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Liquids to Solids - Adventures in Bib Washing

Written by Steven John on Friday, 04 April 2014. Posted in Life With Baby

Before, babies were exclusively brought up on single-ingredient goo when they first started to eat solid food. Now, paediatrics are encouraging a new approach: multi-ingredient mashes!

Liquids to Solids - Adventures in Bib Washing

 

For many years, the conventional wisdom was that babies should be raised exclusively on breast milk and/or formula for about the first five to six months of life, at which point parents could slowly start introducing solid foods. The guidelines stated that these foods should be introduced one at a time, starting with the simplest mixes of mashed up rice cereals with new foodstuffs added sequentially over the course of the days and weeks thereafter.

 

 

Well, as tends to happen, the prevailing conventional wisdom has changed. Today, those in the paediatric and dietary community are embracing a new approach to introducing foods to infants. Even our own paediatrician told us it was time to rapidly introduce multiple types of foods. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ website: “Research indicates that it is important to expose children to a wide variety of flavours and textures.” And according to our doctor, it was perfectly OK to do this when our son was just four and a half months old!

 

 

How should you introduce foods?

Most doctors are now advising parents (with babies past the four month mark) to introduce pretty much any and all baby foods at the same time. The theory in the past was that a child needs time to acclimate to the new tastes, sensations, and substances of foods one at a time. This can, it turns out, lead not to a broader palate, but rather to a more limited, narrow palate – AKA a ‘fussy little eater.’

 

Introducing lots of foods at around the same time will, for most babies, actually make the transition into eating more than just milk a faster, simpler process, albeit one that might be a bit more labour-intensive in those early days and weeks.

 

The short story is that if you want your baby to grow into a toddler who enjoys healthy quinoa and arugula salads, then your infant had better be eating more than just apple sauce and rice-based cereal mash. But get ready for some serious spit up!

 

Now let’s switch from the theoretical to the real world. (Yes, things are going to get a bit messy.) My wife and I started the food introduction adventure a few weeks ago, when our baby was almost exactly four and a half months old. Convinced by the new directives on introducing myriad foods and flavours in a short period of time, we settled on our son’s first bites of “solid” food coming in the form of a blend of kale, pears, and ginger (also known as “goo”). It seemed like a lovely mix of sweet, savoury, and a touch of bitterness – this one goo would contain many of the flavour sensations the young man will experience in his lifetime!

 

 

Dad on the job

Another added bonus to introducing foods to your baby is that finally (unless the infant has been exclusively on formula) you, Mr. Dad, can begin to play an equal role during feeding times. Unlike breast milk, mashed sweet potatoes are totally gender neutral when it comes to who serves Junior. There is also no gender-based bias on who prepares baby foods, should you decide to make your own gourmet infant fare at home. And, in fact, if your partner has been breast-feeding the lil’ one for a while, you might want to step up and volunteer to be the lead baby food chef (or jar opener).

 

As our son begins the slow transition from liquids to solids, I’ll be playing a more equal role in the feeding process. By making sure to conduct at least every other feeding by myself (well, OK, the baby is part of the process too) I ensure the development of a comfortable bond around feedings, which means that once our son has fully transitioned away from breast milk, both his mother and I will be able to feed him with minimal fussiness. We’re laying the groundwork not just for his palate, but also for mealtime behaviour, see? It’s true, folks: you really will be eating out in restaurants again someday!

 

 

A note on selecting first foods

Rich, complex flavour patterns are great, but make sure that the base foods do not contain common allergens. You should avoid honey and some nuts for a while, as well as dairy and soy if your child has had tummy issues while breast-feeding. Talk to your paediatrician if you have any concerns. Another great resource is the website www.healthychildren.org (or try this specific link). 

 

 

The first bites...

One thing we knew in theory and then had reinforced practically – and this is something you need to remember – is that even if your baby is one of those rare kids who embraces new things with ease, an infant does not intrinsically know to swallow a solid food. Choking is a possibility, so be ready. Thus as I held my baby on my lap and my wife leaned in with the spoon, we were ready for some serious spitting or anything even worse. 

VERY small portions

One more thing to keep in mind: the initial introduction of foods has little to do with nutrition and everything to do with exposure and acclimation. Less than half a teaspoon per bite will be plenty, and don’t expect an infant just starting out with solid foods to eat more than a couple of tablespoons worth of food in one “sitting.” Your baby should continue to get the majority of their nutrients from milk/formula for several months to come, but by starting the introduction process early and vigorously (meaning lots of foods, not large portions), you will make the ultimate transition to regular foods easier, and, ideally, your child will more readily eat a wider range of foods.

 

What happened though, was ultimately… anticlimactic. Our baby puts everything and anything in his mouth, and the very first time a spoon deposited something in there of its own volition, he closed up that little craw like a locked safe! His eyes were on us, speaking the words his mouth could not yet form, “OK, just what the HELL is this?”

 

Then, slowly, the mouth opened… and out dribbled just a few drops of bright green baby food. Success! Or so we thought. We would later find traces of green stuff on his shirt, his pants, a little bit in his hair, and, presumably, on every piece of furniture in the dining room. That’s because babies like to put their hands in their mouths and some of the kale/pear/ginger goo remained in that little mouth.

 

Our son didn’t seem upset by this first feeding, which lasted all of three bites, but he certainly didn’t rush to write a glowing review of the “refined, off-sweet goo” or anything like that. But on day two… lo and behold, his little mouth didn’t clam up after the first little bite, and it remained amenable to a few more thimble-sized servings of food! 

 

On the third day, my wife managed to get four or five spoons worth of this (relatively) complexly flavoured food into our child’s mouth, and about half of them went on down. So now it’s time we move onto another blend and introduce new flavours.

 

Next up for us? Basil/apple/something-or-other… I hope the kid likes it, but I’m not gonna taste the stuff!

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

Steven John

Steven John

Steven John is a writer living in Glendale, California. He and his wife Kristin, an elementary school teacher, were joined by their son Benjamin in October of 2013. In addition to writing for several websites and journals, Steven published his first novel Three A.M., in 2012. His second book is due to hit shelves in the fall of 2014. When not writing or spending time with his family, Steven tries to squeeze in some mountain climbing. 

 

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