MT - i give weekbix with soymilk (one with no added sugar like Bonsoy) I have given with EBM in the past and also cows milk but she prefers the tase of the soy.
there is always on going discussion as to whether dairy should be introduced at this age, the lecture that i went to and and also the infomation that i have read/been given/found says that you dont have to restrict dairy at all... But each to their own really, its about what you feel most comefortable with.
have you read back over this thread, there is some really good info in here and also some discussion on this point.
I have read back, but it was a while ago now, at least a week! and my poor brain is no longer capable of retaining information or knowledge unless it is being used!! Haha! I hadn't thought of soy...never even tried it myself. Did you serve the weetbix cold or warm?
Congratulations on the 6 month milestone and WELCOME to the joys of BLS!!
We are now at 14 months and have loved loved loved the discovery of foods in all its taste, texture, smell, mess (and nutrition!) Methinks you are going to enjoy this too!
I completely agree with SJ and MT. They basically covered everything I was going to say... steamed vegies and fruits - not too hard or soft, just right for little hands to grab. Yes, bananas can be a little tricky for little hands to hold so in the early stages I used to cut a banana in half (across width not length) then cut through the skin in a ring around the banana at about 1/3 down. Then by peeling off the skin from the top 2/3 you get a 2/3 naked banana to chew and suck on with a 1/3 handle to hold. (Hope that this makes sense, it is really hard to explain/visualise things like this!) if the banana was particularly thick, i would then cut a slice off each side of the revealed 2/3 to make it skinnier and easier to mouth. They pretty soon develop the ability to hold a peeled banana, but in the first month or so this worked a treat.
We also moved on to Mangos pretty quickly, I would cut a slice with skin on off a cheek of mango and DD would suck the flesh off that pretty quickly, hand me back the skin and look for more! Watermelon might also be a good one to play with?
Another nice one is roasted vegies - potato, pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, zucchini, parsnip etc.
In terms of practicality, we travel with heaps of small containers filled with choices of finger foods, everyone else is always jealous and other kids are always clamoring for a taste of DD's lunch, so be warned and pack extra!
Mealtimes can be messy, DD usually strips naked and makes a mess - glorious. Otherwise a plastic covered apron type bib is a blessing. We don't tend to use a plastic mat, but I can see the benefits. Instead we call in the hoover (read - dog) and the mess is cleaned up in no time!
DD sometimes ran into a bit of trouble with constipation so she often gummed a prune or too - loved them - and things were sorted out pretty quickly!
Enjoy, it is heaps of fun to watch them discover food!
ETA: My DD really only started solids at about 7-8 months as she was just not interested in any form of food til then. At 6/7 months she would just look at and play with whatever I gave her. At 7-8 months she began to taste etc so it was probably more like 9 months we hit the mango thing. Therefore not sure how a 6 month old would handle that one. Best thing of course is to try something, supervise and judge what to do accordingly!
Last edited by jackrose; January 30th, 2009 at 10:13 AM.
Thanks, JR, some great ideas there - especially with the banana. That makes absolute sense to me... I'm off to get some more food ready to try. This is so much fun watching them explore these new tasty toys!
I bought a plastic apron bib from Pumpkin Patch that was on sale and it certainly does the trick!! Except I think I need to get Jett a shower cap too!!
Yep MJ wipes the food through her hair too - nowadays its a sign that she is almost finished eating and she is about to wipe everything else off the table!!!
Like JR we send in our vacuum (dog) after she has finished, but also in the nice weather, we take the highchair outside or she sits on a wrap outside and eats.
In my napy bag i carry a wrap so that if she needs a snack and we are somewhere with out a high chair, i just pop that on the ground and she sits on that.
MJ also LOVES fruit, other than what everyone else has mentioned, watermelon (or any other melon) sticks are great
i also make up my own hummus that she LOVE love loves and she has that on toast, bread, veggie sticks or just out of the pot!!!
when we are out at restaurants i take a pack of disinfectant wipes and i clean the high chairs down really well as giving her a bowl is OK now, but when we fist started out the food would have to be handed to her or on the tray of the high chair. I tried taking alon mats and thought about a layer of glad wrap on top, but she played with all these things... we got a suction bowl too, but she manages to pull this off at times too!!!
and my poor brain is no longer capable of retaining information or knowledge unless it is being used!! Haha! I hadn't thought of soy...never even tried it myself. Did you serve the weetbix cold or warm?
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