ferrousland.com - diary archives
Sunday, February 22, 2004
solids - 06:59 AM
yesterday we started smiley on solids. i was rather excited. it's something that can be quite an experience for some babies.
over the past four or five days riley's been having an extra feed or two during the night (which has been killing me from the lack of sleep) & been feeding like a champion during the day. he's been showing an interest in what i've been eating for at least a month. i'd been giving him a small taste of bits of fruit & little drops of sauce from various dinners i'd been eating for a couple of months & he'd always shown interest at the very least & sometimes absolute joy.
i was planning to wait until he was six months old to start him on solids, but what with him being a bottomless pit lately at five & a half months, i thought it was close enough to give it a go.
so yesterday i bought half a butternut pumpkin & a sweet potato to make him his first solid food. i chopped some of each them up into small pieces so they'd cook quickly, then i boiled them in the minimum amount of water. once they were done, i mashed them up in the water i cooked them in (so as not to waste any of the nutrients) & then ran it through a mini blender thing which jade gave to me a while ago.
i mixed a small amount of breastmilk into his first tiny serving to thin it out & give it a bit of a familiar flavour, then off we went.
i would have to say that it was a complete success! he was so keen, in fact, that if i didn't refill the spoon & get it back to his mouth quickly enough, he'd start to complain. i've since given him two more small meals of the same (with no breastmilk in it) & he's enjoyed it just as much each time.
he can eat only the tiniest bit at a time still, of course, so i froze the rest into an ice cube tray ready for more feeds. you can see the end result here.
i'm very pleased. hopefully this will mean he might begin to sleep through the night, or at least go back to only one night feed. my baby is growing up!
so next i might try some ordinary (as opposed to sweet) potato & carrots. if he's happy with that, too, & we get into a good routine for solids, then i might make him some fruit mashy stuff for dessert.
of course, now this adds a whole new dimension to taking him outside the house, especially when i leave him with his nannas. not only will i have to bring his usual plethora of baby stuff & expressed milk, but i'll have to add a solid meal as well!
Sounds like some "real" food was a hit. Glad it went well.
I always wanted a 'garbage bin' kid, you kow the ones, where you step on the pedal and the lid (mouth) opens up? my kids were fussed on solids, i seem to recalal that they only liked mashed apple, talk about a fuss! sigh... sounds like a great positive experience, wait till he is a teenager and goes back to being fussy again..... sigh, the things i have INSISTED my boys eat, as there are so many ways to use, prepare and enjoy are:
1. Cheese
2. Potato
3. Eggs
4. Tomatoes
Most of the world's cruisine is based on these food groups, Italian, french, etc... good luck!
and you'll soon learn which foods liquefy and which foods solidify
(if you get my drift!)
Of Course Riley shows an interest in what you're eating. 6 months on a milk diet and he still can smelll what you cook for the big people. Poor little bubs has been drooling for roast and baked vegies, curry or whatever has been on the go.
On another note, if you have read Catch-22 or seen the movie, you will remember the scene where the nurses change the bottles for the patient encased in plaster. I was reminded of that part of the story when I checked out the photo of the ice cube tray....yellow going in and yellow coming out....
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awww.
he sounds just like stephanie was, with getting annoyed if you don't get the next spoonful there quick enough.
glad the blender was a help