To say that have had problems w/ Elli's food from the beginning would be an understatement! I can still hear the nurse at the pediatrician's office telling me (in her sweet Southern drawl), "honey, your baby is starving!". Breast-feeding just didn't work for me. Well it did but only for 4 months...but I digress. And then I thought making home-made baby food would be a perfect idea...and then my food processor broke, followed shortly thereafter by my blender. So, store-bought baby food it was, and to be honest it was super easy so I was happy. But now, I'm just stuck in a baby food rut, and I need some ideas!
So, this is basically what Miss Elli eats on a typical day:
Breakfast ~ Formula bottle, oatmeal & a fruit (mushed up banana or peach usually)
Lunch ~ Sippy of formula or water + apple juice, some kind of veggie baby food, cut up cheese, and some puffs, yogurt melts, or crunchies
Snack ~ Formula bottle, some sort of cracker or wafer, and either a fruit or a no-sugar added fruit sauce thing-y (like that description?!)
Dinner ~ Formula bottle, a little of whatever we are having, and either a veggie baby food or a meat meal baby food depending on what we're eating.
Here's the issue...I know she should be eating more protein, and I'd really like to start steering away from baby food all together. My problem is that since she has 1 lone tooth, I have a hard time giving her anything that isn't super soft. **Note that I said I have the problem...I'm sure it's more my issue than Elli's! Ha!** So, for example, I hate giving her broccoli/green beans/carrots because I feel like they're too hard (even when steamed really well), and I end up just giving her those veggies in baby food form. And what about meat? Oh, and shouldn't she be totally on the sippy cup by now? I keep reading that she should be, but she's just not a big fan of it and I'm afraid she won't be getting enough to drink if I take away her bottle. Oh to be a new mom!! Total stress!! TeeHee!!
Anyway, if anyone has any great pointers (or just some straight out advice) on what worked with your kiddo's, I'd love to hear it :) And I'll be posting about our fab-o trip to Memphis soon...I just feel like time has been flying by lately!
7 comments:
I bought Sawyer the Nuby sippy cups - they have the super soft tops that are almost like bottle nipples and he took to those right away. It was just one of those things - keep giving it to her EVERY day and she'll convert. If you think she's freakin now over switching from bottles to cups, just wait for potty training.
I'm a momma of a VERY picky eater, and it's my fault because I didn't ever give Sawyer veggies in their true form - just in baby food ways. He now refuses to eat them unless they are pureed, at 3 1/2 yrs old. Um, yea. I was scared that he would choke, too, but we all ate the stuff and lived and they can, too. Just steam the heck out of it, chop it up tiny and give it to her. It will help her develop a like for different textures, hopefully!
Good luck, girl! My kid still prefers baby foods (pureed veggies, crunchies, etc) because of my issues - but, whatever! I'm picking my battles...
I'm stuck in the same baby food rut! Raegan has three and a half teeth and I'm still paranoid about it! And I hear ya on the sippy cup. Sounds like you are way ahead of me... she just doesn't like it so it has been hard to know if she is ready or just being picky.
I have given Raegan carrots and green beans steamed well and even some chicken... I just shredded it. She isn't a fan of the weird textures so she doesn't eat much of it. But hates to be fed by a spoon now too! She TORE UP some strawberries the other day... even wanted to eat the whole one which I let her do with me holding it.
I am anxious to hear what your readers have to say cause I'm right there with ya girl! :)
Hey girl,
I would totally give her some ordinary food (broccoli, carrots, beans, etc.) just cut up part good. If she is successful eating them, then you can gradually increase the size. I made the mistake of not giving Emily cucumbers or broccoli (besides in a jar) early on, and she won't eat them today. Also, you can peel an apple or pear and let Ellie suck/bite it while you hold it. Red apples are usually pretty soft, and so are ripe pears. Just cut everything in tiny pieces. Do you buy the Gerber chunky fruit/vegg. Also, sandwich meat is thin and easy to eat. Happy eating! You know she will love it all!
Amy - She will gum the food, I think. I really wouldn't know because mine had their first teeth at 4.5 months old (believe me, that's not fun either). But, I really think she'll gum the food. Another option until her teeth come in is canned or microwaveable veggies. I know, I know... But, the only thing horrible about it is the sodium content. They are much softer than the steamed veggies. Now, for protein, she only needs like a chicken nugget a day. It's really not much at all. Just some shredded chicken should do the trick. And, she shouldn't even need to chew that if you cut it up enough.
Audrey doesn't have any teeth yet, but we have started mostly feeding her bits of what we are eating cut up really small. We are still just doing the three main meals unless she wants (and can have) whatever I'm snacking on, but for meals we just give her bits of stuff. For breakfast today she had oatmeal. Today it was baby oatmeal, but if we are having oatmeal we'll just add some fruit puree instead of brown sugar to hers and give her the old fashioned rolled oats. She does fine with them. For lunch today we had Mexican food after her check-up so we spooned aside some of the beans and rice and I fed her that. Dinner will involve chicken (not 100% sure in what form yet), but I'll take some and shred it finely for her and put it on her high chair tray.
Other things she's eaten and loved are watermelon (just gumming mine), sauted summer squash, turkey, carrots (just cut them up small), croissants (I probably won't get parent of the year for that one, but she loves them and they certainly aren't a choking hazard), bananas, avocados and hummus. I have some friends who feed their kids just about anything that's reasonably healthy. They just cut it up to about the size of a pea or mush it up and give it to the baby. When we are out I'll actually put the tiny pieces directly into Audrey's mouth so that she doesn't make a mess and wait for her to gum and swallow.
Hope that helps, I mostly just look at what we're eating for each meal and think about what she can have. She really prefers "real" food.
Other ideas might be normal yogurt, apple sauce, crackers, cooked ground meats, grilled cheese sandwich (assuming dairy and wheat are okay), barley, rice, beef stew (stewing makes the meat tender, but you can cut it up if you are worried), mashed potatoes, couscous, pasta, beans, salmon, tuna and chunks of roast sweet potatoes. Depending on who you talk to some doctors feel that things like wheat, fish and some dairy should be held back until the baby is a year, but the specialist that saw Audrey for her food allergies said that they don't think those foods are a big deal anymore. Good luck.
Thanks for all the advice, friends!! You guys are awesome :) I'm definitely going to be getting some of the Nuby sippy cups, it sounds like those have been a big hit. And since reading all of your fab-o comments, I've ventured out and given Elli lots of different kinds of food. I'm trying to get past my fear of her choking, and guess what...she hasn't! She even ate broccoli & green beans last night and did great. Seriously, I really appreciate all of your support and great ideas. I'm very blessed!
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