Apple, take 3

One of the reasons I like baby-led solids so much is that it appeals to my experimental side. Every now and then I think, "I wonder what would happen if________." Obviously some foods are too dangerous to experiment with (like whole nuts), or just plain unhealthy. But, healthy foods make for great experiments. 

I recently experimented with giving Buttercup a whole apple. This is the method I used with soft fruits when we first began BLS 6 months ago. It worked well, but we rarely use it now that Buttercup's pincer grasp is in full force. Now she prefers picking up little pieces of food between forefinger and thumb. Because of that we have given her apple in thin slices, and in steamed chunks. Recently, though, I was eating a whole apple and began giving little bites to Buttercup from my apple. She loved it, and sat by me like a baby bird waiting for more bites. Eventually I handed her the whole apple to gnaw on. I'm not sure how much she ate, but it kept her occupied for a solid ten minutes.

I have tried similar experiments since, giving Buttercup the whole side of the apple. It had the same effect, and she'll eat roughly half.

PROS: easy!
CONS: it can get messy if your baby is wandering around the house with an apple

Peach, take 2

We had another go at frozen fruit. After a less-than-happy experience with strawberry I decided to try peach. I always recommend people buy organic, especially the "dirty dozen," of which peach is one. 


I took three peach slices out of the bag of fruit that I use for Buttercup's smoothies and ran them under warm water. I cut them into smaller chunks and handed them to her. She ate all three slices after a very full meal of spaghetti (her favorite), so I'm assuming she liked it! 


I like having another way to get more fruit into Buttercup during the lean winter months. There are only so many pears and apples a girl can eat, and her beloved clementines are out of the picture, due to acid booty burns. (It's pathetic - I have to hide from her if I want to eat a clementine, because she'll get so upset that I'm not sharing). Thank God for frozen food technology!


PROS: easy way to get extra fruits, especially out of season
CONS: non-organic is very pesticide heavy

Grapes

The Christmas season afforded Buttercup the opportunity to try several new foods that she doesn't usually have at home. One of these was grapes. Now, I know grapes are not particularly special or Christmassy, but I just never buy them. I don't like them that much and they always seem to rot in my fridge; therefore, Buttercup had never had grapes. Her Christmas dinner was at Grandma's house, and consisted of turkey meatballs and grapes. I washed the grapes then cut them in half to prevent choking. Round, hard foods are the most hazardous to little babies (think: cherry tomatoes, grapes, nuts, hot dogs, etc), since they can slip right down the windpipe. If you cut these foods in half (except nuts, because they're just too darn hard) you lower the risk of choking for your little one.


Buttercup liked the grapes. I may have to break down and start buying grapes. Maybe I will freeze half of them and use them in smoothies so they don't rot. 


PROS: easy fruit
CONS: I don't usually buy them...?

Orange

My preference is to always give my baby fresh produce that is in season. This gets trickier in the winter, and I definitely utilize frozen produce. I do love the month of December for the citrus, specifically clementines. Clementines are the ideal citrus fruit, in my opinion: they're easy to peel, have no seeds, are sweet, and a perfect bitable size. What's not to love? 


I offered a few segments to Buttercup after her lunch one day. I wasn't sure if she'd like them. Though she'd had little samples of orange in the past, usually as part of a cooked recipe, this was the first time she's really consumed a significant amount of it. She loved it. She used her new teeth to bite the segment in half. 


Buttercup liked the clementine so much that I kept giving it to her. I thought it was great that she was getting so much vitamin C. She even ate a whole clementine in one sitting a few times. Bad. Idea. I totally forgot about the whole citrus-makes-pee-acidic thing. Buttercup got a really bad diaper rash from the amount of citrus she was eating. Bad Mommy! We have learned the errors of our ways, and are now trying to find a good balance. 


PROS: high in vitamin C 
CONS: high in acid (diaper rashes!)

Smoothie

I have a wonderful friend who gives her kids smoothies to sneak extra fruits and veggies into their diets.
It's really a brilliant idea, and one I tucked away for future use. Well, the future is now. I made myself a 
strawberry, banana, OJ and homemade yogurt smoothie the other day to use up a browning banana. I poured some into Buttercup's shot glass to see what she'd do with it. Well, she drank it, of course! In fact, she wouldn't even let go of the cup.


This was the first time Buttercup has ever liked yogurt. I'd like to ascribe that to my awesome yogurt-making ability, but I just don't know. By the way, making yogurt is a great way to use up the 52,000 gallons of milk WIC gives you a month, and it's super easy to do. Here is a link to a some good instructions: Modern Alternative Mama Blog. 


Since Buttercup has decided to officially drop her 4:00 nurse, I've been giving her an afternoon smoothie instead. I throw in a banana, half an avocado (makes it creamy), a handful of spinach leaves, some frozen fruit (great way to use up those sour strawberries), some OJ and some homemade kefir or yogurt. She will drink 1.5 to 2 ounces.


PROS: great way to get extra nutrients in your baby
CONS: parental vigilance required if giving baby a smoothie in a cup 

Strawberry, take 2

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I cannot emphasize strongly enough the importance of making fruits and vegetables the basis of your baby's diet while introducing solid foods. I read so many things online about people who are doing baby-led solids with their babies, but regularly give them junk food. I think this entirely misses the point of BLS, and I would actually recommend those people give their babies purees. Say what you will about Gerber, but at least that they don't make pureed french fries and pizza! I mean, "special treat" foods are fine on occasion (like pancakes), but try to stick with healthy fruits and veggies for the most part.


Because of my commitment to giving Buttercup healthy fruits and veggies I am extremely thankful for frozen foods. There are only so many apples a girl can eat in a week, so I am happy to buy frozen fruits that are not currently in season (though I'm happier when they are in season). Buttercup enjoyed strawberry during the summer so I recently let her have a thawed frozen strawberry. It was cut into quarters for easier handling. She made her "sour face" and spat out the same piece about a million times (I counted). She kept picking it back up and putting it back in her mouth, so I thought it couldn't be that bad. Then, I tried a piece. oooooeeeeee was that sucker sour! 


I've gotta hand it to Buttercup for her persistence. That particular batch of frozen strawberries was not fit for consumption without the aid of much sugar (which I did not give to Buttercup). I guess we'll go back to apples and pears for the time being - good thing citrus season is coming up!


PROS: frozen fruit is always in season
CONS: potential for extremely sour fruit

Tomato, take 3

I'm fully aware that this post isn't exactly breaking news. But, it was the first time Buttercup actually seemed to enjoy a raw tomato, so I thought it was worth mentioning. You'll have to forgive me if you think I'm being repetitive. 

She's had tomato on other occasions, and likes it much better cooked. Raw tomatoes usually inspire Buttercup's "sour" face, which is pretty amusing for her parents. This particular evening, however, Hubby and I were eating salads with dinner so I gave some grape tomatoes to Buttercup just for kicks. I cut them in half first, since hard round foods still pose a choking hazard for  babies, regardless of their eating skill. 

She ate them! No faces!

PROS: high in vitamin C

CONS: an acquired taste for some

Kiwi

Sometimes babies are just confusing. Buttercup loves eating green things. She'll always pick out the peas and green beans first in "mixed veggies." I thought she'd like a green fruit, especially since Hubby loved kiwi as a very young child. Of course, he also liked pickled herring, so maybe he's not the best plumb line. Anyway, I offered some kiwi to Buttercup and she wouldn't even touch it. It was the weirdest thing. Maybe she was in a weird mood, but she literally refused to even look at it. I tried slicing it with the peel on. I tried dicing it. Finally I relented and gave her some roasted pumpkin, which she ate very nicely. When the pumpkin was gone, she picked up a slice of kiwi, kung fu-gripped it in half and sucked on the peel. 

The second time we tried kiwi I gave Buttercup peeled cubes of it. She scarfed half of the fruit in a matter of seconds. Even after I gave her a wider variety of food to pick from she kept going back for more kiwi. I would love to know what goes on in that little mind, but I'm glad she warmed up to the green fruit in the end.

PROS: more vitamin C than oranges

CONS: might not be such a crowd-pleaser?

Mango

Mango is one of those foods I've heard a lot of buzz about in the baby-led solids internet circles. While it does seem like it would be an ideal early food, I just never got around to purchasing one. I rectified this laxity and finally brought home a mango for Buttercup to try.

On the first attempt I cut it in slices and gave it to her with her lunch. At first she didn't seem too interested, and kept going after her tofu instead. Eventually she warmed up to the new orange squishy objects on her tray. She even busted out her 'excited face' and begged for more when the first slices were all gone. I gave her one piece at a time to prevent her playing with it.

I did try giving Buttercup diced mango, too, which seemed to work well for her. Also, mango does get slippery when it warms up, and I would imagine the cheerio dust trick (that I used for avocados) would help littler babies hold on to it better.

PROS: yummy, nutritious, easy texture for babies

CONS: slippery 

Tomato, take 2

When introducing your baby to solid foods, it's important to keep periodically retrying previously rejected foods. Buttercup seems to have a love/hate relationship with tomatoes. She's not a fan of them raw, but likes them in sauces or mixed in with other foods. I thought we would try to find a middle ground by giving her roasted tomatoes. These tomatoes were grape tomatoes cut in half and roasted with a bit of olive oil (with chicken and butternut squash).

These got mixed reviews from Buttercup. She made her usual "sour face" that she reserves for tomatoes, lemons and yogurt. But, she did keep trying. She also kept gagging on the skins, but eventually learned to spit them out after sucking out the insides. 

PROS: high in vitamin C

CONS: not Buttercup's favorite food

Pineapple

Buttercup is really making her way around the world, food-wise. She's had Mediterranean, Moroccan, Indian, Japanese, Mexican, and now Hawaiian flavors! One of Hubby's favorite dishes is Hawaiian chicken. It contains pineapples (naturally), so Buttercup got to try a new food.

The pineapples were already in chunks, and I just cut them into smaller chunks (maybe 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch?). On a sidenote: Buttercup has been enjoying smaller pieces of food, rather than the classic BLS french fry shape. I wouldn't recommend doing this in the first couple of months of solids, but Buttercup has demonstrated that she's mastered the pincer grasp and is able to move food in her mouth and chew it up really welll, so that's what we generally do now.

So, Buttercup loved the pineapple. I think she ate the equivalent of a third of a "ring" of pineapple during dinner, along with chicken and onions (stay tuned for more info on onions).

PROS: tasty vitamin C food

CONS: none

Raisins, take 2

Buttercup has graduated to straight-up raisins.

When I first started giving raisins to Buttercup, I would soak them for a few minutes to soften them a bit. Maybe I'm an over-imaginative first time mother, but I kept visualizing a hard raisin torpedoing into Buttercup's windpipe.

Anyway, Buttercup now eats the raisins fresh from the box, sometimes with her breakfast cereal. These are proving to be a super easy and portable snack. They are also a good pooping food - a good tip for those of you out there with constipation-prone kiddos. In addition, raisins are high in lots of vitamins and minerals, most notably: potassium, iron, manganese, and copper.

PROS: easy, quick snack with a nutrient-packed punch

CONS: don't go overboard unless you really enjoy changing poopy diapers

Apple, take 2

Now that apples are in season (and on sale!) we have been stocking up on them.

I was never completely satisfied with our previous experiences with apple, as Buttercup would get little tiny bits stuck in her mouth. But, a brainwave came to me one day: steaming the apple slightly!

So, here is the new procedure: I peel an apple (which is a lot easier than trying to wash off the waxy coating they put on them), then rinse and cut into slices or chunks. I steam them for just a minute, until they're semi-transparent. This yields apple chunks with a similar consistency to raw pear, which Buttercup can't get enough of. These squishier apples are also easier for her to hold. BONUS!

By the way, I've also heard that shredding apples (or carrots) is a great option for youngish babies just starting out BLS.

PROS: easier to handle and eat

CONS: requires a bit more prep work

Blueberries

Blueberries are not for the immaculately dressed infant!

We never got the chance to introduce Buttercup to fresh blueberries, since they were in season before she was capable of safely handling them. However, now that her pincer grasp skill is firmly developed I got some frozen ones and they have proven to be a huge hit. If you are going to use frozen blueberries for your little one I'd recommend going organic, as frozen blueberries can pack quite the pesticidal punch (even more than your average non-organic produce).

Anyway, because they had been frozen these berries were quite soft when thawed, so they were really easy for Buttercup to chew. In fact, I've never seen her eat anything so fast. She was literally eating them hand over fist. I am thankful that I put two bibs on her, though, because her outfit would have been destroyed by the purple juice.

PROS: high nutritional value (antioxidants!)

CONS: non-organic is high in pesticides, very messy

Watermelon

Watermelon is a great first solid food for baby, as we recently discovered at a family cookout. I gave Buttercup a few delicious cubes as the other kids (22 months and older) were eating. I was very proud of her ability to self-feed like a big girl!

Did you know that watermelon is the leader in lycopene content among fresh fruits and vegetables? It's also high in vitamins C, A, B6 and potassium. Who knew? I always just thought it was water and sugar.

PROS: good consistency

CONS: very drippy

Tomato

Buttercup recently had her first tomato experience. Really, is there anything better than a healthy homegrown tomato? One dinnertime, she kept honing in on a tiny piece of tomato that was stuck to one of her offered foods. So, I thought I would try giving her a couple chunks of tomato of her very own. To my surprise, she didn't like it.

I think Buttercup managed to swallow one bite, but mainly she kept putting the same piece in her mouth, making a 'sour face' then spitting it out and repeating the process. I'm pretty sure the acidity was a bit much for her taste buds. You've gotta give her an 'A' for effort, at least.

PROS: high in vitamins

CONS: too sour (though I've heard other babies love tomatoes)

Beans & Raisins

I thought since Buttercup was doing so well with her cereal I'd try some other small finger foods. I'd made a moroccan dish that called for beans and raisins so I pulled out a few of each and put them on Buttercup's tray for her. I gave the beans a little pinch first to soften up the skins, but the raisins were already soft from being cooked.

I was so impressed with how well Buttercup did! She hasn't mastered her pincer grasp skill, but I have noticed with her breakfast cereal that she has devised her own method of getting small food items into her mouth: she rakes them into the part of her fist by her thumb then shoves that part of her hand in her mouth while simultaneously opening her fingers. That is what she did with these teeny foods, as well. She enjoyed both of these new foods.

I can see both beans and raisins becoming good staples for Buttercup in the future. And beans are the magical fruit, after all...

PROS: good nutrition, no preparation!
CONS: baby must be able to handle small items

Banana - Take 3

Banana is one of the best foods for introducing solids to your baby. It's nutritious, easily digestible, and a good consistency for chewing and swallowing. Unfortunately, the consistency also makes it easy for little hands to mash into a squishy pulp. Buttercup holds on to bananas so tightly that they smoosh into pieces. I've tried several different ways of serving bananas to her to circumvent this problem (see Take 1, and Take 2), and here we are now on Take 3:

I peeled the banana, then cut it into half inch thick slices. This worked really well. Buttercup could pick up the thicker "coins" with both hands and bite them without her fists of steel squishing through them. Because the slices are thicker she is able to pick up smaller pieces after she's already bitten chunks out of it.

I've been reading mothering forums about mommies making their own baby food using bananas mixed with water/breastmilk/Cream of Wheat, getting the desired smoothness/chunkiness using blenders/food processors/forks. It makes me so thankful I can just hand my baby a slice of banana and eat my lunch.

PROS: easier to handle

CONS: none

Apricot

Starting baby led solids at this time of year is great. Gotta love summer fruits! They're so yummy and on sale!

I gave Buttercup a whole apricot. I'd taken a few little bites out of it to give her an entry point, but she took it from there. She managed to gnaw it down to the pit (which I promptly removed). Buttercup really enjoyed holding the whole apricot with both hands, and was easily able to rotate it around to access more fruit. Apricots are the perfect size for babies, and I think this method would work well for plums, too.

Apricots are full of fiber (which I definitely noticed in her fragrant diaper the next day), and lots of beta carotene.

PROS: great size for baby

CONS: got a little slippery towards the end of the meal, watch out for the pit!

Apple

This was our first experience with feeding a baby solid foods away from home. It was blissful to not have to pack food, spoon, bib. I rarely even grab a diaper bag these days if we're out for less time than a nap cycle, so this kind of portability is definitely a must for me. On the menu for the grownups was salads, which meant that there were plenty of things for Buttercup to choose from. In the end she sat on my lap and munched on some grilled chicken, a rice cracker and some finely sliced apples (with skins on). I chose those foods because they weren't going to stain her clothes or be too messy at someone else's house.

Apples are usually one of baby's first foods when introducing solids, due to their mildness of flavor and easy texture. However, since we started this adventure in the middle of summer I found I just couldn't bring myself to pay extra money for a fruit that's so out of season yet.  Maybe it's a silly of me, but I’m picky when it comes to quality produce for my baby!

Anyway, Buttercup liked the apples. I think she had 2 or 3 slices. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks when the farmers' markets start carrying locally grown apples and I can buy some nice sweet ones for Buttercup. Or maybe I should buy her a sour one just for fun...

Sidenote: some people think that apples pose a choking risk for babies. I think if they're sliced thinly enough they should be fine. I don't see any possible way Buttercup could have choked on these, especially since she is a seasoned veteran of the baby led solids.

PROS: A great first solid food, mild, easy texture, non-staining

CONS: none!