[*krista*]

I'm beginning to think about solids. Charlotte seems content with milk now, so I'm not starting them any time soon. I plan on waiting until 6 months, unless she seems really ready sooner. I'm excited but not looking forward to the change in her poo.

Anyway, I'm going to do homemade baby food. Did you do the baby cereals? Rice cereal seems pointless to me except for the iron they put in it. I thought I might do oatmeal instead until I figured out it was made just for babies too. Can you use regular oatmeal? Is there something you can feed them that just naturally has iron in it? I know I'm not supposed to do meats for a while. I wanted to go as natural as possible. Did you do purees? What did you puree? Just plain or seasoned at all? Did you use one of those fancy baby food makers or just steam and use your own processor? Tell me all about it!

Also, CDers, what do I need to know about CDing once she is eating solids?? Right now I just throw everything, poo and all, in the washing machine.

[LisanAndy]

I always did baby cereal and a jar of baby food for breakfast. Lunch was a jar of baby food. Dinner was cereal and baby food. I'd always just let her eat until she felt like she didn't want anymore. Once I felt she was ready to eat small bites of bananas on her own she had that as well. As for babies that eat solid food and CDs... YUCK Rylie NEVER has solid poos, it's ALWAYS mud and it sticks to the diapers, it's gross. My diaper sprayer gets LOTS of action LoL. The sprayer works for spraying out Taylor's potty chair too

[szczepanski]

We started solids at 6 months and do a mix of letting Nolan feed things to himself and purees. I make my own baby food because if he is going to eat something other than breast milk, I want him to get the most out of it that he can. I just steam the veggies or bake them and mash it up, thin it out with some breast milk if I need to. I've only used cereal to thicken pears and bananas and it was just a small amount. I freeze it in ice cube trays and then pop them out and keep them in the freezer in ziploc baggies. It makes it easy to mix them too - 1 cube of peas and 1 cube of carrots, etc. They also defrost fast on the counter or just in about 30 seconds in the microwave. If I microwave it I do mix it and then leave it for a few minutes to cool off.

We are still in the beginning stages so I haven't added anything seasoning wise I will probably do that when he is older. I just use either a fork or my $15 food processor to mash it up.

As far as CDs....ugh. Solid poo is AWFUL and SMELLS. But I just use the sprayer and breathe through my mouth. Thankfully Nolan only goes 2-3 times a day now instead of the 6-8 times a day he was going before so it isn't TERRIBLE but I do miss the EBF days for sure.

[bittersweet]

I started with cereal, but I made my own. I blended dry brown rice in a coffee grinder until it was a powder, then cook in boiling water for 10 min. I did the same with oats to make her oatmeal. I tried it with barley but it didn't blend up very well. She didn't care for cereal plain, so I mixed it with fruit/veggie purees.

I make my own purees too. I steam/bake in a regular pot and steamer basker then blend up in a mini food blender. Then I use the ice cube trays to freeze, then store them in plastic bags in the freezer.

At first she didn't take to the spoon very well. I tried to let her feed herself, but she would either knock the food on the floor or try to swallow pieces that were too big. I used the mesh feeder a lot the first month on solids. I put soft foods like avacado and blueberries in it. I'd also put frozen puree cubes in it...feels great on the gums.

I don't cloth diaper, but if I did it would be super easy. Her poo is solid now and could be disposed off if I washed the diapers. Much easier to clean now, but oh so stinky.

[Mars]

I started at 6 months with Amara and I made all her foods.

For the oatmeal, I bought ground oats and boiled/cooked it. I wasn't too keen on the cereal. I did try the oatmeal cereal (organic one) but that was many months after but I preferred the ground oats and went back to that. I got more for my money as well though it was a bit more work. I would make a whole batch at one time and freeze it too for later use.

For the purees, I started with simple plain fruit or veggies, no seasonings initially. Sometimes I could simply steam/boil the fruit/veggie and use a fork to mash it. Other times because I usually made a batch, I used a regular blender/food processor and freeze the remainder in covered ice trays. I never bought any baby food processors.

I don't CD but I think it would be a bit easier with CDing after this point since her stools will be firmer and should be much more easier to dispose. The poos are really stinky though.

Right now, I am SO longing for the day when Amara can use the toilet.

[Resi]

I started at 6 months because he was ready. I made all of his foods. I steamed them with my pot and then pureed them with a baby food processor I bought. I used baby cubes to freeze them in. I would warm them up in hot water in a bowl or warm them up on the stove in a small pot. I didn't do the rice cereal at all and made my own baby oatmeal a few times. My mom bought some of the organic baby oatmeal but I didn't like her feeding it to him and she only did it a few times. With pears, peaches, and plums I didn't cook them. I just pureed them. Same with bananas and other soft fruits. I made my own applesauce, soups, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, and the other basic things. After a few months he was over the pureed stuff and wanted more solid foods.

I use my sprayer a lot for him poop diaper but sometimes if it's solid enough it will roll off in the toliet. It isn't a big deal. Just an extra step. EBF poop is the best! I miss those poop days.

[soImarriedAnerd]

started at 7 months old with solids and just feed him what we were eating. He has never had baby food/cereal stuff. I gave him our oatmeal.
He was poop learned by then so we didn't have poopy diapers.... but WOW does the poop smell worse!
One thing that seems to be very common... everyone is so excited to start solids, but after they start almost all worry about what/how much/etc they are eating. Its way less stressful when they just get the boob LOL (or bottle I would think). Easier also! Also since BM/Formula is suppose to be the MAIN source of nutrition it makes it more difficult to not go over board with solids.

[**Jenn**]

I haven't started Lila yet but soon. I have pureed peaches already done and in the freezer and she had her first sippy cup experience on Saturday with pumped bm--she did great by the way, held the cup herself and everything!

Anyway I do like to start with purees. I just steam or bake the stuff that needs to be, chop it up, and put it in the food processor. If it needs to be thinned out I use water or breast milk (depends on how much of a stash is in my freezer). The only fruits that I found that needs to be steamed first are apples and cherries. I bake the sweet potatos and squash, everything else goes in my rice cooker/steamer. I pour them in ice cube trays and when they're frozen pop them in those gallon ziplock bags, label and date it. Its super easy to defrost (usually in the microwave) and then I can mix different stuff together too--apples and bananas/cherries/sweet potatos, etc. I don't use seasoning for anything either, except when I start doing meats. Then I usually cook it in organic vegetable stock and that seasons it nicely or if its a meal I made for everyone they eat that and there's seasoning in there already.

Lochy never had solid poops and I hated when he pooped in cloth. It was how Lisa described it--like mud. I didn't have a diaper sprayer though so it was very difficult to get it off. I used an old spatula and that seemed to work ok.

[bittersweet]

You mentioned being concerned about iron content. If you don't do the store bought fortified cereals or multi vits (which we didn't do either), try to give her fruits and veggies with higher iron content until you introduce meats.

Jenna favorite is apricots. They are loaded with iron. I buy the organic non-sulfered kind (dried), then I boil them in half water half apple juice until they are soft. After that I blend them into a puree. They are super sweet so I usually mix them with a bit of oatmeal. Spinach and lentils have a lot of iron too. Some websites say to wait until 8 months to give those, others say 6 is fine. I introduced them at about 7 months and she did fine.

[..Penelope..]

We are planning on doing BLW once he can sit up on his own. He will sit in his high chair and choose whether he wants to play with the chunks of food or eat them

[*krista*]

What is BLW??

[..Penelope..]

Sorry! BLW = Baby led weaning. Here is a link: baby led weaning :: Main Page