Baby Food

Our pediatrician gave us the freedom to feed Brooks how we wanted to. From my understanding the two most common routes are start with purees then work up and baby led weaning where you give them bigger foods. I'm sure there are tons of studies on each side about which is better but I wasn't trying to follow any one plan.

I tried both! At 6 months I gave him a puree and a finger food. He gagged and choked on the puree but not the finger food. I continued to give him finger foods and slowly keep introducing purees. Once he discovered what it was, what to do with it and that he actually liked it by 7 months he started being OK with being spoon fed.

I was anxious about giving him finger foods. I kept asking Dan, "What if he breaks a piece off?!" as Brooks was gumming a banana. "...then he swallows it...that's the goal remember?" Oh... yeah. Ah, mom worries. It took a week for Brooks to figure out his gag reflex and at 7 months now he usually does pretty good unless he's just so excited for that banana and tries to inhale it.

I thought I'd share for any other mommas what I've given him and how I prepare it.

Sweet Potatoes

Wash and peel, cut into small fries.

To prepare you can either:

1. Put 2 fries on a plate with about a teaspoon of water, cover and microwave until soft and steamed (30-45 seconds). Let cool!

2. Roast 2 fries in a 350 degree oven for 2 minutes with a tiny tiny bit of olive oil so they don't stick. But watch them, they go fast!

I prefer the microwave because it's faster. I'll cut the whole potato up, store the fries in a bag in the fridge then just cook/steam 1 or 2 when we eat. They keep well in the fridge!

Zucchini Rounds

Wash then cut into thick coins.

Prepare like the sweet potatoes above.

I'll cut the whole zucchini up, store in a bag in the fridge then just cook/steam 1 or 2 when we eat

Cucumber
Wash and cut into thick coins.

Broccoli Stems
Wash and cut into small 'trees'. Steam in microwave like above.

String cheese
Cut the whole cheese in half then rip off a string. Brooks doesn't eat a whole cheese, I store the rest in the bag in the fridge

Chicken
I've prepared this many different ways- boil it, pan roast with a tiny bit of olive oil or grill it. I just leave it plain and cut into long strips.

Steak
Grilled plain and cut into strips.

Bananas
I'll prepare these a couple of ways depending on how I feel that day. Sometimes I'll just give it to him and let him go wild.

Extra trick- prepare like this so they can hold it better! Bananas are slippery.

Or I'll cut it up and put it in a bulb feeder

Or I'll mash it up, add rice cereal and spoon feed him.

Strawberries
Wash, cut off the top and slice into quarters. I would put these in the bulb feeder in the beginning too.

Apples
Wash and slice paper thin. You could steam them to soften but my teething baby likes them this way.

Store bought purees & pouches
Some mommas love making their own purees and that's awesome! But I found it much easier to buy it especially for the fruits and veggies not in season. I scan the label to make sure there's no added sugar or anything else I don't want him to have before I buy. He doesn't go through a whole pouch at once so I just squeeze it into the spoon instead of letting him suck on it. Plus if the pouches aren't see through I feel much more comfortable seeing his food before he eats it. I've read too many moldy pouches horror stories.

Rice Cereal
Brooks doesn't like rice cereal on it's own but I want to make sure he's getting adequate iron. I'll pour a teaspoon or two of a puree or a squeeze pouch into a bowl and sprinkle rice cereal into it until it's a mushy paste. Easy way to add nutrients to any meal!

Eggs
I've scrambled these and hard boiled them. He has a slight reaction to them right now so we're holding off on the eggs for a bit.

He had a rash everywhere the eggs touched. Thankfully it didn't seem to bother him.

Peanuts
First off, check with what your pediatrician recommends. Just this year there is a new guideline to feed your child peanut products early and often to reduce the risk of developing an allergy. This comes from a study that saw Jewish children in Israel have no peanut allergies. They eat a peanut based food called bamba from infancy. Our ped gave us the go ahead so I'll mix in peanut butter to rice cereal, mashed bananas or his favorite-straight on a spoon. Just like his mama!

Water
If there's only one thing you know about Brooks is that he wouldn't take a bottle. He finally took a binky at 4 months and I gave up on the bottles. He did use them like... less than 5 times when I was having a mom break but he didn't eat well from them. When I started introducing water the wasn't digging the sippy cup either. Plus I was reading all these articles about sippys being bad for speech (not sure if it's true but it stuck with me), so I peeked in my cupboards and remembered I was gifted these Miracle 360 cups.

It's basically a regular cup with a silicone 'lid'. You have to suck on the rim and the water comes up between the lip and the lid. The button on top is to vent and let air out. They're easy to clean and I love them. I started Brooks without the lid and helped him drink and learn the motion. Then I put the lid on and off a couple times for a few weeks until he finally just figured it out. He gets so excited to drink out of it.