Starting Solids

Abe has been showing signs of being ready to start solids. He can sit up on his own, he is waking frequently to eat (really...what's new there), and he is grabbing our food and cups.

I decided that the day Seth returned from Boston we would give it a whirl.

After doing a lot of reading and research I decided I wanted to use the baby led weaning method (with my own spin). I would skip cereal with the following reasons (which are my own):

• It is a filler and has no nutritional value (yes it is fortified but those are not absorbed as well as naturally occurring vitamins and minerals)
• It will fill baby up and then baby doesn't want to drink as much breastmilk
• Some babies have a hard time digesting it and can become constipated

A baby's main source of nutrient for the first year should be breastmilk so the food introduced at this stage is just for exploration and learning. So we went into this thinking that we would put some food out and let him go at it.

We bought him this fabulous high chair which he seems to really like!



Last night we put some avocado out for him. I gave him a spoon since he seems so interested in them. I showed him that he can play in the avocado, I put some on his lips, I helped him hold a piece in his hands...totally not interested! I think my timing may have been off. He seemed a bit grumpy and shortly later spit up.

 

So maybe we aren't as ready as I thought. And I am even considering trying some whole grain organic rice cereal to see what he thinks of that. At this point in the sleeping game...I am willing to try anything.