We're Not giving up...
...but making our own baby food is currently a losing battle.
At first G seemed really into the foods we were making for him (bananas, avocado, peaches, etc.) And then we offered him homemade peas...his nose scrunched up, he pushed away the spoon and spat out every last pea that went in his mouth. So then I thought maybe I could disguise the peas in his all time fav--bananas...but he couldn't be fooled...he spat out the combination...and hasn't looked at a banana the same way since. Now whenever we prepare him food he maybe chokes down 4-5 spoonfuls before the spitting battle begins. I try not to get discouraged but I feel like we are wasting a lot of money on fresh foods that he won't eat and we've now tainted with breast milk...and thus made it inedible for us grown-peoples.
So I have given into commercially prepared foods. And G loves them. I stick to organic brands...that contain no additives, sugars or preservatives. Yesterday Gunnar finished a package of plum organics spinach, peas and pears
and still seemed hungry so we whipped him up some homemade avocado/breast milk and suddenly the nose scrunching spit monster showed up again. As John put it "the baby food companies know what they're doing...it's been scientifically proven to appease babies appetites" so it is...hard to compete.
I feel a little over my head in this whole "food" category. As a nanny the babies I had were natural eaters...expert chewers. Gunnar doesn't seem to understand the chewing concept at all. When offered a dissolving cracker like Mum-mums G won't even keep it in his mouth long enough to dissolve...just long enough to get mushy and then he spends the rest of the time trying to get the gooey cracker off his hands. I even offered him a very ripe and soft banana (while watching him very closely) to see if he might gnaw on it...but the results were the same. It seems if it isn't pureed to the extreme...he doesn't want it. I'm sure it just takes time...but after nearly 2 months of eating solids I really thought he'd be more advanced in his ability to chew by now.
Help? Advice? Tips? Thanks...
At first G seemed really into the foods we were making for him (bananas, avocado, peaches, etc.) And then we offered him homemade peas...his nose scrunched up, he pushed away the spoon and spat out every last pea that went in his mouth. So then I thought maybe I could disguise the peas in his all time fav--bananas...but he couldn't be fooled...he spat out the combination...and hasn't looked at a banana the same way since. Now whenever we prepare him food he maybe chokes down 4-5 spoonfuls before the spitting battle begins. I try not to get discouraged but I feel like we are wasting a lot of money on fresh foods that he won't eat and we've now tainted with breast milk...and thus made it inedible for us grown-peoples.
So I have given into commercially prepared foods. And G loves them. I stick to organic brands...that contain no additives, sugars or preservatives. Yesterday Gunnar finished a package of plum organics spinach, peas and pears
and still seemed hungry so we whipped him up some homemade avocado/breast milk and suddenly the nose scrunching spit monster showed up again. As John put it "the baby food companies know what they're doing...it's been scientifically proven to appease babies appetites" so it is...hard to compete. I feel a little over my head in this whole "food" category. As a nanny the babies I had were natural eaters...expert chewers. Gunnar doesn't seem to understand the chewing concept at all. When offered a dissolving cracker like Mum-mums G won't even keep it in his mouth long enough to dissolve...just long enough to get mushy and then he spends the rest of the time trying to get the gooey cracker off his hands. I even offered him a very ripe and soft banana (while watching him very closely) to see if he might gnaw on it...but the results were the same. It seems if it isn't pureed to the extreme...he doesn't want it. I'm sure it just takes time...but after nearly 2 months of eating solids I really thought he'd be more advanced in his ability to chew by now.
Help? Advice? Tips? Thanks...
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| cutest butt in town |
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| Dinner in the tub was a bloody battle tonight... |
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| Rubber Ducky was murdered with blueberries... |
Funny, we're having the opposite problem! I'm struggling to keep up with Emma's demands for homemade foods! She's only tried the prepared food once (peas) because we were at Grandma's and she was excited about buying it for her. With the peas, it helped to blend the heck out of them with my fancy Ninja blender (the babyfood blender couldn't handle them). Maybe take a break from bananas? Try sweet potato fries for feeding himself? Emma doesn't have the pincer grasp yet so we're not pushing feeding her to feed herself the little things yet. He'll eat if he's hungry, maybe just don't stress about it.
ReplyDeletePrepare smaller batches? We freeze 1 ounce portions in an ice cube tray. It's good in the freezer for 3 months so I don't worry if she doesn't like it right away, I try again later not worrying about wasting because it's such a little amount at a time. I also use water and not breastmilk to thin her food so there's no wasting that and I have no problem taking the last bite of mashed peas if Emma's full ; )
Also, he's such a cutie, I could eat him up!!
I was just thinking the other day that maybe the prepared baby foods were the problem when I saw a baby throwing a fit over the peas his mom was trying to give him! Kenna seems to be not so picky about texture, and she'll pretty much eat anything (though sometimes she makes a face upon the first bite). I do know that I read something about preparing peas with a food mill instead of a blender. I think it weeds out the thicker outer layer of the pea, which he may not like if you're just blending them. That said, we just blend them and Kenna hasn't seemed to be picky about that. I gave Kenna some Earth's Best baby food (carrots and one other fruit mix), and noticed she started breaking out with a rash on her chin. May have been coincidence, but I decided not to give it to her again until it went away. I tried these with her because I'm not sure what to do when we travel out of town. Could do easy things like bananas, avocado, but I don't want her to only eat those things for a week. So, I thought I'd better get her used to the prepared baby foods. Other ideas?
ReplyDeleteI also just add water to the food now. I figured she wouldn't be getting extra milk if I was using prepared baby food, so I wasn't going to stress about using it in the homemade baby food.
Have you tried any mixtures of foods? Sweet potatoes? Kenna LOVES them! Does he eat the bananas if they're more lumpy? That might help you figure out if it's a texture or taste difference.
I have no advice about the mum mums or puffs. Except don't stress about it. It's not like there are major nutrients in them that he needs! :) I'm sure he'll be chewing away in no time.
Oh, and any suggestions on the prep of meat? I've been putting it off til I have time to figure it out. From what I've read, turkey and chicken are good starters (or lamb). And I'm having a hard time finding organic meat other than chicken. Thoughts?????
I have been LOVING the Plum Organics because I can feed M on the go with no mess. He's had a full meal on a bus, a plane, and in the restaurants with my mom and me on Martha's Vineyard and I don't even need a bib!
ReplyDeleteI tend to do a mixture of homemade and commercial. Have you tried yogurt yet? Now that it's summer I've been blending yogurt with fresh fruit and berries and then adding the baby cereal in to thicken it (and for the iron). M's current fave.
Also, do you give him a lot of table food? Pretty much as soon as M turned 4 months, Mark and I would give him bits of anything we were eating that wasn't a choking hazard. I recently learned that this practice has a name (and reference books) "Baby Lead Weaning." I think it's a little silly that it has a name and its own set of "rules," but in general it appears that babies are less picky as toddlers if you expose them to constant variety. We've done that and it's true that he'll eat practically anything.
THAT said, starting a few weeks ago, M was also done with even his old standby, avocado. I have to add a little salsa or sprinkle a little salt to get him to eat much of it. I assume this is partially from his exposure to all of our table foods. I'm fine with it though, because it's not realistic that he'll be eating everything steamed with zero salt or oils - that's not how I cook, and I cook pretty healthily.
Good luck!