Starting Solids

At the baby shower I attended recently I was amazed by how much feeding stuff the soon-to-be mommy received.  Bottles aside, she now has a full collection of baby spoons, sippy cups and snack bowls.  Of course I already have all this stuff for Doodle too, but that’s only because it’s left over from the girls but I don’t intend to even get any of it out and wash it for months yet.

DSC01023I don’t start solids with my kids until after 6 months.  Both girls were a few weeks past 6 months when I started them on baby rice cereal.  I then did oatmeal, barley, veggies and finally fruit.  I use the American approach of introducing one new food at a time in case they have a reaction to something I’ll know what to avoid in the future.  I was surprised when I had Sugarplum in for a weight check at the baby clinic in Dublin at around 6 months and was informed that she should be eating solids and I should just blend up whatever the family is having (like EVERYTHING we were having) and spoon feed it to the baby.  The nurse was concerned that I had only started cereal as the Irish do not worry about allergies and just introduce everything at once.

I am a bit more cautious than most parents probably are because hubby has some very severe food allergies in his family.  I have specific foods which I avoid for long periods of time.  I don’t do anything with eggs or dairy until after at least 10 months and no milk for drinking until after a year.  I also do not do any wheat until after a year (this makes for interesting 1st birthday cakes, see “A Piece of Cake”).  I do peanut butter around 18 months and also hold off sulfites (found in wine and balsamic vinegar) as this one of hubby’s family allergies until around a year and a half.  I also wait on shellfish until after 2 years as it’s another family allergy.  

Sometimes it seems like a lot of trouble to introduce one food at a time, but I know if we ever do have a severe (or even minor) reaction I’ll be glad I was so careful.  It’s also come in very handy in learning food preferences.  For example, Honeybun hated avocado for years and by introducing it by itself I knew right away that is what she disliked and not something else it was mixed in with.  (Besides, what adult would want all their food blended together?)