Let’s start with a confession today: I’ve never fed a real food baby once solids have been introduced.
All of our babies began life with the perfect food: mother’s milk.
After that, one child started with the standard rice cereal, another had a bit of rice cereal and oatmeal but much, much less than number one, and now I’m determined to keep this number three grain-free for the first year.
But how????
I’ll be learning as I go and sharing what I learn when my little 2-month-old (who’s already grown an extra chin; good mama’s milk!) becomes a toothy 6 or 7-month-old.
Today I wanted to touch briefly on feeding infants to kind of wrap up the baby theme I’ve been on during October. Here’s what you may have missed so far:
- Evolution of a birth plan (including thoughts on circumcision and Vitamin K)
- Natural remedies for postpartum pain
- Meal planning after baby comes
- 8 baby items I couldn’t live without
- Non-toxic, safe baby bath wash and diaper cream options
- How to put on a Moby Wrap (including how to nurse in one)
- Thoughts on vaccines
- How to make homemade baby wipes
- How to make homemade safe baby body wash
This post is sponsored by Radiant Life.
Feeding Newborns
For so many reasons, both nutritionally, spiritually, developmentally, and for me, even sanity-wise, I think breast is best. It’s not something I even want to get into in depth, but you can read more about it at Erin’s breastfeeding series (listed at the end of this post) or Emily’s great guest post.
However.
I’m very realistic about the fact that, no matter how hard they try, no matter how much help they seek, some moms just can’t breastfeed. Some have to go back to work and their supply can’t keep up. Some get terrible advice or judgment from lactation counselors, family, or others. Adopted children need nourishing options, too.
When breastmilk isn’t possible, is formula the only choice out there?
Formula relies pretty heavily on soy, which I haven’t yet written about but stay away from myself when practical for two reasons:
- phyto-estrogens are thought to interfere with hormones
- high in omega 6 fats
Beyond the soy issue, there are often powdered foods in formula, and even though I’m not fully convinced powdered milk forms oxidized cholesterol, I don’t know that I’d be willing to use my newborn as a guinea pig.
The only other option I’ve ever heard of is one that would totally knock my socks off as a new mom: the homemade formulas in Nourishing Traditions. I do love the idea of (a) having control over ingredients, (b) the traditional foods included, and (c) avoiding the many question marks with processed formula…but…have you read those recipes? They’re full of tough-to-find ingredients like goat’s milk, pastured liver, and a bunch of things I’ve never purchased and wouldn’t know where to find. 
If I was a recently postpartum mom trying to figure it out, I bet I’d throw my hands up in despair. It would seem way too daunting.
I was pretty excited to see that one of October’s sponsors, Radiant Life, actually offers a kit to help you make the homemade formulas from NT. The kit contains all the weird unique ingredients you’d need to nourish your baby the homemade way, so you don’t have to run all over creation seeking out and pricing a million items.
You can check out the kit’s contents HERE. If you have anyone in your life who might be interested in making their own formula, or if you might ever need the info, bookmark this post. It will be worth it!
First Foods for Babies
Emily has already tackled this subject for me here at KS in this wonderful post: Countercultural First Foods. She fed her little guy real food starting at about 8 months and practiced a sort of “baby led weaning/baby led solids” philosophy.
Cara speaks of her progression in feeding her babies and has some good precautions for families with allergies.
When I fed my babies, I wasn’t all the way in the camp of “feed the baby what the family is eating” because I did want to introduce one food at a time, and sometimes having actual “baby food” on hand is just convenient. I’d hate to have baby miss a few meals just because I hadn’t been to the store for fresh bananas, avocado, eggs, or similar. Some family meals just aren’t appropriate for baby yet.
I kept it simple – cook a single fruit or vegetable, puree in a blender, and freeze in ice cube trays. Homemade baby food is definitely not rocket science!
I’m not sure how I’ll do it this time, because I’m really not sure if my plastic ice cube trays contain BPA. If I decided to worry about that issue, I’ll have to look into these cool stainless steel ice cube trays. To help a tiny baby avoid the possibility of leaching plastic, the premium price might be worth it.
I’ll also not be afraid to add fat (for fat-soluble vitamin assimilation) and salt (the real stuff).
What philosophy do you use when you introduce solids?
Materials Safety
I’m trying to figure out what I want to put on Jonathan’s Christmas list, and I’m considering more upgrades in feeding supplies for him.
With my first child, we pretty much used standard cultural stuff – plastic spoons and bowls, plastic sippy cups, etc.
By the time baby two came around, she got to use some plastic sippy cups, but we tried to default to the stainless steel versions my mom got her for Christmas. Plates and utensils varied from plastic to regular glass/Corelle dishes. I’m sure I still used plastic when we had to go somewhere.
For John, I’m considering getting a few more stainless steel containers for traveling, and my 6-year-old can also make use of them for lunches. Poor boy has the heaviest backpack in the world when I include a few Pyrex glass dishes in his lunch!
Would a set of stainless baby dishes that could be thrown from the high chair and not break be worth it to you? I just don’t think so for me, but I do want a stainless steel cup, since although I’m all about glass glasses and little ones, there’s still a stage before careful training will work. I think my first grader would get a lot of mileage out of a tiffin like this one, but I’ll have to see how lunch packing goes in our new house and how much space we have (wants vs. needs, you know).
For all the Eaters in Your Family…
pictured: Cinnamix Power Balls, one of 14 variations in Healthy Snacks to Go
I’m excited to be teaming up with Wardeh of GNOWFGLINS to host a free webinar next Thursday, October 27th, on the subject of snacks. I’ll be talking about how to make sure your family has healthy snack options wherever they are, preferably without taking up all of your time or all of your budget!
You can get details and register HERE. If you can’t make it at 1 p.m. EST, you can always download the audio file later, and all attendees will receive a free recipe ebooklet with 7 of our favorite snacks recipes, as well as a discount code for Healthy Snacks to Go.
Further Resources
- Natural Remedies for Teething Pain
- Real Food for Mother and Baby by Nina Planck
- White Out Now – a campaign to “Let every kids’ first grain be a whole grain. There’s no good reason not to. They won’t mind. They’ll thank you.” Together we can change 50 years of tradition in just one year. Let’s END white rice cereal for babies by Thanksgiving 2011!
- They’re not going to make it by Thanksgiving 2011, and I’m still not sure about babies having grains so early, period, but it’s a step in the right direction – the one away from white rice cereal.
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I’d love to see more of you! Sign up for a free email subscription or grab my reader feed. You can also follow me on Twitter, get KS for Kindle, or see my Facebook Fan Page.
If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.
Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money. If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Radiant Life as part of an advertising package, but all opinions are certainly my own. Amazon links give me commission when you make purchases. See my full disclosure statement here.
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Check out www(dot)wholesomebabyfood(dot)com. They have lots of info about feeding your baby real foods. The promote EBF for the first six months. They do “allow” for grains, but obviously, it’s not necessary. There are lots of truly healthy options, broken down by age-appropriateness.
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Thank you for providing other options besides breastfeeding, and being sensitive to the issue about some of us not being able to. This is just about the first time I have seen it presented in this way. I was one of those who simply could not. I tried, but I didn’t know what I was doing, and had no one to help me. It just didn’t come to fruition. Five years later, it is still a sensitive spot with me. I wish that I would have had more information on better options then, than just standard soy-based formula. Thank you for being sensitive to this issue! Few people are!!
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Katie Reply:
October 22nd, 2011 at 2:34 am
Sarah,
I’m sure you did your best with the resources you had, but it’s so true that although BFing is “natural,” it isn’t always easy…
I’m always so sad to hear of folks who wish to breastfeed but don’t have proper support.
Katie
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Kim Reply:
January 30th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
Sarah,
I too have never seen other options presented this way and am personally using the Weston A Price formula. It’s only been two months for me and am extremely sensitive about it. I would love to touch base with you via email as I could use all the support to move on past the grieving that I can get. I would love to hear your story and hear how you were able to move on without the loss debilitating you as I feel it is for me right now
My email is [email protected] if you’d ever like to contact me. Thanks!
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Katie Reply:
February 13th, 2012 at 10:43 pm
Kim,
Katie
Blessings to you, dear mama! Your baby is one of the lucky ones, to have a mother who cares so much…
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I just wanted to pop in and add that my son – who I talked about how we fed him with the baby led solids/baby led weaning approach – is now a almost 2 1/2 year old who is the best and least picker eater I have seen for a kid his age. He eats much, much better than his 4 yr. old sister, who was fed traditional homemade baby food.
I am sold on the idea of feeding baby real food from the beginning – both for the health of baby, the sanity for mom and family, and eating habits of the child as they grow.
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Erin@TheHumbledHomemaker Reply:
October 20th, 2011 at 5:34 pm
So glad to have your post to link to! I hadn’t read that one before, and I’m starting a mini series on “starting solids” this Friday, and now I have yours–and this post of Katie’s–to link back to!
How long did you end up breastfeeding? My oldest self-weaned at 22 months (I was also pregnant, so that might have helped her wean), but I would love to make it to 2 with my second, who will be a year on Sunday. I wanted to wait as long as possible to start solids with her, but she was chomping at the bit to have some real food by 7 months!
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Emily @ Live Renewed Reply:
October 20th, 2011 at 5:42 pm
My son weaned right around 22 months. It was the right time for him and I, and I’m glad we made it as long as we did!
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I made all my own baby food for both boys, and have tried to stick with a “whole” food diet consisting of non processed foods for my family. Although it’s a bit challenging at times I feel that my family are better eaters than most. I love the tips that you put out there regarding feeding babies, I was one of those moms that could not breastfeed for a long period of time and I so wish I had that homemade formula recipe about 5 years ago. When feeding my boys I used the Super Baby Food Book as a reference, and I now suggest that to new moms taking my baby food making seminars and cooking classes.
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Nice post! I will be interested to follow your journey with baby #3. I have a 7 mo old who is on breast milk and homemade, real food purees. When I store extra purees in the freezer, I use 4oz ball [glass] canning jars.
I was *this close* to making the Nourishing Traditions homemade baby formula, but I had some issues with getting ahold of the raw milk and what not and needed it by a certain time. I am a working mother who pumps at work, but my freezer stash depleted and I had a work related event that kept me away from baby longer that I’d like. I had to offer a formula bottle and after all my research, I decided on ‘Baby’s Only’. But it is ONLY in an emergency that it is used!
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O’Boy! Organic I read and loved that book, too – first time learning to make homemade yogurt was from her, and now I’ve taught hundreds of people!
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I used baby-led weaning with my son (currently 16 mo old) and didn’t worry about not having things he could eat in the house. He started solids at about 8 mo, but it wasn’t a lot or even for every meal. If he couldn’t eat what we were having, I just breastfed. And he was happy. It is completely safe and healthy to exclusively breastfeed for the first 12 months (learned from LLL). Since about 13 mo old, he has been a very big eater, and only BFs for naps, comfort, etc. He’s always been in the 80-97%ile for weight so I never worried about him not getting enough nutrition. Just my view. : )
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Have you ever heard the phrase “food is for fun before one”? That’s my philosophy — though it was hard to hold out just to six months with my son, because he was SO interested in solid food.
I experimented a lot with what to give him, by seeing how it ended up in his diaper. Sweet potato gave him a rash, so that was a no. Avocado was fine. Carrots, peas, beans, almost every other vegetable just came out looking like when it went in! He just wasn’t ready for them.
The one thing that went down the best was meat. It was a huge surprise for me, but that actually makes sense. His digestive system had only handled animal foods before and wasn’t ready for veggies. So every time I cooked ground beef, I would put a little in a cream cheese tub for him to eat later. He liked picking up the little pieces and scarfing them down! Cooked egg yolk in little pieces was a hit, too. Dairy had to wait till about ten months, though — his bottom would bleed if he had even a little bit before then!
The hard part was staying grain-free once he was a toddler and we were always on the go. The short answer is, we didn’t. After some attempts at arrowroot crackers and stuff like that, I gave up and gave him regular crackers as finger food. By that point he was 13 months, and I didn’t notice a problem.
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I EBFed both my kids until they were 6 months and BFed well past 20 months with both. Avocado was my youngest’s first food, and my son (who is older) had brown rice cereal, which he didn’t care for, so that was quickly exchanged for homemade baby food. My daughter ate a great variety of real foods from the start (I learned more about traditional foods while pregnant with her). Egg yolks every day in addition to what we ate. She never had “typical” baby food. And now she eats anything we offer. My son had to learn to eat what we offer and is becoming more open to trying new things.
My son used stainless steel sippy cups (the one from Thermos), and I started giving my daughter water in a shot glass when she was about 7 months old. Initially I offered only a sip at a time until she had the hand strength and coordination. I learned that smoothies are wonderful because they don’t spill easily. She’s never used a sippy cup, and has used a bottle with a nipple maybe 3 or 4 times. She knows how to use a straw though. Both my kids used/use stainless steel utensils and our regular plates/bowls. We’ve had one plate broken in the past 4.5 years. That’s a lie… there were more than that broken, but only the one caused by the kids!
Thanks for today’s great post!
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Katie Reply:
October 21st, 2011 at 7:21 am
Pam,
Katie
Ha! Yeah, we break as many dishes as the kids, too, for sure. I have a glass baby bottle, and I’m wondering if I’ll ever use it. I do love straw sippys and have one stainless steel version, so I bet John will be stealing that from his sister in a bit here. Thanks!
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Thank you so much for this informative post! I am also EBF’ing an infant right now and have been debating on whether or not to use formula to get him to “sleep through the night” because mama is going on 6 months of up every 2.5 hours and is losing her willpower with the allure of SLEEP. I started him on avocado and sweet potato last month but that did nothing. The pediatrician told me to feed him rice cereal, but when I tried that (organic brown, of course) he didn’t poop for 11 days straight! Teaches me to doubt my mom-sense. It’s nice to know that there are other moms out there who are just as wary and have had success with real food “alternatives.” Plus if something does happen to my milk supply I know I can always make my own formula.
I also really appreciate the post and comments about the stainless steel cupware. I admit I am a sucker for the sippy cup, but know I need to move my toddler to some sort of thermos instead. These appear to be great options. Thanks!
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Katie Reply:
October 21st, 2011 at 7:19 am
Wildflower,
Katie
This isn’t advice in any way, shape or form…but just so you know, I take baby to bed with me. We get pretty awesome sleep, and I’m more rested than most moms of newborns (or at least I would be if I didn’t stay up too late blogging…).
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My first was a conventional baby in every way–pitocin, epidural, and c-section birth, antibiotics in the hospital, a little formula in the first months (although 99% breastfed!), and then at 4 months we started rice cereal and followed the typical progression of introducing solids. With my second, I discovered natural birth (and had a natural VBAC), had learned about antibiotics (and avoided it in all forms for my baby) and had become much more natural-minded all around. So when it was “time” to start solids, I was armed with real food ideas. I ditched the rice cereal and waited until she was ready–she didn’t even show interest in real food until 8 months. I had made a plan to wait at least until 6 months, but she wanted to wait later. Then I followed my plan. Her first food was chicken (dark meat, straight off the carcass–you know, the real soft stuff!), then sliced bananas, then scrambled egg yolks, then chopped up avocado, then steamed green beans…. basically we fed her what we were eating in a more basic form. When I made chicken and broccoli casserole, I would save some chicken to give to her (and later after chicken was confirmed okay, I would save cooked chicken and steamed broccoli for her). If we had mashed potatoes and steak gravy, I would cut up a few pieces of potato real small and cook them and give them to her for dinner. So she didn’t get exactly what we were eating, but broken down versions of it. And I didn’t puree anything. Now with my third (just born on Sunday!), I plan on doing the same as I did with my second… we’ll do a sort of baby-led weaning thing, introduce foods one at a time, but foods that we’re eating, and we’ll put off grains for as long as possible.
Oh, and frozen peas have been a hit with both my kids so far–even now at 2 and 4 they still love frozen peas for a snack!
Love today’s post!
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Katie Reply:
October 21st, 2011 at 7:17 am
Audrey,
Congrats on baby 3! I love that chicken was the first food, so counter-cultural…
We use peas as an easy veggie a lot around here, too, but I do often forget to mention them. Thanks!
Katie
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Honestly, I stopped messing with baby cereals (we call it baby mush) a long time ago (before Dr. Sear’s started his campaign). It’s just not worth the effort or mess, IMO.
We just wait until baby has some teeth, then give mashed up bananas, cooked carrots, sweet potatoes, etc. My current baby loves smushed up green beans and peas. I also feed her bits of chicken, and when we make hard boiled eggs she gets the yolks (we call them “chicken vitamins”, lol.) I bought some baby “puffs” for her, but she didn’t like them (and my 2 year old did- so the toddler ate them!)
I was also one of those moms who couldn’t nurse, with my last baby (baby #9, born a few months ago) I got very, very sick when she was 6 weeks old, my liver started failing so I became jaundiced (which spills into breastmilk, so baby couldn’t nurse).
We just went to the store, and bought the store brand organic formula. Because honestly, that’s all I could do. Fortunately several weeks later I was able to go back to nursing and she has BF ever since.
I am thankful to live in these modern times, when I can choose between good (organic formula), better (homemade formula), best (breast). A hundred years ago my baby wouldn’t have fared so well if I couldn’t nurse her!
(BTW- WIC has hospital grade breastpumps that they will loan – for free- to moms under a certain income level which varies by state. I never would have been able to do it without the high-grade WIC pump, even though I had to pump n dump because my milk was -literally- poisonous for the baby.)
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Feeding kids is also something I’ve learned a lot about, and with my third, I used the approach of letting her eat soft, large chunks of food and feed her self right from when she started solids. I didn’t puree anything and rarely, if ever fed her with a spoon (I fed her yogurt with a spoon, though).
BUT, my concern and question is this: Does anyone wonder if the child is digesting the food properly and absorbing all the nutrients when they eat the way I mentioned above?
For example, I would offer my daughter some soft-cooked green beans. But then when she had a messy diaper later on, the beans were not broken down – they were in whole pieces. This happened with many foods. And it continued to happen, even though she was a good eater, and enjoyed food.
She was pretty much swallowing the soft pieces of food, and they were passing right through her, undigested.
Is this what usually happens?
It was much easier to feed her this way, but now with my fourth on the way, I don’t know which approach to solids I will take. I may end up going back to pureeing the food to make sure the food is already broken down for the child so he/she has a better chance to absorb all the yummy nutrients.
Does anyone have any thoughts or advice on this issue???
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Katie Reply:
October 21st, 2011 at 7:15 am
Jill,
That’s a really, really, good question.
My first thought is that I’d pull the green beans. Maybe they’re just too much to digest no matter what? Even with pureed food, digestion should start in the mouth w/saliva, so if baby isn’t “chewing” or keeping it in there, maybe good digestion doesn’t happen anyway.
My second thought is that babies probably don’t digest as well that first year, and thank goodness they have breastmilk or (homemade?) formula to fall back on for nutrition.
Then my last thought is that if they’re not digesting, is it harmful to have stuff passing through their intestines? Better to only serve foods that seem to go through well?
These are all things I’ll have to grapple with in 4-5 months, but thank you for opening the conversation!
Katie
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Oh! I forgot to add- we wait until baby has a few teeth. And we don’t puree anything either, just smoosh it up with a fork or spoon. If the food isn’t soft enough to mush with the back of a fork, it’s not soft enough for a baby to eat.
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I breast fed both of my kids. The first for 9 months and the second is still going at 15 months. Here is a post from Lindsey of Passionate Homemaking with a great and easy alternative to formula: http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2009/11/goats-milk-formula-natural-supplementation-for-baby.html
With my first I started her on rice cereal at 5 months — we had yet to switch to real foods so I just did what the doctor said…Baby #2 (now 15 months) was started on sweet potatoes at 6 months and slowly added other veggies and fruits. At 10 months we started him on quinoa — a gluten free grain that is really small and only needs to be cooked, not even mashed! He would only eat it mixed with applesauce. I didn’t notice any food issues with him. One her reached a year, he has been much more interested in food and is now eating most everything. Someday we hope to have another one and then I plan to start with egg yolks, meats, yogurt and lots of coconut oil mixed in with the veggies!
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We’re another BLWing family here… I did start with individual foods – not what we were eating as a family necessarily, but not THAT much more work. Stuff like a few steamed broccoli “trees” or a baked sweet potato sliced up into chunks. I loosely followed an allergy-friendly introduction schedule, but before long, baby was eating all the same stuff we were. With my first who had no indications of food allergies, was sitting WELL at 4 months, etc, I let her take the lead on starting solids She started grabbing food off my plate at 4.5 months and there-after I started offering her foods once or twice a week until she was closer to 6 months. With my second, who definitely had some allergy issues (and possibly still does), I waited until 6 months to start at all and then was so unprepared, her first food was a roll at dinner. *blush* This time around, as long as baby has no indications of allergies, I plan to do similarly to my first. We shall see though!
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I fed my baby #2 no grain for the first year and it wasn’t as tough as I had expected since I did do the rice cereal thing with baby #1.
Wise Traditions article (in the Baby Issue) on what to feed your baby helped immensely. I summarized it in this post on First Foods for Babies: http://nourishedbyheavenandearth.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/first-foods-for-babies/
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Katie Reply:
October 21st, 2011 at 7:02 am
Thanks, Heather!
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I breast fed exclusively for the first 13 months, then I began to offer foods. He refused, it wasn’t until 21 months that he began to eat (show any interest in) regular food (avacado, etc.). It was slow, he didn’t really begin eating until 24 months. His refusal of food initinally made me very worried. Fortunately we had a family doctor with several kids and he just reassured me that baby knows best, he said go ahead and just breastfeed him if that’s what he wants. He was healthy and growth was/is good–he’s taller than most 4 year olds his age. We do extended breast feeding, he still breastfeeds at 4 1/2 years.
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The other good option for moms who can’t breastfeed is to try to get breastmilk donated or from a milk bank. I only did a little research into the issue because I was thinking about donating some I had stored up and frozen. But it would be easier than making your own formula–and cheaper if you could get a donation!
We have just started doing baby-led-weaning with my six-month old. I try to feed him whatever from our meal is appropriate (ie no grains, nuts, egg whites, things he could choke on), but since some of our meals wouldn’t work at all (like lasagna, or soup), I also keep some easy things on hand–roasted veggie/squash/sweet potato sticks, banana, avocado, egg yolk, etc. It’s been very fun and so cute to watch him learn how to get the stuff to his mouth!
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Erin@TheHumbledHomemaker Reply:
October 21st, 2011 at 1:23 am
I had gestational diabetes, and my baby’s blood sugar was a tad low at delivery, so they said they needed to give her something, and I requested the donor milk. I don’t think it’s available at every hospital though.
I made a cross country move when my daughter was 7 months, and I had a ton of milk stored up that I couldn’t take with me. I ended up giving it to a friend for her baby. Her supply was low. She wrote about it in her baby’s baby book!
My sis just had twins who are in the NICU still–born at 32 weeks. She has asked me to dust off my old pump (I never pump now!) to give her some extra milk.
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I already knew my DD had food issues and digestive issues before she was old enough to have solids, so we went very slowly. She’s over 2 now, and still has no grains or sweets. Only recently did I even give her a little bit of orange! I keep her on GAPS legal foods minus some other foods I know she doesn’t tolerate, and I’m waiting until we heal more before I start nuts or fermented grains. Even if my future babies have better digestive tracks, the theory about amylase and those second year molars makes a lot of sense to me, so I’m not offering even fermented grains until I see them. Dried meat, veggies, frozen-soup cubes, yogurt, and other goodies are easy to take while we are out, and she loves so many foods that most kids refuse and is very healthy!
So glad there are so many resources out there to help us figure this out.
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Of my three kiddos, only my last has had real food. I had no idea there were alternatives with my first two. This is what I did. Hopefully it will be helpful to someone.
I started him on the NT recommendation of egg yolks at 6 mos. when he started showing interest in eating solids. We then progressed to homemade organic raw milk kefir and store organic yogurt. I then learned about the GAPS diet recommendations for babies. I have gluten sensitivity and also had an antibiotic IV during his birth, so I was concerned about his gut flora and wanted to make sure it was optimal. I don’t have a juicer, but I followed the other GAPS ideas.
After introducing vegetables, I eventually would make a 3 lb. batch of cooked veggies, add braunschweiger and puree with my stick blender in the pot, then transfer to smaller jars for the fridge. For meat I found northstarbison.com. They have a braunschweiger (liver sausage) that has no grains added, just herbs to flavor. We all like it. I’d take a little veggie/meat puree out for each meal, then add yogurt or kefir , a fat (butter, olive oil, coconut oil, or warmed farm fresh egg yolks) and a little salt. Babies need something like 6 T. of fat per day, so I tried to be generous. I thinned the puree with bone broth early on, and then with raw milk when he was older.
I have noticed that he eats more — probably double — than my girls ate at the same age. I think this is partly due to his being a boy, and partly due to not eating any grains. He is now 21 mos. and is in the 75th percentile of height and weight. Still no grains and he is not a picky eater at all. Loves his veggies! We are transitioning to doing the full GAPS diet (grain-free) as a family so I am unsure when I will introduce grains.
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Unbreakable glass is an option, though you do want your kiddo to learn not to throw glass anyway. Duralex and Kidishes have sets.
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cory Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 5:50 pm
My kids have both thrown pyrex and had it survive – those little glass custard dishes. Don’t know how I’d feed kids without those! Granted our kitchen floors are linoleum, not tile…
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My real-food babies started on baked sweet potatoes and raw avocado. No sweet fruits until close to a year. No grains until at least 12 months, and then sprouted grains only – quinoa, amaranth, no wheat. For those non-breastfeeders out there, my sister has had amazing success with the Weston Price/Sally Fallon milk-based formulas – 2 healthy whole-food adopted babies completely bootle-fed.
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Kim Reply:
February 1st, 2012 at 7:17 am
Hi Jennifer,
If you have any more info on the success of your sister using the Weston Price formula could you please email me or email me your email address so I could possibly ask you a few questions. I am currently using the formula as breastfeeding did not work out for me. My supply was incredibly low and I although I am a bit depressed by it I am so thankful to have found this formula. I just would like to hear other success stories from it as there is not a ton of info out about it. Thank you so much in advance for ANY help or advice you can give me. My email is [email protected]. Thanks again!
Kim
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Katie Reply:
February 14th, 2012 at 12:33 am
Kim,
Katie
I’m just getting back to these comments, and I wanted to let you know that cheeseslave.com used the homemade formula very successfully – I’d search her site for the story if I were you….
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Wow–this post is chock full of good stuff! I think you read my mind because I’m about to start a mini series on starting solids–but not anything super in-depth.
I had no idea you could make your own formula. I am so thankful I never had that choice to make. We actually did buy some Earth’s Best organic formula while on vacation, but our baby refused (thankfully) to take it. Organic or not–I couldn’t pronounce half the ingredients!
I started both girls with either avocado, sweet potato or banana. I followed Ruth Yaron’s Super Baby Food book pretty closely with my first but not so much with my second. I tried to delay solids with her, but she was ready by 7 months. We started our first on solids at the typical 6 months, although my MIL was upset we weren’t feeding her cereal at 3 months!
With all my 3-year-old’s food intolerances now, I am even more picky about what to give the girls. I did review several brands of organic baby food for the blog (well…they are on the line-up…the food has been consumed but the reviews haven’t run!)–most of which included cereal, but now I kind of wish I hadn’t even given my baby that.
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Links to Grow On « Growing Real // Oct 21, 2011 at 1:56 am
[...] [...]
I used the raw milk based NT formula with my first baby to supplement my low milk supply. He did great on it! We were traveling when he was around 6 months old so I got some store bought formula which he hated. It made him terribly gassy and he actually ended up with a little blood in his diaper:( That made me a lot more confident in using the homemade formula!
Thankfully with baby #2 I’ve maintained a strong supply and haven’t needed to supplement (probably due in large part to my greatly improved diet!) We’re getting ready to start egg yolks and liver (he’s almost 6 months) and then I plan to offer avocado and possibly sweet potatoes later. I plan on no grains until at least 12 months this time. I actually think it will be easier than giving rice cereal and other traditional baby foods!
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Kim Reply:
February 1st, 2012 at 7:10 am
Hi Deborah,
Would you mind sending me an email at [email protected] so that I could ask you some questions about the formula? I’m currently using it as well because my supply was so low and I’m terribly sad that breastfeeding didn’t work out for me. I just want to be sure that I’m doing the best for my 2 month old and would love to hear from somebody personally who has used it. Any help you can provide me would be so greatly appreciated!! Thank you in advance – Kim
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I’d be interested in a post too on how delayed introduction of solids affects natural child spacing. I don’t know if you’re into that but you do do such nice research. . . People talk about delaying solids for all sorts of health reasons but I find it’s quite practical and in my self-interest as a Catholic mother to delay solids past six months to keep my fertility from returning.
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Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship Reply:
October 23rd, 2011 at 9:42 pm
Cirelo,
Katie
I wonder if there’s much research on that, to be honest. I bet the Couple to Couple League would be one of the only sources. Personally I luck out with really long infertility no matter what I do…but I hear ya on the subject. It would be interesting!
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It is funny how you “evolve” as a Mommy with each child. Making homemade baby food with my first son was a baby step into our transition to real food. But it was more of a struggle to find the time with #2 (especially since I was already spending more time in the kitchen cooking real food). And by the time #3 came around, we switched to a kind of BLW that fit our family. I’m sure we’ll tweak it again with this little one to make it fit our current family dynamic.
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My husband makes our toddler’s dinner ware and cups out of ceramic. They aren’t unbreakable, but close, and so much cuter than plastic! We have a giveaway going on at our blog for a toddler cup if you want to enter. It goes until Saturday midnight. Also, I’m excited to feed my 4 month old, in a few months of course. I want to try a grain free 1st year too- I just have to watch the grrandparents a lot closer than I did the first time around!
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EXACTLY! My kids all have had a chunk of steak or carrot or broccoli to teethe on and when they are ready for solids they prefer “regular” food I tried baby food on my littlest now almost 9 months and the grimmace I got was legendary! If they poop green wait a few weeks if they poop food bits wait a bit longer if they poop actual poop go for it again! HOLY MACKERAL I was shocked that he devoured actual chunks of cooked mackeral fish today So far fish seems to be his favorite -cooked in several different seasonings doesn’t seem to matter and so far tilapia, blue hake, canned salmon and mackeral have all been snached and devoured! Its healthy and soft when cooked right and easy to digest! He really likes scrambled egg yolk and bananas too! BTW my lil guy was born 5 weeks early and doing so well he has hit all his milestones and he started diving out of arms into the plate all by himself at 6 months and he would get just enough to mush his fingers thru and out in mouth til he started digesting food right now he gets solids 1-3 times a day and BF directly from me the rest of his calories and all his fluids
My 3 kids are MUCH less picky than my hubby and will fight over frozen veggies, fish eyes, broccoli Rabe, veggi fritata and many foods 4, 2 yr olds will not even look at much less put in mouth! GO MAMA GO!
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Sarah Butcher Reply:
October 22nd, 2011 at 2:43 am
OOPS I meant to reply to Sheila’s comment so Props to her and I was still trping when LO hit the keyboard! LOL I use Natren’s lifestart probiotics and catnip and fennel tonic and it really seems to help his digesting and overall happiness he was really cranky and I grabbed the probiotic jar one day and he stoppeds screaming and opened his mouth and smiled
definetly go the natural food path when possible!
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I have been meaning to comment for a while, but my experiences have been so similar to yours that it’s crazy. As a Catholic mom I was expecting my 3rd (a boy) about 2 weeks after you and reading your delivery post in amazement, then my son decided to arrive a day before Hurricane Irene hit our area and a combination of not wanting to be at the hospital early and helping my mom get out of the area with my children led to me giving birth at home accidentally (at least it wasn’t in the car) and I would have been alone (my husband is military and away) if a friend hadn’t called and volunteered her company so I wasn’t alone while I labored. She ended up “catching” Thomas.
Again my way of feeding my kids has been very similar to yours except later in my 2nd child’s 1st year I got a hold of NT and decided to remove grains and gave him soft boiled egg yokes (which he loved) otherwise I pretty much just made whatever I gave him and added butter somewhat liberally.
As far as stainless steel dishes this is pretty unorthodox, but I got a bunch of pet food bowls at Ross. They are stainless steel with a rubber base to keep from slipping…only cost me a couple of dollars and I use them all the time for my kids and love them. We also use the stainless steel thermos bottles for drinking.
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Katie Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
What a wild birth story! And a seriously good idea…might have to try that.
Katie
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Ok, so I plan on doing solids a little differently with this baby, but…
I (and my mother) started my kids on rice cereal first, followed by banana. My kids of course loved the banana, eating at least half of one a day for years. They also love their veggies, btw. Anyways, both of them so far have had a huge banana habit up until about 18 months. My son even ate a whole banana a day for months! I didn’t think anything of it.
Then I did some reading, all about how babies lack the enzyme to digest grains until they’re over a year old. Well, it turns out, bananas are chock full of that enzyme (I think it’s amylase).
So…now I’m wondering if my kids’ banana habits were coincidences or not?
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Katie Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 3:14 pm
Cory,
Katie
That’s a really awesome thing to note!
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I’m still learning as I go with our first one (who’s now 10 months)… but I exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months and then basically did baby-led weaning. We started out with the basics (banana, avocado, sweet potato, then other soft fruits and veggies) and have moved on to more of our table food now. But for the longest time I just didn’t worry if she didn’t get a meal, since she’s still nursing enough that she’d be fine. Also, I read that it many kids don’t realize that eating fills them up (as opposed to it just being playtime) until they’re 8-10 months old. That was the case for us – the week of her 10 month birthday (and two days after my husband said he wanted to give up on BLW) she suddenly became quite a big eater!
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4 Myths About Feeding Your Baby | Modern Alternative Mama // Oct 20, 2012 at 8:01 am
[...] How To Feed a Real Food Baby at Kitchen Stewardship [...]