Our Baby’s First Foods

Wait, how do we do this again?

Is it time for solid foods already?

Please stop sticking your hands on my plate and into my potatoes…

I guess it is that time already.  Time for baby’s first foods.  How did we get here so quickly? Red is four and a half years old, and it’s only with archived pictures and video that I can remember every detail of his first spoonfuls of oatmeal.  I’m a second-time parent and as seasoned as I’m going to get, but as nervous and doubtful as a rookie mom for round two.  Send me in, coach!

Since Scarlett is her own person, I’m finding that she already has preferences and behaviors in the high chair, many of which are different from when Red was beginning solid foods.  What I may have known to be biblical with Red is not so with Scarlett.  The first time we tried solids was a few days before Scarlett’s 6-month mark; she was a very hungry girl around dinnertime, so I mixed up some Beech-Nut cereal with warmed breast milk (so it would be a familiar temperature and taste) and we got right to it!  Check out the video below to see her reaction:

Did you hear my surprise? I was shocked that she went for it so readily.  A striking contrast to Red, who had to have his first bite snuck into his mouth as he made “yucky” faces and squinched his nose at us.  Scarlett actually liked it.  And wanted more.  Now that we’ve introduced solids for the first time, I plan on repeating my feeding plan from Red’s early days: a little bit of food at each “meal” of the day; breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I will offer a few bites (or more, if she’s interested) of food before her bottle, in order to urge her to try more and more flavors and textures.    

The reason I chose Beech-Nut was simple.  It is real food.  While I was attending my favorite blog conference, Type-A Parent, I became familiar with the Beech-Nut brand, its mission statement “real food for babies” and the company’s dedication  to infant nutrition.  It was so encouraging to see that the ingredients in their organic and natural foods are right on the label: JUST apples.  And if it wasn’t just an apple, the only “additives” I read were a bit of water to soften grains, real cinnamon or  actual real granola.  That was awesome.  The baby food was so “real” that I tasted every flavor they brought with them and it was good.  (I have myself on tape tasting them here!!) You can see much more from Beech-Nut on their blog, including a video series on baby’s first foods and a guide to What Baby Eats Now.

Just a few days in, Scarlett has only scoffed at her dinner once (I didn’t pressure her) and most of the time, cleans out her bowl.  It’s super messy and very time-consuming to patiently spoon feed her while Red is tornado-ing around the den, but I know in the end it will be worth it.  So instead of inviting me out to dinner, bring over your favorite beverage and sit a spell… Scarlett and I will be practicing her eating skills!

I am very pleased to announce that I will be working with Beech-Nut during 2016 as a sponsored ambassador, sharing Scarlett’s journey to solid foods and shedding some light on the #BabysFirstFoods process.  Come and share a bite to eat!