The Latest
We’re still traveling, so I’m not taking as much time to write here, but I still have many thoughts swirling around in my head, and Annabelle continues to grow and change on a daily basis.
Annie has started saying “dad,” though just as with “mama,” she doesn’t seem to be attaching any particular meaning to the word yet. Also, now that she is sitting up so well, she had begun trying to sit straight up in the car, too, and thus began to look rather uncomfortable in her infant car seat. I switched her to a convertible seat on Friday in hopes that she would be more comfortable.
Here she’s just playing around, not safely buckled in, but you get the idea. We went with the Britax Roundabout, which seems to be a great seat so far.
Recently, Annabelle also got to meet (and I got the pleasure of reconnecting with) the most amazing Montessorians I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Just look at this beautiful table of passionate, certified Montessori teachers! Each one held Annabelle for a bit and we all enjoyed some delicious Ethiopian food together. It was definitely a highlight of our visit!
As Annabelle is getting close to six months, the time to start experimenting with foods other than breast milk is drawing near. Originally I had planned to practice Baby Led Weaning, beginning to offer table foods from six months onwards. More and more, I am hearing moms talk about waiting until a year to offer any solid foods at all, however. At the moment, I’m busy researching the various schools of thought on the subject to see how we’ll proceed when we get home. I would love to hear about when you started offering foods other than breast milk to your child(ren), and what influenced your decisions!
2 Responses to The Latest
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Food – it is a contentious topic, but here are my experiences good and bad.
I started weaning Abi at about 5 months because on the day that I was working I was away from her for about 3 and a half hours and she was getting really hungry. She wouldn't accept my milk from a bottle/cup and it wasn't fair on her or my mum, so once a week she had a little baby rice. I ignored advice about not giving cows milk and she now has a sensitivity to it – not an allergy, just she gets really snotty if she has too much. At 6 months she started on food from out table and I did the whole pureed veg and fruit thing too. I started too early and she, out of all my children is the one who is slightly chubby and will always struggle with her weight.
Johnny was a pig. He was snatching food from my plate and chewing it madly as soon as he could ge the co-ordination together to grab and get it into his mouth!
Livi was uninterested in anything she didn't put into her mouh herself. I was more aware my that time of the bad choices I had made earlier and delayed any solids until 6 months when she lived off toast, cheese and apple! She had to wait until she could get a spoon into her mouth herself before she could enjoy the joys of yoghurt etc because there was no way anyone was going to be able to feed her!
As far as I understand it, the baby's reserve of iron and other minerals is used up by around 6 months so breast milk needs to be accompanied. Also, I know a couple of children who eat extremely restricted diets (like 6 foods altogther) and this is partly to do with the fact that they didn't start eating food until much later and didn't learn to chew properly.
The WHO advises finger food at 6 months, which is what livi did. If Annie is showing an interest in food then I would try some cooked carrot sticks and maybe something with a little iron in it. Follow the child! Babies don't eat much to begin with so it's all expreimental and getting used to textures and tastes.
Have fun!
Food – it is a contentious topic, but here are my experiences good and bad.
I started weaning Abi at about 5 months because on the day that I was working I was away from her for about 3 and a half hours and she was getting really hungry. She wouldn't accept my milk from a bottle/cup and it wasn't fair on her or my mum, so once a week she had a little baby rice. I ignored advice about not giving cows milk and she now has a sensitivity to it – not an allergy, just she gets really snotty if she has too much. At 6 months she started on food from out table and I did the whole pureed veg and fruit thing too. I started too early and she, out of all my children is the one who is slightly chubby and will always struggle with her weight.
Johnny was a pig. He was snatching food from my plate and chewing it madly as soon as he could ge the co-ordination together to grab and get it into his mouth!
Livi was uninterested in anything she didn't put into her mouh herself. I was more aware my that time of the bad choices I had made earlier and delayed any solids until 6 months when she lived off toast, cheese and apple! She had to wait until she could get a spoon into her mouth herself before she could enjoy the joys of yoghurt etc because there was no way anyone was going to be able to feed her!
As far as I understand it, the baby's reserve of iron and other minerals is used up by around 6 months so breast milk needs to be accompanied. Also, I know a couple of children who eat extremely restricted diets (like 6 foods altogther) and this is partly to do with the fact that they didn't start eating food until much later and didn't learn to chew properly.
The WHO advises finger food at 6 months, which is what livi did. If Annie is showing an interest in food then I would try some cooked carrot sticks and maybe something with a little iron in it. Follow the child! Babies don't eat much to begin with so it's all expreimental and getting used to textures and tastes.
Have fun!