September 14, 2010

hello solids

(who am I kidding. the stuff we gave this kid should not be considered solid...)

Lately Ryann has been completely captivated by watching Chris and I eat. She stares us down anytime something is moving towards our mouthes. The other day I ate a piece of chocolate while I was holding her and she just stared at my mouth while I was chewing and kept trying to grab at it.

Also, we really want to work towards Ryann putting herself to sleep (more on that later) but she is such a spitty baby. I hate the thought of her spitting up so much and going to sleep in it (actually I don't hate it, I won't let it happen) so we are hoping starting cereal and solids will help thicken up everything in her stomach.

So... this weekend we thought we would give rice cereal a try. We strapped Ryann in the high chair and practiced putting the spoon in her mouth. She seemed pretty excited, so we grabbed the bowl of good 'ol cereal and gave it a try...



If you don't get the picture, it didn't necessarily go over too well. She really was excited as the first spoonful went in her mouth, and she didn't spit it out, but she definitely gave us one of those 'are you kidding me?' faces. There was also lots of gagging accompanied by disgusted noises (those were pretty hilarious). About five spoonfuls later she decided that was enough and began wiggling to get out of the high chair. Oh well, first try.

Sunday we got everything all set up to try again. Ryann had the same reaction to the cereal - she would let us put it in her mouth, she didn't spit it out, but she definitely looked completely disgusted. I was curious to see if flavor had anything to do with it (or if it was just a new texture thing) so we grabbed one of our containers of sweet peas and gave those a little try...



Ha ha, same reaction as the cereal. She swallowed it, but she didn't look happy about it. So I'm going with the texture isn't something she is a fan of just yet. I don't blame her, I wouldn't want to eat that stuff either. I sort of considered baby led weaning (if you don't know what that is, google it, I definitely am not the best one to explain it) but in all honesty it scares me a bit. After Ryann gets the hang of actually eating these little purees I plan to make my own baby food, and hopefully the stuff I make will be a little bit more appetizing than what she has had.

8 comments:

AndreaLeigh said...

I started rice cereal around 4 months b/c my son was having reflux issues. Same reaction - he just did not care for the texture. I tried a few different baby foods, and he didn't care for those either. I tabled the baby food/cereal until he was 6 months old and tried again. Then he took the food like a champ. Babies need to have developed a tongue thrust (so they can move the food to the back of their mouths to swallow) and that just happens later for some.

With that said, keep trying. Everything I've read says that babies' first few times of eating they are only going to take a few spoonfuls. You'll gradually work your way up to eating a jar of baby food.

I make my sons food now, and he likes my homemade food much better than jarred food. He actually won't eat the jarred anymore. What a diva!

sfloyd said...

I agree...keep trying...we've been working on Molly's solids since she was 4 months old...she either hates it or she thinks it is a game...and she's winning right now...She is very fickle now...she eats it but only a few bites and her taste changes daily...be positive and remember: she's learning...:)
http://sfloyd-nutshell.blogspot.com

Stephanie said...

Ugh, we're struggling with solids right now. Although my son seems to be ready for the food development wise, there's something about it he doesn't like and I'm guessing it's texture because we've tried quite a few different flavors now! I'm interested in BLW too and I've been reading up on it. I think that's the next thing we're going to try.

Meredith said...

Lizzy always hated rice cereal. She doesn't love jarred baby food either, though she does get it sometimes. She'd much rather have baby food that's more roughly pureed--she liked stage 2 from the get-go!

Kalen said...

Just stopping in to say that you could try oatmeal cereal instead (it's easier on the digestion system too) and mix it with formula - a little more than recommended if necessary. :) A lot of reflux moms opt to do this.

Shannon said...

Oh I remember those days! It's fun isn't it? We started GG on rice cereal at 4 months too at the doctor's request. She loved it and absolutely gobbled up every bit. It took a few weeks to get the hang of it, then it wasn't nearly as messy! Such cute pics !

Anonymous said...

I found your blog because of Krissy's guest post. We're having issues with solids, too, although Shelby finally seems to be getting the hang of it for the most part. She hated peas, though! Good to know we're not alone. :-)

Katrina said...

Hi Ashley,
I've been following your blog since before precious Ryann was born. These new pics of your beautiful little girl trying solids are SSSOOOO CUTE!