Mommy Tips: Time to Eat!

I don't know who was traumatized more when it was time to introduce solid foods. Junebug seemed to hate it and I was not happy about putting anything in her body other than nature's perfect food. I actually considered breast feeding Junebug until her 18th birthday. Obviously, that's not gonna work! One option that makes me feel better is making my own food. Nuke a sweet potato, throw it in the blender and voila! No preservatives, chemicals, etc. I read recently that Gerber food in a jar has a shelf life of TWO YEARS! Do you know how many preservatives have to be involved for that to happen? Every time I walk by those little jars at the market I get completely freaked out! But in order to get to my homemade, yummy, safe food I had to cross the cereal hurdle. I chose the most organic looking cereal at Whole Foods and read the ingredients. Lotsa big words... that's not a good sign but I guess I have no choice. You always have to start with cereal. So we did and we got through it. Here are a few tips that helped me along the way:

1. Babies don't hate the taste of the cereal, they just don't know how to eat: when I first started feeding Junebug, she spit everything out and I interpreted that as she hated the food but I quickly realized that she just didn't know the feeling of f00d going down her throat or in her mouth. Once she learned what to do, she was fine.

2. It's actually possible to microwave the cereal for 5-10 seconds.

3. The doctor recommends introducing one food at a time for three days. Do not introduce more than one food at a time because if the baby has an allergic reaction you won't know which food caused the reaction.

4. I recommend the munchkin brand spoons. They are the best for shoveling in the food.

5. Always put a bib on the baby and keep a damp wash cloth close by. This cereal and food gets really hard and crusty on the high chair and it's easier to clean when it's fresh and not after the fact.