Feeding baby
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- June
- 23
Our youngest, 8 months, is tasting all sorts of new things these days—and it’s great fun to watch as she grimaces at one thing and chows down on another.
Her current favorite? Chomping her sore, teething gums down repeatedly on a frozen waffle. She’s also a big fan of Cheerios, of course, and the stray Lego or sticker I have to wrench from her adorably chubby little hands before that, too, becomes her lunch. She also loved the bit of strawberry I fed her on Thursday at her brother’s end-of-year school celebration.
But that bit of strawberry got me thinking. I’m feeding her new and different foods much earlier than I did with the older two. I wonder now if other moms or dads have had the same experience?
Is it that conventional wisdom on feeding babies has swung away from the hyper-careful approach that was around when our son was born in 2001  no solids before 6 months! nothing but rice cereal to start!  or is it just more relaxed third-child parenting?
What do you think?
What do you  or don’t you  feed your babies and why?
This entry was posted
on Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 at 10:05 am by Katie Ryan O'Connor.
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I think its more relaxed parenting style.
With my first, I strictly adhered to the parenting books and the pediatrician but I was much more relaxed with my 2nd when it came to feeding solids, although I did wait until he was 6months old. For him, he was so interested in what everyone else was eating we almost felt guilty holding out on him that long! Plus, he had more teeth earlier than my daughter so we were able to let him try new foods, like hard-to-chew protein (steak, chicken) sooner. He ate a complete Thanksgiving dinner at 10 months of age…everything from turkey to pumpkin pie.
I agree with Meredith – I think you’re just more relaxed about it. And I think that’s great. The sooner they learn to eat a variety of foods, the better. And keep it up! One word of caution, though. Don’t introduce too many new foods all at one time. If your child displays allergic reactions to anything (and fresh fruit is a popular allergen), you need to know what brought the allergy on. And if you’ve introduced three new things in the same day, it’s tough to pinpoint.
I know I am very late to the conversation, however I came across it and wanted to respond. As a feeding therapist I agree that it is important and smart to allow babies to try a variety of flavors and textures early on. This will lower the chances of picky eating in the future, although there are numerous other factors causing picky eating.
I am also a mother of a 1 year old who I let try just about anything I am eating. Early on I was cautious about allergies and only introduced one new food every few days. However now she eats whatever we eat. In fact she prefers it and at times demands it. She thinks whatever we are eating is got to be better than what she is eating (even if it is the same!) She even likes spicy food!
Thanks for stopping by Isa!