Baby Food

I started introducing Jackson to solid foods about a week before he turned four months old.  Some may say that was too early but for us, it worked and it was time.  I was starting to notice that the bottles weren't cutting it, he still seemed hungry, and he was watching M and I eat.  So I did what any mother would do, I asked my Facebook friends if it was okay to start him on foods.  All my amazing mommy friends said absolutely!  We all need to come to realize that our babies are unique, we know them best, and we need to do what is right for them.

Food coma.

So I started with the oatmeal.  Again, some say to start with the rice cereal because it it even less likely to cause a reaction but again, all the mommies I talked to said to start with the oatmeal so that's what I did.  J took to it very quickly.  We were on our way from that point on.

We moved onto the stage one foods and I introduced everything I could.  I gave him something, waited a few days, tried something else, and so forth.  He ate everything I gave him except bananas.  Oh well, minor hiccup.  His favorites were sweet potatoes, carrots, and peaches.

J is now on stage two foods and loves them all.  He will eat the single foods and the combinations.  He WILL NOT eat the meats but they are really dog food so that's fine.  He will eat the vegetable and meat combo ones so that's how I get the extra iron and protein from the meats in him.  They will make him big and strong!

He also eats yogurt.  I was completely unaware that they could have yogurt until the doctor told me to start giving it to him while at his six month appointment.  So he eats baby yogurt and loves it.  I was afraid it would give him tummy troubles but it's been just fine.

I like to read other mother's samples of their feeding schedules and found many on other blogs and websites.  I finally got a good one going with J and here is a typical day:

When he wakes (or at 6:30am on a school day; whenever he wakes on the weekends): 6-8oz bottle

9/9:30am - 2-3 tbsp oatmeal mixed with formula

                  Jar of fruit

(There might be some bottle somewhere around 11 but he's usually napping)

12/12:30pm - 2-3 tbsp oatmeal mixed with formula or

                       a yogurt 

                       Jar of fruit or vegetable

3/3:30pm - 6-8oz bottle

5:30/6pm - 2-3 tbsp oatmeal

                  Jar of vegetable/vegetable meat blend or what M and I are having, blended

7:30pm - 5-8oz bottle

He's not on a complete napping schedule but I try to put him down around 10am and then again around 1:30/2.  He may have another quick nap around 4 or 4:30.  At day care, he just sleeps whenever but it actually works out around these times.  And they last anywhere from a half hour to two hours.  I've said before, he sleeps all night so I don't care what he does during the day for naps.

I've also tried the baby puffs but he doesn't get it.  He plays with them and picks them up but doesn't understand that it is food and it goes in his mouth.  They just stick to his hand or fall on the floor. 

The doctor also said I could start a sippy cup.  Also a fail.  He's just not ready.  We'll try again soon.  But oh does he love his bottles.  He sees it and starts kicking and squealing and opening his mouth before it's even near him.  He's not yet holding it on his own but if someone else is doing it for you, why bother?

I have also tried pureeing up things that M and I have at dinner.  I did some carrots, some vegetable beef soup, and some mashed potatoes.  He wasn't really feeling it and I don't know why.  He took more to the mashed potatoes but didn't eat a whole lot.  It also concerns me.  Because let me be clear folks - I DO NOT WANT A PICKY EATER.  I know that I will introduce all sorts of different foods to J as early as I can because I want him to be exposed to all the wonderful foods and flavors out there.  I do not want him to have the limited "kid's" palatte.  I would like him to be a food lover and want him to try things at least once.  I believe parents are the largest contributors to picky eaters.  They say to their child oh you won't like that or no to when their child asks to try something because the parent thinks the child won't like it.  Well how do you know?  If a child is willing and desires to try something, let them!

I am also of the belief that my son will eat what M and I do at dinner.  If he doesn't like it, he can have cereal or a sandwich.  I do not believe in making two or more dinners just so the child gets something they like.  I realize things may change but this one I really want to stick to.

Starting solid foods is exciting, stressful, and nerve wracking at the same time.  So many new flavors.  It must be amazing.  I wish I could remember trying things for the first time at his age.  It's stressful too because you don't know if he'll like it and it makes you nervous because what if they choke??  I have yet to take an infant CPR class.  Oops.

We will continue on with the routine we have going and I will continue to blend up some things M and I are eating for dinner.  Hopefully he'll start to like them more.  He is still very young and has a long way to go in his culinary journey through life.  I hope he takes a big bite and eats it up.

What I Did and Didn't Need - The List

A lot of blogs I have read list out their top baby items.  Why not jump on the band wagon?  My list might be kind of long because J is now seven months old so things that may not have been necessary in the first few months certainly are now.  And I am fully aware that these are the things that worked or didn't work for him.  Any and every other baby and family will have a different list.

Top List of Our Baby Must-Haves:

Swaddle Sacks

These. Are. Magic.  For the first four months of his life, J was wrapped as tight as can be in one of these swaddle velcro sacks.  And did he sleep.  I would wrap him up and he would be out cold almost immediately.  Best thing we had.

Crib

J has been in his every single night since we brought him home. I refused to crib train him later.

Glider

I sat in this glider at every middle of the night feeding and still use it during J's bedtime routine.  We sit and rock and J has his bedtime bottle - every single night.

Car Seat/Stroller Frame

If I had to take J out of a car seat every single time we went out or on a walk, I would have thrown a nutty in some parking lot somewhere.  But I could just take his whole car seat out, snap it in the stroller frame, and off we went.  We walked twice a day, every day during my maternity leave.  I don't know what I would have done if he was a winter baby.  These walks were my salvation.

Boppy

These are great for feedings, propping baby up to sit, and photo shoots.  I used it at every feeding until he got too big to fit in it.

Top Things I Didn't Need

Pacifiers

Such a victory here!  I wrote once before that I abhor pacificers and never wanted him to use one.  Well haha folks who told me good luck with that one.  He doesn't use one - ever!  Nor does he suck his fingers.

Swing

I realize this might sound crazy.  But J didn't care for the swing.  He didn't dislike it.  But it wasn't the baby sleep crack that it is with most babies.  Yeah, sometimes he fell asleep in it, but if he was fussy, the swing didn't help.

Bottle Warmer

I was told I would absolutely need this.  That baby would only take a warm bottle.  Untrue.  J will take a bottle straight out of the fridge.  Plus the bottles we have have a thick bottom and did not warm in the warmer so the few times I used it, I had to warm in different bottles and transfer to the ones he actually drank out of.  Not happening so much at 2am.  I tried a cold bottle one day, he took it just fine and that was the end of the bottle warmer.

Snuzzler Head and Body Support Insert for the car seat. 

I suppose we probably should have used this but it was the dead of summer when he was born and this insert was fuzzy as all get out.  He would have melted.

Breast Pump

As previously written, not needed in my house.

Sling or Baby Carrier

These were just not my thing.  I used the Ergo I bought maybe twice.  Once in the grocery store and once at the farm stand.  He slept once, the other time he screamed.  Maybe now that he's older, we'll try it again but it has pretty much sat in a closet.

Things I had NO IDEA about and wish I had much sooner

Crib sheet saver

After many a day of changing a crib sheet because of spit up, my friend said "You don't have a crib sheet saver?"  I was like "What is that?"  The dear she is she went out and bought me one.  I now have two.

Noggin Nest

I had always been concerned about J getting a flat head and to my chagrin, he had quite the flat spot.  At his 2 month check up, I mentioned it to the doctor and she said get him a Noggin Nest.  Again, I was like what is that?  One of the things I wish I had known about at the VERY BEGINNING.  I would have used it when he was in the swing or the bouncy seat or car seat when we went on two walks EVERY DAY!  It would probably have lessened the flat spot.

Aquaphor

I had used this on my skin before.  J had broken out in horrible acne around week two.  It was terrible.  All over his face and eye lids which freaked me out.  In my awesome new mother panic, I called the doctor and she said yeah, that's normal.  Put Aquaphor on it.  My baby's beautiful alabaster skin was back in a couple days.  I use it regularly on his skin just to keep it soft and kissable.

Randoms:

The Panic-Free Pregnancy Book

My doctor specifically told me NOT to read What to Expect When You Are Expecting because it could be alarming.  She recommended this book.  It is excellent and answers so many questions.

Exer-Saucer

Baby entertainment.  Mommy break.  Dinner made.  Bathroom break.  Blog writing.  A mother's best friend.

Lambie Lovie

J loves this.  He snuggles it, holds it, and pretty much mouth rapes it every day.


So, that is my list.  I know everyone's is different which makes it so awesome.  A baby's personality is amazing and makes each one unique.  That's the best part of it all.

In Sickness and In Sickness

This has been the winter of our *health* discontent.  I mean really.  In the past three weeks, I have been sick, M has been sick, and baby J has been sick.  It's a vicious circle and it keeps making the rounds.  This plague is welcome to leave any time now.  Locusts are probably next.

Credit: Mazzola Photography

Just this past weekend, I had something going on and I was nauseous for three days.  To the point where I was terrified I may be pregnant again.  Not to fear, folks.  Not the case but still quite a scare.  I am not ready to experience all this again yet.  Plus, we still need more quality one on one time with this little guy.  Especially when he's sick.

Baby J is always happy.  Even when not feeling well.  He will still laugh, play, and even sleep.  Not much affects his appetite either.  Much like Daddy.  Always ready, willing, and able to chow down.

The weather has been ridiculous in terms of temperature.  There has been hardly any snow as of yet (though that will change in about two days) but it has been freezing.   And wearing hats inside is hilarious apparently.

J gets a tubby almost every night.  Sometimes on days he's home, I forgo the tubby due to the sensitivity of his skin but he always gets one after being in day care all day.  So many cooties.  We can't catch a break.

He is sick once again and this time a little more than what has been his usual sniffles and coughing.  Now there is a fever involved and a deeper cough.  So sad to hear the little guy coughing.  I'm also nervous about febrile seizures and I would have no idea what to do if he ever had one. He's so good about having his temperature taken too.  Doesn't make a peep.  I, of course, feel like I'm violating him a little bit each time.  And you'd think I was cutting off his nose by the way he screams when I wipe it or suck the boogies out.  It's like Armageddon trying to get those suckers out.

I wish we could give him chicken noodle soup.  It's one thing when M or I are sick but when it's your baby, you feel so helpless.  There are lots of snuggles and naps in our house which is fine with me.  Snuggles are always accepted.

I have cleaned the house to rid it of as many germs as possible.  I have stripped all bed sheets, bleached the bathroom and baby toys, and washed the floors.

And do you know how much of a pain in the backside changing a crib sheet is?!  I liken it to wrestling a hippopotamus.