I make all of my own babyfood, put it in small snackbags and freeze it then pull out one at a time. It is easy, not alot of fuss at all. I try and feed him his babyfood before our meal so we can all sit down and eat together, and then I usually give him cheerios or a teething biscuit during the meal so he feels like he is eating with us.
You do not have to feed her baby food at all. Formula and breast milk are complete nutrition until one year of age. That said...baby food has very very little nutrition. It is a tool, is for teaching babies to chew and swallow, that is all. If you were making her food from things in your home then it would of course have more nutrition but then she would be missing out on the wonderful things that breast milk offers. I think people feed babies way too soon. She will let you know when she is ready to eat big kid food.
Babies develop at different rates. I suggest your daughter isn't developmentally ready to eat food. Wait a few weeks and try again.
My second child was very interested in feeding herself fingerfoods. She wanted to be like her big brother. Anyway - we never really made much babyfood bc she would feed herself so much. It sounds to me like your child is doing great. Will she pick up small pieces of soft food and feed herself? She is so young still that you don't need to worry too much yet.
I think she needs to get a feel for the textures and learn to swallow bigger things. Remember that this age is about taste and experience and not just food. Breastmilk is still primary til 1. Especially at first, DD didn't eat much baby food and I didn't push it really hard, but I did offer. We didn't start her on any solids til 6.5 months and that was just cereal. Have you tasted commercial bananas and rice cereal? Blech. Try oatmeal or mashed up fruit. I would sit down and think about how to incorporate her feeding into your day. At 5 and 3, the older kids can color or read or watch a cartoon while you take care of your baby.
That said, friend's son skipped purees and as soon as he could get chubby fingers to face, went for "real" food (a little mashed up). He still needed help with feedings, though. Finger food can still be a choking hazard.
I made everything mine ate, including the rice "cereal" from actual rice. They would eat what we ate, or I had cooked & frozen food that I stored in the freezer if we were having something that was just too difficult to manage chewing-wise. It could be a texture thing...try a different food (mine loved avocados) or wait. Nothing says she has to have food right now!
With my youngest, she didn't eat babyfood. She nursed almost exclusively for the first year. She wasn't interested. I did offer whatever we ate (mashed up for her consistency) often. Eventually, she ate what we ate. She nursed for 2 years, and has always been very healthy. I wouldn't worry about it if your baby isn't all that interested.
My 3rd refused baby ffod in the jar,spoke to our pediatrician & it was ok for her to have what we were eating makingin it more mashed up for her to eat & she did the grasping & picking up to self feed on her own around 5-6 months so she was eating the Gerber finger foods in her high chair,then when it came to eating I just fed her unsweetned applesauce jar or homemade,baby yougurts,mashed potatoes,sweet potatoes,fruits,veggies anything that wasn't going to make her choke after a while we did very tiny pieces of meat that we hand fed her to make sure it was really small & she didn't have the chance to grab a handful & eat it but whatever we ate she ate & loved it she ate better that way & I breastfed her on demand till she was 15 months old introduced the milk at 1 yr but she refused till she was done with bfing juices where half juice & half water when given to her.We did usePoly-visol a liquid vitamin per pediatrician since the guidelines on vitamin D changed & her blood lab showed signs on anemia in her foods or drinks she never drank from a bottle her choice was a kiddy cup with no spill straw.Don't feel bad for not feeding her baby food from a jar you smell it & eat it then your like whoa why I can do this at home with what I have for my family.You have alot of great responses if you need to ask her Dr next well appt. don't doubt yourself you can't force feed a child just keep bfing her on demand she will lead you & yu teach her good eating habits by eating nutrious foods
If your baby's grasping skills are good, t here are a bunch of foods that come in those "capri sun" style pouches now that you can pretty much hand to a baby and advise them to suck the mush out of. Makes things slightly easier!
