Hello, hello. Another 2 weeks gone by. I can’t believe my girl is going to be half a year old next week. Crazy talk! We are celebrating by giving Adriana her first solid food sometime in the next couple weeks. Par-tee time. From what I’ve heard from many of you, I’m not expecting much to happen in the actual eating department – it’s more about exploration right now – but I’m excited anyway! We’re going to set up the video camera and tape her first bites. I might pee my pants.
Once we start solids my plan is to always nurse her before feeding solids, so she still gets most of her calories/nutrients from breast milk. I read this will also prevent my milk supply from taking a nose dive. It’s funny though, Adriana has really taken notice of our food in the past week. Some days she downright gawks at us with her mouth agape, watching the fork go to our mouth. Do you think she’s trying to tell us something?! Anyway, I’ll let you know how it goes!
The big topic in the last update was that Adriana figured out how to roll in the crib in her Merlin sleep suit. We always said that when she started to roll in the Merlin we would stop using it because we were worried about her getting stuck on her belly (the suit is quite stiff). So we purchased a sleep sack to keep her warm, but with more peace of mind that her hands are completely free and her legs have lots of room to move too. At first I thought that she hated the sleep sack, but in retrospect I don’t think it was the Halo at all; I think it was simply her frustration with rolling in the crib – a totally new experience for her. She wasn’t used to waking up on her tummy and wasn’t sure what to do. I always read that when babies learn a new skill they can be quite fussy while they are mastering it. Everytime she’d wake up she would scream until one of us came in to flip her. That got old fast, haha. There was one week where we were waking up 8 times a night…exhausting! I knew that if we stuck with it and gently helped her along she would pick it up and become comfortable with it in no time. And that’s exactly what happened. Now it’s no big deal! And she seems to enjoy the Halo too. But man oh man, this girl loves her tummy sleep. As soon as I put her down in the crib the legs go up and she rolls to her tummy. I’m much more comfortable with it now and I’m not staring at the monitor all night long, so my sleep has improved too! We’ll chalk that one up to a “mommy leap”.
One unexpected bonus of tummy sleep has been her skin. She had scaly patches on her cheeks for the longest time (nothing helped much) and sleeping on her tummy made it go away completely. I think it’s due to the moisture from her drool and the damp sheet under her face! Weird, right? Eric says we’ve unlocked the cure for winter dry skin – just drool a bit more!
One new thing that she’s been doing for a week or two now is that when she wakes up in the middle of the night she’s often super hyper and ready to play. I like to call it her “middle of the night squeak-a-thon” – it tends to only happen if she’s had a long 4-5 hour stretch of sleep. We try our best to calm her down, but it’s the nursing that really does it.
Wake-ups: Lately, she goes down for bed by 7pm (depending on her last nap wake up), and wakes for a feed around 12:30-1am and then another at 5-5:30am. She wakes up at other points in the night, but will soothe herself back to sleep. Everyone says solids will help with her overnight sleep, so I’m sure we will see gradual improvements with time…
Recent milestones: Adriana is still rolling lots and rotating her body while on the floor, push-ups (fully extending arms underneath her), sucking her thumb (we saw her suck her thumb for the first time ever this weekend…late bloomer!), flailing arms and legs trying to crawl but getting nowhere (thank goodness). Still lots of squeaking, laughing, and babbling going on. She also responds to her name and will turn her head to look at the person. (We actually had to stop calling her “Monkey” for a while because we realized she’d never learn her actual name! haha). We have also been practicing sitting, but she isn’t sitting on her own unassisted yet. Her new nickname is “Bam, Bam” – Eric gave her this name after she started hitting the crib mattress with her right fist (it’s her new thing). It’s random, but super cute!
Naps: I’m happy to say that her naps have increased in duration lately! Where she was once napping just 30 minutes at a time for most naps, now she is regularly cranking out 75 minute naps, sometimes less sometimes a bit more. This has resulted in much more productive parents and a much happier baby. We tried a few things to help with her naps: 1) We have quiet time before a nap and try not to overstimulate her within 20-30 minutes of napping, 2) We follow her sleep signs and put her down after we see a few yawns, tired eyes. Previously we tried to keep her awake for 2 hours before the first morning nap, but I found that was a bit too long for her most mornings. She goes down easier if she isn’t super tired and seems to sleep longer. So we’re just following her lead basically. 3) Instead of rushing into her room when she first wakes up, I leave her for a bit to play on her own. Often she is content to just talk to herself and stare at the mobile. Sometimes she will fall back to sleep, sometimes not. I think in the past we might have rushed in to get her too soon. It’s all trial and error! Other times, I can tell that there’s no way she’s going to go back to sleep. One issue we’ve had is that since her teething is ramping up, she has been SOAKING her crib sheet in drool. Poor girl! So we sometimes have to change her position in the crib if it’s taking her a while to fall asleep or if it’s really bad swap the sheet out for a new one.
Nursing: Possible growth spurt last week – one day she napped 4 hours which is a record lately. She seemed to be extra rough one day and I was super sore for over a week on one side. It brought me back to the early days of breastfeeding! Luckily, it has healed up now and I’m no longer cringing my entire body when she latches. Her favourite thing to do while nursing lately is touch my face. She will look up at me and touch my face or she will just randomly touch my face as she feeds. It melts my heart. We still have best success nursing in a dark room which is free from a lot of distractions. If we’re in a brightly lit room I can usually guarantee she won’t nurse more than 5 minutes.
Hair: I haven’t updated our hair falling out in a while. I’m happy to say that her hair is growing like a weed lately and my own hair loss has almost returned to normal. My bald patches near my temples are filling in with wispy hairs so it doesn’t look as noticeable as it did a couple months ago. Progress! I still have quite a few awkward small hairs popping out, but oh well what can ya do.
Recently, I cut a few inches off my hair and got extra layers, but I’ve been thinking about chopping my hair off at my collarbone (or just below) for summer (which would be another 4-5 or so inches off). It’s something I’ve been thinking of doing for a long time and I’ve found some gorgeous cuts on Pinterest for inspiration. I’ve had short hair in the past a couple times and didn’t love it, so that’s what is holding me back. I just think it might have been the wrong cut though…
Exercise: Feel like I’m getting into a great routine with exercise again .We had a few days of nice weather (5-8C) so I got out on a few stroller walks. It was soooo nice! I’ve been getting back into weights (still loving/hating Madonna arms and Pilates butt workout videos), and introduced side planks again too. I always find my motivation ramps up in the spring! Buh bye winter blahs.
Baby proofing: Currently looking into baby proofing the house. Eek! We want to be ready before she starts crawling, so I want to look into it sooner rather than later. I think I might have a baby proofing company come to the house for a consultation since I’m pretty clueless. Any tips parents?
Ok, this was another huge update. I always have more to say than I think! Let me know how you are doing this month! Any stories about introducing your baby to solids you’d like to share? How did it go? By the way, thanks for all your stories in my last post…so much fun to read!
Stay tuned for a post on designing a playroom. I will show you guys a blank slate and ask for opinions! Can’t wait. :)
She’s so beautiful! Not a parent so I have no tips but I do love reading about her progress. I can now carry a conversation with my friends who are having babies. “Sleep regression? Oh yeah I’ve heard that’s rough” ;)
haha Lauren that’s hilarious! They are going to think you are the baby whisperer. lol.
I can’t believe she’s going to be 6 months old!!! SO happy to hear sleeping has improved recently. Yay!
Adriana is adorable! Nothing sweeter than those toothless baby grins and belly laughs:) When my youngest started solids, I was a bit of a maverick…I started a little early because she nursed about every hour from the moment she was born. I thought solids would help but guess what? She nursed as much as ever, even with solids. She just loved nursing. Since she was a bit younger, I started with organic brown rice cereal. I mixed it really thin because I thought it would be easier for her. She HATED it, screamed, kicked, thrashed, you name it. So after a few attempts I mixed it into a thicker consistency, we nursed, she literally devoured the cereal in seconds, then nursed again about 30 minutes later. And again an hour after that…you get the picture. But we had fun as she got older with avacadoes, sweet potatoes, spinach and kale…combos are endless! Have fun:)
Adriana is so cute – those cheeks are out of control adorable! I have a 5 1/2 week old daughter who is just starting to think about going to sleep on her own. Reading about Adriana’s bedtime and how much she sleeps sounds like a dream come true, lol!
Hang in there, Mary! Five hours of sleep is ‘sleeping through the night’ for a LO. The most important is if you feel well rested :) I have to hit the hay around 9 to feel that way: seriously! But my DD2 is three weeks younger than yours is. Your adorable DD will start consolidating her sleep when she is ready :)
I once asked a woman, who was Indian, how they get their children to eat spicy foods (curries, dals, etc) and she said when their children start watching them eat, they will put little bits of the sauce on the child’s tongue to get them used to the taste. They give no sweets (not even fruits) the first two years so the child adjusts to savory food and does not develop a sweet tooth. Sounds like good advice. Good luck trying to get others to not give sweets.
Looks like you two are both doing great! What a cutie. :) Aw, the nursing cuddles are just about the sweetest thing in the world, right? My 16 month old has a cute habit she developed at 12 months: every time she nurses, she has to stick her little hands in my sleeves, or up my shirt..wherever she can have skin-to-skin contact with me. I melt every time. :-)
Hmm, introducing solids…we started with sweet potato. She liked it but I made it much too thick, so after that I was very careful to thin it out with breast milk or water (usually water…sacrificing precious pumped milk to thin out foods she may or may not eat got old really fast!). Just a word of warning: I remember being so sleep deprived at that time that I was counting on the solids to make a big, immediate difference in her sleep. Unfortunately, no dice! Despite steadily increasing the solids, including cereals in evening bottles of my breast milk, it still took several months for my little one to sleep well at night. Try not to get too frustrated if that’s the case for you, too (which I hope it isn’t!).
As for baby-proofing, I’m not the one to ask since our place still isn’t fully “baby-proofed,” but I think the best advice is to remember that there is no such thing as “baby proofing;” watching them like a hawk is the only way to prevent most accidents.
Have fun with the solids!
awesome advice, thanks!
Solids did not help my boys sleep longer unfortunately. Haha don’t get discouraged if better sleep doesn’t happen after solids. Hunger isn’t always the reason for babies waking up, so I just rolled with it. :) I’ve never done cereal in bottle as I’ve read it can be a choking hazard. With my first, I started with rice cereal, but he didn’t care for it. With my 2nd, I skipped rice cereal and started with sweet potatoes. Just for your info, if Adriana puts food in her mouth and pushes the food out with her tongue, that means she hasn’t lost the tongue thrust reflex yet and may not be ready for solids.
As for baby proofing, I’ve only done baby gates and the electric outlet protectors. Best thing to do is to watch her like hawk and if you need to get something done and can’t watch her, put her in a safe place like a playpen with some toys.
Good luck and have fun with solids! :)
P.S. Adriana is just beautiful <3
hah very good point!! You are so right. There are so many reasons a baby wakes up. Too many actually, haha. ;) It’ll be interesting to see how it goes!
We didn’t go TOO crazy with babyproofing before our guy started crawling and it actually worked out better for us I think. It seemed easier to “proof” as we went along. We watch(ed) our kid like a hawk though.
Aww she is getting so big! I was wondering, I have an 8 month old daughter and I cannot put her down before nursing her for her naps. She also is terrible at putting herself to sleep… Do you just lay Adriana down awake and she puts herself to sleep?
Yea we struggle with this too. I had been nursing her right before naps for a while and then I tried spacing it out a bit more (so I’ll feed her like 10-15 minutes before putting her down, but timing varies) and it takes her much longer to fall asleep when there is that gap. When I nurse her right before putting her down she will fall asleep quickly (usually, not always). The overnight feeds are always immediately to bed of course though. There are so many opinions on everything sleep/parenting I think you just need to trust your instincts. I’m trying not to worry too much as I realize in the grand scheme of things the time flies by way too fast! Sorry I know this probably doesn’t help in the slightest. :)
No I compleatly agree with you! Overnight feedings are the same for us, we have no problem gong back to sleep after nursing. I have had so many people tell me to just let her cry it out. We tried a few times, but in the end I just can’t do it. She gets so worked up and it’s sad to know that all she wants is me. I know it works great for some, and if it did work for us I would totally do it:-)
Apparently the solids = longer sleep is a myth! Boo. We started solids the week Nora turned six months, giving her roasted sweet potatoes, roasted zucchini (her favorite!), avocado, banana, broccoli with hummus etc as finger foods. The first week she just played around with it (but a surprising amount made it into her diaper…), but now she has totally caught on and has figured out how to gum the food and swallow, so I think it’s time to try more adventurous foods…eep! Our pediatrician says he gives all parents homework at the six month checkup, and that is to have the baby try to feed itself and to give her food with lots of flavor and spices!
Nora had those middle-of-the-night squeak parties too, it lasted for three weeks or so. After a couple of nights, I stopped going in to feed her during those, because I realized that once she was done squeaking, she just quietly fell asleep on her own. Babies are weird, man.
a myth? that doesn’t surprise me. Oh well, sometimes hope is all you need to get through a rough patch! haha. Good luck with your feeding, sounds like it’s progressing nicely.
Yes they sure are oddballs…so hard to figure out at times!
Like Ingunn above, we started finger foods at six months. If you look into Baby Led Weaning (BLW) as your method of introducing solids you will find a lot of great information. Our girls first food was roasted sweet potatoes (cut long ways like fries) and she just picked it up and ate it. It was amazing! She is 21 months now and eats everything herself. In the beginning it may be a bit messier, but it is wonderful to watch her eat, play and discover all on her own – while I get to enjoy my own meal! I know it’s not for everyone, but it has worked out wonderfully for our family. Just don’t stress – food before one is just for fun! I continued to nurse on demand as her primary source of nutrition and didn’t see any impact on my supply. Good luck!
Hi Alexis, we also did BLW and the first food my babies got was a whole organic pear–just handed it to them and start the camera rolling. It’s too big to choke on. Ange, you might like freezing little avocado bits in an ice cube tray and dispensing as needed: in fact bits of sweet potato can also freeze beautifully like that. Like you I always bf first and then offered a solid just once a day in the beginning, gradually offering solids more often, supply kept up great and I was able to stop pumping at work at a year. Angela, you might like to offer a solid at first during the fussiest time of day, or when Adriana appears to have the most teething discomfort, or when you need a break. Have you tried offering a washcloth with a corner dipped in water, then frozen, for teething discomfort? Cold things are nice for aching gums.
She is so adorable! When it came to baby proofing other than electrical sockets (our house is one level so no worries about stairs etc) we really just baby proofed as we went – keeping an eye of her etc but there are things in the house (like my husbands record player) that we wanted her to learn she shouldn’t touch and that actually worked really well. I’m all for getting rid of unnecessary risks etc but I was also aware that grandparents houses/aunties and uncles places etc were unlikely to be baby proofed to so it was important she developed an understanding of what she could and couldn’t do! If that makes sense (not the lost articulate today!!). Have fun with solids!
Very good point! I was just reading something suggesting that very approach.
We didn’t baby-proof our house, we house-proofed our babies! Little ones are very trainable and you can’t depend on everywhere you go to be baby-proofed. All six of our children did just fine and never had issues get hurt or breaking things.
Good luck introducing solids! It is a really fun time and makes for great photo ops. I found that it’s a lot of trial and error. My little guy just turned seven months and still is not a huge fan of solids. Some he tolerates (avocado, sweet potato) and some he can’t get out of his mouth fast enough (homemade apple sauce). More usually ends up down his face, neck and front than in his mouth.
He loves nursing so much and gets so excited when it’s time. If my husband and I are talking during, he’ll put his hand up to my mouth like, “Quiet, Mom. I’m eating here.” It is really funny.
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/top-tips-for-safer-products/
Mimi Kirk shared that and i thought of you! :) she is so cayuute
(the baby) lol
She is getting so big! And those big blue eyes!
Like Lauren I can’t comment on any cute/funny baby stories/tips, but I now feel more in-the-loop when my friends talk about their children haha. I thoroughly love reading your stories and everyone’s comments.
Hi Angela,
Your Adriana is such a beautiful little girl! I am not planning to have any children any time soon but reading your posts reassures me that if I’ll ever have a baby I will be definitely be able to cope. I guess nobody ever tells you how it really feels to start such a big adventure and I appreciate the effort you are making in keeping your readers updated.
Furthermore, I love your blog and I find your recipes easy to make (I am not an amazing cook) and so so delicious!
Thanks for all this!
xx G
Hi Angela, great update! Glad to hear you are gaining some traction in the hair and exercise departments. Congratulations little Adriana – almost six months now! She is amazing. FWIW ont he baby proofing companies they exist to sell you all the products that you might need, and not every baby is tempted by everything. It depends on your budget. I have never heard of them in BE so didn’t use one with my two preschoolers. I recommend checkng the babyproofing section in Dr Sears’ Baby Book for their list: it included an exhaustive list from his pediatrics practice including no setting heavy items on tablecloths as LOs can gab and drag a tablecloth off. Now my elder children were never tempted by our tablecloth, but one imagines a babyproofing company would have been glad to sell me a tablecloth guard. One of my daughter’s creche friends would toss potatoes in the toilet (!) so they would have benefitted from a toilet guard, but my children never fooled around with the loo, so once again… as you se where this is heading, it may be worth it to get some inexpensive common sense items that will reassure you to have around (stair gate, for example), then just observe Adriana for her temptations and buy according to those. HTH! Uh-oh baby Charlotte has just started her evening cluster feed.
We lived in a split-level house (so many stairs), but when it came to baby-proofing for my little sister, I recall my parents didn’t go overboard. Kitchen cabinet locks were a biggie and at least one baby gate depending on the layout of your home or which rooms you spend the most time in. Other things will come once you gradually learn what she’s interested in getting into.
Those kitchen cabinet locks are weird at first, but after a while you’ll become a master at removing them when you need to get something fast!
Watch out for some foods that makes kids gassy… that will not help at all..I started with the solids only in the morning, to avoid any stomach issues messing with sleep time.. :) and yes solids = more sleep time is a myth..
I started with rice cereals and then added veggies to it and yes, i didn’t start with fruits.. veggies, so she didn’t get used to the sweet taste of food, else kid can refuse all kinds of veggies for lack of sweetness..Hope it helps!
Just something to consider about baby proofing: tethering heavy furniture (dressers, bookcases, etc.) to the wall. You can also use L brackets. I’ve seen some PSAs recently about children climbing furniture, knocking it over, and their tracheae are crushed. That is so horrific to even type, but I feel like in such cases, better safe than sorry. My nephew did climb a solid wood dresser like a ladder and knock it over, but thankfully he went off the top, and it did not fall in top of him.
Also, teach her how to use the stairs! My 15 month old knows when he approaches stairs to go down feet-first and on his belly. We worked so much on it around Christmas, b/c we were spending a lot of time at my inlaws’ (who have stairs and we do not). He didn’t seem to be getting it, but the next week I put him down in our yard, and as he approached a small hill, he got down on his hands and knees, turned around, and started to slide down on his belly. It was so cute! He also understands to climb off furniture the same way.
Good luck with solids! We started with avocado and sweet potato as well. And i started mixing herbs and spices (cinnamon, fresh basil, cumin) into my LO’s food pretty early. He’s a much more adventurous eater than some adult members of my family!
Hi! I would suggest cabinet locks for cabinets holding chemicals, outlet covers, crawl around the house to see what it looks like from her point of view and what kind of trouble she might get into, and then follow up by gently training her/removing her from dangerous situation.
She is so beautiful!! Looks just like a porcelain doll! I was pretty diligent about baby proofing, but it’s been 15 years ago now! I see the previous commenter mentioned securing the heavy furniture (TV’s, bookcases, dressers, etc. – anything she might climb that could fall over on her). Keep curtain & blind cords out of reach. Install baby “locks” on cabinet doors, drawers, the toilet, etc. Insert outlet covers, buy padding for sharp furniture corners & edges. Baby gates in front of stairways. Be mindful of folding doors that can pinch little fingers. As others have mentioned & I’m sure you know, you just really do need to watch her like a hawk. I remember going into friends’ & relatives’ homes & surveying all the potential hazards as I mentally swept each room. :P Good luck!
My daughter had her first solids at 6 months and it was roasted sweet potato sticks (in coconutnoil)and avocado (mashed).
She was exclusively breastfed, so maybe that’s why, but she wasn’t uninterested in food until closer to 12-13 months.
I stressed A LOt about her not eating, but now at 20 months old, she’s a great eater! We did a version of babyled weaning. No purees- cause she woukdt take them and always ate what we ate, which is true even now.
P.S. on teething- my daughter started at 6 months and finally saw teeth at 7 months. Two Top front teeth! We used organic cloth frozen teethers and frozen celery.
Good luck!
*was uninterested in food
My little boy was born Sept. 19 so I’ve really enjoyed following your baby updates! Sometimes I think we have the exact same child. :) He hasn’t quite mastered rolling in the Merlin sleep suit yet but I have a feeling it’ll be coming in the next few weeks. We are also planning on starting solids very soon and getting excited about it! We also haven’t baby-proofed and really should start getting prepared. I feel like if I delay long enough maybe he won’t become mobile yet. :) I do enjoy being able to lay him on his activity mat and go to the bathroom in peace, knowing he won’t go anywhere! Thanks for your posts and looking forward to continuing the journey right along with you!
I have two boys (3 and 1) and want to offer my baby-proofing advice! Honestly, as long as you put caps in your outlets, gates at stairs and keep any chemicals up out of reach (we put dishwasher packs on top of the fridge, for instance), there’s usually no need to to go much farther than that. Kids are relentless explorers, and that’s a good thing for them (though tiring for parents). If you want to lock a few of your cupboards/cabinets to keep the mess to a minimum I totally sympathize, though ;)
Oh, and kids are drawn to litter boxes. Beware haha
As for introducing solids: YAY! It was such a fun experience for all of us both times around. Read everyone’s advice/tricks/tips, but do what feels best for you guys! I do recommend waiting a few days between each new food to watch out for allergies/sensitivities, but please don’t be afraid to use herbs and spices early on, too. Both of my boys have adventurous palates and I definitely attribute at least some of that to having them try new things all of the time (and they both eat food with some heat to it!).
Best of luck, I can’t WAIT to see messy baby face pictures!
A good tip for baby safety is to put away your coffee table! (If you have one, that is!)
My mother refused to have one while my brother and I were growing up, due to all the accidents she had heard of because of them. Bruises, cuts, bumps on the head, stitches, etc.
Besides, it makes more room for play, and opens up your living room! When I met my future husband I noticed he had a scar on his upper lip. Guess where he got it? Yep, a coffee table when he was a little kid!
She is so adorable. My second is a month behind so it’s fun to follow along. To help with changing the sheets so often due to drooling I’d recommend sheet savers. If you search for them on amazon you should find them, but they are awesome! They tie to your crib rails and lay flat over the mattress, but by providing an extra layer you aren’t constantly taking the whole crib apart to wash the sheets. I love them.
She is so cute! I love reading your updates but unfortunately they don’t automatically appear on my Feedly (Blog Reader) like the rest of your posts do. Is there a way to change that?
What a cutie and a sweetheart! 6 months? That time flew by!
we have a 9 month old daughter, and are daily keeping track and adjusting to a baby friendly environment. she hass become a daringly fast crawler. and true as many say, each baby is different. we are big into finger foods and Florentina LOVES being able to choose and feed herself , and of course explore the substances of each item:) (no salt or sugars though. i think “baby led weaning” is a great guideline), we generally try to just incorporate her into our meals and take out the veggies or whatever before we season it, so she can eat along (and we cut it into pieces for her to grab on her own, and i don’t need to cook separately for her). we bought a meter of “wipe-off” tablecloth to put under her highchair- since much lands other places than her mouth;), and we have old wooden floors- so makes it easy to clean up . fun times. what daily exciting wonders with a little darling we have** thanks for your fabulous recipes!!
No experience with introducing solids to a baby, but I did read something about a year ago regarding the “french” method of introducing food to babies–there’s always a label for these things, right?! :-) It talked about how there may be some cultural differences in how foods are introduced to children, where some cultures may focus on the sweet which develops a child’s palette differently than other cultures who don’t necessarily focus on being “kid” friendly when introducing solids to kids. For example, starting off with endive and Brussels sprouts. I thought it was interesting as I had read the book called Salt Sugar Fat and the book also discusses how are palettes and preferences are developed so early and how children physiologically prefer sweets and giving them commercial food which is already overly sweet only reinforces their preference for sweet. Anywho, thought I’d share. For anyone out there who has read about the French method and who has read Salt Sugar Fat, I hope my interpretation is in line with yours. I find the topic are fascinating. Enjoy the journey, and love your blog posts…keep at it!!! :-)
hi fabulous person and mama!
i’ve spent hours looking for good young toddler recipes and can’t find anything that compares to your blog. wondering if you’ve spotted any good sites you’d recommend until you get yours all up and full of baby recipes.
you daughter is so bright and full of life (as are you) – “you are your child’s first teacher” by R Badlwin is a beautiful book to keep things simple and sacred for our dear children :)
za
Can’t believe our girls are turning 6 months!!!! Crazy!! Madison is starting to take longer naps too yippie :) we are getting ready to introduce solids too thinking avocado first and in slices and let her play with it! I am looking more into baby led and not so much purees we shall see ;) she is in charge so I will let her guide the way but she has been very interested in food for about 2 weeks – always reaching for what I eat! I am excited and a little nervous for solids but I know at first it’s more about exploring not so much eating. She is beautiful just like her mom!! Hugs Lori
My husband and I love your cookbook and have been following your blog since we turned vegan a couple years ago. Now we are pregnant with our first baby due this fall (eek!!!) and I have a whole new love of your website following life with a baby! Thanks for all of your posts!
Adriana is so precious! I am currently pregnant with my third (13 weeks) so I can’t wait to get out of the first trimester and feeling better, and I can’t wait for another little one, they grow so fast! My boys are 3 and 7 :) I started my boys with whole foods. After doing a lot of research I found that starting with whole foods, like soft easy to digest veggies/fruits, offers better nutrition than enriched cereal products. Later on I did add a little organic brown rice cereal to help bulk up meals. Avocado is a perfect starting point, my boys loved it and it’s still one of their favorite foods. Squash (winter varieties), pears, and bananas are also good too (and breast milk is great to add in to help the consistency) :)
Thank you for making public your decision to delay introducing solids to your daughter until 6 months of age. I believe most pediatricians and nutritionists agree that this is the best choice for baby. I know a lot of parents think that this is old-fashioned thinking. I have of heard of
parents feeding their children table food when baby is as young as 4 months! ( “She just
gobbles up broccoli!” or “She slept through the night when I stuffed some rice cereal into her”). These practices are scientifically unsound and dangerous to your child’s health. And parents please remember, your baby’s first solid should be iron-rich.
I really enjoy reading your baby blog updates. My little one is 5 months and our pediatrician recommended rice cereal and then meats as babies have used up their iron stores from birth at around six months. This seems to be a fairly new idea and I’ve been reading up about it and indeed iron rich foods seem to be a really important addition to babies diet early on. PuréeIng meat was at first not so successful, we tried chicken thighs mixed with a bit of breast milk but couldn’t get a nice purée. I then tried cooking stewing beef with carrots and potato in a crockpot then Pureeing and that works really well. New thinking and something you may want to check with your paediatrician about. Thanks again for the great blog!
My son is just shy of 7 months and one of the first solids we introduced to him is quinoa. It was a big hit! I think he likes it because it’s bland, lol. I buy organic quinoa flour (which is just ground quinoa – same nutritional properties) and prepare it like this: Bring to a boil two cups of water, add 1/4 cup of quinoa flour, and whisk, whisk, whisk! About 12 minutes of whisking. Also, turn the heat down to medium high so it doesn’t boil over. I think it’s a much better alternative to those packaged rice cereals. :)
Hi Angela,
Miss reading your updates on your daughter-I have been following along as my daughter is a day younger than yours and love going through the milestones another time. I understand if you don’t feel to blog about her here or if times just don’t allow. I actually came across your blog being a new mama (and hungry!!) and looking for healthy snacks, got sime great inspiration, and stayed for the baby blog. I feel like after I had my daughter my heart has been tweaked and I instantly have a mum bond with other mums.
I’ve often wanted to blog about my lifestyle and journey and the goodness I’ve found and badness I’ve overcome, but I’m very shy (of criticism).
This may appear a bit out of nowhere but Something that resonates with me is the life story of Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon Him. Karen Armstrong writes a really good biography of his life from historical, multi faith perspective. He was really sensitive too and his story helped me to make sense of my own. I was thinking of you the other day as i feel connected to mum bloggers I read (abez sez is another one, check archives for little baby stories) and really felt to suggest it to you.
Please forgive me if my message is inappropriate or invasive I mean the best.
PS my little girl likes tomato slices and swwet potato and loves cucumber. Planning to try lentil soup next for iron content :)
Angela, I LOVE your method for feeding solids! I went against all the books, Dr. and friends advice and nursed before offering solids. I never had my milk supply dip. Sometimes they ate none of it while other times I was offended by how hungry they were after their nursing session(lol). I had three chunky and very healthy babes who nursed past their 1st birthday. Now at 2, 4 and 7 they are awesome whole food eaters/lovers. You can’t beat that.
I would highly recommend an amber teething necklace (i have Art of Cure brand.) to help prevent drooling. My baby girl is 8.5 months old and we got the necklace around 6 months and oh my goodneds did she suddenly stop drooling! The amber is supposed to provide some pain relief as well. My baby still has no teeth so i don’t know whether she’s teething or not and whether it helps with the pain, but i do know the drool stopped!
I just discovered your blog after doing a search for banana oatmeal. I have a baby similar in age to yours (she’s 6.5 months old now), so I especially enjoyed reading this post. We introduced her first taste of something in a spoon (pureed green beans) to her a little bit after she turned 6 months. It went better than I expected. I am hoping she will like veggies more than I do, so I am waiting a bit longer to introduce fruits. (I make green smoothies to help me get enough veggies in my diet.) I also nurse her before she eats solids for the same reasons you listed. I look forward to reading more of your wonderful blog!
Just in case no one has mentioned it, it seems like the number one item that crawling babies go after is the cat bowl. They love to play with the water, and if my cat ever left any food in his bowl, I’m pretty sure they would’ve tried eating that too.
Since you have a cat, I figured I shoukd warn you :)
PS. This is my first post on your blog which I only discovered last month. Am currently using your blog and cookbook as my favourite resources to help me get healthy again. I’m becoming interested in food again, and it is no longer such a struggle to eat enough food (I was previously struggling to get above 1000 kcal/day, and too often relying on the wrong sorts of food to get me there). Just wanted to say thanks.
Life with a baby of 24-25 weeks is really enjoyable. Same as everyone, I spent the time with my baby.
Hi!
I have an almost 6 month old baby girl, Sadie. She has also recently started to roll in her sleep and constantly wake up. Any advice on how to deal with that? Thanks!
Hi Lesya, From what I remember (which could be wrong because it was a year ago now!), we just had to wait it out. Before long Adriana got used to herself rolling around in her sleep and it no longer woke her up each time. Now at 18 months she still rolls all over the crib!
Thanks for the reply!!