March 18, 2010

a new taste

William had his first taste of solids yesterday. I was going to wait until he was 6 months to introduce anything but breastmilk but for the past week he's been diving for everything I've been putting in my mouth and practically drooling over my dinner. Plus he's been teething and I just feel that he's ready. Trust me. I'm not overly thrilled about the now "stinky" diapers he'll be having and I'll certainly miss the convenience of have ready made meals prepared by my girls. My baby's growing up! It's so sad.

The first bites went down pretty well. He seems to like the taste (most of it was breastmilk anyway) but he couldn't quite figure out how to get the food of the spoon so he just sucked. And sucking the spoon mostly resulted in lots of spillage. After about five bites (which was always my mother's requirement when I was little - "just five more bites and then you're done!") he decided he'd much rather use his sucking energy on his thumb and bib. So I figured he was done.

It's all good. I guess I better start making some baby food for the freezer! Does anyone have some good recipes? What kinds of food should I start with?
Photobucket

18 comments:

  1. Hi. I am totally a stranger-no danger though! :) I read your recipe blog and hop on over here occasionally, we have kids the same age and I just started solids too. This site has been a lifesaver, just thought I'd share. Happy eating!
    http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Elizabeth,
    I started our baby off with avocado, it is a great starter food this is super easy on their system.
    ~Kim

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm so glad you asked this because I'm anxious to know myself! That website someone left is great!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would start with pureed veggies. We started Anden with steamed squash (mainly butternut). For now, until he gets older, you want to leave out any seasonings. Our pediatrician did recommend starting with veggies first because it's easiest on their system and it doesn't give them a taste of sweet first (pureed fruits) I would also get the book called Super Baby Food. There are some really good recipes in there and it's easy to find at half-price books! One of Anden's favorites was the avocado/applesauce recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Baby center will tell you what foods to introduce first. Although I should have introduced more green foods in the beginning because he became addicted to orange foods... hence the reason why his skin turned orange! ha ha! I made all my own baby food in the beginning, but out of convenience I buy the Organics line of baby food from Safeway! They have a good variety and Parker sure loves most of them! And yeah, kiss those breast milk diapers away... his diapers are going to get pretty rank smelling!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. A while back, I did a post on baby food. There is so good info there and then at the bottom of the post, there are two links to more stuff. Check it out.

    http://www.rookie-cookie.com/2008/12/into-mouth-of-babes.html

    BTW, you're little son is quite adorable. I know I don't need to tell you, but I feel like I must. Adorable.

    ReplyDelete
  7. hey lady. i use wholesomebabyfood.com

    started on veggies. which he loved! moved to fruits at 6 months...and now he only likes sweet potatoes. sometimes carrots. used to LOVE peas. cant get him to eat them now. despite my efforts to do veggies first. meh. he likes what he likes. ;O)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Elizabeth!!

    Love your blog! My youngest in now 4, but I used this and it was
    AWESOME!!
    http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/beaba-babycook-baby-food-maker/?pkey=x%7C4%7C1%7C%7C4%7Cbaby%20food%7C%7C0&cm_src=SCH

    Pears and apricots are always a good starter! Not constipating which is a biggy!! Good luck (my 3 kiddos started sleeping so much better after they had real food!)

    ReplyDelete
  9. we wrote the same post today.
    Love your blog.
    Your baby is adorable!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. elizabeth,
    my dear baby lila is 7 months and we started solids a month ago. we started with organic rice cereal and breastmilk.

    once she got the hang of that, we went to yellow and orange vegetables. most babies will fall hard for sweet potatoes. my son so much that he was in fact orange.

    my ped. recommended to us to rotate from a veg. to a fruit when introducing a new food. just to expose them to a variety of flavors.

    we will wait for other grains. meats. berries. and citrus because my son has food allergies.

    I cook a different food each day. usually baking or roasting it so I can fill the house with the aroma.

    then put it in the blender, adding a little liquid when needed and then I use the william sonoma beaba food freezing trays, which are fab. and then pop them out and put them in a large ziploc freezer bag and label the bag with the food (color) and date. that way you can easily make combinations later down the road.

    best of luck to you and your sweet william.

    ReplyDelete
  11. and i that wasnt long enough...

    lila was sitting in her bumbo next to a tupperware that had mini pies my mother brought over to our house. I turned the corner and lila took off the lid, threw it on the ground, and grabbed the pies, shoving her little peachpie filled fists in her mouth. I heard her shrieking with joy and came into see the crime scene.

    so as for the progression of introducing food:
    breastmilk. rice cereal. acorn squash. minipeach pie.

    ReplyDelete
  12. We started with veggies too, followed by fruits. Now I mix things like apples and squash, carrots and apples, banana and avocado etc. I also put fruit in her cereal sometimes as well. I have the Beaba Baby cook as well, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! I spent less than 10 dollars on organic produce and made a months supply of food for her. So far she has liked EVERYTHING I have given her!

    Check out my recent post here:

    http://franandjen.blogspot.com/2010/03/homemade-baby-food.html

    Hope that helps! Love your Blog!

    :-) Jennifer

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yes... what a milestone. Congrats William! (and mommy!)

    The books will always say veggies because it's better for their pallet. BUT... that being said I always had to do fruit with my girls because the cereal stopped my girls up (if you get my drift). Um... anything from the organic section and the non-allery group. Whites, greans and oranges I think are the 'safe' ones... I had high risk allergy kids because they were allergic to milk and my youngest is allergic to soy so I had to be more careful.

    I started with apples, pear, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, mango, califlower. That's what I loved about making my own food, it's not just the mainstream stuff. My 16m old, there is literally nothing she won't eat but lettuce, unless it has ginger dressing on it then she's all over it. :)

    Good luck!!!

    oh, with my second I got the baby food cooker and chopper from Williams and Sonoma, awsome! Actually got it second hand. Just a thought.

    (sorry so long... got started and didn't stop)

    ReplyDelete
  14. just a note to say "he's so dang cute Elizabeth"! Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  15. http://www.babycubes.com/

    check out these handy things. making baby food is so much fun! good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Avocado, banana, and any sweet potato are good next steps. My babes didn't like the avocado, but liked sweet potato and banana. It takes a while for them to learn and adjust to the new eating. Audrey wasn't as ready as her brothers, but watching them helped her figure it out. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh joy! I used to cook a big pot of vegetables (carrots, broccoli, spinach, squash, etc.) and potatoes and then freeze it in small portions. Then I would pull it out when I needed it and mash it up in the "Happy Baby" food grinder. (Gotta have one! www.happybabyproducts.com) My babies loved it.

    Bananas are always easy and filling, but don't give him anything sweet too soon. When he gets to the "pincher" stage, I always loved to throw a small handful of frozen peas on the highchair tray... easy, tasty, cold (good for teething), and healthier than Cheerios. They just gum them and they pretty much dissolve. It's brilliant! And the best way to keep them busy and entertained while you make dinner. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. What a fun new phase...you really don't need recipes, just some vegetables. Steam them or broil them and toss them in the blender-and cooking water back in to get the right texture... for the first few months I always ran them threw a sive too but its not always neccesary. For each feeding just as in a bit of cereal and/or milk. Many foods don't need any prep just smashed and thined with milk.

    Have fun.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated to eliminate spammers and internet bullies.