Thank you buybuy BABY for sponsoring this post!
This post has been a long time coming! I am not exaggerating when I said my first trimester kicked my booty. It wasn’t hard the same way it was hard with Hilde (that goodness!) but when you have a 9 month old and are in your first trimester things are a bit chaotic! haha. Good news is that I am (mostly) back and feeling good!
I’ve been wanting to write this post for MONTHS. I was so nervous about starting solids and Hilde is ALL ABOUT THEM! That worked out in my favor because she made me keep trying things and feeding her real food. It is so funny that what is completely normal now, wasn’t always! I’m excited to share with you our food journey by answering some of your questions and sharing some of my favorites.
Okay, to start off, we wanted a nice high chair. We currently don’t have a dinning table because I sold it on FB Marketplace and haven’t replaced it yet. haha! We wanted a stand alone chair but something that could also be pushed up against the table when we get one again. After some research, we finally settled on the Stokke® Tripp Trapp® High Chair and I am so glad we did! It keeps Hilde sitting tall (which is important for eating), is SO easy to clean (a necessity!), and can grow with her! Every time I post a story of her in her highchair I get a million replies asking me about this chair. It is so worth it.
How old was Hilde when you started food and what did you do?
We started food around 6 months. The first thing we did was mix some baby cereal in with breast milk and spoon feed her. She LOVED it. I had tried a Once Upon a Farm fruit pouch with her first and she didn’t know what to make of it but then my mom recommended the cereal with milk and it was the perfect start. We then started mixing the pouches with cereal too to thicken it up and Hilde was a fan.
At this point we did one of these meals a day. Everything else was still breast feeding. But we wanted her to start trying other flavors and foods.
What were the first foods you gave her? We need some BLW inspiration!
The first real foods we gave to her were bananas and avocados. I also boiled sweet potato chunks until they were super soft and cooked oatmeal (that was more on the runny side.) It was super important to me at first that everything was really easy to mash and pretty easy to not choke on. Scrambled eggs, rice, and Mandarin oranges were other go-tos.
I also made sure to give her food just for fun, not when she was starving or else she would get frustrated. I nursed for meals and then had fun food times where she could try to eat, try textures, and practice moving food around in her mouth. Babies have a stronger gag reflex than we do so they will cough and gag while eating but it is a good thing. It teaches them how to move things around in their mouth and keep chewing/ mashing until things are small enough to swallow.
We also love teething biscuits which were actually the first solid food I let Hilde eat. They recommend them for babies who can sit up on their own and Hilde loved them. I would get pretty nervous at first whenever I gave her one but she knew how to eat them right away and never had a problem with them! It was a great start for this mama heart!
How long did/ are you breastfeeding?
I am still breastfeeding but only in the mornings when Hilde wakes up. Now that she is 11 months old, she prefers real food all day long. We also are at the point when she eats almost anything we are eating. It is crazy how much they grow over a couple months!
Thoughts on combining BLW with purees? It looks like you do both!
YES! Why not do it!?!?1 Purees are so convenient and help get a variety of foods to your little baby. We love Once Upon a Farm because they are fresh pressed and filled with all kinds of goodness. We also wanted Hilde to learn how to eat food on her own so we mixed in solids as we felt comfortable!
When did you start giving her water?
I started giving her water when I noticed she was mostly only nursing because she was thirsty and I felt like she needed more water. We tried some other sippy cups but she only likes these ones. Or our cups – she loves sharing with mom and dad!
Does Hilde have any allergies you have noticed?
Nope! Neither Bruce nor I have food allergies so we are keeping an eye on things but Hilde doesn’t seem to have any either!
Does she eat whatever you give her?
For the most part! At first she would sometimes not like certain textures or flavors so we always would try again a couple days later to give her time to get used to new things. Now she can be a little opinionated about the type of food you give her. For example, she loves puffs or Cheerios until she sees dinner is ready and Bruce and I are getting “real food” at that point she only wants that food too and not the puffs!
Have you given her any sweets?
Just a little bit. She has had a bite of a cupcake and a bite of a fruit Popsicle. Summer is all about the sweets in our lives so we wanted to include her a bit. In our home we are all about moderation in healthy eating so a little sugar at a special event isn’t going to hurt her.
What is her favorite food?
It depends on the day! She goes through seasons. Right now she loves peaches, Mandarin oranges, watermelon, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, and plums. Pretty much any fruit I give her is her favorite!
Do you do any baby sign?
Yes! We taught her “more” and “all done” which it actually super helpful! We are just trying to practice “please” now and may try to work in a couple other things.
Do you have any other questions about our food journey with Hilde? We are at the point when she almost east anything that it is hard to remember what it was like when we first started! Babies are crazy and they learn so fast – it is incredible.
