Change of Plans

I thought it was time I gave an update on Ada's solid food situation. She'll be 7 months next week (WHAT!), so that means we've been feeding her for almost an entire month. Not surprisingly, during these four or so short weeks, a lot has changed.

First, let's recap:

We started the whole solids adventure by creating a dinnertime habit of eating at our dining room table. Lighting a candle. Sitting Ada with us in her high chair.

We even gave her a tasty Momsicle (breastmilk popsicle) to nosh on before she turned 6 months.


Then we gave Ada her first taste of banana using the Baby-Led Weaning method, wherein babies feast on chunks of soft foods, like bananas and avocados, picking them up and feeding themselves at their own pace. We also mixed in a bit of spoon-feeding of homemade purees and iron-fortified oat cereal.

It worked. For a while. But things change. Here's what we're we doing now. (And we're not feeding her eggs yet -- we made avocado-egg salad and gave her some avocado!)


I know it's all the rage . . . and for good reason. However, we've abandoned Baby-Led Weaning for the time being. I have no other excuse besides I got lazy.

For us, the method is incredibly messy (expected) and time-consuming (not-so expected). I appreciate the principals of BLW -- having the baby control what he/she eats, etc. -- but in practice, I don't feel like Ada is quite into it.

So, I struggle. Of course I want Ada to call the shots with how much she eats, but at the same time, many people do the traditional spoon-feeding and their kids thrive. Right now? That's what we've decided to do. I make purees, we feed them to Ada, who heartily accepts them, and -- despite feeling like I failed at BLW and, therefore, life (kidding) -- the world keeps spinning.


When I was pregnant, I bought some baby food containers from Oxo. Each Sunday, I puree some stuff we're eating for the week (apples, asparagus, carrots, cucumber). I sometimes make fun combinations of foods she's already had before. Then I put them in the fridge an her dinners are set.

I think that's the biggest thing I learned from BLW. You don't necessarily need to introduce certain foods at certain times. Babies by 6 months of age are ready for most foods. Plus, if we want to just offer her something soft, but more solid, we can.

Oh, yeah. We also occasionally use store-bought baby food. When it's more convenient. Like on Memorial Day when we were out picnicking with friends. Otherwise, I really do think it's just easier to puree what we're eating. Cheaper, too.


The next part of our adventure that has changed is the frequency of meals. I must say, there are a lot of great resources online for all this information (my favorite is Wholesome Baby Food), but I'm still completely confused by what to feed, when, how often, etc.

(Please tell me I'm not the only one. As much as I like to be relaxed with my approach, I'd like someone to just tell me what to do sometimes.)


Ada gets a "breakfast" of oat cereal because I'd rather give her iron that way than in supplement form. Otherwise, she gets breastmilk. Then at dinner, we give her half a container of food. We may let her eat the entire container because she seems to want it . . . but I really don't know what's "right" or "normal" at this stage. I don't see us giving her many more meals or snacks in the near future, though.

That's where we are right now with feeding Ada. Like I said, I think the whole process is confusing. I don't know when or how to increase her food intake. I know breastmilk should be the primary source of nutrition for the first year, so I'm not stressing about it too much. Food is for practice right now. Still, I have looked up what other moms are doing in forums and it confuses me even more!

Do any of you have any great resources you could share with me? Or stories about how you moved along on your own solids adventures? I imagine we'll bring back Baby-Led Weaning every now and again to see if Ada takes to it, maybe with some of our CSA foods, too!

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