I love good food. I'm not sure if I'm a "foodie" or a "food snob" or a "health nut." I like food that tastes good. I like food that nourishes my body.
For now, I'm happy to say, my son does too.
He's started waking more frequently at night the last few weeks. Twice at a minimum, often three, sometimes four. I've been trying to figure out what changed, and how I can help him (and me) sleep better.
He's eight months old, and I've been gradually introducing solids since he was five months. Some days, he seems to LOVE food. Other days, he won't eat more than a few bites before closing his mouth and turning away.
I'm finally seeing a pattern - he likes food that tastes good.
We started out with baby-led weaning, a feeding method that allows baby to self-feed from the beginning. It didn't work for us.
Any foods soft enough for Jax to easily consume - such as avocado, steamed squash, peaches, pears - just became toys. Very little, if any, food made it down his throat. The rest of it became mashed up mess that got EVERY WHERE. Behind his ears, in his hair, on every part of his clothing, in every spot on his high chair, all over the floor. I don't mind when he gets dirty, but I don't really want to change his clothes and spend ten minutes scrubbing the high chair and surrounding war zone - every single meal.
Then, any foods firm enough for him to really grasp (not just smash), and get in his mouth (which he really wanted it to) - such as dried apple rings, raw apple, raw green beans, etc. - would end up gagging him. Inevitably, some bit of skin or pulp would break off, ending up on the back of his tongue. Babies have an AMAZING gag reflex that protects them from swallowing all the crazy things they put in their mouths. But these little bits of food, small enough for him to safely swallow, would activate it too. His eyes would turn red, he'd start coughing, and eventually he'd force himself to vomit everything he had consumed, plus whatever breast milk was in his stomach.
After multiple episodes of my hard-earned breast milk being puked up over a tiny chunk of apple, I stopped baby-led weaning.
I'm doing my best to feed him something that the rest of the family is eating. At Thanksgiving, he ate SO MUCH. Just like the adults. He had
smoked turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, wild rice, and a
tiny bit of homemade cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie filling. He kept
eating and eating and eating all the delicious food I put in his mouth,
bite after bite after bite. I was amazed. I've also been shocked how much he has eaten of other "good foods," such
as lentil soup, chicken soup, Indian spicy lentils, etc.
However, there's times he can't share in the adult meal. I'm not feeding him gluten, ever, as long as I can avoid it. I'm not feeding him dairy until after he's a year old. I'm limiting grains and trying to feed him mostly fruits and vegetables. He's not yet eating eggs, sugar, fish, beef, or seafood. I have given him local free-range chicken and Thanksgiving turkey.
These restrictions mean that for many meals, there's nothing he can eat. So he would get canned pumpkin three times a day. Or pumpkin with rice, pumpkin with peas, pumpkin with applesauce. Things I had in the fridge as a back up plan.
So my eureka last night was, Jax likes to eat good food. When it's seasoned, salted, and TASTES GOOD, he will eat it. Plenty of it. When it's too plain and mild, he's just not that interested.
So my goal is to be a bit more proactive in having foods prepared for him that he can eat. To spend a bit more time actually cooking things that taste good, that he can share.
Last night he ate wild rice, red quinoa, and steamed asparagus. The asparagus was a hit. I smashed the soft tips and he ate those, and the stalks he played with and sucked on. The asparagus was steamed, then sauteed in olive oil, garlic, and spices.
This morning I cooked him oatmeal with gluten-free whole oats, water, salt, raisins, and cinnamon. I pureed it a bit when it was cooked, to smash up the raisins for better digestion (otherwise they just pass through whole). I couldn't believe how much he ate of it. I had some too, but I stirred brown sugar and almond milk into mine.
It seems that as much as he likes nursing, he is ready to eat more food. I need to get my act together and prepare GOOD foods for him to eat. None of this plain single-item puree stuff. Gently mashed (still with some texture), salted, seasoned, tasty food. When he's done eating, he always acts full (refusing food) and hungry at the same time. He loves to nurse at the end of a meal, like dessert I guess. I offer him water after meals as well, which he happily sips from a cup or straw.
For dinner tonight, I need to get something together for him. The adult menu is enchiladas verdes (has dairy), made-from-scratch beans (could upset his stomach), and white rice (no nutritional value). I think I'll saute some zucchini in olive oil and spices....yum.
HERS | Blouse thrifted (baby blue if it's hard to tell in the photo) | Shorts Old Navy | Tank Express | Scarf, gift from a Turkish friend | Belt had so long I don't remember | Shoes Crocs Crocband Loafer
