Starting Baby on Finger Foods

One of my sisters is a nurse and has a 6 year old.  She told me that there is a window from age 9 to 12 months in which babies should be fed finger foods.  If this window passes, and baby is still on milk or purees, they will have difficulty with - and tend to gag on – solid foods when they are introduced.  So when my son was nearing 10 months and kept refusing finger foods, I started to worry a little.

The first thing I introduced to my son was Cheerios since it has very little sugar or sodium, has some whole grain and can melt in a baby's mouth.  I had also heard many parents swear by Cheerios as treats to keep babies and kids calm for trips and outings.  My son refused every time I offered him Cheerios.  Then, I tried original Goldfish crackers.  As soon as I placed a goldfish cracker on his tray, he took it right away and gobbled on it – he had two teeth at the time.  I gave him a few more and he ate them with no problem!

I was so happy my baby started to eat finger foods before he reached 10 months – we made it just before the window had closed!  The next day, I phased out the crackers and introduced Cheerios.  He was much more receptive to the Cheerios and soon became pretty much addicted to them.  They were wonderful!  Whenever I had to cook or wash dishes, I gave him a handful of Cheerios on his tray or snack cup and he just helped himself.

I found I had to use the old "bait and switch" trick to get my son to try many foods.  First I would try to give him something that I knew was an easy sell.  Once I knew he liked it, I'd switch it with something similar in texture or look but either different or healthier.

For example, when initially introduced mashed potatoes to my son, he tried a little bit from the spoon but pushed it out with his tongue.  I think he was not used to the thick consistency.  But I knew that he loved light cream cheese on low-salt crackers, so I spread his crackers with the mashed potato.  He ate it up!  I could tell that he was probably thinking, "Hum…there's something different about this cream cheese…" but it got him to give it a try and discover he also liked it.    

For the longest time, my son kept refusing meat.  Even when offered meat purees, he did not like it.  The only meat he had was sliced organic deli turkey meat that had been cut up into small squares.  Then last week, my husband and I got some curry goat take out.  It was very tender so, I thought I'd offer a small piece to my son.  For some reason, he grabbed it right away and ate it.  Then he wanted more and more!  I had to stop feeding him after he had eaten 3 good sized chunks, otherwise he would have kept eating.  The next day, I made beef stew and he chowed down on the beef.  A few days later at the mall, I gave him some meat from my Chubby Chicken strip from A&W.  He couldn't get enough of that!  Then I made chicken cacciatore at home and he loved it.

I think the trick is to keep offering foods to your baby and find out which types of tastes and textures they are ready for at the time.  Offer foods that are along the same lines as what they like and expand from there.

I still feed my son purees of fruit and vegetables as the texture of most fruit and vegetable is still too crunchy and challenging for my son.  Also, purees are much denser than say, cut up fruits and vegetables, so with a few tablespoons of purees, I know my son is getting a lot of good stuff.

Baby Refusing Bottles

My son had always breastfed only for comfort as he tended to fall asleep at the breast after only a few minutes. My doctor had warned from the time my baby was only 2 weeks old that by pumping and bottle feeding more frequently than breast feeding, my baby would soon refuse to breast feed since it is easier to get milk from the bottle. To my surprise, at 3 months, my son he began to refuse the bottle. Whenever he was given a bottle, he screamed as if someone was trying to murder him! At first, I thought it was reflux, but my son had no problem with breast feeding.

I had a hunch that my son preferred the breast to the bottle. So I began breast feeding on demand during the day and bottle fed during the night, only to find my baby ravenous when I gave him his bottles. I did a great deal of research and found out that apparently, many babies prefer the breast to the bottle as they prefer the real nipple to the rubber ones.

Here's what worked for me:

1. Distraction – I fed my son the bottle while also distracting him with squeaky toys. This worked most of the time.

2. I found out, by accident, that my baby would not go to sleep hungry. When he was drowsy, he drank the bottle very smoothly and made no complaints. Then, he just drifted off to sleep. I then burped and held him upright for 15 minutes so that he wouldn't get reflux.

3. I tried many different types of bottles and nipples. I found two types of bottles/nipples worked extremely well for my son:

MAM bottles – its nipples replicate the softness and shape of the breast. My son had no problem drinking from this bottle.

Dr. Brown bottles – these nipples were extremely soft and my son took to this bottle very well.

Now I know that feeding a baby while the baby is distracted is not ideal, and feeding a baby to sleep has consequences down the road of him associating sleep with eating. But I was desperate at the time. My son was not getting much milk from the breast and refused the bottle when he was fully alert. At 3 months old, I did not want him to start losing weight and getting dehydrated. So if you find yourself in a similar position with your baby, do know that the first two suggestions work. However, I would suggest trying different varieties of bottles and nipples first. I did it in the wrong sequence …

Choosing Toddler Car Seats

I've been putting off buying a new car seat for my son for some time since his weight is still technically within the guidelines for his infant car seat.  The reason for this is the beauty of the convenience of his current travel system – with the car seat that clicks into the stroller.   

I have been looking forward to having my son in a forward-facing car seat for some time.  I thought he would enjoy looking out the window as his seat would be more upright than it is now in the rear-facing position.  However, this will have to wait.  I've done some research and it turns out that with regards to safety, it is best to have a baby/toddler sit in a rear-facing position for as long as possible – past the age of two!  You can refer to this article for more information:

http://babyproducts.about.com/od/carseats/qt/rear_facing.htm

I've done some research and have decided on the Britax Marathon 70 Convertible car seat that will be purchased in the next coming week.  It got great ratings.

Here are some links to reviews in case you're also in the market for a toddler car seat:

http://www.consumersearch.com/car-seats/britax-car-seats
http://www.consumersearch.com/car-seats


This car seat is rear facing for babies 5-40 pounds and forward facing for children from 20-65 pounds.  My son will be rear facing for a long time to come...

Increasing Breast Milk Supply

Low breast milk supply can be very stressful to a new mother.  When my son was first born, he did not take to breast feeding until he was more than 1 week old.  Before then, I pumped to get my milk going.  Even once he began breast feeding, it was mostly for comfort as he often fell asleep after only a few minutes.  So I mostly relied on pumping to try to increase and then maintain my breast milk supply.  I remember this as being a very stressful experience as I had to pump every 2 hours around the clock to get enough milk for my son.  Whenever I missed a pumping session, I noticed that my milk had decreased noticeably.

During my stay at the hospital after my son's birth, I attended a lactation clinic and had heard about fenugreek as a possible herb to increase breast milk supply.  So after a month of pumping 12 times a day,  I asked my doctor about using fenugreek.  I was given the green light and began to take 2 capsules 3 times a day.  Within a week, I only had to pump every 4-5 hours and had more than enough for my baby.  I then started to freeze the milk so that I had an extra supply just in case.

Prior to taking fenugreek, I had done some research and had read that it could make one's urine and sweat smell like maple syrup.  But I experienced another side effect: over production of milk.  More precisely, over production of foremilk.  My baby began showing signs of discomfort with gas as foremilk has more lactose, which is more difficult to digest than the fatty hindmilk.  For each pumping session, I simply stopped pumping after the first few minutes, when the milk looked really thin, and dumped it. Then I continued pumping so that the foremilk to hindmilk ratio was lower.  Whenever I breastfed my son, I manually expressed some of the foremilk over the sink beforehand.  This worked well for us.  Hope this helps you!

Food Ideas for Underweight Babies

My son has always been a very active baby.  Even during my ultra sound screenings, my husband and I were told that he was an active baby.  He gained weight very well during the first four months of his life.  However, once he began to roll over and started to become more mobile, his weight leveled off.  He was on solids at this point, eating baby cereals and pureed fruits and vegetables along with his milk.  He generally ate well, but he also burned off a great deal of energy.  I became concerned when his weight remained the same for several months at a time, and only increased by two pounds over the course of 5 months, from age 6 to 11months.

Here's what worked for us:

1. Avocado – the doctor suggested I feed my son avocado as it has a lot of good fat and calories.  Every morning, along with his milk, cereal, and fruits, I fed him 3 tbsp of mashed avocado.  That change alone helped him gain 1 pound in a three week span.  I don't know, maybe he was due for a growth spurt then anyway, but eating avocado can only be good for him.  One thing to note is that avocado has a lot of soluble fibre, so make sure your baby is well hydrated.   

2. Yogurt – after the initial 1 pound gain after feeding him avocado, my son's weight leveled off again for a month, which is fine.  At this point, he was a year old, so I could give him dairy products.  I fed him Minigo yogurt, along with his usual breakfast. 

3.  Cheese – when I first tried to introduce cheese to my son in cube or grated form, he wanted nothing to do with it.  Then I made a grilled cheese for him, and cut it into tiny cubes. He couldn't get enough of it. 

4. Starch – I can't count how many types of pasta shapes I've offered to my son.  He didn't seem to like any of them.  Then, when I was about to give up on pasta, I found one called Ditali.  It's like a small round hollow cylinder.  Once cooked it's a perfect size for babies to pick up with their fingers.  Add some pasta sauce and let your baby go at it.  Breads are also very popular with babies.  My son likes Subway's parmesan oregano bread and other soft breads.

5. Meat/protein – so far, my baby has not really taken to much meat.  However, he loves to eat organic deli turkey slices.  I just cut them into small squares for him.  There is also a type of fried tofu that he loves.  I don't give him the chewy skin on the outside, but he loves the soft inside part of the tofu. 

These are only a few food ideas to help your baby gain weight.  Keep trying to introduce different varieties of these categories of foods.  There will be things your baby likes and you will see a pattern as to the flavor, or texture that is preferred by your baby and expand from there.  Along with these, babies should also eat a variety of fruits and vegetables in their diet.  Also, babies should not gain too much weight in a short period of time since it can strain their bones and joints which are only beginning to develop. 

Parent Recommended Baby Products

There is a website that I really like to browse through once in a while.  It's called Parent Tested Parent Approved. It features new products for babies, children, or the family that has been tested and recommended by parents.  You can also sign up to become a tester yourself and try new things for free!

Here's the website: www.ptpamedia.com  

Getting Baby to Nap

I just put my baby down for his morning nap.  Every morning after breakfast, he has some play time.  Then right at 8:30am, I read him his nap time story, and after some kuddles and kisses, I put him into his crib.  With some initial protest he naps for 1 to 1 ½ hours.

Things were not always like this.  It took me a long time to figure out how to get him to nap in his crib.  When he was a newborn, of course he slept a great deal.  However, once he was around 3 months, he was more alert.  He only seemed to nap when he was in the car, the stroller, or being rocked to sleep.  I kept receiving advice from other parents, and books that I read also said the same thing: put baby to bed when you see sleep signs.  I tried this.  However, this was confusing as at times my son began rubbing his eyes and yawning only half an hour after he woke up.   At other times, I didn't see sleep signs at all, and my son just got cranky and miserable.

Here's what I found worked:

1. For a few days, observe your baby to see a pattern.  Usually around 2 ½ to 3 hours after waking in the morning, your baby should be taking his first nap.  It's the sleep signs that he shows around this time that indicate readiness to sleep.  Once you find a time that your baby tends to show his first sleep signs, stick to it as the baby's nap time.

2. Have a brief nap time routine such as: change diaper, read one book, kuddles, and kisses, turn on soothing music, and in the crib.

3. The location of the nap should be consistent: in the crib whenever possible.  Even now, whenever we have my son nap in the car or stroller, he tends to have a more difficult time napping in his crib the day(s) that follow.  Having him sleep in the crib consistently for 3-4 days in a row makes nap times much easier.

4.  The room should be conducive to sleep: black-out blinds/curtains, comfortable room temperature, a ceiling fan for air circulation (to reduce the chance of SIDS), and a white noise machine if possible. 

5.  If your baby uses pacifiers to soothe himself to sleep and is able to put it in his mouth, place 5 pacifiers around the crib so he can replace it himself if it falls out of his mouth.

6.  If he wakes up in less than an hour, do not go in for 15 minutes and see if he'll go back to sleep.  I've read that you can wait for an hour, but I find that if after 15 minutes he doesn't go back to sleep, there's no point in waiting any longer.

7.  The afternoon nap tends to be 2-3 hours after the baby wakes up from his morning nap.  

Baby Advice for New Parents

I'm beginning this blog to share my experiences and what I've learned in the past 13 months of being a parent.  Stay tuned...