Saturday, April 16, 2011

More of Evan Eating Food

Evan had his first taste of banana today.  He loved it, of course.  I know all the rules about starting foods and only giving a very small amount the first time, but, um, Evan ate the whole banana.  (Smallish banana, granted, but it was still more than a tablespoon.)




I quickly abandoned the chunk-of-banana-in-the-fist idea, though, due to imminent airway obstruction.

Then there was the frustration (for him, that is... amusement, for me)  of chasing slimy little pieces of banana all over the tray until he finally got hold of one, only to have it slip out just shy of the target area.  He did manage to get the whole thing down, anyway.




As a baby, Jonah would projectile-vomit the entire contents of his stomach only minutes after consuming banana.  Ideal baby-food it was not, for him.  Actually, Jonah pretty much couldn't eat anything at all until he was older than Evan is now.  I'm so grateful that these two are so different.  Evan is pretty much doing fine with food, and I'm very thankful for that.  My milk production is rapidly decreasing (yes, I did just talk about my own milk and the making thereof in public.  Apologies to my brothers.) and I'm very bummed about that, but at least I can give him other things.  I've known people who can nurse a baby right through pregnancy, but I don't seem to be one of those, unfortunately.  I'm also very glad that we have goats and will be able to have plenty of fresh milk for Evan. I haven't yet given him any, though Evan does eat lots of yogurt made with that milk.  I reeeeeally don't want to give him a bottle, but he's not big on cups, so we might have to go there.  We already have a thumb addiction to deal with.  Oh well.  He won't be sucking on those things when he gets married, right?

I'm very paranoid about starting solids with babies.  The experience with Jonah was... harrowing.  I'm happy to report that Jonah seems to be food allergy/intolerance-free now, but starting him out was not easy.  I have a very unconventional (but not unresearched, and quite methodical) method to starting solids.  In my book grains come last.  Evan most likely won't have any grains at all until he turns one.  For now, it's fruits, veggies, yogurt, egg yolks and yes, meat (even liver!).  He seems to be tolerating everything just fine, except that he tends to have red, chapped cheeks.  That could be from some food, but I haven't been able to track it down to anything.  It could also be from teething, which he's deep into, or from having had a cold and rubbing snot all over his face for two and a half weeks.  He also has a little spot on his thumb above where he sucks (right where his hand touches his nose), so for now, I'm going with the snot theory.  See how paranoid I am?  I look for every possible sign if intolerance.

I'm also really lazy about starting foods.  I would actually rather just not do it at all until he's big enough to mostly feed himself and not choke.  It's just such a hassle to make special food and spoon it into his mouth.  I know, lazy.  I honestly cannot imagine feeding solids to a 4, or even 6, month-old.  It's just so much easier to sit down and nurse. 

It looks as though those days are nearly gone with Evan.  I'm hoping and praying that we can continue to nurse once or twice a day, indefinitely, but I guess we'll just have to see.   For now, onward and upward!

6 comments:

  1. Good for you! In my day we didn't read so much. I did read because my baby had allergies. Actually she had a terrible time with rashes and her little face was red too. Snot is a good theory. I made a formula for her from raw goats milk with added egg yolks based on an Adele Davis book. The milk cleared up her skin. Don't worry about bottles. I think bottles give babies the sucking they want and comfort sucking. Maybe he won't suck his thumb as much. I've seen quite a few toddlers lately who were weaned to a cup and they all find ways to continue sucking on something. I think babies like to suck for a long time and it settles them.
    I let them have their bottles and passies until they are about 3. In the Old Testament times babies were nursed until about that age. Everybody is different but the main thing is that baby gets fed.
    You are very fortunate to have goats milk at home!
    Evan is adorable and if he wants to eat feed him. So you don't feed any rice either? I used to cook my rice into a cereal or rice flour, but brown rice would be too strong.
    My mom was raised on a farm and she raised me like her mom did. I fed Jen like she taught me except I learned about making baby food and getting more natural foods even way back then. We fed babies whatever food we made that was soft, mashed potatoes, or things that we could smash with a fork. I'm sure you have researched a LOT!
    personally I love to feed a baby with a spoon. It is so fun! I love to talk and get them to coo and smile. It's also nice to have a fat content baby around to snuggle with.
    I hope your feeling better!

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  2. I am lazy also with starting solids, I hate it and wait as long as possible, I hate the mess, hate having to think about making food specially for baby if we go someplace, I'd much prefer to nurse them till they can handle the same foods the rest of the family can.
    If you do not want to use a bottle get one of those sippy cups from Walmart that use a silicone spout, they are pretty inexpensive, I think less than $2. I've never had a problem switching to a regular sippy or a cup when I start them on these type of starter sippies. My kids have also never gotten attached to them like a lot of babies get to a bottle.

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  3. Ian doesn't like bottles either. He has since moved on to regular sippy cups but started on this one: weilbaby.com/Sippy-Cups/

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  4. I was an eager first-time mother with my eldest, and started her on rice cereal, just like everyone said to do, when she was 4 or 5 months old. My second child was doing just fine on breast milk (and he was a BIG baby), so I left well enough alone. His first solid food was a handful of oatmeal (with milk, no sugar) he swiped right out of his big sister's bowl when he was seven or eight months old. And my third?

    I, um, can't remember...

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  5. Bottles can be taken away... of course I always do sippy cup presents to replace the bottles... thumbs... they're attatched a little more tricky. UM just had a thought/// did you try the mango/papaya thing that you did with Jonah when he was having issues?
    Just thinking... hope you're having fun with my parents.

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