I hadn't planned on introducing solids until 6 months, but he would stop and watch me eat whenever I ate in front of him, so a couple weeks before he turned 6 months I started him on solids. And he loved it!
At both his 6 month and 9 month doctor appointments I felt a bit pressured to be feeding him more. At 6 months I thought it was odd since introducing any before that time wasn't supposed to be necessary. And I felt a little defensive at the 9 month appointment too because I felt I'd been feeding him well and that he was eating a lot for someone his age. But for the most part I've tried to follow their advice. Our baby loves to eat so whatever.
(At 6 months they told me he should be having three solid meals a day instead of one. At the 9 month appointment they told me to give him more meat, carbs, dairy, and fats. His weight had gone from the 35th percentile at birth, to the 12th percentile at 6 months, to the 5th percentile at 9 months, so I can see how they don't like the trend. But he seems healthy and happy to me.)
I try to put small bites of what I'm eating on his tray so he can eat it as finger food. So far he isn't interested. He'll touch it and when he feels it isn't like a cracker or Cheerio he'll never touch it again. But sometimes he'll let me pick it up and put it in his mouth. In fact, he often loves to eat what I'm eating. But if he doesn't like the feel then I need to feed it to him.
At lunch time he demands I keep snacks on his tray or he won't eat from the spoon. Even though he loves eating from a spoon. (Actually, having a fruit like applesauce in every spoonful does the trick too.) It's pretty funny because he isn't like that at breakfast or dinner. So I'm going to use lunch to try out some new finger foods so that hopefully it's not always Gerber Graduates.
UPDATE: Almost immediately since I posted this he's been better about eating lunch without the constant presence of snacks.
Sometime in his seventh month I started making his fruits and veggies myself. Store bought baby food seems so expensive, and it looks and smells gross. Homemade baby food is cheaper and looks and smells yummy! I've really enjoyed making it - it's easy!
I've made mac and cheese too and want to make another pasta. I'll probably make it tomato based since 10 months is when they can have tomatoes. And he's almost there! Tomorrow is the 9th!
If you read all that then you should get a medal. But even better: there are pictures and a video!
This video is from December 2nd but he still makes this noise while he eats :)
1 comment:
He's a cutie! I totally understand the frustration with the food and weight thing. It's something that we fought for a long time--and admittedly, we're probably still fighting but I let it bother me a lot less. I still always hold my breath when the weigh the boys, though. Especially Kai! Keep up the good work. I'm sure you're doing great!
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