Yet even more people I know are having babies now!! :) Love me some newborn baby snuggles. Ok so this post I will cover the topic of baby's first food.
Baby's First Foods-
Ok let me just start out with this is just how I do it, doesn't make it right, doesn't make you wrong. The purpose of my blog isn't to make you feel bad about how you are doing things, it's just to give you a small glimpse into my little boring life of how I do things :)
If at all possible I recommend breast feeding your baby, a lactation consultant can be a lifesaver and well worth the money. Before I had kids I knew I would breast feed, I was annoyed at the number of women who never even tried it or gave up way too soon. Well then I had my first child. He was tongue tied and within two weeks I totally understood why women quit breastfeeding. This little child was totally dependent on me to sustain his life. I couldn't tell for sure how much he was consuming and I was having tons of pain, mainly due to the fact he was tongue tied. During this time I was so thankful for the support of my husband, I needed him to be there for me, I needed a shoulder to cry on. I had envisioned how breastfeeding my children would go and this was not it. It was painful and he wasn't getting it, it took sooooo long for him to eat. Was he even getting enough to live? Take heart momma's it got better. The pain eventually got better as he learned how to work his now clipped tongue. He eventually got faster at it, and by 3 months old I was enjoying breastfeeding a lot. It is so bonding and it's a time to snuggle and love on your baby. I remember just rocking with my son feeding him and he would take his little hand (now chubby) and stroke his head/hair. I treasure those memories so much. Because believe it or not the time you get to breastfeed goes very quickly. Then it's over and they have no interest in that special snuggle time you used to share. As far as how long to breastfeed that is a very personal decision, it's between you, your hubby and your baby. Yes I just said your hubby, and I specifically put that before the baby. Your husband should ALWAYS come before your children. He is and always should remain number one in your life right behind Jesus. Children will grow up and move on in their own life. Your husband is your life, you had children with him because you love him, not to replace him. DO NOT let your husband feel replaced. He and you are a team, raising kids isn't easy. You need him on your team, make sure that he is apart of your team not on his own team while you put the kids needs above his. Not always easy and there are times when you have to spend the night snuggling with a sick feverish child, but that is life. Make sure you put your husband first before your children. The BEST GIFT you can give your children is a healthy marriage. Make that a priority.
So when to introduce solids. Ahh that is a great question. Again it depends. I had visions of strictly breastfeeding for 1 year. Well at 6 months my supply was not enough to keep up with the demands of my son. He was hungry all the time, screaming because he was hungry. So I had to start solids sooner than I really wanted to. When I did start him I started with veggies and butter. You don't have to teach kids to like sweets like fruits. I refuse to let my children be picky eaters so until they ate veggies really well and liked them no fruits. Then I slowly introduced fruits, making sure they would continue to eat veggies and proteins as their main source of fuel. I avoided any and all grains and starches until at least 12 months old. There is studies that suggest babies under 12 months produce little to no amylase, which is needed to digest grains. So the theory is feeding them any before 12 months can increase the possibility of a gluten allergy. Behind milk gluten is the #2 food allergy in the US. Anything I can do to decrease the chances of that allergy I was willing to do. Yes it is more work. It's difficult to find any finger foods that don't contain grains or starches. Cheese sticks broken into pieces become a great on the go food :) I didn't give my son any grains or starches until he was over 15 months old and he so far has no food allergies of any sort. My now 8 month old daughter has never had a grains or starches either, and won't until at least 12 months old. It is tempting when out to eat to throw french fries at them etc, but it is worth it to me to specifically request veggies instead of fries so I can feed them to my kiddo's. Steamed veggies mush up very easily. Some of you may have heard of baby led weaning, the idea of no purees and only feeding your baby soft whole foods. I do a mixture of both. In my experience my children do get some chunks of soft foods to eat but also get pureed food. I do this for two reasons. One it is very important to me for them to get lots of healthy fats like butter in their diet. The easiest way to add this to their diet is to put the butter in the warm veggies before blending them up. Yes you may have guessed by now, but I make my own baby food. I rarely feed my children the pre made baby food. Two reasons for this. It's hard to find a veggie based one that doesn't contain grains or starches, and secondly it's cheaper and healthier :). The second reason I do a mixture of purees and baby led weaning is to help fill them up. This way they can learn to feed themselves chunks of food and still get plenty of nourishment. I let them eat chunks and then top them off with pureed foods. I also continue to breastfeed during this time. They still need that nourishment until around a year old. By the time they are a year old they may not be nursing much and that is fine. Just be sure they are getting plenty of healthy fats in their diet, as before they were getting that in breast milk.
Shanda
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