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| "I'm here. Feed me!" |
We started introducing Camille to solids soon after she turned 6 months.
Here is what Camille has tried so far (kind of in order, but not really):
- Oatmeal cereal
- Banana
- Greens (usually served steamed and whole for her to munch on): spinach, broccoli, bok choy, lettuce
- Japanese white yams
- Sweet potatoes
- Rice & other grains: jasmine, sushi, brown, quinoa, puffed kamut
- Multigrain cereal
- Legumes: refried beans, peas, garbanzo beans, lentils, green beans
- Pho noodles
- Butter & olive oil
- Fruits: blueberries, papaya, avocado, apple, pear, mango, kiwi
- Yogurt (full fat & Greek style)
- Cheese: cottage, Laughing Cow Swiss cheese, cream cheese
- Squash: butternut, zucchini, yellow
- My mom's chicken congee: rice, chicken, lotus seeds, and mung beans
- Spices & flavors: curry, pepper, agave
- Coconut cream
- Hummus
- Bready stuff: bread (w/out nuts or honey in the ingredients list), injera, tortilla
- Asparagus (spears)
- Veggie chips
- Carrots (pureed and whole)
- Cherios
- Mango sorbet!
- Probably lots more that we can't remember
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| Camille likes variety |
I started a food journal for Camille to have a written record of possible reactions she might have to certain foods. After about three weeks, I got lazy and we just started winging it. So far, she has shown no signs of adverse reactions to any of the food we have fed her. Yay!
I make most of Camille's food. I actually enjoy it! At night when Camille has already gone to bed, I get out the veggies & whatnot and I do some experimenting. Mostly, I roast/bake the veggies and then I use an immersion blender to puree the food. Some foods don't need pureeing, though. Like bananas, avocado, ripe papaya, congee, etc.
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| Top to bottom: peas, quinoa, sweet potatoes, Japanese yams, butternut squash, blueberries |
My first concern was quickly dispelled once I observe how Camille eats. When she eats purees, she just swallows. When she eats finger foods (even at 6 months old with no teeth), she knows how to negotiate them in her mouth and not swallow large chunks. She has on occasions gagged (which is different from choking where her airway is compromised) and spat out large chunks of food that she couldn't swallow. Babies are much smarter than we give them credit for!
My second concern is, well, confirmed! :) Baby-led solids is really messy. Especially at the end of the meal when everything ends up on the floor. It'd be nice to have a dining room where the floor is not carpeted. But, who cares, we live in an apartment and it's not our carpet anyway, right? ;) My least favorite thing, though, is getting food out of her massive head of hair!
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| On the floor: broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash |
- I prepare meals for both of us and set them on the table
- I give thanks for our meal
- I offer Camille liquids in a sippy cup (either water, expressed milk, or diluted juice). She never takes milk but she will drink the other stuff.
- I feed her pureed stuff by spoon. She has been taking about 2 oz of purees (a standard size baby food jar is 2.5 oz) during each meal. Sometimes almost 4 oz if she's just really hungry.
4a - She finishes her pureed foods.
4b - She makes a poopy face, I take her to the potty, she poops, I change her, and then we're back at the table to finish her purees. - Then I offer her the finger foods so she can explore and make a mess. I take this time to eat my meal. I will usually share my low-sodium foods with her and she seems to enjoy these foods the best since they're big people food!
- She throws food on the floor to signal she's done. I think every kid does this. How do they learn to signal stop without throwing food on the floor? I dunno. But for now, it's okay.
- I clean up.
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| Chomping on a banana |
Things that I have learned on this journey of transitioning Camille to solids:
- It's messy, messy, messy
- It's totally fun!
- I should wash my hands more often
- I should really wash Camille's hands more often...especially since I'm offering her finger foods
- After a while, convenience trumps BPA/phthalate-free (I use zip lock bags a lot in freezing pureed foods)
- Initially when we first started solids, Camille would nurse more frequently. So she was getting at least the same amount of milk plus the solids she was taking in. Slowly, I think she's getting more full with solids and is taking in less milk. I don't know, though, since I still breastfeed and I am not sure how much she's drinking.
- Camille will usually take a very small bite at first to gauge whether the food is to her liking. And then she will either open wide for the subsequent spoons...or clamp shut!
- I've never met a kid who doesn't like blueberries
- Camille loves big people foods
- She gains mad manual dexterity skillz due to the fact that she was introduced to finger foods early on
- I should feed her purees and finger foods at separate times. If she gets purees and chunks of solids in her mouth at the same time, she's more prone to gagging (and possibly choking).
- She will drink when she gets thirsty
- She doesn't get as thirsty enough or drink enough to satisfy her body's needs for liquids. This is evidenced by really solid poop and concentrated pee. She's learning to drink more, though (more on this at the end of the post).
- Foods that stain a lot: blueberries, squash, and the #1 stainer...bananas!!
- Having an always-ready source of boiled water (like this thermos) is super useful
- I should never force feed. Never, ever! (But I do it all the time.)
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| Okay...hmm... |
I'd like to give an update on Camille's "drinking problem," too.
As you've heard, we went to Seattle Children's Hospital a couple of weeks ago to see a pediatric PT/lactation consultant about Camille's aversion to drinking from any source other than Mommy. I followed the PT's advice on slowly diluting her pureed foods with my pumped milk and feeding it to her using a small cup at the beginning of each meal. This added another step to our already lengthy mealtime routine. This step happened to be the messiest and most frustrating one, too. Camille would take one sip from the pink nosey cup and that would be it. No more! She would turn, shake her head, scream, try to knock the cup over, clamp her mouth shut, spit out the gulp of liquidy food, etc. It was a battle, to be sure. She even grew an aversion to all pink drinking cups!
So we gave it about 10 days of trying and we stopped the little pink cup trick.
What I did instead was that I decided to nurse her in the morning and at night, but that I would skip the two nursing sessions in between so that she would have an opportunity to learn how to drink from another source.
The first day, I put pumped milk into a Born Free training sippy cup and offered it to her in lieu of a nursing session after her first nap. She screamed for about 45 minutes straight. Lots of tears, snot, and struggles. She then got to a point where she was so tired, she actually started sucking. I honestly almost cried because of how miraculous this event was!! Eventually, she took in about 4 oz. I couldn't have asked for more! After she woke up from her second nap, she struggled with me again for about 10-15 minutes and then eventually drank another 5 oz.!
I nursed her that night and the following morning. Then that was it. She figured, "Okay, okay. So, Mommy does give in after a while." And with that, she has taken in less than 1 oz. of milk at every cup feeding session thereafter! ARGH!! Oh, and because she was not drinking enough during the day time, she was waking up at night multiple times to make up for her fluid intake needs. Double ARGH!!
The reason that I was so adamant about making this transition now was that Chin & I were attending a marriage retreat this past weekend and we left Camille with our friend Kristie all day Saturday. Kristie tried to give Camille the cup and she barely took half an ounce. She was obviously thirsty but would refuse to drink. She was very constipated and her urine was concentrated. *sigh*
On Sunday, we just about had it. We even borrowed a ThinkBaby Trainer Cup from our friend Chris whose son would only drink from this type of cup. A big struggle and no milk was consumed. Seeing our frustration, Pastor Julie from our church told us to drop Camille off at her house after church and she would watch her all afternoon while we go do something relaxing. We did not skip a beat! We dropped Camille off with their family and left them with her drinking problem. Good riddance, stubborn child!
When we returned, nearly four hours later, they said that she slept for over three hours, woke up, and drank some diluted juice from a Take & Toss sippy cup.
What the WHAT?!
I guess she just got thirsty enough to drink it. Pastor Julie also explained that Camille has drank water before and, even though she doesn't have too much of a problem with it, she prefers milk. But milk has to come from Mommy. Milk from any other source is an abomination. Diluted juice, on the other hand, is something new. Something that she is willing to explore. Pastor Julie said to give her this diluted juice for a few days and she will learn how to drink from a sippy cup. Score!
We've been having her drink diluted apple juice out of this cheap sippy cup ever since Sunday and it has been amazing! I still skipped one nursing session but instead of struggling to give her milk, I just offer her diluted juice. She takes it just fine, albeit not the same amount she would take if she were nursing. I have reinstituted the nursing session after her second nap, just to make sure she is getting enough to liquid (and doesn't wake up in the middle of the night!) and to make the transition smoother and less stressful on all of us.
So, that's where we stand. We still have a ways to go in training Camille to drink milk from a cup. But maybe Jesus will decide to come back by then and save us the turmoil.
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| "I love playing with my food!!" |
1 comment:
I'm jealous- gourmet Bao food!!! And nice bib, Camille!
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