Solid Savvy

So, as y'all know, I'm by no means an expert on anything (except, perhaps, the art of eat too much chocolate while on a diet)... I'm learning as I go, following my instincts and passing along what is working for me in hopes that it may help you out. I also know I'm not the only one out there suffering from MB so, perhaps, this can help you avoid even having to use your brain to begin with! :p

So here are a few tips-n-trick that worked for me when introducing solids - I'm going to assume you know the basics (i.e. what not to feed them, how to know if they're ready, etc.):

• Want to make one "basics" point, however - recommended "start solids" age is 6 months. There are tons of reasons for this - important reasons. Obviously a few weeks before, big whoop, but try to avoid giving into those people who say "if you give them cereal, they'll sleep through the night" when your baby is only 2-3 months old.
  
• "They" recommended breastfeeding (formula, whatever) first and, before baby's full, introducing some cereal. With bf-ing, I had no idea when Jane would be "almost full" so I bf'd her until she was full and then an hour later, gave her cereal.
  
• I mixed rice cereal with water. First time, I did it with breastmilk and, without thinking, to try and get her interested, I ate a spoonful. Some women are fine tasting their milk, me, not so much. Now I make it with water. She actually seems to like the water better.
• I used two spoons. One to feed her with and one for her to play with. This prevented sling shot-style grabbing of the spoon which FYI results in food on the ceiling.
  
• I never measured the cereal out, I just poured some cereal in the bowl and added warm water until it was watery.
  
• It took a good week or two before Jane really started eating the cereal. I tried every day and if she got upset or wouldn't open her mouth, I'd stop. You don't want to make it a scary or bad experience.
  
• After about a week of cereal only, I started introducing other foods.
  
• My doc recommended introducing veggies before fruit because they are less sweet and if you do fruit before veggies, babes may be less likely to take veggies cause they don't taste as good (smart kids if you ask me).
• Once I had introduced a few different fruits and veggies with her cereal, I started feeding her twice a day - letting her dictate how much she would eat.
• I kept track of the foods I introduced in a notebook and only introduced one new food every 2-3 days in case of allergy.
  
• I introduced meat early using sweet potato mixed with chicken. At first, I'd mix it 1/2 and 1/2 with cereal to dilute the taste and texture. This seemed to work perfectly and she didn't mind it at all. After a week or so, she ate it alone and enjoyed it.
  
• Foods we've tried with success: Prunes, apples, bananas, pears, apricots, carrots, sweet potato, and chicken.
• Foods that didn't go over well: Squash and peaches.
• Foods I'm avoiding cause I don't like them myself: Peas, broccoli, anything green and beef. Yuck.
  
• I'm now feeding Jane oat cereal. I'm not sure why it's recommended to introduce rice cereal first as, from what I've read, it's more likely to give babes constipation and both oat and rice have 100% of the iron they need. Oat tastes better (to me anyways) so I switched.
• At first, I bought the jarred organic baby food. I recommend finding out what foods your babe likes before starting to make your own - so it doesn't go to waste. Now I'm making my own and it's awesome. I wouldn't touch the jarred Chicken, but I love my own so it makes me feel better to know exactly what she's eating.
  
• Now, I'm introducing some different textured foods - toast and such. Just a little anyways. How I'm doing it - bird style (my moms idea)! When I'm eating my toast in the morning, I chew it up a little bit and give her some. She loves it and I know it's not so big and tough that she'll choke on it. I just won't tell her about it when she's 15. :p

I'm still "introducing" solids - figuring it all out and winding my way through ups and downs. I'll keep ya posted on new suggestions or realizations.

Stop by tomorrow to see if you've won our Shutter Buddy Giveaway (obviously, you have to enter first) and to check out the details of our Burt's Bee Giveaway! YIPEE!!