Starting Solids

Since BW and SB turned six months, we've hit the important milestone of starting solids, so I'm taking a break from writing about breastfeeding to talk about our foray into something other than breastmilk. 

I am no expert on baby nutrition. I spent time on Google. I liked the concept of baby-led weaning (BLW), and I wanted to skip starting with cereal as it seemed that it was empty calories. You read and hear a lot of moms use the phrase "food before one is just for fun". But then I read about the importance of iron and zinc for a baby's brain development. Since our daycare will not do BLW or homemade baby food, and all the breastfeeding info says that solids should be offered at daycare to preserve milk supply, we would be starting with purees, anyway. I did lots of reading on iron-rich foods, and I'm still baffled how a baby can possibly get the recommended daily allowance of iron, but I'm determined to provide that through foods, and not just enriched single-grain cereal. I planned to focus on egg yolks, prunes/prune juice, and introduce red meats early. I actually read about grating frozen beef liver over other foods, like egg yolks - we have some frozen liver in our freezer that no one else in our household will be eating, so I may experiment with that. I'm probably overthinking it all, but since I was anemic after delivery, and iron is so important for brain development, I want to make sure the girls are getting enough!

We started solids a few weeks ago, an started with mashed avocado mixed with breastmilk. BW dutifully sampled, swallowed, and opened her mouth for more. SB gagged, twitched, glared, coughed, grimaced, and salivated until she was able to drool out every last morsel of greenness. Perhaps we should rename her drama queen. We next tried egg yolk mashed with breast milk - BW was not a huge fan of the egg yolk, and SB again gagged, shuddered, grimaced, and drooled out every last bit of yellowness. The same with sweet potatoes,  pears, mashed banana and squash. SB seriously would glare at me like I was trying to kill her with purees. It was funny if not for my irrational panic that she was NEVER going to eat anything and I was going to have to resort to iron supplements. (BW continued to gobble up almost everything offered to her) Fast forward a few weeks- I started them on solids at daycare. The report after the first day? SB ate her entire amount of solids. Since it was a new food, I chalked it up to a fluke. The next day? SB "loved" the squash...who is this baby? SB has finally started adjusting to solids, all my panicking was for nothing, and since then she has been eating fairly well, although she does give me an "ew, gross, what did you just put in my mouth" look every once in a while. Which is completely adorable, and I have to try not to laugh at it. 

My plan is to start with some more BLW-style meals at home soon - the girls are definitely interested in picking things up from their tray and putting it in their mouth.