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Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Food for thought

Photo courtesy the Life Photo Archives

When I was pregnant with Sammy, I was so preoccupied with the pregnancy aspect of things that I kind of dropped the ball on preparing for life with an actual baby.  I learned a lot simply from trial and error (and a few panicked phone calls to my mom) and was feeling pretty good about how things were going--that is, until Sammy's last doctor's visit where I was told I should start thinking about starting Sammy on solid foods.  Crap.

I don't know why, but for some reason this next developmental milestone fills me with anxiety.  Several friends have loaned me books on baby feeding and baby food recipes, but they sit unopened on my coffee table.  A big part of me is convinced that this is going to be the one thing that I'll really screw up and Sammy will inadvertently wind up with crazy food allergies and other complications because I used the wrong rice cereal or started him on the wrong thing at the wrong time.  The fact that I feel obligated to attempt to make my own baby food since I'm at home all day with Sammy doesn't make things any better, especially since most nights the most that I make for myself to eat is a bowl of cereal.

I think in this instance I'm just going to have to follow my instincts and hold off for a little while longer.  I mean, Sammy hasn't really shown any interest in what I'm eating.  And it's not as though he needs any help sleeping through the night, which is the other frequent reason given for starting solid foods, as he's been doing that for more than two months now.  So I think I'm just going to wait a little bit longer; maybe by the time Sammy's sitting up on his own, we'll both be ready.

8 comments:

Maeve's Momma said...

There's no hurry. When Maeve started watching us eat like it was the Superbowl, I knew it was time to get started. And, like figuring out their sleep habits, it's essentially a giant guessing game. Do you like oatmeal? No? How about if I put sweet potato in it? etc etc. You can't do it wrong unless you start giving him french fries and hot dogs. :)

Jackson & Theo's Mama said...

I am so with you on this!!! Jackson has been having "baby food" (very pureed) for a couple of months and he is ready to start moving on to finger foods. I have this huge fear he is going to choke!

Eschelle Westwood Mumfection said...

don't freak out you can do this!! We have all done it and you wont ever find out allergies unless you do it, start off slow and don't push yourself. If you have allergies in your family then avoid those foods so you don't stress out about them and of course until your comfy avoid food that produce gas, green beans, brocolli, creamed corn, and don't feed em too much bananas cause then they'll bind up.

You'll do great! Just jump right in that pool hun! Don't bother with the books (they'll stress you out more)... recipes would be a good one. I tried to make my own baby food with my first but that stopped once we wanted to start introducing fruit lol.

Anonymous said...

Pediatricians are great, but I think your instincts are best for things like this. I didn't start my youngest on food until he was pulling food out of my mouth.lol.Yuck. He never even ate baby food. I just started him on mashed potatoes, melt in your mouth cereal and really steamed veg. As soon as he got teeth he started eating what we eat. I loved it. I feel you though having to now think of meals for two. While my hubs is deployed I have to force myself not to give my kids cereal or frozen pasta for dinner every night.lol.

Tonya said...

I'll just echo the above comments - even though the books say you can start solids at 4 months, it doesn't mean you have to. And I have four children who have never exhibited a food allergy - I know there are a lot of instances of allergies out there, but there are also millions of children who are just fine. When you do decide to add solids, start with rice cereal and take it from there. No need to stress, honey!

Meredith said...

I was worried about solids as well (my daughter is 6 1/2 months), but then I discovered the whole BLW approach and we've been doing it for a couple weeks. It's great. No purees, no rice cereal, no worrying about making baby food. I talk about it in a podcast I did if you're interested. Even if you don't do BLW, I say don't worry about giving your kid allergies. As my pediatrician said, "it's not a science." She basically admitted most recommendations for food change every decade and they don't have a lot of research to back up recommendations anyway.

kitten said...

I say, trust your instincts. You know your baby mre than anyone, including the doctor. There is no harm in waiting, in fact, the longer you wait, the less chances for allergic reactions. Good luck momma!

Julianne said...

Hehe, I'm with you. We're not even starting cereal till L can sit up on her own (which she has started to do for 30 seconds at a time. Quick, push her down!) I can see it coming though and am starting to prepare myself mentally but like you, I'm not really ready for this.

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