Bring on the Solids!

About a week before we took Banner to his four-month check-up, Sam and I were getting increasingly more excited about the possibility that he would be able to start enjoying something more than formula for his meals each day. Every checklist that I found on the Internet and in my books at home reflected that Banner was ready for solids:
-he can sit up with support
-he has outstanding head and neck control
-he seemed hungry for more
-he always wanted to see what we were eating and watched us eat
-he had doubled his birth weight, and he was close to 15 pounds

We were worried our pediatrician would tell us to wait until he was older - closer to six months like so many doctors recommend - but we were hopeful because we saw so many reasons to get started already. Interestingly, when I was pregnant, I watched a news report about how starting babies on cereals/solids before 6 months of age was correlated to a higher chance of obesity later in life. The report also indicated that a baby's first food should be a brown rice as opposed to a starchy, white rice so that his first bites were not setting him up to have a sweet tooth in the future. Well, I was adamant that I was going to follow both of these rules - no solids until 6 months, and it wouldn't be a white rice! Months later, here we are, HOPING we can start as soon as possible and not even caring any more what grain it is - just wanting permission to give our growing boy some substance that he'll like and enjoy - and MAYBE even help with the reflux problem. Oh, how reality changes your opinions and judgments! (This idea is a whole issue yet to be blogged about - the fact that you can never say what you will absolutely do or NOT do because you just never know until you're in the situation. . . I've wanted to blog about that particular topic since my labor/delivery and the aftermath of breastfeeding gone bad! Stay tuned!!)

So, anyway, we saw the doctor and were so thrilled that he wanted us to start cereal - rice cereal - that day! We already had bought bowls, spoons, wipe-able bibs, and the box of cereal! I had even given Banner a spoon to explore a few days before the appointment. We were set! I knew he would love it! We were also excited that we had more of a feeding schedule to go by. He eats a "dinner" now - which sounds so funny to be excited about, but I am! I love that he has a "meal" each night, and although he only eats about a tablespoon or less, he's learning what it's like to be a true "eater."

When we got home, Sam asked me if we could play rock-paper-scissors to determine which one of us would get to do the first feeding that night. I rejected the suggestion, and I told him he could have that opportunity since I would be the one to feed him every weekday after that, and this way I could be in charge of the camera and just watch the whole thing! It was so exciting for Sam and me. . . not so much for Banner. He made the screwed up, awful faces you've seen from many babies taking their first bites. He looked at us like we were crazy, and we just smiled back at him with goofy grins! He pushed out most of what went in his mouth, and soon Sam was asking me to help him. I learned that you have to get the spoon on top of his tongue and help him get his tongue out of the way. I also learned to let him just suck on the spoon for a bit to learn what it is and how it feels. Every feeding since then has been easier and more successful, even if he only takes a tiny bit. Watching Banner's tongue, though, reminded me of teaching him how to nurse. Although that entire fiasco was a complete disaster, he did learn to make a trough with his tongue and used his tongue well with the bottle. Now, here we were, trying to teach him to make a new motion with his mouth.

We'll feed him dinner for the next week or so, and then we get to add another "meal" in addition to dinner. Two weeks after that, we'll add in vegetables, introducing a new one every three days before starting fruits. I'm having fun watching him learn this new area of his life - that of being a good eater. Food is an important part of every person's daily life, so I'm excited to introduce my son to this big area of his life - from teaching him nutrition to how to be a polite, well-mannered eater. Sam found this article last week, and it reminded me of all I want to try to teach Banner about food, too. And, as we enter this new stage of B's life, here's to lots of messy, fun, and fulfilling solid meals!!

 I love this next pic... learning to open his mouth correctly!