Your baby eats what?! - One Year Later Series

Yes. This is what the doctor said to me at our one year appointment when I said that my daughter's favorite foods are {in no particular order}: hummus - any kind, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, extra sharp cheddar cheese, kalamata olives, kiwi, carrots and tofu - any way. Yes you read that correctly. They are all her favorites. I am sharing today how we started her on this journey.

When she was itty bitty and we were sleep training her with the Baby Whisper's technique, I spent a lot of time in the quiet room with her watching her "sleep" just in case she woke up. I got bored after the first day, so I downloaded some audio-books from our local library.

One of the books I really wanted to listen to was French Kids Eat Everything. I had to wait a day but once I did, I abandoned all other books and got to it. I loved hearing about how they start the kids off early on all types of foods, not just baby cereal. I loved how their eating habits were reinforced at home, school and at friend's houses. I also loved how the government encouraged healthy and varied eating - not something we get here.

So my husband and I decided that we would not start our daughter on the typical baby cereal to start. Even though this is what my "old school" pediatrician wanted us to do at her 4 month well visit. {I am in no way recommending to go against doctor's directions. If you have food allergies please abide by doctors directions or move forward with extreme caution. I am NOT an expert} But even before that, we decided that we did not have to introduce anything to her until we felt she was ready. Even the AAP said to wait until around 6 months. Admittedly, we didn't wait that long, but it was closer than at her 4 month appointment.

Our daughter loved watching us eat. She looked on with almost a longing and tried to reach out her hand. One night we were having tacos, she was about 5 1/2 months old, and I had cut up some avocado for us to put on our tacos. She, again, was reaching out. So I suggested that we try and give her some. My husband agreed. We smashed some up really well and put some on the top of a spoon. After she tasted it {and we got it all on video} she kept pointing for more. It was official, we opened Pandora's box.

I started keeping track of what food she tried and if she liked it or not. I created a sheet so that I could hang it on the fridge for easy access. It also helped us keep track of how many days she tried it to make sure there were not allergies or reactions. I wanted to do this so we could start to introduce some of the combination foods, while knowing she didn't have a reaction at least one of the ingredients. I am sharing that with you today!

Click here to download Baby's First Foods Printable

By her 6 month appointment, with a different doctor, she had tried and enjoyed; avocado, bananas, prunes {she had started to get a bit backed up}, applesauce, carrots and sweet potato. When we divulged this information and said we chose not to start with baby cereal, she actually agreed with us. She said there was no need for it, especially since I was still breastfeeding. She said just to start introducing more veggies. Plus at this time, food was just for fun, not for nutrition. {Even though it is not for nutrition, we never introduced anything not nutritious.}

When she was ready, we started giving her the Plum Organics and Ella's Organic pouches. We wanted to stick with organics since there are more and more fruits and veggies that are GMO and who-knows-what in the pesticides. According to the research that I did, I liked the way that both companies operated and I loved the food combinations. So did our daughter. We would pour some out into a bowl, mixed in her probiotic and spoon-fed it to her. She still eats them today. She just eats them much faster and right out of the pouch!

At 9 months, when we introduced a third meal of the day, was the first time she had baby cereal. And she hated it! I had to mix in applesauce, and lots of cinnamon. Only then did she give it another try and ate it. I still occasionally give it to her the same way. We will eat about a 1/2 cup then she says all done and its off to the next food.

We started giving her some of the food we were eating. This started with hummus...Garlic Lovers Hummus. My husband is a huge lover of garlic, so I bought this hummus especially for him. As we were eating our chips and hummus, she had just finished her lunch and we decided to give her a taste. We took some on a chip, transferred it her spoon and gave it to her. I have never heard her "mmmmm" so much as when she took that first bite!

We have encouraged her to try everything. There is not one thing that we have told her no to {that wasn't a choking hazard}. Everything we eat, we have her try. I heard somewhere {I think it was French Kids Eat Everything, but don't quote me on that} it takes between 10-15 times of tasting and trying before a child will start to like something they may not have liked before. So we continue.

Don't get me wrong, there are some things she doesn't like. She is not big into butternut squash anymore..but she tries it anyway. She doesn't really like beets...but tries it anyway. She didn't like mushrooms, but they are a staple here in this house..she tried them anyway and now she likes them cooked most ways.

Now at 13 months, she is becoming a more independent eater. She doesn't like when we feed her, she wants to do it herself. So we let her. We are finding that she is more willing to eat almost anything if she is feeding it to herself. For example, the other night we had Lemony Shrimp Scampi Pasta and she was not a fan of spaghetti the last time she had it. I don't know if it was the texture or the strands. Either way, she was looking longingly at our plate and asked for some, even saying please. So I put some on a plate for her, cut up the spaghetti and shrimp and let her try and spoon it to herself. She ended up just finger feeding herself but she ate almost all of the food I put on her plate. I would never have guessed that she would have eaten any of it let alone that much. So let your kids feed it to themselves. You may be surprised that they will like more and more if you let them experiment on their own.

Again, this is all from our experience. This is how we handled eating habits and food introduction in our house. We are still trying to get it right, but we are finding that now it is easy to feed her..she eats what we do. We are adventurous eaters, so I have no doubt she will be too. It may be different in your house. You may not like all of these foods, so you may not introduce them to your children. All of this is ok. As long as a child is fed, happy and healthy that is all that matters.

Enjoy your food adventures with your little ones.

What are some interesting foods that your child eats?

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