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Posts Tagged ‘solids’

Tripi’s Tip of the Day: Solid Solution.

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

When introducing solid foods to your baby you will probably experience a certain amount of rejection. It’s nothing personal though, when a baby tries to eat solid food the first few times the food will probably come right back out because the sucking motion actually shoves solid food forward. But sometimes, even when your baby has figured out how to get solid food from the spoon to the tummy, solid food will just not be accepted. Here is a good trick to try when you are trying to introduce solid food to your baby.

Experiment with texture.

Some foods when pureed will be fairly thick, like mashed potatoes, and some will be quite watery, like pears. That is why when you are first offering your baby cereal, you should experiment with the texture to find the consistency your baby seems to like best. Many babies find a slightly thicker consistency (like the consistency of toothpaste) easier to manage, while some prefer a more soupy style that they can practically drink. The reason you’ll want to know your baby’s preferred consistency is so you can thicken up those pears with some rice cereal, or you can add some breast milk or formula to the mashed potatoes if he rejects them the first time. Sometimes a new flavor can be quite overwhelming on its own, if you can adjust the texture so that it is more familiar you increase your chances that your sweet little goober-cluster will chow down with enthusiasm.

Tripi’s Tip of the Day: Gross But Good.

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

There is such a fuss made these days over introducing solids. Everyone has an idea about the perfect way for the process to take place. I know that a few years ago it was customary to introduce cereal then fruit, but then the trend changed to the introduction of vegetables after the cereals, and now many folks disagree with introducing cereals first at all! I have even developed my own opinion over the years about the best solids introduction strategies (more advice about introducing solids is available here). I sat back and thought the other day about what was the single most effective thing I did when I was introducing solids to my own little breastmilkatarian and I was a little surprised by what I remembered. Not every thing a mother does makes the most sense, some of it is simply instinct, and the instinct that I had while introducing solids to my baby is my Tripi’s Tip of the Day!

When you are introducing solids to your baby: Chew Their Food!

Yes, I am saying for you to take a bite of that steamed broccoli, chew it up with a look of delight on your face, and then take a little out of your mouth and offer it to your baby. Yuck! This might end up being the most disgusting tip I ever give, but there is a logic behind it.

Our babies are facinated with us, they want to be where we are, see what we see, and eat what we eat. This is a survival instinct that is even observable in mamal families in nature. Your baby is programmed to imprint a preference for the foods that you are eating, and the visual imprint is even more powerful when other senses like smell and taste are incorperated.

You can well imagine that before the days of the food grinder this practice was even more widely used, I remember my own mother giving little bites of her dinner to my younger brother after she had chewed them up for him. It is the most natural thing in the world (most natural things are a little gross). Of course I still recommend that the majority of the food you feed your baby goes through the grinder, but the first few tastes of food that you want your baby to love, if they come right from your own mouth, will be much more readily accepted.

One more benefit of using this gross technique is that your saliva is wonderful at pre-digesting the tougher foods like onions, broccoli, beans and cabbage. pre-chewing these nutritious foods spares your little shrimp-toed kissy bear their gassy consequences.

These days the best use my son gets out of my saliva is the emergency face wash (Tongue to thumb, thumb to face, and the dirt is gone!). I don’t miss the days of the pre-chew, one less disgusting aspect of parenting is fine with me! However it was and is a great way to introduce those difficult foods to your baby. Alright, I’m gonna go chew some of my own food now. Happy parenting!


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