A Stress Free Transition to Solids
If you watch any of my (many) Instastories then you have likely seen videos of my sweet Charlie girl shoveling in food at mealtimes…. broccoli, salmon, shrimp, tomatoes, spinach, Mac & cheese… you name it. The girl loves to eat, what can I say.
I’ve had a few people reach out to me, asking how we were able to get her to not only eat such an array of foods, but also ease her transition to solids.
So… I’m a first time mom and didn’t really know what I was doing… but I did what felt right and followed her cues. There’s so much information out there and pressure to do what’s trending. I tried to incorporate what I felt was going to be best in the long run and also easy in the short term.
The current trend in the baby world is Baby Led Weaning, which essentially means skip purées altogether and introduce independent feeding of solids as early as 4-6 months. This, being the “in” thing, we gave it a go… if celebrities are doing it it must be the right thing.. right? But after watching our 6 month old pick up a piece of food cut into a long strip and start gagging on it… my husband and I said a quick NOPE and decided to do what felt right.
I’m not trying to knock BLW… because there are many aspects to that method that we implemented with Charlie, but every parent has to do what’s right for them and their child.
Pre-Eating Skills – 3 Months
Charlie was exclusively breastfeed from 0-4 months. At around 3 months, I began to familiarize her with all of the “things” that come with eating-things we overlook because they seem so normal. But along with eating, comes all sorts of other things that I wanted Charlie to feel comfortable with, so that when the time came, I could stair step her into eating. So, at around this time I would let Charlie explore spoons, bowls, sippy cups etc. She enjoyed chewing on the spoons and sippy and there was no pressure to eat… just dipping her toe in the water so to speak.
Purées- 4 months
While BLW skips purees, I thought it was important to include this in Charlie’s food journey for a couple of reasons:
- I could easily introduce a variety of different tastes from an early start
- She would learn to eat from a spoon, an important fine motor/hand-eye coordination skill
- I could begin introducing allergens to build tolerance
At around 4 months, I would put Charlie in the Fisher Price Sit Me Up Chair (this was much better from physical standpoint than the high chair as it is a much more supportive seat for an early sitter and provides better back/neck support than a Bumbo), and two-three times a day I would feed her purées with a spoon. I began with veggie purées because if I started with the sweet stuff, she may never have wanted veggies. She was super curious and would suckle the spoon like a nipple. She would eat maybe a quarter of a small baby food jar…. the purpose of this was not for sustenance, but for introducing taste and getting used to the texture/spoon. Breast milk was still her primary source of food.
*At this time I also introduced Charlie to peanut butter (as well as eggs) in order to build tolerance and prevent allergies. I would either thin with a little breast milk and spoon feed it to her or I would smear a little on her baby banana and let her chew on it. She loved that.
We continued with only purees until Charlie was 6 months old. Over the course of those couple of months, she gradually ate more, learned to eat from a spoon, and had tasted many different vegetable and fruits (I didn’t do meat purées because…sick).
It’s also important to note that Charlie, pretty much from the beginning, would reach for the spoon. I encouraged this and let her hold it, though I was guiding it the whole time. This would be important later for self feeding.
Mashable Solids and Sippy Cups – 6 months
At this time, we introduced a sippy cup with a straw. She was so curious and interested in our drinks that it was time for her to have her own. Our pediatrician also encouraged boosting water intake at this age to introduce fluoride to freshly budding teeth. To teach her to drink from a straw, I started with the honey bear straw trainer where you squeeze it’s belly and water goes through the straw. This is recommended by OT’s and worked like a charm. She would put the straw in her mouth and I would gently squeeze the bear- teaching her to associate the action. She caught on super quickly and was soon drinking independently from a sippy cup with weighted straw– which she still uses today.
Also, at this time we introduced thicker textures of foods, again, stair stepping her to solids. She still reached for and held her spoon, but at this time she was ready to become a little more independent. Since she was already familiar with sucking peanut butter off her baby banana, it seemed only natural to introduce other thicker textures using the same “vehicle”, if you will. So I began putting mashable solids on the baby banana mashed (bananas, avocados, egg yolk, hummus etc) and she would pick it up and suck it off… BOOM… she’s eating solids! I would also feed her these foods with a spoon but the baby banana was crucial because it was already a tool that she independently could put in her mouth so it was the earliest form of self feeding. She did try to use her fingers here, but was still developing her pincer grasp.
Thicker textures/Mashable Solids included:
- banana
- sweet potato
- avocado
- egg yolk
- hummus
*In addition to purees on a spoon, I also introduced Charlie to pouches between 4-6 months as well. Because…. sometimes you are on the go and they are super convenient!
Self Feeding- After 6 Months
It didn’t take long after introducing mashable solids to begin giving her more and more solids, with gradually thicker textures. She also was eager to pick it up as she had developed her pincer grasp. The first real food she ate was steamed spinach… she would eat this twice a day (and by steamed I mean I would put a handful of raw organic spinach in a glass bowl, microwave for 30 seconds, then break it apart- real fancy over here). This was easy for her to slurp up and didn’t require much chewing… not to mention great fiber and iron!
The rest was history.
Some other early solids included:
- smashed blueberries/raspberries
- steamed broccoli heads/carrots
- peas
- beets
- shredded cheese/ chunks of mozzarella
- shredded turkey/ham
- salmon
- salad shrimp (the tiny ones, I would defrost and break apart)
- beans- cannelinni, kidney, black
I continued to do purées at this time as well. I would first let her self feed, then I would follow with purées to ensure she was eating enough.
We continued with the straw sippy cup but also introduced a more traditional sippy cup.. we did (and still do) have to help her tilt it up.
Whole Milk and Self Feeding- 12 Months
I continued breastfeeding Charlie until just after 12 months. She naturally was eating less milk as she was increasing her solids. At this age, babies can begin drinking cow’s milk (full fat). We began filling her morning and evening bottles with half breastmilk (pumped), half cow’s milk. Each week, I would taper the quantity of my milk down and boost the cow’s milk, until her bottles consisted of only cows milk.
At around this time, we also started giving her larger sized pieces for her to take bites from. For example, giving her half a banana for her to hold and eat, or a quarter of a piece of toast for her to eat. We always keep a close eye as she can take bites that are way too big. She often times will spit it out if she takes too much.
At 13.5 months, Charlie is now eating primarily solids, with two bottles of whole milk a day. She has become a little bit pickier, which is developmentally appropriate as she is more aware of tastes and textures and is developing her own preferences. However, she still eats a wide variety of foods. She is working now to feed independently with a spoon.
A typical day’s food for her right now consists of:
Breakfast: berries, wheat (pancakes/french toast/peanut butter toast/oatmeal), scrambled or hardboiled egg, oatmeal
Morning Snack: fruit/veggie pouch, puffs, yogurt bites, gerber cookies
Lunch: shredded lunch meat, shredded cheese, fruit, gerber cheese puffs
Afternoon Snack: banana, yogurt
Dinner: macaroni noodles with melted cheese, steamed spinach, veggies, protein (shrimp/salmon, ham/salami, beans)
I know this was a lot of information, but I hope it was helpful and can help someone out there navigate this journey. Feeding should be fun, not stressful. Do what feels right.
We are so proud of our big girl and love watching her eat…. hence my many insta videos.
Happy feeding!
-Caroline
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