Solids Update (a long one)

I swear this isn't supposed to be a baby led weaning blog.  But as it is the first week of Ben having solids, that is really the focus of our lives right now!

I have to say, Ben is doing a great job.  That first night I got a little worried that he wouldn't be into eating or BLW.  You can read how it went here.  I know the biggest problem was that Pat and I were overeager parents ready for Ben to be thrilled with eating solid food.  Ben of course, went at his own pace.  And that is the right pace!  I feel a little bad about that, but honestly not too bad.  Of course I was excited and eager!  My hope is that Ben enjoys this process of learning about food and that he develops a life long appreciation of food.  I have to remind myself that we have plenty of time for this.  But I don't feel bad for being excited and trying to help Ben experience something fun.

After that first night we decided to just keep plugging away as planned.  Ben had carrots again for lunch the next day, and dinner.  He did so much better!  He was in on the game plan, having experienced solids now once before.  He was able to get the carrots in his mouth pretty well.  It was all a bit messy.  We aren't sure how much he actually swallowed.  When he was tired of this activity, he let us know and we went about our day.

Our original plan called for waiting the traditional three to four days between trying new foods.  The purpose of this is of course to find out if Ben has an allergic reactions to food.  The scientist in me knows that you only change one variable at a time.  But somehow we didn't end up doing this.  It is just so hard to slow down once I get into a project.  I have a hard time being patient, and waiting for Ben to get to experience new foods is no exception!  I try to remind myself that he has plenty of time to try new foods.  The goal isn't to go through them all in a month and be done. Yet somehow waiting just didn't quite happen.  Luckily neither Pat not I have a history of food allergies to worry about.  As seen here we gave Ben some avocado on Monday night.  The carrots were good, but not super soft.  And avocado is an easy food to just cut open, slice, and serve.  It has the bonus of being one of my favorite foods too, so I was eager to see how Ben liked it.  We think his favorite part was that it was so squishy.  It was a lot messier, but also a lot of fun.

Yum, avocado

So already we had introduced two new foods within three days, not quite the plan.  Then the next day at lunch I decided to just add some banana to Ben's tray to see how he liked it.  I was hoping he would like bananas because they are so easy to carry around.  I often have one at lunch myself, so there is nothing extra for me to do to just give Ben some of it.  Well, he liked the banana too!  It is also super squishy and fun to play with.  I enjoy it at the office better than the avocado because bananas don't stain.  It is always important to pick your foods based on that, right? ;)  Wednesday night we boiled up some sweet potato.  At first Ben grabbed that right away, probably thinking it was carrots.  They two look a lot alike, especially boiled and cut into BLW weaning sized pieces.  You could tell from Ben's face that he noticed they were not the same right away.  Still, they were nice and soft, so he ate a bit of them.

Finally on Thursday night we gave Ben a bit of applesauce to try.  I had made some, so it was a little chunkier than the kind one normally buys in a jar.  BLW says that babies can handle purees by either licking them off their hands, or by using a pre-loaded dipper.  The dipper can be a spoon or another food product.  We decided to give the spoon a try.  Now, Pat and I are pro BLW and are using this as our way of starting Ben on solids.  But we are not so hardcore into it that we believe Ben can never be spoon fed.  The occasional spoon feeding is not going to derail his progress, in my opinion.  Ben however, did not enjoy the spoon feeding.  Granted we didn't push it very hard.  Pat tried a few times, and Ben's arms flew in various defensive maneuvers to keep the spoon away.  Watching that, I am so glad we are doing BLW.  It is so much easier to just let Ben decide what is going to go in his mouth.  We managed to get a bit of applesauce into him.  He did surprisingly well with the spoon too.  He was able to get the proper end into his mouth and try some applesauce.  Then he just wanted to hold the spoon and play with it.  His dinner was pretty short though, as he just wanted to get out of his high chair.  As soon as we put on him on his ocean mat to play he was as happy as can be, allowing Pat and me to finish our dinners.

Focused on that banana

A drawback to BLW is the gagging.  It is important to note this is different than choking.  The gagging reflex on babies is further up on their tongues.  This means it is more easily triggered, but that there is a bigger distance for the food to go before choking takes place.  With spoon feeding, all the food is super soft, so it doesn't really trigger the gag reflex.  The spoon is also placed past the reflex, so babies don't experience as much gagging.  I know, this is a good thing.  I don't want Ben gagging or choking.  But at some point he is going to have to learn to feed himself.  When this takes place he is going to have to figure out how far back to put food, how to move it around with his tongue, and how to chew it enough to swallow.  So basically at some point in time the risk of choking is there.  I would much rather he figure out these skills while the reflex isn't so close to the choking zone, and while he is using softer foods, as opposed to when he is older and these safety nets aren't as likely to be in place.

All this being said it is a little scary to do this!  There was a time where he gagged pretty hard, which was terrifying.  He got the food out and was just fine though.  I think that is the scariest part of all this, the gagging.  While Ben eats we watch him very closely, and someone is always right next to him.  We make sure to give him food that is appropriately sized and a good texture.  Some is firmer than others, but it isn't like we are giving him a raw piece of carrot to try to choke down.  When he first gagged hard my immediate thought was to be done with this.  Purees here we come!  But he recovered quickly and beautifully.  Already in this short week he rarely gags!  Of course he is still learning how to get the food about in his mouth.  And he is still learning it is hard to eat with your fingers in your mouth.

Overall I am happy we decided to use this approach.  I am really enjoying that Ben can just start on 'real food.'  Meal times are easier because we don't have to be feeding Ben at the same time.  True, right now we aren't always eating with him because we are too busy taking pictures.  In time we'll get back to normal.  So far there aren't any meal time battles.  His big calorie provider is still nursing, and I enjoy not having to worry about getting a set amount of food into him every day.  When Ben is done eating, he lets us know by fussing.  This is really his only way of letting us know things right now.  (We are working on baby sign language with him, but he is just starting out.)  Once he is done, his meal is over.  No big deal.  We wipe him down and he gets to go play.  As he gets older we will have to work on staying at the table longer.  There is plenty of time for that though.  Ben is only six months old.  He does a great job eating at work too.  I think it helps that he has Meo and Omi to eat with.  He loves the attention!

Are you watching me eat?

Where are we going from here?  Well, we are going to keep feeding him the foods he has already had, and introduce pears, more apples, and green beans this coming week.  I have a recipe to make oatmeal cakes, so we will try those some time soon too.  Eventually I know we have to start having breakfast.  Right now I like not having to have an additional task in the mornings though.  It will come in time.

I think this first week was great.  Pat and I are having so much fun showing Ben new foods and seeing his reactions.  I think the whole process is a great learning experience for Ben.  he is working on his motor skills.  He is working on hand eye, well mouth, coordination.  He gets to have tactile experiences with different foods.  And he is learning how to feed himself.  It's a pretty well rounded activity.

 

My Happy Boy

We're having so much fun!

-Kim

Thankful Thursday: Home

I have decided that I am going to try to take more time to be thankful for all the blessings in my life.  I think it is important to take a moment to really appreciate all that is going on around me.  With Ben, I can already see how quickly time can fly.  He has grown and changed so much in 6 short months.  It is too easy to get caught up trying to reach the next milestone to fully appreciate the point in time we are at.  And it is too easy to get bogged down in the daily grind to really notice all the wonderful moments happening right now.  So I have decided to start keeping track of all the things I am thankful for in my life.  I love alliteration, so Thursdays seems like the perfect day to do so!

This Thursday I am thankful for my home.  I know, not the most original thing, but I really am.  After years of living in one-bedroom sized apartments, having a whole home to ourselves seems amazing to me.  We have lived here for several months, but I still get a little thrill when I walk upstairs knowing that we have an upstairs!  Ben has his own room!  We have a washer and a dryer!  (This is huge, especially with a kid starting on solids.)  Dagger has stairs to run up and down! We have a kitchen table!

I am so thankful we have a place we can call home.  We have a place to relax and spend time as a family.  This winter has been so cold, and we are fortunate enough to be able to have a place to sleep that is warm and dry.  We have a place to play with our son and watch him grow.  And who wouldn't love a home with these three!  (I was too lazy to try to get a picture with all three.  This will have to do for now.)

Happy to have a picture taken!

Why the camera?

I am so thankful for the blessing of our home.

-Kim

Playful Baby

I know every parent says so, but my kid is just so cute!!  He is at a really great age.  Granted I think every age he is at is a really great age.  Newborns are great because they are so cute and fresh.  They love to snuggle, and need to.  It is a great time to just cuddle with your baby end enjoy getting to know each other.  I really liked that staged.  Then after a few months he can smile and watch you, which is also super fun.  But now he can move around on his own a bit, smiling and playing on his own.  You can tell when he is really enjoying himself.  It is so cute to watch!  Even a normal day at the office can be a ton of fun with Ben.

You can see him playing with his blanket here.  Here is some of the cuteness.

Jumping!

Up close

I love to jump!

The Artistic Shot

Ben the Burrito

Happy Baby

I am truly blessed to have such a happy child.  He is a joy.

-Kim

An awesome outfit and an avocado

Have you ever noticed how a simple accessory can really change an outfit?  A regular set of clothing you have worn a bunch of times suddenly becomes brand new with one simple addition.  Well this was the case with Ben today.  It was just a regular outfit, one he had worn many times.  One of my favorites in fact.

But today was different.  Today Ben wore a new hat with the outfit.  And suddenly a normal, cute outfit became something even greater.

What's that you say?

Oh yeah, I look awesome.

He totally pulls it off.  Both and Omi and Pat commented on how great Ben looked today, and I have to agree.  But then I think he looks cute every day.

Beyond having an amazing outfit, Ben also got to try avocados today!  I don't think I'm going to post about every new food he tries.  That would get rather tedious.  However avocados are one of my favorite foods.  We don't get them very often, so I am super happy to have an excuse to eat a lot of them.  And this food was a nice squishy one Ben was able to really get into.  He didn't get the carrots all over his face as I imagined he would.  He did a bit with the avocado.  I think Ben liked that he could eat and have a facial all at the same time.  

I like this eating thing.

Nom nom nom

Do I have something on my face?

I love this.

A great look, some tasty food, and an impromptu spa treatment.  We had a good day.

-Kim

Mmmmm... Carrots: The Videos

As promised here are the videos of Ben's first solid food adventure.  I took the videos, and I am not that great of a cinematographer, but I don't think they are too bad.  Enjoy!

Carrots in the high chair

Eating with Daddy

Carrots in the Jumper

-Kim

Mmmmm... Carrots Part II

Well, that first is done.  I have to say it was a bit anticlimactic.  I don't know why I thought it would be more exciting.  I suppose I was hoping that Ben would dive into trying a new thing and really enjoy eating something different.  This was not exactly the case.

Pat and I had decided to go ahead and start Ben at dinner time.  He just turned 6 months old.  We had waited for two days after his most recent vaccines so we could be confident that any potential reaction was due to the food and not the shots.  Starting on a Saturday gave me more time to get home and prepare the food.  (It's tax season, Ben and I were at work for part of the day.  Such is the life of a baby accountant.)  And dinner is the one meal of the day we can usually be sure all three of us can eat together.  We felt we wouldn't be rushed and could enjoy giving Ben the chance to try solids.  So while making dinner I roasted some carrots in the oven, and then I steamed a few as well. I wasn't sure which method would be most palatable to Ben.  Both produced carrots that maintained their shape, which is good.  The steamed ones were a little mushier, but fell apart more.  The roasted ones kept their integrity a bit more, but had a sort of crust to them as roasting can do.  But they were two versions of carrots made with love for my boy.  We had a plan, and we were following through with it!

Well, this was all a good theory.  Sadly, Ben decided to fall asleep a little before dinner.  This can be a good thing, as he is young enough to still need a third evening nap.  However, it meant we had to wake him up for dinner.  Sometimes he is totally fine with this.  This time he had a harder time with it.  We put him into his high chair and he was not having it.  Huge tears.  It was very sad.  We tried putting some of the carrots onto his tray, thinking if he saw something new to play with he would calm down.  He did for a little bit.  He grabbed a carrot briefly, and in fact did bring it to his mouth.  But he quickly dropped it again.

We took him out of the high chair pretty quickly.  The point of BLW is to let Ben decide if he wants to eat or not.  He was giving us a pretty clear no signal.  However, he is also very new at this.  He might not have realized what an amazing opportunity we were providing him.  Pat tried holding him while he had a carrot.  We had a little success there.  Then I sat with him on my lap for a bit while Pat and I ate our dinner.  I mean, there was no need for us to go hungry just because Ben didn't want to eat.  I had some carrots placed so Ben could reach them.  He did grab one, but didn't hold onto it very long.

Around this point I started doing things BLW states not to do.  I picked up a carrot and put it into Ben's hand.  He looked at it a bit, but dropped it pretty quickly.  I tried this a few times, and we were losing carrots to the floor.  I tried placing a carrot on his lips.  Perhaps if he realized there was a new taste he would get into it.  And really, the kid loves putting things in  his mouth.  It's one of his favorite things to do!  He nibbled a bit at one, but overall was not interested.

Since he wasn't interested in the carrots, I offered him a sippy cup with a few ounces of nursery water.  Once babies start solids you can start offering some water as well.  Cool, maybe he would like that.  Nope.  Ben just kept shoving the cup away from me.

At this point, we decided to call it done.  I got a some video footage, which is at the end of this post.  I tried to get some pictures when he actually picked up a carrot and nibbled a bit, but I use my phone and it was full, of course.  (I really need to get an actual camera!)  Pat and I finished up our dinner and cleaned up.  We called Meo (my mom, Ben's maternal grandma) and Gramma (Pat's mom, Ben's paternal grandma) to tell them about our little adventure.

After dinner we put Ben into his jumper to relax and play a bit.  I put a carrot into one of his mesh feeders to see how he liked that.  I was determined that he really give carrots a go!  I know, there is no rush and it is not a big deal, but, well, I wanted to give him as many chances to try the food as he wanted.  He enjoyed the mesh feeder.  But we have given him the mesh feeders to play with without anything in them as well.  So he may not have gotten a different experience despite it having a carrot in it.  I also gave him another carrot just to see what he would do.

He ended up trying it again!  He bit off a chunk, but I don't think he swallowed any.  At least most of the chunk came back out.  But he did try it!  He lost interest pretty quickly again, but we got some pictures of him trying it again.  I don't plan on letting him have food in his jumper very often.  Besides the fact that it could be unsafe, jumping and trying to eat, I don't want to spread the mess around that much.  Exceptions can be made occasionally.

Overall I am considering this first food attempt a success.  We started off a bit rocky, what with waking him up from a nap to eat.  He is still getting used to his high chair.  Even without food he has days where he is not interested in sitting in the high chair.  He did pick up a couple of carrots on his own and he did get the taste of them at least.  I was reminded that the point of BLW is to let the baby dictate the pace.  We offered up a first opportunity to try them, and that was the only point of tonight.  Ben still took a full feeding for his final nursing of the day.  Nursing is supposed to still be his main source of nutrition.  The food is just to experience and have fun with.  And overall I think he did enjoy trying something new.

Where do we go from here?  Well, we just keep offering up food choices to Ben.  We will stick with carrots for another day or so.  I don't foresee there being any problems.  I always prefer safe to sorry though.  We'll give him a chance to eat at lunch and dinner.  If at future meals he doesn't want to eat we will probably do pretty much what we did this time.  Try letting him sit on my lap while we eat.  If he doesn't want to play with the food he doesn't have to.  I don't think we'll be giving him food in his jumper anymore.  But it made for a cute picture.  :)

Here are some pictures from Ben's first food adventure.  I'll add the videos in another post.

What is this thing?

I don't know what to make of this.

Hmmm... not too bad

First food down.  It just gets better, and messier, from here.  :)

-Kim

Mmmmm... Carrots Part I

Today is the big day!  Okay, today is one of the big days that Ben will have.  He has already had some big days in his short life, and I hope he has many many more big days to come.  But today is a favorite big day of mine.  It is the day he first tried solid foods.

This is a first I knew I would really enjoy.  The biggest reason for that is it is one of the few firsts that we as parents could kind of control.  Most of the milestones that babies achieve are reached on their schedules.  I can't make Ben roll over, or walk, or talk.  I can't make him sleep through the night.  (If I could figure out how to make babies sleep through the night I would be rich!!)  I can decide when he has the chance to first try a new food.  At least the first few foods anyway.  This is a first that Pat and I can share with Ben on our timetable  This is especially great for Pat.  I am with Ben pretty much all the time.  He comes to work with me every day and since he nurses it is just easier to keep him nearby.  It follows that I am around for a lot of his firsts.  I have seen the first time he was able to grasp an object, as well as roll over.  So I was super excited that Pat was going to get to participate in this particular first.

I also love food.  Pat loves food.  Let's be real here, food is a big deal in any society.  The act of having a meal with a person has a lot of significance.  Up until now all of Ben's meals have been pretty one sided.  He sits on someone's lap (usually mine) and eats.  Despite another person being physically present, it is a pretty solitary activity for him.  Now he will be able to sit up at a table and look at other people while he eats.  He will be able to play a part in the family dynamic of discussion and sustenance sharing.  And he gets to eat tasty food!!

After a lot of thought, research, and discussion, we decided to use carrots as a first food.  There were a few main reasons.  They are a vegetable that is easy to cut into an appropriate size and shape.  They are easy to roast or steam to get to a nice consistency.  They are a little sweet, which has pros and cons.  Some schools of thought think we shouldn't introduce anything sweet so babies don't develop a preference for this.  Others say start with the sweeter vegetables because breastmilk and formulas tend to be sweeter, making the first food more familiar to baby.  I can understand not wanting Ben to develop a taste for too many sweets too young.  But at the end of the day as parents we control what he can eat, so just because he may enjoy sweet flavors doesn't mean we have to give him sugary, unhealthy food all the time.  I love sweets but I still eat vegetables, and so can Ben.

Always an important factor, costs came into play.  Carrots are relatively cheap to buy in a decent quantity.  And finally, I am confident I can prepare the carrots in a way that would be decent for a baby just starting off with solid foods.  So carrots it is.  Sweet potatoes came in a close second, and will probably be introduced next.

Pat and I have done our research.  We have had endless discussions.  We have thought long and hard about this.  So now the plan is in place.  Tonight.  Dinner time.  Ben.  Carrots.  Let's do this.

-Kim