My son’s molars are starting to come in. Although I’m not happy about the pain he is going through, I am pretty pumped that soon he can chew anything. It got me reminiscing about when we first started solids and the journey it has been over the last 8 months.
Phase 1 – “Solids mom, really?” (6-7 months)
Given how much I love food, you can imagine how excited I was to start feeding our little guy solids. We started at 6 months with rice cereal and that first reaction was priceless. He basically looked at me with a “What the heck is this, Mom?” face, furrowed brows and all. During the rest of the first meal, we played block defense with the spoon. No airplane noises or choo choo noises were tricking our guy.
Days 2-3 we stuck with the rice cereal to ensure no allergies and it was pretty much the same experience.
Day 4 brought some new excitement because we were moving onto….wait for it…squash! We started with squash out of jar. Yes, out of a jar. But don’t you worry, it was all organic. I was excited to make my own purees, but I wanted to see what our son liked before I ended up with 20 frozen servings of sweet potatoes.
Throughout this phase, we continued to try single ingredient foods. And each week, it got better. Our son started to be excited about certain food, especially peas. That was his favorite.
A few tips in this stage:
1. Be PATIENT. Choose a time of day when you are not rushed so you can relax and enjoy the process.
2. Prepare yourself for the change in poop color, texture, and smell.
3. If you do make your own purees, do it in small batches. Your baby’s tummy is small. 🙂 And in my opinion, variety is better than quantity at this stage.
Phase 2 – “Let me do it myself.” (7-9 months)
This phase was really fun, and also a little terrifying. The fun part is that babies are developing new skills and love to begin picking up objects. They are fascinated by small morsels of food and really want to do things themselves. So you get to capitalize on these skills by offering finger foods like soft cooked vegetables, avocado (my son’s favorite), and pasta.
The terrifying part is that as a parent, you are constantly worried they are going to choke. You do need to be vigilant about choking hazards (cut pieces very small), but also expect that your baby is going to gag sometimes as they learn. That is hard to do!
During this phase, I bought the Munchkin Fresh Food Feeders. They were a great way to give my son some fresh fruits (melons, berries) and veggies, without the worry of choking.
Another fun part of this phase is that letting your baby feed him/herself also means every meal is a GIANT mess. It means food on the face, in hair, on the floor, on the highchair, everywhere! I remember giving my son hummus and it was EV-ERY-WHERE, all over him and everything else in a 2 foot radius. Needless to say, you’ll be cleaning a lot, but you will also get some of the best photos and memories. Plus, by this point, you’ve probably gotten used to a lot of cleaning already. Am I right?!?
Phase 3 – “I’m almost a real human.” (9-12 months)
It’s so crazy when you hit this phase, not just with respect to solids, but in everything your baby is doing. Your baby can make faces on purpose, imitate, crawl, walk (or almost walk), say (or almost say) words. Each day forward from here, your baby’s personality really comes to light. It is so so amazing to watch. You realize your baby is actually now a tiny human.
It’s during this phase that your baby wants to eat off your plate, and for the most part s(he) can. When you take your baby to dinner, you don’t have to pack quite as many things since you can order something off the menu. I remember that was a nice change. And when your baby is sitting in a highchair at the table, s(he) finally gets to feel like part of the party.
A few tips in this stage:
1. The best tip comes from my doctor: You decide when. You decide what. Your baby decides if s(he) eats. You want to encourage your baby to eat different things. But you shouldn’t force feed.
2. When you order off the menu at a restaurant, be creative. It doesn’t have to be a kids menu either. I remember ordering a kid’s pasta dish for my son and all he wanted was my salmon with vegetables. So don’t feel like you need to stick to chicken fingers and mac n’ cheese.
3. This is the stage when you can also introduce the sippy cup. My absolute favorite first sippy cup is the b. box. I thought the traditional sippy cups without a straw would work better. But my doctor recommended one with a straw. We had already received this one as a gift from a good friend. The straw is flexible and safe, and the cup is mostly leakproof. And the key thing is my son loves it!
If you’re going through these first solid food phases with your little one, have fun!! My son just learned how to reach in his mouth and remove food he doesn’t like. That has made mealtime even more fun! 🙂