Pureed Food Unneccesary

[fionas]

I would never dream of telling you when to start your child on solids Liz. I'm just saying I believe I knew when the time was right with my own DD. Every child is different - that's why I chose to ignore the guidelines and I treated the stuff about allergies with a pinch of salt. Some may think that was foolish - that's OK too - I'm prepared to take that risk because it honestly seemed cruel to me to deny her something that she obviously wanted so badly. Of course, it wasn't that she was just watching, she was trying to grab and she was much more restless/bored with her bottles. Added to that was her physical readiness - she swallowed no problem. If she hadn't I would have waited. But all those factors, not just one, made me give her solids.

She literally jumped up and down with excitement after a few goes with food and I so wish I'd videod her. She would giggle and headbutt the spoon in her fever to get to her food and her eyes became saucers. And she also seems much happier to have her bottles now too because it's not the only thing she's getting.

But if I was a Viking (I feel a tad silly writing that but just to answer your question...) and I thought it was going to be unsafe to give her some of my chewed up food, then obviously I'd wait a bit longer.

[Janie]

I haven't read through the whole article, or this thread, so I don't have a feel for the response. But I wanted to say that I went to the ABA seminar yesterday, and heard Gill speak. She also presented video footage. What she's talking about makes alot of sense to me as a mother, and this way of feeding really works in our household.

[Liz]

It's just hard to shake the 'first foods' thing hehe. I have seen (perhaps Barb posted it?) it said that pureed food only became the norm because we were introducing 'solids' too early, and that's why it needed to be pureed. I just can't think of what else I would give as a first food, no matter what the age LOL.. don't they still need to learn to eat? Even if you wait until they're close to 12 months.. they still need to learn to chew and swallow. btw.. I don't like the really pureed stuff.. we started with mush more than anything.

Any examples of what to feed? I'd love to not have to prepare 'baby food' for DD! heheh

[~Saram~]

Well I wholly agree with that statement. I have never pureed Ari's food and she has developed a lot better eating habits. We would just give her what was on our plate, (we don't add butter or salt to our food so it was easy) little tastes of things from 5 mths off my finger and once she was 6-7 mths (as gross as it sounds) I would just either break up with my finger or give it a bit of a chew - kind of like a baby bird. She chews well, eats well, and is not fussy. The only thing she won't eat is the pureed stuff my MIL tried to give her :-)

It has made the intro of solids so much easier and cheaper

[Liz]

Yeah, DS was eating our food pretty early on, and to this day eats anything and everything - ALL DAY!! But I still did prepare baby food for him in the early days, mushed veggies frozen into ice cubes. Or cooked and mushed fruits. *shrug* Think I'll probably still do it for DD.. worked well with DS hehe. I can't imagine finger foods that early tho.

[Rouge]

I can totally see what you are saying fionas, however with Paris she was way more ready than Seth ever was, she was having 3 meals a day by the time she was 5 months and she was loving it. Yet she ended up with severe eczema and later at 4 asthma attacks. For me I wish I had known then what I do now. And yes there is a possibility it could have happened anyway but I would have put it off a few months on the off chance it would have helped.

[BellyBelly]

Cailin you will remember how Lijie started early too and we had all those probs with eczema patches (not as bad as paris), tummy probs and some sort of milk related reaction - green poo and stomach ache whenever he had milk. Rissy had nothing, and all she wanted was breastmilk thanks!

[monnie]

Felix didn't start solids until he was pretty much 6 months.

He's now coming up to 7 months and we are very much trying the finger food thing (rather than the purees).

But...I'm finding it really confusing as to what I can actually give him.

So far, we've tried:

banana
avocado
rusks
cooked pears
cooked apples

All the above foods have been given to him as finger food...about the size of a hot chip (sometimes a little smaller)...

Is that how you do it?

Anyone got any other suggestions of what I can give him?

Cheers!

[~Saram~]

Monnie

zuchinni cooked and cut into fingers is a good one
carrot and beans (well-overcooked) is good too
Strawberries in quaters, grapes in halves


Once he is a little older cheese sticks, meat, sandwiches in fingers

hmm can't think of any else at the moment

[monnie]

Thanks Saram

I'll try those ones...

[Astrid]

I was quite surprised with DD, whilst I did tentatively start solids just after 5 months, I did start her on rice cereal which she did not take to very well. One day when she would have been 6months I gave her a slice of rockmelon to suck on, well she took to it very well and was able to munch down on it and swallow with out much of a problem. Sadly I did not continue down that path and still pureed and mushed food as I thought I was doing something wrong.

Fionas - you could be right about chewing food, hard to know as historians are in love with kings and queens, not with what the average everyday person did. I can certainly see them handing over a cooked bone with a bit of meat still on it, for the baby to suck the meat off and suck the marrow out of. Stews would break down quite well, which could then be ground with a spoon (no forks), but that would still require spoon feeding, a labour intensive task for a very busy household.

[MantaRay]

Monnie, also melons, pieces of cheese (my boys loved tasty cheese straight off - there is usually no need to start with those highly processed cheeses marketed for kids), and cherry tomatoes there are really lots of things you can do. I would hold off on strawberries though - these are one of high allergy risk foods that is not recommended before 12 months.

[Ellibam]

any veg you would usually do mashed is ok as a finger food!
arquene love pumpkin
we also just started pasta and she devours that!
all by her self no spoons required! i love it

[Matryoshka]

I have had a real struggle with my 20 month old who will not eat anything "lumpy" and still now has his dinner mashed It has been a long process of slowly going from puree'd food (all home made) to our dinners mashed, and still he will not eat finger food. By this i mean he would never pick up a vegetable or fruit and eat it, it must be mashed, or most recently cut in the the most minute pieces and hidden in a yoghurt or something else smooth.

I am definately looking at infant led weaning for this baby as i do wonder if DS's "texture issues" stem from the introduction of puree'd foods.

[Artechim]

My DS won't eat pureed food. He will put the first spoon in his mouth, spit it out, clamp his mouth shut and it is all over. However, he was grabbing at food I was eating and stuffing it in his mouth. So I am following his lead and feeding him finger foods. So far he has had banana, tomato wedges, chicken kebab, cheese, bread, pastry, quiche, capsicum, lettuce, potato, kumera, steak (couldn't gum any off though). He is far happier to eat things this way.

The first couple of days he was gagging if he put too much in his mouth but now he is biting off less and gumming/tonguing it to make it small enough to swallow. He hasn't choked on anything.

[MantaRay]

Artechim, I am glad you are having success with that. It is a more intuitive way to feed IMO and it most definitely is easier. But I just want to add for others who might be reading this, that some foods, like egg whites and strawberries are not recommended under 12 months or so due to the risk of allergy, so bear that in mind when choosing finger foods.

[Spring Angel]

Wow, what an interesting thread. I waited until 6 months so I've just started DS on solids and by all accounts he is going well. Still loves boobie but showing a real interest in food. I mash everything at home (still leave it a little lumpy) and so far he has had

Banana
Pumpkin
Sweet potato
Avocado
Pears
Yoghurt

He is showing a real interest in feeding himself so I am going to try doing the finger food today.

I have a really ripe paw paw I wanted to give him today, is that a good one to start with? I was also going to try some cooked zuchini tonight. Does it have to be peeled?


TIA
Spring

[Artechim]

Spring, soft pawpaw should be fine. I would give the zuchini unpeeled.

Have fun, it will get messy!