Baby Food: Sweet Potatoes
My friend Emily sent me the book, Super Baby Food maybe even before Grady was born. And when we made the decision that I would stay home, I thought I should have plenty of time to make his food.
We got the go ahead to start practicing with solids at four months. Now there is a bunch of opinion out there on when to start baby on what. AAP says that most baby's are ready for solids between 4-6 months. There are more people out there who think that should be only 6 months. I followed what my pediatrician (and my son) dictated. The doctor said that rice cereal is filler food, with no nutritional value. He also said that the old theories that introducing certain foods at certain times limits the risk of food allergies has been debunked (the AAP article above touches on this), and you can pretty much start with anything you want. (There are a few limits, peanuts, honey, etc.) The doctor even said foods high in protein are what babies need the most, because they are constantly growing.
Now, that doesn't mean we jumped right in. At first it was a bite or two at dinner time every other day. We did that for 3 or 4 weeks? I was really worried about his digestion. And I tried to start with green vegetables but he threw them up. Like literally. Did not spit them up. Threw them up. We're going to attempt green beans again next week. I may buy a face mask. (Point of note: I taste everything he eats. And puree'd green beans are not appetizing. I think you lose something without the proper texture.)
I decided I'd buy store bought to see what he likes and then make what he likes. So, what have we decided we like? Well, sweet potatoes were our first hit. Squash was so, so for a little while but I served some after sweet potatoes and they are now a second hit. He also seemed to enjoy avocado.
So on to the food making!
Two, pretty small actually, sweet potatoes. I would need about 6-7 this size to make enough for Thanksgiving. They were really easy to cook! I just punctured them a bunch, microwaved them for 12 minutes, and then scooped out the insides.
Put said insides into the cuisinart.
Purree'd and added water until ...
It practically drips off the spoon. This is still a little thick. When I serve it to him I'll need to add a pinch more water, me thinks. And you will know when it's too thick for baby. They gag. And becareful with the gagging. They are warning you. Keep it up, mommy, and I will throw up on you.
Note to self, be careful when pouring.
So the store bought containers are so handy! I've kept them all for this purpose. Those go in the refrigerator and we will eat those for the next, oh 3-4 days. After that they'll need to be tossed, if there is any left. The green flower looking thing goes in the freezer. It was a lovely gift from my cousin! So two sweet potatoes, about 10 days worth of food? Maybe. We shall see.
This is what they come out looking like. This is the avocado I attempted earlier. I pulled this sucker out and left him in the fridge to defrost. We'll see how that goes.
It's just been in the past week that he's really picked up on when he's in his bumbo with his bib, it's time to eat. And he sometimes really likes the spoon (mood permitting) and has even started chewing motions. Next month (not end of quarter) I'm hoping that we can sit down to eat as a family! But for now Grady is going to bed at 6:30 and many times Lewis is not home until well after 7. There's always Saturday ...
What do you think Grady?
Yes, the cuisinart is very loud.
We got the go ahead to start practicing with solids at four months. Now there is a bunch of opinion out there on when to start baby on what. AAP says that most baby's are ready for solids between 4-6 months. There are more people out there who think that should be only 6 months. I followed what my pediatrician (and my son) dictated. The doctor said that rice cereal is filler food, with no nutritional value. He also said that the old theories that introducing certain foods at certain times limits the risk of food allergies has been debunked (the AAP article above touches on this), and you can pretty much start with anything you want. (There are a few limits, peanuts, honey, etc.) The doctor even said foods high in protein are what babies need the most, because they are constantly growing.
Now, that doesn't mean we jumped right in. At first it was a bite or two at dinner time every other day. We did that for 3 or 4 weeks? I was really worried about his digestion. And I tried to start with green vegetables but he threw them up. Like literally. Did not spit them up. Threw them up. We're going to attempt green beans again next week. I may buy a face mask. (Point of note: I taste everything he eats. And puree'd green beans are not appetizing. I think you lose something without the proper texture.)
I decided I'd buy store bought to see what he likes and then make what he likes. So, what have we decided we like? Well, sweet potatoes were our first hit. Squash was so, so for a little while but I served some after sweet potatoes and they are now a second hit. He also seemed to enjoy avocado.
So on to the food making!
It's just been in the past week that he's really picked up on when he's in his bumbo with his bib, it's time to eat. And he sometimes really likes the spoon (mood permitting) and has even started chewing motions. Next month (not end of quarter) I'm hoping that we can sit down to eat as a family! But for now Grady is going to bed at 6:30 and many times Lewis is not home until well after 7. There's always Saturday ...
What do you think Grady?
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