The pediatrician gave us the go-ahead to start Baby Jumper on solids at four months.  We started with rice cereal, which we made into a soupy pancake-like mix.  Baby Jumper did surprisingly well at eating from a spoon and swallowing solid food for the very first time.  At four and a half months, we slowly introduced stage one baby foods (also with the permission from our pediatrician).  We introduced a new food every 3-4 days, and I can honestly say that there isn’t a single food that Baby Jumper didn’t like.

Around five and a half months, we moved on to stage two foods.  They’re a little thicker in consistency and have larger portions.  At this point, Baby Jumper was eating two entire containers per meal — so, six per day.  I had every intention of making our own baby food and freezing it, and even bought several cook books to help me meal plan for the baby.  But, I never got around to doing it.  In the end, I’m very glad I didn’t.  We have a case of baby food sitting on the counter that we don’t know what to do with.  Baby Jumper absolutely refuses to eat it.  What would I have done with weeks’ worth of frozen baby food if I’d have made it myself?  She hates the texture now.

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first time trying rice cereal

At her six month well-visit, our pediatrician told us that now is a great time to introduce family meals.  In other words, we all sit down and eat the same foods together.  This was obviously foreign to us, but that night I made spaghetti and mashed some up for Baby Jumper.  I was excited for her to try my homemade sauce (I use my nana’s recipe, which was brought over from Italy!) and she ate every single bite.  It was pretty messy, but we didn’t care.  We let her pick up some of the noodles herself, but made sure to feed her some from a spoon as well.  In the end, I had a happy baby who was full of delicious food.

From that point on, she hardly ate a jar of baby food again.  Around 7 months old, we had dinner at my mom’s.  She’d made a roast, mashed potatoes and carrots.  She put some meat and gravy in the blender, hit pulverize, then fed Baby Jumper.  Her eyes lit up in delight!  She was so excited to have this new food, full of flavor.  We haven’t been able to feed her a jar of baby food since.

first time trying spaghetti

Somewhere between 7 and 8 months, Baby Jumper really perfected her pincer grasp.  She does a great job of picking up her food from her tray on the high chair and loves eating Puffs and Mum Mums.

Yesterdays menu looked like this:

BREAKFAST:
– 1/2 banana and 1 strawberry in the food processor

LUNCH
– Steamed vegetables
– Chicken Noodle Soup (noodles, chicken and chicken broth)

SNACK
– Yogurt

DINNER
– Macaroni and Cheese
– Green Beans
– Cinnamon Apple Sauce

Our grocery bill has gone up slightly, and this forces us to meal plan to make sure Baby Jumper is getting all four food groups.  We’re eating healthier, too, which is great!

We let her eat whatever we’re having, and blend it in our food processor.  We also cut up small pieces and let her feed herself.  She’s getting better at making sure she gets all the food in her mouth, and we have very little mess on the floor compared to the mess we had two months ago.   Her favorite foods are mashed potatoes and green beans.  She’d eat both at every meal if we let her.  She’ll eat an entire can of unsalted green beans by herself.  Oddly enough, green beans are my favorite vegetable, too… and I would eat them almost every day during my pregnancy!

Do you make your own baby food?  What are your baby’s favorite foods?

Start Puree Solids – How To part 3 of 7

1. Getting Started with Solids, Purees, and Baby-led Weaning by Mrs. Bee
2. Operation Solids by Mrs. Yoyo
3. feeding an 8 month old by Mrs. Jump Rope
4. My Modified Baby-Led Weaning Approach by Mrs. Pen
5. Introducing Baby to Herbs and Spices by Sarah Crowder
6. Figuring Out Food at 9 Months by Mrs. Hopscotch
7. "Bad" BLW: Feeding with a Loaded Spoon by Mrs. Sketchbook