Before having a baby, feeding a baby seemed like a pretty simple task. Give him milk until 4-6 months, and then start solids. No big deal, right? Except that from the moment your baby is born, your life revolves around food, his eating schedule, if he ate enough, and the list goes on. I never expected the anxiety I felt that comes along with making sure your baby is fed correctly. And again, I do this for a living. Although I typically work with older children, I do have experience with infant feeding, so I should know this stuff. Many times I embarrassed to even ask my son’s pediatrician some basic nutrition questions, because I should (and probably do) know the answers. But when it’s your kid, it’s different. Your mind goes blank (or I’ve just lost too many brain cells from lack of sleep), but you need that reassurance that you’re doing it right.
Joey was born with a tongue tie, which should have made it hard for him to latch and possibly increased his risk for failure to thrive. But my little pork chop has never had an issue with food. In fact, he gained back his birth weight plus some three days after leaving the hospital. When it came time to start solids, he downed a whole bowl of oatmeal in the first shot. So we’ve been very lucky!
But as a child, I was an incredibly picky eater (I’m much better now, but can still be a little picky). My husband is also quite picky- so I really want to make sure Joey isn’t. I’m trying to expose him to as many flavors as possible now so that he won’t reject too many foods as he gets older (of course there’s no guarantees). So yes, I make him quinoa and kidney bean salads, puree up baby versions of green smoothies, and mix in flax and chia seeds to muffins. And yes, my husband and family tease me, but he really seems to like it.
My biggest problem with feeding him is his demand to be independent. If you dare feed him purees while eating solid foods next to him, he’ll refuse them until you feed him some of your food. If I eat yogurt with him, he won’t let me feed him with his “baby” spoon and won’t eat again until I serve him yogurt with my spoon. It amazes me how if I try to serve him food on a spoon, he refuses it, but if I put the food on my finger or his, he’ll eat it right up. I think little Mr. Independent is gonna give us a run for our money in the future 😉 What are your favorite food battles?
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