Solid food!

Michelle had her first solid food! Rice cereal. I know you're not supposed to start solids until six months but I started a bit early (she's turning six months next week). Considering she was born a week late, technically she's six months old already. She's already outgrown her 6 month old clothes (and some of the 9 month ones for that matter.) She wears 12 month old Winnie the Pooh pajamas and even they're getting snug.

Though I was nervous about experimenting with solid food for the first time, I was anxious to see if it might help her to sleep better at night with a full tummy. Lately she hadn't been sleeping at all (as I mentioned in my previous post she's up until 4 a.m. That's late even for a night owl like me!) She feeds so often (every two hours or less) that I thought she's probably ready for something more.

Michelle also met the other criteria for starting solid foods -- she can sit up on her own now, she has been showing an interest in food and reaching for it, she watches me eat and sometimes mimicks chewing.

I started off small with just a teaspoon of rice cereal mixed with breast milk (it says to just add water but I figured milk would be healthier for her and the familiarity might help her warm up to eating food.) I decided to record the momentous occasion on video (I posted it to Youtube, link below.) If a picture says a thousand words then a video must say at least 10,000. Eating her very first spoonful of food is a milestone in my book! I didn't know how it would go. Would she turn away? Spit it out? Refuse to eat? Make a face? Instead it went very well. I was so relieved she actually ate it. It took a while to feed her even just a teaspoon full.

 

I'm hoping that eating solid food now will fill her tummy and leave her satisfied and sleepy enough to sleep through the night. That is my dream! Oh to have just a few hours to myself in the evening! The things I could do! Working out, a bubble bath, getting things done around the house, working on my computer. Maybe even painting again. Writing songs. Although I actually wrote a song the other day while Michelle was in her Jolly Jumper. I started to get a tune in my head and grabbed my guitar, a pen and paper. Michelle seemed to enjoy the show and danced along to my playing. I'll get around to recording it one of these days. It's so hard to find time for anything anymore. Michelle has become my life. She is certainly worth the sacrifices though I have to admit it is nice to have a little "me" time once in a while. At least after her first couple of days on cereal she started going to sleep at 1 a.m. instead of 4 a.m. so that's a big improvement.

I read that a baby's iron level drops at six months so they really need the iron fortified cereal as well as protein from meat to stay strong. They say to introduce foods one at a time to make sure there are no allergies. So after a week on cereal I'll start introducing other foods. Meat. Then vegetables and fruit. One food at a time for 3-5 days to make sure it's OK before moving on to the next. I hope she'll be a good eater. I've heard from many Moms that struggling with a picky eater can be a huge stress. Every stage will bring new challenges of course. It was fun for me to start giving her food though and I was pleased that it went so well. Just that tiny bit of cereal already affected her poop. It smelled 10 times worse and was a bit more brown than usual. Not quite solid yet but definitely different.

She still watches with great interest when I'm eating. I try to explain to her that she can't have those things quite yet. I tried her cereal when I put my knuckle in to test the temperature. It is pretty bland. At least she seems to like it, of course all she has to compare it to is milk. It will be interesting seeing her reaction to different tastes -- meats and vegetables. I'm hoping she'll be a good eater. She seems to be so far. I just keep hoping for that magical day when she falls asleep at 8 PM and sleeps through the night. It could happen. Sure. Actually I wish they made baby turkey. They have beef and chicken but no turkey. You know how you get drowsy after a big turkey dinner? That would be helpful. Maybe I can suggest it to Gerber...