Ok, it's official! We are officially starting solids when Carmen is 5 1/2 months old. I posted about Baby Led Weaning or Baby Led Solids as it's starting to be called in the US back in this post. Back then I was still not ready for her to actually "eat" anything but she was showing signs of readiness so we were giving her tastes of apples and pears. Well, last week my girl decided that she was going to sit up on her own and this was the last sign I was waiting for before officially starting.
Check out these sweet sheepie pajamas!
So, last Thursday while I was at my sister's house, we pulled out a banana and let her eat it!
This is actually the 2nd time I've let her have banana but the first time I wasn't ready and when she got a big bite and spit it out, I stopped giving her more. I really think she liked the banana but she didn't like the fresh banana as much as once it had been a little manhandled. When she would taste the new banana piece she would shake her head a bit. The banana was VERY messy and like my sister said she smelled like banana pudding but she seemed to enjoy it and she was able to get a good handle on getting it to her mouth. A couple times she squeezed the banana pretty hard and broke it up but as she kept trying she seemed to start getting it. I think banana is a good start and I plan to give her more bananas.
Our 2nd food this weekend was Avocado! This was so fun! But how can you resist this cuteness! And check out those pups who didn't know what was coming there way! :)
She got super messy but I knew she would so I just put her in her booster chair in only her diaper. I'm not big on bibs and I only think Carmen has had one or two bibs on and one was for a picture. She got a bath right after this experience with Avocado.
Since then she has been so interested when I eat anything...thinking she will get a taste but I haven't given her anything. We haven't had time when she is not already sleepy and we are home. Hoping to be able to give her the other half of the avocado before it goes bad. And I have a sweet potato to bake to give her too.
Well, I hope you enjoyed these videos. Other than daddy not being too excited about the mess it makes, we are having a GREAT time watching her figure things out!
Oh and a quick recap: Both Avocado and Banana are a great first solid food but are very messy and takes some skill for them to be able to pick up and get to their mouth without them being mush! :)
{this moment} – A Friday ritual from Soule Mama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your “moment” in the comments for all to find and see.
I've been doing research on starting solids since little miss CGR was only 2 months old. I quickly decided that I was going to wait until she was ready...and 6 months olds. I read several ways of doing solids but the one that made the most sense to me was Baby Led Solids or as it was originally called in the UK Baby Led Weaning. In the UK, weaning means to start solids and doesn't mean what we think it does of weaning from nursing.
What is Baby Led Solids you ask? Well, in my words, it's skipping purees and cereals and waiting until your baby is developmentally ready to eat foods, such as showing interest in foods, sitting up pretty well, and more. Then instead of spoon feeding your baby, you start with french fry shaped fruits and steamed or baked veggies and put them in front of your baby and let them feed themselves. This is done while monitoring them very closely of course. At around the time you start, you baby's gag reflex is far forward in their mouth so this helps them from choking. It takes them time to learn to manipulate the food around it and down their gullet. I've been warned there is a lot of gagging but to let the baby work it out. If they are chocking of course intervene. The blog that helped me gain the most confidence in this method and really helped me understand was Adventures in Solid Foods. I've read the thing from start to finish! It's got everything you want from facts, to loads of pictures and some video!
The book that started this is called Baby Led Weaning by Gill Rapley. I have not read it yet but have read a lot of excerpts from it. :)
So, armed with this knowledge I pledged to wait until my girl turned 6 months old until she would taste anything but breast milk. We all know best laid plans are always broken right?
The last two weeks or so Carmen who will be 5 months old on May 1st has suddenly discovered that these humans around her put all kinds of food in their mouth and they seem to really enjoy it! She stared at us whenever we ate or drank anything. Last week, she forcefully grabbed my cup of water I was drinking out of while I was holding her so I let her have a sip. You would have thought it was the best thing EVER! She was so excited! I only let her have a little bit of it because I wasn't ready for her to drink too much water. Also am worried it will effect her nursing and then my milk supply.
Then came today. I went home for lunch to nurse Carmen as I do pretty much every day and after she ate I sat her in her booster chair with the toy part in it and we were just playing.
Then her nanny niece Sarah sat next to us and was eating an apple. Carmen was interested so I said let's try it out. She at first didn't notice we had put it on her tray but once I showed it to her and she got it in her hands and IMMEDIATELY it went into her mouth. Thankfully I was already taking pictures of her so I changed my cellphone to video and caught her experiencing the sweet juiciness of apple!
I'm still not really ready for her to eat too much solid food but the fact she's so interested I plan to try out some other things I think she'll do ok with. I don't want to do anything too mushy as I don't quite think she's ready for things to go down her throat. Apples seem like a great start! She was even able to pick them up when they got all slobbery!
See her figuring it out! It's amazing to watch her brain working so hard!
Well, as we try new foods and actually start eating things I'll share more of our "Adventures in Solid Foods." Hope you enjoy it as much as Little Miss Carmen does.
