How did you start solids?

The time is quickly coming to start introducing some 'real' food to DS. He
will be six months old on February 11th. He sits well. I've made him a
couple of Momsicles to distract him from my food at dinnertime and have
fed him slushy BM off of a spoon. He seems to have a chewing motion, but
some is still pushed out of his mouth when he swallows. On the days that
I'm home all day with him, he's reverted back to eating every 2 1/2 hours
(from every 4 hours) and is now eating at least twice at night. He's
nursing for at least 20 minutes each time. Developmentally, he seems to be
very nearly ready for some solid food.

The problem is that I'm totally confused about how this works. I've read a
hundred posts, every baby book I have, and a bunch of websites and I'm
still not sure what to start with and how to progress. I want to start
with table food and avoid cereals and jarred food (mostly for my
convenience). From what I understand, this should be possible since I've
waited until he is 6 months old. He doesn't have any teeth yet - does that
make any difference in what I feed him? Day care provides jarred food and
table food for the babies. Their snack list contains graham crackers,
diced peaches, cheerios, yogurt, etc. When can he eat things like cheerios
and graham crackers?

At this point, my only plan is to start with a banana and see how that
goes. Since you're supposed to just do one solid 'meal' a day, he'll
probably eat it at day care, so that he'll still nurse a lot at home. Of
course, this gives me guilt pangs because my baby will be eating solids
and it won't even be me feeding him. When he's ready for a second meal,
we'll probably add that in the evening, but when is he ready for that?

I'd love to here how some of you started introducing solids and what path
you took.

TIA,
Manda

wrote
The time is quickly coming to start introducing some 'real' food to DS. He
will be six months old on February 11th. He sits well. I've made him a
couple of Momsicles to distract him from my food at dinnertime and have
fed him slushy BM off of a spoon. He seems to have a chewing motion, but
some is still pushed out of his mouth when he swallows. On the days that
I'm home all day with him, he's reverted back to eating every 2 1/2 hours
(from every 4 hours) and is now eating at least twice at night. He's
nursing for at least 20 minutes each time. Developmentally, he seems to be
very nearly ready for some solid food.

The problem is that I'm totally confused about how this works. I've read a
hundred posts, every baby book I have, and a bunch of websites and I'm
still not sure what to start with and how to progress. I want to start
with table food and avoid cereals and jarred food (mostly for my
convenience). From what I understand, this should be possible since I've
waited until he is 6 months old. He doesn't have any teeth yet - does that
make any difference in what I feed him? Day care provides jarred food and
table food for the babies. Their snack list contains graham crackers,
diced peaches, cheerios, yogurt, etc. When can he eat things like cheerios
and graham crackers?

The main thing (said over and over again by my LC) is not to stress too much
about it. Don't feed him any of the forbidden foods and watch out for
choking hazards, but otherwise, pick a food you want to start with a go for
it. On your first try, more will get on him than in his mouth. However, if
he likes baby food, he'll take to it reasonably quickly. OTOH, if he doesn't
take to it quickly, you might try softer real food that he can do himself.
How's his pincher technique? If it's good, he may be able to feed himself by
grabbing stuff and getting it in his mouth. I was completely stressed that
DD wouldn't eat (until we figured out she wanted real food not baby food)
until about 8.5 months or so. She was find exclusively bf'd.

If I could tell new moms one more thing, it would be not to over-read about
solids because much of the advice seems to be contradictory. Good luck!
--
Melissa (in Los Angeles)
Mum to Elizabeth 4/13/03

wrote:

When can he eat things like cheerios and graham crackers?

All of the graham crackers I've seen in my grocery store have honey in
them. So, if that is the case where you are, you should wait until he
is one year old for those.

--
Brigitte aa #2145
edd #3 February 15, 2004
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/j/joshuaandkaterina/

"Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare."
~ Harriet Martineau

"DeliciousTruffles" wrote in
message ...
wrote:

When can he eat things like cheerios and graham crackers?

All of the graham crackers I've seen in my grocery store have honey in
them. So, if that is the case where you are, you should wait until he
is one year old for those.

--
I dont thik botulism is a problem for baked or cooked goods containing
honey,just plain honey.

Nina wrote:

I dont thik botulism is a problem for baked or cooked goods containing
honey,just plain honey.

Yes, it is. Cooking and baking do not destroy the spores.

--
Brigitte aa #2145
edd #3 February 15, 2004
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/j/joshuaandkaterina/

"Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare."
~ Harriet Martineau

I want to start
with table food and avoid cereals and jarred food (mostly for my
convenience). From what I understand, this should be possible since I've
waited until he is 6 months old. He doesn't have any teeth yet - does that
make any difference in what I feed him?
Well, TBH, we used baby cereal and some jarred food because it was more
convenient. :-) So you might want to reconsider that.

Until baby has molars, you can't give him anything he'd have to chew, and until
he has incisors, you can't give him anything he'd have to bite through. That
leaves table foods that are soft -- or that start out firm but turn to mush in
the mouth -- and that are either in small bits or can be easily broken into
smaller bits with hands, lips or gums.

Small pieces of soft fruit -- banana, very ripe pear, apricot -- are good
starters. But you have to peel it and, at least at first, either cut it up
into small pieces or mash it. That's why jars can be more convenient.

Also keep in mind that your baby may need iron, and he won't get it from fruit.
He can get it from meats, but cooking and preparing meat so that it's soft
enough for an infant is a hassle. That's why fortified baby cereals can be
more convenient.

Day care provides jarred food and
table food for the babies. Their snack list contains graham crackers,
diced peaches, cheerios, yogurt, etc. When can he eat things like cheerios
and graham crackers?

Anytime, really -- or as soon as you're willing to introduce wheat. He doesn't
need teeth for those, because they turn to mush easily in the mouth.

We started with cereal when DS was a couple days shy of 6 months old. We then
progressed to various pureed or strained fruits and vegetables, mashed
potatoes, then some finger foods like cheerios type cereal, rice cakes, whole
peas, pinto beans, diced fruits. At 8 months, he grabbed the banana I was
about to cut up out of my hands, flipped back the peel and stuffed it into his
mouth. That's when we figured we didn't have to dice everything for him any
more. :-)

But he ate baby cereal (often mixed with fruit, berries or pureed veggies)
until he was over a year old. It was easy, it was healthy, it was cheap and he
liked it. No reason not to use it!

Holly
Mom to Camden, almost 3
EDD #2 6/8/04

"DeliciousTruffles" wrote in
message ...
Nina wrote:

I dont thik botulism is a problem for baked or cooked goods containing
honey,just plain honey.

Yes, it is. Cooking and baking do not destroy the spores.

Interesting. I'd never heard before to avoid graham crackers. Even
commercially prepared products? What about things made with corn syrup, that
was also on my list of Dont Feed To Baby.

"DeliciousTruffles" wrote in
message ...
Nina wrote:

I dont thik botulism is a problem for baked or cooked goods containing
honey,just plain honey.

Yes, it is. Cooking and baking do not destroy the spores.

http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache...tate.ak.us/ocs
/nutri/Admin/education/highrisk/QA44.pdf+infants+honey+botulism+graham+crack
ers&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Can the honey in graham crackers cause infant botulism? I have read in some
sources that the honey in the crackers is specially treated so it will not
have botulinum spores in it. I have read in other sources to only give
graham crackers that are not made with honey (these don't seem to exist
where I live). Can you help me out here?

ANSWER: Following an extensive search and review of available literature on
botulism and honey (including the American Academy of Pediatrics) it is
clear that most resources choose not to distinguish between safe and unsafe
foods containing honey but rather give a blanket recommendation for children
under 12 months to avoid honey and processed foods containing honey. One
credible resource, the National Food Safety Department under the USDA
further specifies that Clostridium botulinum "spores can be inactivated when
manufactured food products (such as cereals or nuts) receives roasting heat
treatment. Graham crackers or cereal for example would not contain any
viable microbial spores." This article provides complete and detailed
information with regard to botulism as it relates to food and other
environmental sources, as well as infant risk factors and food processing
that can and cannot inactivate the spore-causing botulism. More information
and specific references can be found at
www.foodsafety.org/consumer/nut/nu022.htm

http://www.fooddomain.msu.edu/newsle...0I%20know%20in
fants%20should%20not%20eat

Q: I know infants should not eat honey, but what about honey graham
crackers?

A: Honey is not recommended for infants because it may contain botulism
spores. Consumption of honey by infants one year of age or younger may
result in infant botulism. Honey graham crackers are processed by a roasting
heat treatment that leaves no viable spores for possible botulism toxin
development. Therefore, the crackers are safe for infants to eat, as are any
commercial products such as cereals (Honey Nut Cheerios) that are prepared
by a heat-roasting method.

Home prepared food products that contain honey do not provide the heat and
time treatment required to kill the botulism spores and, therefore, are not
recommended for infants--for example, canned fruit water bath that has been
processed with honey as the sweetener, a spoonful of honey in milk, etc.

Source: Discussion with the Honey Board staff. Provided by : Carol Wruble,
Michigan State University Extension.

See now, I just don't agree with that. My son doesn't have molars, but he
chews just fine. Until they get them, they do a variation of the chew, and
chew with their front teeth. Or rather, all the babies I know without
molars... who would go crazy not being able to eat things because they have
no molars and therefore "can't" chew.

--
Cadie and Aries
|
| Until baby has molars, you can't give him anything he'd have to chew, and
until he has incisors, you can't give him anything he'd have to bite
through.

wrote in message ...
I'd love to here how some of you started introducing solids and what path
you took.

When DS was six months old, I offered rice cereal mixed with freshly pumped
milk. He wanted none of it, or almost none. I offered cereal and fruit
every week, just to see what he thought about eating solids, and didn't
worry about it at all. Finally, just as he turned 11 months old, he took
some Cheerios. Ever since, he's had a steadily increasing appetite as I
offer him what I eat (within reason), as well as some prepared fruits.

He has 8 incisors, but manages to eat very expertly. I make sure everything
is "smooshable," of course. Meat is cut into tiny bits and mashed with the
finger tips, just to make sure that it's soft. He gets toast bits, wedges
of hard-boiled egg (be careful of the common allergens before the baby is a
year old, including egg white and wheat), spoonfuls of my old-fashioned
oatmeal, tiny chunks of banana, etc. I stay away from chunks of *raw*
vegetables and fruit, lest he choke, though, unless they're soft, like ripe
pears or chunks of grapefruit pulp. The main problem is metering out the
food so that he does not pack it all in at once and cause a "traffic jam."
Aside from applesauce and other soupy food, he feeds himself. I give him
help with a regular cup, cup and straw, or sippy cup.

Food was really easy to start, since he started so late, had good head and
hand control, and could feed himself. Frankly, if I ever have another baby,
I'm going to just skip all the early offers of food--at least until 7 months
of age. That way, one doesn't have to worry nearly as much about texture,
choking, allergies, or anything else. I suppose early feeding of food had
its uses during the formula feeding heyday, but now it's more of a
manufactured need than anything--if one is nursing.

My son grew very fat on my milk alone, weighing 22 lbs. at his six-month
WBV. I was a little worried about my his iron levels, as long as his
pediatrician kept bringing up how he ought to be on fortified cereal or
vitamins. I ignored her, though. He got no cereal or supplemental iron
(it's supposed to injure the gut enough so that the bioavailable iron in
breast milk is not so readily available)--just my milk. Got his hemoglobin
tested when he was 9 months old, and it measured 13.5, which was
*excellent,* so I'm glad to have trusted Mother Nature.

So try not to sweat it too much. When he has a decent pincer grip, he'll be
all set to start experimenting with the appropriate table food. Good luck!

Beth