Posted by tntmck on Jun 5, 2010 in
Grains, Beans, Legumes and Nuts,
Purées
24% (13) avocado
16% (9) banana
0% (0) barley cereal
9% (5) oat cereal
0% (0) pear
51% (28) rice cereal
3% (2) squash
9% (5) sweet potato
3% (2) other
Total Votes = 54
Wow, it’s obvious that most people fed rice cereal first, but look at the wide variety. If you chose other or have any comments about the food you chose, please share in the comments.
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Tags: cereal, first food, puree, results
When you’re making food cubes to store in the freezer, save yourself some materials. Freeze them in regular ice cube trays, but put them inside of large freezer bags that you will use for storing in the freezer once you pop them out. This saves the extra piece of foil, cling wrap, or wax paper that you would have used to cover each tray.
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Tags: baby, Freeze, process, puree, tips
LAST DAY TO VOTE: Invite your friends and family to vote and follow the blog. The more votes, the better the results. Then, stay tuned to see the final results.
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Tags: poll
ONLY 2 DAYS LEFT TO VOTE: Invite your friends and family to vote and follow the blog. The more votes, the better the results. Then, stay tuned to see the final results.
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Tags: poll
8 DAYS LEFT TO VOTE: Invite your friends and family to vote and follow the blog. The more votes, the better the results. Then, stay tuned to see the final results. I’ll post and everyone can comment with your own thoughts on the subject. Isn’t it interesting to see the variety of offerings.
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Tags: poll
Posted by tntmck on May 25, 2010 in
Purées,
Tips
There are many reasons that you may want to thicken for for your baby or even toddler. For baby you may have just made it too runny or might be trying to transition to a thicker consistency with a little more texture. When your baby is learning to eat from a spoon or if you have something for your toddler to eat from a spoon and want to keep things neat, then thickening might be helpful.
To thicken, try mixing in some of the following ingredients as long as they are age-appropriate and you have given them before with no reactions.
- mashed potato (sweet potato is best)
- yogurt (whole, plain)
- wheat germ
- grains or cereals
- pureed lentils or beans
I mostly added ground grains or cereals when I was thickening, but there were times when I had potatoes or beans handy and used them as well. Wheat germ often helps to thicken the oatmeal that I tend to get a little too runny in the mornings.
Please share your thoughts and ideas.
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Tags: baby, puree, tips
Ok, there’s a new poll up, so invite your friends and let’s get as many votes as possible for the best results. It’s at the top of the page and will be there until it closes next Friday.
And, for those of you who are eagerly awaiting my milk post based on the last poll, I promise it’s coming soon. I’ve been busy researching, testing, and learning and want to get everything just right before I post.
Please share your thoughts and ideas.
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Tags: baby, poll
Posted by tntmck on Mar 24, 2010 in
Purées,
Sample Schedules 4-6 months is a time for lots of change for babies. My boys were much more alert and awake as well as enjoying longer periods of sleep. We also starting doing fewer liquid feedings. This is the recommended time period to begin solids.
I began rice cereal during this period. Here was our basic schedule for 4-6 months.
MONTH 4
We dropped our late night feeding at 12 weeks and both boys began sleeping generally from 7pm-7am. We continued on with our liquid feedings, about 5 per day. At this point my boys were on formula bottles. They have always been such different eaters, but averaged anywhere from 26-36 ounces per day. They were taking bottles about every 3.5 hours as we were moving to a 4 hour feeding schedule. Look at the resources below for ideas on amounts per feeding and per day and always discuss with your pediatrician. I made my first big batch of food for the freezer this month.
MONTH 5
This was an exciting month…full of change. We moved to a 4 hour feeding schedule with 4 feedings per day and started rice cereal. I can tell you that it took a while for them to catch on to being spoon-fed, but once it clicked, it was great. I mentioned this earlier in the blog, but I fed them straight rice cereal without mixing in any fruit or anything else. Discuss with your pediatrician and do some research, but you could also begin with something like avocado. However, if you learn how to and stick to making homemade whole grains, then cereal is an excellent choice. Be consistent with your time of day to begin feeding. I think it helps your baby learn and know what to expect. I started with breakfast at 7:00am and slowly added dinner around 3:00pm.
MONTH 6
Cereal was catching on and we started adding fruits and vegetables. I started with sweet potato at lunch, but kept the cereal for breakfast and afternoon. As we continued, I added a fruit to breakfast and lunch and a vegetable to dinner. Remember the 3-5 day wait rule to watch for any reactions. I vividly remember going to the beach with my family in August before the boys were 6 months old and trying to get them to eat the cereal. It was just a week after we returned that they were really getting the hang of it. It almost just seems to click one day. I say this because, I think it’s important to get that first food established well before you move on to too many options. I never had any food refusal, but had to stick with something new over and over to get it well-established. I had already made my food batches and had a good stash in the freezer to get is started. I think this is important so that you can concentrate on feeding and don’t have to worry about making for the first few weeks or more.
RESOURCES
I’ve mentioned these before, but my two favorite resources have been Super Baby Food
by Ruth Yaron and wholesomebabyfood.com. Please share any other interesting or helpful resources.
Be sure to also see these additional posts.
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 10-12 Months
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 7-9 Months
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 4-6 Months (you are here)
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 0-3 Months
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: Introduction
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS
As always, be sure to discuss any feeding options, ideas, struggles, or issues along the way with your pediatrician. Remember that this is a time where liquid feedings are still the primary source of nutrition for baby. You are teaching and your baby is learning about solids. In all reality, this is the first step in the weaning process.
Consistency is key. Decide what you want your daily routine to be and stick with it. Babies, children, and adults enjoy routine and knowing what to expect next. You will, of course, need to change with your children as they grow, but getting this established early is something that you will be thankful for in the future.
Keep taking notes and writing what your baby eats, how much, and how often. It will great in knowing where to go next and noting any allergy triggers or sleep issues. Full tummies like their sleep. Enjoy your growing baby. The food only gets bigger. More fun, more challenging, more variety.
NOTE: A month references the time from turning that age until the next older month. So, if your baby was born on January 1st, then those first weeks are considered MONTH 1 until he reaches February 1st. From then until March 2nd is considered MONTH 2. Remember that there are 52 weeks in a year, so it’s not an even 4 weeks per month.
Please share your thoughts and ideas.
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Tags: baby, breast feeding, cereal, formula, fruit, routine, schedules, vegetable
Posted by tntmck on Mar 3, 2010 in
Fruits & Vegetables,
Purées I’ve mentioned before that I love my crock pot and making things easily and quickly is a top priority. Well, here it is…the ultimate combination of making baby food in a crock pot. I’ve thought about this before, but never done it. I think it’s because I never read about anyone actually doing it. Well, just today I was on one of my favorite crock sites and it hit me…enter the search term “baby food” and there it was. She had done it and had a post about it. I will say that it’s not super detailed, but it has given me the inspiration to batch prepare some food for my boys in my crock.
Take a look at it here.
Please share your thoughts, ideas, and experiences.
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Tags: baby, Crock pot
