Food For Them

It is a constant challenge trying to find things to feed my little one.  Combine the fact that he is limited in what he is able to chew with trying to maintain a healthy diet and you have a recipe for disaster.  In the beginning there was breastmilk and there is just no easier way to feed a baby.  Then there is the rice cereal, of course I started off early with the health food kick so I chose brown rice cereal.  He took it really well.  Next is the Stage 1 Gerber (or equivalent) baby food.  Let me just say the best thing I read was to start the babies on vegetables first before fruit.  We took that to the core and only gave him veggies for like a month or more.  He now eats all of his veggies, except green beans.  He eats peas, broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash.  Once he was initially good with veggies and after we covered a wide range, we added fruit very slowly.

Oh, side note, we didn't start solids until 6 months.  The AAP recommends starting at 4 to 6 months.  Once our son turned 4 months I could not wait to feed him solids, because according to the old school and experienced moms, "he was going to sleep much longer".  I wanted to check with the doctor first so at his visit we discussed it with her and she suggested we wait until 6 months.  She had explained that since he was gaining weight so well with my breastmilk, we should wait.  Apparently their immature digestive system increases the risk of allergies.  I will not get too technical here although I'd love to do that, but that is the jist.  I went home disappointed and thankful all at once.  So two months later, yay, we started on rice cereal.  Let me be the first to tell you feeding him solids did not help him sleep any longer.  Also, those same moms were talking about putting the rice cereal in a bottle and letting them go to sleep.  It was plastered all over our paper work FEED CEREAL WITH A SPOON, NOT IN THE BOTTLE!  It is a choking hazard.  Man, people did some crazy things back in the day.  The funny thing is that I heard from moms later that their baby was on formula and solids and it didn't help them sleep better so I was relieved.  Also side note, anything you read about feeding times when they are only on milk usually only apply to formula fed babies.  That is something I really wish I knew earlier.

O.k. so Stage 2, I decided to start making some homemade baby food.  It is a daunting task, but so worth it knowing what is going into their bodies.  The easiest foods were sweet potaotes, carrots, squash, and peas.  I would roast them with no additives and blend them in a food processor.  It is amazing to find how much natural flavor is present in these vegetables.  I will say, however, adding cinnamon to squash and sweet potatoes will have them going bonkers for it.  Well at least that how it is for my son.  I didn't stop there though, I would start putting full dishes we made into the food processor.  Not everything works for them, but most do.

Now on to finger foods.  My son took a while to get his first tooth and then the subsequent other teeth.  I was dismayed as I was so excited to get him to finger foods.  Then I researched I realized something that made me laugh.  As adults, we actually use our molars to do the real grinding and babies don't get those forever.  Turns out the gums are hard and strong enough to chomp certain foods.  Everything just has to be over cooked and/or soft.  The can have teething crackers, bread, soft fruit, etc.  With only four teeth my son is eating beef and broccoli, lasagne, chicken dishes, peas, chopped fruit (no citrus until later), real brown rice, pasta, and more.  Turns out he is like mama and loves flavor.  I have a couple of recipes on the blog and I will add more, but here are suggestions

Breakfast
Healthy Pancakes (recipes will be posted later) - use baby food for sauce no syrup
Whole Wheat English muffin with cream cheese and babyfood fruit
Cottage Cheese
Yogurt
Cut up Turkey Sausage
Baby Oatmeal Cereal (they could still use the iron)
Whole Wheat Waffles (recipe on the blog site)

Lunch
Sunflower Seed Butter Sandwich (thin layer only)
Steamed Sweet Potatoes (Trader Joe's has fresh ones cut up like fries)
Steamed Carrots
Peas (smash first in the beginning stages of eating finger foods)
Whole wheat pasta with ground turkey and marinara sauce (see picture, only 20mg sodium per serving)*
*It's easier to chop the pasta into pieces right after cooking before adding anything
Anything you made for yourself, but chopped up

Dinner

Choose a brand that is right for you (Plum is most expensive)

Same as lunch

Snacks**
Puffs,
Cheerios
Fruit
Squeeze Pack are good for on the go (see pic) - they are just baby food in a squeeze pack
Cheese Chopped into small cubes (Colby Jack is awesome and it is a recommend first cheese)


**I am working on some new ideas

His Favorite Fruits
Mango
Peaches
Cantaloupe
Honey Dew Melon
Bananas

Some notes, I got a tip online to roll slippery fruit in flaxseed or crushed cheerios.  I also spoon feed anything that is not a solid piece of food so I always combine a spoon fed item with a finger food.  They tend to prefer feeding themselves, I think.