When Little Oats was four months old, the doctor suggested starting her on rice cereal. She was a little peanut in the weight department, and he thought it might help her sleep through the night (haven’t we all heard a variation on this?). So, just before Christmas, we started spoon-feeding her a brown-rice cereal… and she loved it! Gobbled up bowl after bowl… until her stomach protested. She had gas pains, constipation, and really struggled to go to the bathroom. So we backed off until 6 months, when we attempted to introduce other foods.
(Little Oats devouring her rice cereal)
I prided myself in making all of my own baby food. I whipped up combinations like pear and ginger, avocado and lime, and cinnamon peach. They tasted great, I used local produce when I could, and I was so excited to start feeding them to Little Oats. But despite offering her different fruits, vegetables and cereals several times a day, she wanted nothing to do with purees. One day, out of desperation when we were at the mall, I bought her a baby food pouch. Since she could hold onto it and feed herself (with a little help), she loved it. Pouches seemed to be the answer to Little Oats’ puree-aversion. Because I had a freezer full of homemade baby food, I ordered these reusable pouches from Amazon; this way, my farmers-market-fresh fruits and veggies wouldn’t go to waste. But the little stinker knew the difference, and would ONLY eat the store bought pouches. Puffs were a hit, as were Cheerios… but a baby can’t survive on carbs alone!
(unimpressed with my homemade baby food)
By the time she hit nine months, she had 6 teeth, was skinny as a string bean, and still only showed limited interest in food. Knowing full well that she needed to be eating something other than breast milk and puffs by the time I went back to work in August, we tried seeing what food she showed an interest in.
And wouldn’t you know it, she was interested in ANYTHING from my plate. Hot, cold, breakfast, dinner – it didn’t matter. If I was eating it with a fork or spoon, Little Oats wanted some. So that’s what we started giving her. Slowly at first, because gagging freaks the heck out of me, but then with more gusto as we realized the kid would eat almost anything! Avocado, black beans, chicken, tofu (in spicy peanut sauce!), fish sticks, pasta salad… anything she could pick up in her little fingers, she devoured.
We’re sitting here a little shy of a year, and after a good 4 months of struggling, I can confidently say that Little Oats is a good eater. She learned the sign for ‘more’ quickly; the faster she signs, the faster she can cram her face full. I can’t sit down with a plate before she’s pulling up on my lap, saying ‘mo mo’ and signing ‘more.’ She prefers to feed herself; any spoon that comes near her mouth gets grabbed and thrown across the room.
I didn’t plan on baby led weaning; I had done a little research, and wasn’t keen on the mess, or the potential for gagging. But we’ve never had a problem with gagging; Little Oats is an expert at spitting out pieces of things that are too big or difficult for her to chew. I was also given a reality check in the mess department; it doesn’t matter what or how she eats, there will always be a mess.
I didn’t go looking to use BLW, but BLW found us, and it’s been easier, healthier, and more fun than I could have imagined!
blogger / nectarine / 2043 posts
What a cutie pie! Baby Carrot was the opposite – she latched on to purees immediately but had a slow transition to table food. Thankfully we seem to now be completely puree free at almost 14 months!
watermelon / 14206 posts
Great post! M still has a couple months to go, but I’m excited to start showing him all the great food there is
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
Colin was also much more interested in things he could eat with his hands than purées. Glad it ended up working out so well for you.
blogger / nectarine / 2600 posts
I did accidental baby led weaning with my second too as she took to food like a duck to water. I have to say its been easier with her than dealing with my picky pre schooler as she eats what we do whereas my son has seperate meals most times.
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Three kids in I am a solid BLW convert. The purees are great mixed with plain yogurt and if use use really thick stuff it is less messy.
blogger / kiwi / 675 posts
so cute! My daughters both like purees but S is So into BLW/self-feeding its fun to watch. This post is really cute.
olive / 72 posts
DS also hates getting spoon fed. One thing that I’ve done to get him to eat purees is to just cut up frozen cubes of purees into bite sized pieces. He eats the little cubes like any other finger food
Has worked pretty well. Also have small cubes of breastmilk or pedialyte for when he’s dehydrated. Still wanted to give him some fortified oatmeal cereal so I make little balls of it (with very little breastmilk). At 10 months, I hope to somehow get a spoon into his mouth once in a while because soups are awesome, but it might take a while.
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
That’s great! I”m so glad BLW is working for you!
blogger / nectarine / 2687 posts
awww, she is so cute! love that second pic!
GOLD / grapefruit / 4555 posts
Yeah, purees were pretty hit or miss here too for both kiddies but man can they eat momma’s mac n cheese! (And I mean that from a box, not from sctach. Momma Bear doesn’t have -that- much free time.) Sometimes you just gotta follow their lead and hope for the best!