The Self Life

One Week of Solids

By Elisa|Baby, Clean It Up, Edibles, family, June, Norah Norah, Olive|5 Comments

We did it! Last week (last Tuesday, to be exact) I bit the bullet and started Norah on solids. She was SO ready – chewing motions, reaching for food, sitting unassisted, and the like.

We decided to jump in both feet and try baby-led weaning – where it’s all about placing food on the tray and letting the baby feed themselves. You give them large pieces of food (usually “chip” shaped, or french fry-shaped) that’s soft enough to be bitten off and chewed.

It sounded a bit intimating compared to purees and spoons but I really felt Norah was old enough to handle it (it’s suggested waiting 6 months *at least* with this method.) Baby-led wean’ers sing praises that it’s easier – baby gets what you’re eating! Let them control their intake! Everyone can eat dinner at the same time! Create good eating habits!

It all sounded well and good, but a week before declaring we’d start solids I found myself semi-frantically Googling pictures of what (and how big and how much) people were feeding their babies. I’ve heard avocado is a FANTASTIC first food, but my baby can’t just eat avocado every day, right?

Well, the first day was indeed avocado, but I promise we mixed it up throughout the week, hah. So without further ado..

Our first day went mooost excellently. We waited for Ryan to get home so he could sit in on the action. We stripped that little nugget down and let her do her thing. It was awesome to watch her get totally excited, eat a decent amount, and get completely covered in food.

A few things we learned:
Depending on the size of the item, she would shove a lot of food in her mouth at one time. Almost shockingly. If you read about baby-led weaning they talk in detail about coughing/gagging – the gag reflex is much closer to the front of the mouth in babies then in adults, purposefully so, so that they can clear their airway weeell before they actually choke. It’s not uncommon for babies to cough or sputter, although we were pleasantly surprised that Norah didn’t do this at all. If she tore off a piece too large she’d simply spit most of it out, grab it (or let it fall into her lap, hah) and try again. Both methods (yep, even coughing) are supposed to help babies measure an appropriate size piece of food.

Banana, day two and three:

We also learned peaches stain like the dickens. Rest In Peace monkey onesie.

We tried to balance fruits and veggies with rather.. mixed results. Some say start veggies first, other say fruits. We just went with it. So after some flavor-packed avocados and fruits Norah found squash to be rather anti-climatic.

But they eventually compromised.

And lastly, it isn’t about how much food they eat, but about the tastes, sights, smells, and fine motor control. Some days they’ll eat a lot (I think she ate half the banana!), others, not so much. Even though she certainly liked carrot better than squash, she swallowed maybe, two small bites? They get better over time (pincher grip!) but all babies are different. She still breastfeeds around the clock and I look at the calories she’s consuming as complete bonus.

And how are the dogs taking to all this?

ERMERGERD FOOD DROPPING FRUM THE SKY.

So there you have it. Baby-led weaning. Or baby-led solids. Or the Lazy Mom’s Intro to Solids. Only a week in but so far it’s working out well for us.

However, I am currently mourning the loss of exclusively breastfed poop. I had no idea how good I had it.