Unrelated picture from today. Found a new way to keep her out of trouble!
If I had to describe our attempts at feeding Ivey solids in three words or less, it's been gaggy. Clunky. Confusing.
Food #1: Avocado. We started out with small strips which I hoped she'd pick up on her own. I got just a little bit on my finger and put it in her mouth to give her the idea, but after a little while she gagged. Gagging scares me; I'm sorry, but it does. We sort of mashed it up on the tray a bit and she had a great time rubbing it all over the highchair and herself. A little bit did get into her mouth.
Food #2: Sweet potatoes. I cooked one in the microwave and cut it into grabbable pieces. She was into this (after I dorkily demonstrated what she should do). A little sliver found its way into her mouth and she began to chew. Then it got too far back. More gagging and this time we got two little puddles of milk-puke to go with it. Apparently this gagging is normal when starting kids on solids, but I'd rather avoid it.
Food #3: Egg yolk. I thought, maybe our problem is that we should try a mushed up food just to start, and then we'll go to finger foods later. I boiled an egg and added just a little breastmilk because it was kind of dry, and mashed it up. When I approached her with the spoon, she indicated she'd like to feel the food a bit before eating it. I let her squish it on the tray and play in it a while, and then I put just a little on the inside of her mouth. She gave me this look as if to say Mama, why do I have to eat this weird stuff when you have two perfectly good boobies right there? But you don't have to take my word for it.
I told her not to worry about it and gave her what she really wanted. Here is her face a little after our nursing session:
Ivey, as our midwife Carey suggested the other day, is a "booboo baby." Other people are looking forward to the day she eats solid food, but she doesn't really care, I don't think. Yes, she has seemed curious before at the table, but when actually presented with an opportunity to eat food, she is unenthusiastic.
I remain unrushed. I am enjoying being able to eat huge amounts of food without gaining weight, the absence of a monthly visitor, dirty diapers that smell like butter and don't require scraping or spraying, and the convenience of solely breastfeeding. I may be a lousy cook, but I can make milk and it turns out perfect every time!
Next, I think we'll give bananas a go. As Amber mentioned, I think I'll get them sort of mushy and then pile them on the tray for her to fling around the room or gobble up, whichever she prefers. If that doesn't work, we'll wait a week or two and start over again.
Anybody else out there who took longer than usual to get going with solids?
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6 comments:
Yes, my daughter still has trouble and she's over a year. She does okay with well pured foods, but chunks have always been hard for her... I hate gagging too. It makes me nervous and looks so unpleasant for her. The Speech Language Pathologist says she tends to thrust her tongue back and forth to swallow when she should be pushing it to the roof of her mouth. So chunks get to the back of her throat and cause her to gag.
We started making more progress when we found foods she really liked. Avocados, and most fruit are her favorites.
When we was a little older we started practicing with Ritz crackers (around 10 months).. the SLP likes them because she can get practice chewing but they disolve better than other similar products that tend to gum up. She does well with these.
She still struggles, but I know we are making progress. I'm looking forward to the day I can cut up some of our food to give her.
I'm sure Ivey will get the hang of it very soon.
oh goodness! my daughter needed solids at 6 mo cause the waking up 3xs a night makes for a grumpy mommy! but alas, she was not as excited about the prospects as i was. my first dd took to solids no problem... this one, not so much. this one makes these sour faces and body shivers that make your heart wrench. it could be avocado, butternut squash, apples... sour face. she Loooooves plain yogurt though! i will say with two months of eating behind us now we have finally made it through to the enjoying stage. she has a thing called a nuby (long 'u' like new-bee). that worked wonders. has encouraged motor skill and i think allowed her to be more independent and therefore a much happier eater. she even starts shrieking at oaty-o's now. now, i miss the nursing... sadly, i don't have the same productivity as you and seem to be running out!! ol'flow returned and the boobies got sad.
if you want a good book on baby foods try super baby food- ruth yaron. it's written a little wonky (her editor fell asleep apparently) but is a mine of information.
Sometimes I think my son still isn't entirely comfortable with solids, at 2 years old! :) So, yes, with some kids it just takes longer. I wouldn't worry about it, though. I figure some kids might have a more sensitive gag reflex or some other unseen issue and just need more time to get used to it all. Plus, if the breastfeeding's there, you know she's getting the calories and nutrition she needs, so there's really no rush to replace that with something else. That's what I told myself, anyway. :)
When Mikko was 7 months old, my mom decided he really should be spoon fed mushed bananas. She was certain this was a good idea. I let her attempt it — and my dad, who was holding him, got a shirt and face full of vomited banana as a result. I thought it was really funny. For what it's worth, Mikko loves banana now, but we didn't try them again for some time after that!
My daughter, who is now 5 and I am happy to report eats food without incident, was very slow on the solids. She was around 9 months before she would really eat anything. Some kids are just like that.
The strong gagging reflex will abate on its own, even if you take it slow with solids. If it's freaking you out, taking a couple of weeks off may just give everyone time to cool off, you know?
Keep putting it off!! Cedar's poops are disgusting. She loves solid food and eats with gusto. But the diapers. Oh, the diapers.
I started offering occasionaly purees at 6 months, but it wasn't until aroun 10 months that my daughter seemed to really like foods. Now she can take bites and chew some foods, but is still not eating a whole lot.
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