Time for Solids

So once a baby reaches a certain age, typically 4-7 months, it's time to start them on solids. That doesn't mean you start filling their rotund budda bellies with everything you can mash up and convince them to eat though. It means, you start them with a teaspoon of so of rice cereal mixed with breastmilk or formula. Then you gradually give them a bit more each day until they are having about 2 tablespoons daily. Then you can start introducing fruits and veggies the same way.

So my friend Natasha - I have to steal this story since it is so blog worthy - sent her hubby to the store to get some rice cereal for their baby, Linnea. She gets a call from him at the store from the cereal aisle. "Honey, what kind of rice cereal do you want me to buy? They have rice flakes, rice puffs, or rice crispies?" To which my friend Natasha replies, "Dear, are you in the baby food aisle?" "No, Whole Foods doesn't have a baby food aisle." "Yes, they do. Now go find someone who can help you find the baby food aisle and look for 'rice cereal' for babies." If left up to her husband, Linnea would be starting out with full blown rice crispies instead of the much more fine single grain baby cereal that is simple to digest.

My point being that babies just don't come with an owner's manual. But they should. There are many people that have gone before me and done this, so why can't one of them write it down and help a mother out! I'm off to buy a book on how to make my own baby food so that I can use it as a guide on how to introduce what foods when. A lot of it is common sense, if you already have a kid or know people who have kids. But sometimes this whole mom thing feels like being a pioneer in a new world--where the little people don't speak your language, spit up on you a lot, and make you change their stinky pants. Gesh!

Moral of the story: Be sure to make friends with moms who have kids older than yours so you can steal their tricks, don't let your husband do the cereal shopping (or be very specific), and introduce the solids slowly so as not to freak the kid out - ie save the steak for you and your spouse to enjoy.