Today I wanted to share about our transition to solids. Rilynn started showing interest in our food right before five months. Around this time she also started waking up more often at night, which led me to question if she was getting hungrier and needed something "more". At five months, we gave her a few slices of frozen banana in her mesh teether when she got her first tooth. She loved it! We then decided that we would try and introduce solids to her.
The first thing we tried was applesauce. She seemed so confused when she first tasted it, but ended up eating the small amount we tried to feed her. Over the next five days, we continued to offer her applesauce once a day. I didn't have access to a blender or food processor at my mother in law's house, so we decided to go out and buy a few organic squeeze pouches. The squeeze pouches have to be used within 2 days, so when I opened a pouch, I would squeeze half of it into our Mumi & Bubi freezer storage trays and leave the remainder in the fridge. Over the next week or so, Rilynn tried sweet potato and pear as well. The sweet potato hurt her stomach and gave her some gas, but by mixing it with applesauce, it ended up being fine.
At this time, my friend Sara shared a post on the blog about Baby Led Weaning. I had never heard of it before and it opened my eyes to another option when it came to transitioning to solids. Buying the puree pouches was so expensive and the thought of making my own baby food seemed like a nightmare and extremely time consuming (I later found out it's not that bad!). Also, we began to notice that Rilynn was becoming less and less fond of eating purees. So we sat Rilynn in her high chair and gave her a few pieces of avocado - and to my surprise, she ate it all. Naturally Ryan and I were extremely cautious and scared about the whole "choking" possibility, but she did great and seemed more interested in it than when we were spoon feeding her.
Over the next week we tried other "solid" foods, but we quickly found out that Rilynn just wasn't interested in food at this point. So we quit offering it to her and planned to re-visit solids a few weeks later. At six months, I let her try a few purees again. This time, she was definitely ready to be eating. She consistently had a small bowl or two of food, two times a day. At her six month appointment, the doctor encouraged us to start giving her juice and water, since she started having issues with constipation. At that appointment, I asked my doctor about baby led weaning. He was very against it and said not to give her anything but purees until about 9 months. This really bothered me since he didn't even know what baby led weaning was when I asked him ( I had to explain the details of it and what it entailed) and I knew so many mothers who had great success with that method. My mom and Ryan were also at that appointment and I feel like it just validated their fears about Rilynn "choking" if I gave her anything but purees.
For the next three weeks we offered Rilynn purees. I could not fathom paying over $1 a pouch, so I started making Rilynn's baby food myself. It really is easy! I made pears, avocado, carrots, peas, banana & apples. Over that time though, Rilynn again became less and less willing to eat. I started getting very frustrated because I truly felt that Rilynn was better suited for baby led weaning. So one week ago, when she continued to refuse to eat, I explained to my family that I was going back to BLW. So far she has handled both avocado and bananas and did great! We are about to try sweet potatoes next. She eats far more of these fruits and vegetables when they are whole, and with 6 teeth, she's able to chew and mush up the food on her own.
Rilynn will gag or cough here and there and it IS scary. But each time it's happened, I'm sitting eye level with her and can always see the food that is in her mouth. What people say is true - babies gag reflexes are farther forward in their mouth than adults. Whenever she gags, the food is only a tiny bit into her mouth - she gags, then starts chewing more and then swallows. It is her natural way of learning how to chew and eat on her own. Ryan and I are both aware of how to save a baby who is choking, so if you are considering trying BLW I recommend you research and train yourself as well (just in case)! Also, you should never leave a baby alone with food when they are starting out.
Since we have tried both purees and baby led weaning, I thought I would share some of our favorite items that we have used over the past few months!
1// Snap Bibs - These are our absolute FAVORITE bibs. I took this photo so you could see how much they really cover! Rilynn never gets any food on her clothes when we use these bibs. They come in all sorts of colors, but her sparkle gold one is the cutest!! Every time she wears it in public, people want to know where we got it. I took a photo out in the sunshine so you could see how it sparkles:
2// Dr. Brown's Solid's Kit & Training Cups: We have used Dr. Brown's bottles since Rilynn was born and have nothing but great things to say about the brand. Their solid's kit and training cups have been just as wonderful. The flat spoons make feeding purees very easy and I have gotten so much use out of the fridge/freezer tray. Their soft spouted cups made introducing juice and water very simple. The handles are easy for Rilynn to grasp and she can hold the cup on her own.
3// Mumi and Bubi Freezer Storage Trays - These were our favorite when it came to freezing and storing Rilynn's food. The above ones are a little frosty (they are the last of our purees in the freezer), but usually I freeze the food and transfer them to freezer Ziploc bags to keep them from getting freezer burn. Each cube is 1 oz and it was the perfect portion while we were using the purees. You simply press on the edge of a cube and it pops out!
Transitioning to solids is different for every baby! I think the best thing you can do is go into it with an open mind - letting your baby choose what is right for them. Rilynn needed purees at one point, but now prefers the baby led weaning approach. If one day she seems super hungry and needs purees again, I'll happily switch back. We just stay flexible and go with what is working best for us and our baby.
If you head over to my instagram, I'm giving away some of our favorites from our transition to solids!
