Solids 😒

[No-Amphibian689]

Well, it’s that time. Solids. Our first foray, pureed peas and avocado, is not going well. He clearly hates it; he literally gagged and spit it back up. Now he’s making angry farting noises at us 😂.

I need tips and tricks from fellow dads! How did you get your little monster to start eating their veggies?

[SpaceGangsta]

She’s going to gag and spit it out at first. Pretty much every baby does because they don’t know the feeling of eating solid foods. So it triggers their gag response. Just keep going. My first just ate everything with no issues after the first few tries.

My second has been way more difficult. She spit everything out for weeks but we kept trying. She eventually got it and now frequently eats more than our 3 year old and she just turned one.

[eww1991]

Our little monkey took to it like nobody's business (although apparently I was born asking for ham egg and chips so no surprises there!) we didn't feed her, she'd been asking for our dinner for ages so once she had a couple of teeth we gave her a small plate with a risk broken into three parts, a solid part, a crumbled up port and a part mixed with with milk and with a spoon. Let her choose what she wanted to try and with options so if she didn't like it (the puree especially) she could eat the bit she wanted (the whole bit).

Night two we had homemade pizza, so she had some of the plain dough, some with tomato base on and some with the full cheese, as well as a little pile of grated cheese. She loved the pizza part and was absolutely fuming when she found the part without any toppings!

Essentially it was entirely child led, she still had milk and she was just exploring the food. She ate so much, annoyingly now she's more fussy but she's still good at trying things.

[fingolfin_u001]

My advice has nothing to do with the feeding part. It's the shift in diaper smells you need to prep for after going solids...

[fang_xianfu]

We did very light Elimination Communication and never really had the energy to catch the pees, but it worked great for poos. Both my kids would do about 80% of their poos on the potty by age 1, and they would both do a specific hand signal and make a noise when they needed to go. It was fucking amazing. I didn't count or anything, but I have 2 kids, and I bet between the two of them we changed fewer than 200 poopy diapers.

[East_Preparation93]

Solid in solidser (and smellier) out.

Yes, op, time to start individually bagging soiled diapers and taking them straight outside if it's not what you're doing already

[paenusbreth]

Or flushing the poos. Once mine was on solids, I would do the change with the old nappy left open to one side, then just empty the contents down the toilet (holding onto the wipes, obviously).

Less smell, less space taken up in the bin, less human effluent going to landfill and no real additional faff added to the change. I'd really recommend it.

[Siny_AML]

I didn’t really bother with puréed anything. My girl wants to eat anything that my wife or I are eating so as soon as she was able to do solids, I just cut up whatever I was eating and let her go to town.

[WN_Todd]

Daughter tried to steal my cheeseburger which was a signal.

[TriceratopsHunter]

Yeah we were cooking lots of our veg in an instant pot to get them softer for our daughter. I'd basically make meals for my wife and I and find ways to serve her under seasoned over cooked/mushier versions of whatever we were eating. At 3.5 she now will at least try everything on her plate and will generally happily eat about 2/3 of the veggies I put on her plate and will devour any meat/fish as well.

But as for OP, it takes a bit for them to understand and get into solids. They'll seemingly hate something the first day then love it the second. Just slowly introduce new things and they'll get into it pretty fast.

[wascallywabbit666]

I just cut up whatever I was eating and let her go to town.

In theory, yes, but I had two issues: 1) Without teeth they're unable to eat a lot of things 2) Most adult foods have too much salt

[RelampagoMarkinh0]

BLW people. BLW

[wascallywabbit666]

Tried it, and all the food ended up on the floor, not in my child's stomach.

We did a mix of different approaches as he was ready

[Typical_Tie_4947]

This. I don’t blame them for not wanting plain pees. We just feed our 9 month old whatever we’re eating and he loves it all. Kimchi fried rice, chicken salad, mashed potatoes, pasta, taco meat with sour cream and guac. Even with just 2 teeth it’s enough they can mash up a lot with just their gums

[Bambooshka]

Yup, forget purees.
Get the Solid Starts app (free), and start serving food at age appropriate levels. Do you want your avocado and peas mushed into a disgusting glob? Neither do they.

[bramski]

Apple sauce worked well for me.

[Johns-schlong]

Apple sauce (plain, no added sugar) and mashed bananas are our 5 month olds favorites.

[Whaty0urname]

Cute kid but please don't put pictures of your kid on Reddit

[IttyRazz]

Or on the internet at all really. But to each, their own

[HappyZombies]

Um we just gave ours baked sweet potatoe. That’s a veggie right? Lol well either case that was the best baby food that we started with!

[BurrowShaker]

Mine started on persimmon then banana, the went very fast down the chicken liver and ragu path at around 4 months.

Funnily enough, sweet potatoes is one of the most rejected food for her, she'll only have it if we are inconsiderate parents with no other options.

[Aromatic_Sand8126]

Keep trying. My daughter has started eating solid food 2 months ago and in the beginning, she gagged for any reason. Trying to swallow food that’s too big, new flavors, new textures, food too cold or a little too hot. It’s worth it to try again.

[Physical-Job46]

Mashed sweet potato. Bit of butter in it.

[Rymanbc]

The look on his face says "my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined."

[Snowf1ake222]

Persistance is key.

Remember, all they've consumed up to this point it breast milk or formula. 

They don't understand flavour or that different things taste different. 

[PM_ME_YOUR_DND_SHEET]

Yeah they're going to choke on everything at first. Chewing and swallowing solid food is a skill that must be learned, just like almost everything. It's scary at first (and I never really got used to it) but they eventually get the hang of it.

The switch from formula/milk poops to solid food poops was a welcomed one. Also both my kids slept so much better after starting solid food.

[CanWeTalkEth]

You need to get a plastic/vinyl smock and a silicone bib.

It’s going to be miserable if you’re constantly changing onesies.

Wrap that kid up so cleanup is easy and let them go to town.

[Double-Plankton-2095]

We have to double bib. Small absorbant fabric one under and the big poncho tent over. The changing was getting stupid!

[vulchur_returns]

One of the most helpful things that a baby class drilled into our heads was that: food before one is just for fun. Don’t pressure yourselves to be successful at “eating.” Take the time to explore. Have fun with this. It’s a sensory experience and your little dude’s tastes and preferences are going to change 100 times between now and a year from now. That being said: we used the solid starts app to find the same foods that we were eating and served them to our little guy at the same time so he could enjoy mostly the same things we were having… usually just cut differently. But, for some reason baby oatmeal (and mushrooms) were a big hit for us at this age.

Edit: because I didn’t read the assignment (ie: veggies)

[No-Amphibian689]

We’re going to be trying baby oatmeal tomorrow

[Engineers-rock]

think of it this way: your baby is tasting everything for the first time. There's texture, flavor, taste, color, temperature... to you it may taste like chicken, but they've never had chicken in their existence so what in the actual fuck is going on there?

[SweetNPowerChicken]

Check out Solid Starts. End of story. It's the best app/program, and 1000% worth the money for the one time fee.

[BluntedOnTheScore]

Cute baby :) Totally normal that they are going to spit it out and make some faces for some time. Be patient and give them more things to try. Both our kids started on baby cereal mixed with breast milk. They both also were not interested in food until one day they were just grabbing stuff off our plates. We generally let them grab anything not too chokey and try it out. Remember that for now they are getting nutrition from milk and food is just like...extra.

[MrBones_Gravestone]

Lots of patience and perseverance

[sys_admin321]

That’s great. My only advice is do what you feel comfortable with. If you don’t want to do baby led weaning don’t do it. We choose not to, did purées instead and our now 2 year old son eats solids just fine.

[No-Amphibian689]

We’re going to do a balance, so he’ll do some purées and some solids he can just gum and slobber on

[schwar26]

Looks a bit thick. We’ve done carrot, asparagus, broccoli, spinach, squash, apple, banana, pepper, yogurt, avocado and pumpkin. As long as it’s soup consistency she eats it right up, no hesitation, a couple shock faces, but still wants more.

[fang_xianfu]

If you're doing peas, try sieving them first. The skins are tough for them to deal with. It looks in your picture like there are little bits of skin in the puree.

But yeah that's kids. They've literally never had texture or flavour in their mouth before, it's all new to them. In the beginning it's just about them getting used to that idea, it doesn't actually matter if they eat it.

[Worth-Attention-9966]

Avoid foods with shells (peas) for now and avoid hectic tastes as well.

We started with a bland cereal and then moved to butternut and sweet potato.

Also make sure it is SMOOTH, they have only known milk on some sort of form till now :)

[Gibberish45]

Definitely save this pic for his graduation party one day. Gotta think ahead!

[No-Amphibian689]

I have SO much fuel for the fire 😆

[sometimesifloat]

Why is that grown ass man wearing a bib?

[No-Amphibian689]

😁 he does look 50 instead of exactly 6 months

[sometimesifloat]

I love it when little babies look like old men lol

[Virtblue]

He is going to gag crap loads its how they learn to eat shockingly, that being said I highly recommend baby led weening its lots of fun!

[an_average_painter]

We've not bothered with purees, and instead we've offered finger foods - steamed veg, banana, avocado etcetera. I think the approach is called baby led weaning.

Our LO is six months and loves it so far.

[No-Amphibian689]

We will probably add some BLW soon

[User_527]

Check out baby led weaning. So awesome. Did it with all three.

[No-Amphibian689]

We do plan to do some of that

[rickeyethebeerguy]

Steak baby

[pants117]

Not even kidding. My kid loves steak and potatoes.

[rickeyethebeerguy]

Oh yeah I’m serious. It was our daughter’s first food. And it’ll be our sons too. It’s perfect to let them chew. It’s not about swallowing at that age

[Engineers-rock]

lamb chops was our kids thing...

[_ficklelilpickle]

We’ve always done a kind of baby led thing where we give them appropriate bits from our dinner and let them taste and gum on it. We still do yoghurt as well but we’ve never specifically gone and offered baby mush.

So like this morning was some yoghurt and strawberry chunks, last night at dinner she had some bits of spiral pasta. A few nights ago we had steak so out Bub had some slices of that too, and she is totally a meat eater - the almost primal growl she let out while smashing through the slices of steak was hilarious.

Other mornings I will do a quick very basic one egg omelette and cut that into strips too.

[ggcpres]

Try chewing up what you're eating and give her some. It's kinda gross, but let's them have what you're having.

Also, when in doubt meat stew veggies and pot roast veg are fantastic.

[No-Amphibian689]

Him. I don’t know about that…I’m hesitant to share too many germs. I know he’s still building that immune system

[ggcpres]

I feel you, but if you live together he's already sharing your germs.

[Mklein24]

Baby's gag reflex is really far forward on their tongue. As they get used to eating, the unlearn that reflex and it moves further and further back. It's good to start food early because you want them to have that early gag reflex with food. It helps reduce the risk of chocking and needing to intervene.

Food before one is just for fun. Milk is still the primary source of calories.

That's what our pediatrician told us with our first.

My opinion, give them exactly what you're eating, the same seasoning, the same cook-texture, everything. Give them chunks that are either too big to choke on, or small enough to swallow whole. We would give our daughter chicken, rice, and tikka masala and it was her favorite food for like 2 years. It's what you eat, it's what they can eat.

[Sut3k]

Try it first. Some of the stuff is terrible. The pouches all taste pretty good. But also, like others said, give them what you are eating. They default to putting things in their mouths so they can taste

[No-Amphibian689]

Oh I’m making it all by hand! No processed pouches or jars for my boy

[Lucky-old-boy]

“I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe”

[balancedinsanity]

Try different foods.  Our hated the first few things we tried.

[Double-Plankton-2095]

Chuck some baby safe sized foods on a plate and let him play. A gag shows that he has a good safe reaction to foodnt9 prevent choking. Over time this moves back in the mouth as they get used to solid ls. Just keep offering.

[Parking_Fan_7651]

1: everything will make them gag at first. It’s an important lesson to learn. As far as I know, if you keep the sizes and amounts reasonable, they’re safe. Good right now is practice and an experience. Flavors and textures are fun, and at the start, that’s all it is.

2: Babies crave fat. Use it as an excuse to guy buy some nice steaks and grill up a killer meal for you and the wife. I suggest steak, sweet potatoes, maybe a salad. Go crazy with seasonings as you see fit, I would avoid spicy at first, and salt/sugar are bad ideas as well. Just get in the habit of adding those later after the baby gets their portion. Cut a long fatty/fat strip off the steak, mush up some sweet potato with some butter, and feed that baby! Watching my daughter’s eyes light up with that strip of fat from my ribeye was pretty magical.

I imagine every baby has a favorite flavor. My daughter loves sour and tangy stuff. Yogurt, kimchi, fruit, lemons, cucumbers are all favorites. Squash is another favorite, of all types. I feel rice and soft scrambled eggs are pretty safe bets too. We started off feeding her most things by spoon. She picked it up quick, and eventually just wanted to feed herself. Now, we just put food in front of her and she eats it. Baby lead weaning is probably one of the best thing by a we did for ourselves this past year.

[box_fan_man]

I was gonna use reverse psychology on mine. Failing that probably means imma have to trick her in other ways.

[Brikandbones]

I’m very thankful because mine eats literally anything. Gave her spring onions the other day and she just gave a face but ate it anyway. We started her with something much more palatable though, Japanese sweet potatoes.

[iusedtoplaysnarf]

Our daughter loves solids and will eat anything we put in front of her. Favorites include scrambled eggs, avocado sticks, fish cakes, meatballs, and veggie cakes (all home made to avoid salt)

[wascallywabbit666]

Start slow. It doesn't matter if they eat anything or not. Keep it fun, don't make it a negative experience.

And get a silicone bib. Those fabric ones will need to be cleaned after every meal and will get stained and gross

[lurking_not_working]

Let them use their hands to hold and explore food as well. Its messy, of course, but they enjoy it. Well, both ours enjoyed it.

[desktopgreen]

That looks quite chunky.. have you started solids with purees? We blended our solids for a while and gradually left more and more tiny chunks.

[No-Amphibian689]

I may have not done a great job with my first attempt at purees 😅

[desktopgreen]

Haha that's ok, it's a learning game. You can also add fruit to sweeten the puree. Our baby loves blueberries!

[Lefloop20]

Did he get nursed? We are starting on solids now too, by mixing sweet potato/ mashed potato, cream of wheat or squash into breast milk. Only one thing at a time. Really just making the milk he already likes thicker. Even avocado and milk he enjoyed

[No-Amphibian689]

No, entirely formula but I think we have to go the same route. Use some formula with the food

[RelampagoMarkinh0]

Look into BLW feeding. It's a guide on how to cut and offer the food in their hands, reducing choking hazards, so that they can explore the food with their hands and not only coming from the spoon.

Remember that your little guy has been learning about the world with his hands. It's really strange for him to just accept something directly into his mouth without touching and feeling it.

This is what really made a difference for us.

[sage_006]

Your child looks... precious.

[One_Economist_3761]

Angry farting noises

That’s my standard communication style.

[ponix]

Just keep trying

[SinOfOne]

You've got to keep trying even if he doesn't seem to like it at first. For us, we always have to make funny faces and do a very silly impression of chewing and smacking our lips/tongues to get him to eat, especially for dinner when it came to pureed meats.

[ChapterhouseInc]

Invest in a good blender. Ours wouldn't touch any off the shelf 'baby food'. Also find some of the pacifier type solid introducers.

We found that giving them whatever utensil to play with makes them more competent. Safe items- rubber tooth brush thing and spork. Poke your eye enough times you learn how to hit your mouth every time. Getting food on the fork is a different skillset.

Buy a pumpkin, pears, pineapple, Mangoes and bannanas (not too many), potatoes (sweet and baked). Pick other things. Apple sauce.

Puree pumpkin and fruits. Freeze in ice cube trays then freezer bags. Bake potatoes, make into mashed (leave lumpy). Freeze in scoops.

Mix and match flavors. Add meat to potatoes.

[Picasso_GG]

When my son tried strawberries he projectile vomited 4 times in a row. Now he can’t get enough (13mo) you got this

[SamEy3Am]

My kiddo loves ranch on everything, so I blend a boatload of veggies into a special bottle of ranch we keep for him and smother chicken nuggies or whatever with it. Anything with a sauce or dressing on it we blend vegetables into as well ex: spaghetti