Now that Elise is almost 10 months (whaaat?) and eating a
whole multitude of foods, I thought it was time for another post about baby
food.
Around 5 or 6 months (mommy brain), we started giving Elise
puffs (Happy Puffs). She loved them,
and I loved that they allowed me to do a couple of things around the house
while she silently ate her puffs.
When I was a nanny, the parents would bring me finger foods
to feed the kiddos. So, I followed
suit with my own child and low and behold, Elise loved eating
independently! The fancy name for
this parenting technique is Baby-Led Weaning and there are a plethora of books
on the market. But the main gist of it is, baby eats what you eat but in
bite-sized pieces and they feed themselves. The only things that Elise has not
eaten are peanuts, milk, honey, really spicy things, beef, and pork (the last
two are for my own reasons not medical).
She eats 3 meals a day plus a few snacks here and there.
Some things that are difficult with this path:
1. Babies choke. 99% of the time they will work it out
themselves. It does make your
heart drop when it happens but as long as you are mindful of the size you are
cutting the food into; there shouldn’t be anything to worry about. Of course, start your kiddos off on
very soft foods (bananas, avocado etc) and work yourself up from there. Dads are actually the worrywarts in
this department. Mike would always
get mad if she choked and tell me to switch back to purees. As you can tell, I never listened to
him.
2. It’s messy! Our pups get A LOT of treats. It is a lot easier if you have dogs
that are natural vacuum cleaners.
3. It’s Expensive. Our household has gone completely
organic or at least Non-GMO (for things that are not available in
organic). We shop primarily at
Natural Grocers, Sprouts, and farmer’s markets because it makes it that much
easier to shop (Natural Grocers is the only store that carries all organic
produce and most, if not all, of their other products are organic). Our grocery
bill has gone up by 30%; however, I do believe this is completely worth
it. I’m feeding not only Elise,
but Mike and I, food that I don’t really have to worry about. I also believe this is so much
healthier in the long run.
The PROS:
1. Elise feeds
herself. No need spending time
steaming, pureeing, and feeding her pureed food. Although, I do think parents should start their kiddos off
with homemade purees (it’s short lived and helps them get used to food and
texture).
2. Elise eats what we
eat. I don’t have to cook
another meal every night. With the
exception from above, she eats and most of the time loves what we are eating
Some of Elise’s
favorite foods:
1. Blueberries- I cut these in half and she devours them
1. Blueberries- I cut these in half and she devours them
2. Chicken Marsala- This is her absolute favorite
dinner. She eats for about 30
minutes continuously. She
absolutely loves the mushrooms.
3. Peas- Just steamed frozen peas whole
4. Cheese- cut into bite sized chunks
5. Falafel- This was her first favorite food. Just cut into bite sized pieces
6. Green smoothies- although these are spoon-fed to
her. She has not yet mastered the
straw.
Elise loves, loves, loves to eat. She also love flavor. Funny, because while I was pregnant
with her, I ate a bland, bland diet and hated to eat.
In case anyone is wondering, Elise still nurses anywhere
from 6-10 times in a 24 hour period
So, I am interested: What do you feed your toddlers? Are they picky eaters?
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Want to be a front row observer of my mommy hood adventure? Follow me on Pinterest or on Bloglovin' so you don't miss any new posts!
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