So it has been not quite a month since Greg started eating new foods in earnest. And still, about 97% of his nourishment comes from me - which I'm totally great with! This past Saturday, we attended the Nebraska regional La Leche League conference, which was great in so many ways, including reaffirming the decisions we have been making about "solid foods," so I thought I'd ruminate on them here a little.
We are essentially following the principles of “child-led weaning,” or rather, my interpretation of it, which is influenced by LLL guidelines, attachment parenting, and even some Montessori principles. Most basic to feeding a baby is obviously nursing. “Weaning” begins with adding in solid foods, not stopping or reducing nursing, and is a long and very gradual process that can take years for the child to transition from getting his nutrition solely from mother to solely from solids. American culture in particular seems to want to rush the stopping nursing part. Actually, we rush the starting solids part too! For us, “child-led” meant waiting for Greg to let us know in no uncertain terms that he was ready to start solids, not going by an arbitrary date or age. In addition to being able to sit up alone, having teeth, and noticing us eating and chewing, we wanted to see him actually asking for food. And he did! One day he was not interested and the next day he was demanding!
To us, right now it is about learning how to eat, not about getting a certain quantity of food into his belly. I know he is still getting all his nutritional needs met through my milk. Right now, it is about having fun! He is exploring new tastes, textures, and temperatures. He is developing his motor skills by picking up the food pieces and getting them into his mouth, which is especially challenging when they are small and slippery, not to mention learning to chew and swallow things other than liquids. He is absorbing the social skills of eating together with others both at home and in public by sitting right at the table with us. Keeping these goals in mind really helps us relax if a day goes by when he doesn’t eat anything, or when he throws most of it on the floor or makes a huge mess! We don’t stress out if he’s not eating everything and we don’t shovel spoonful after spoonful down his throat to finish the container. In fact, we don’t give him any pureed baby food at all. He decides whether, what and how much he eats of the real food we happen to be having. This also helps him develop a sense of control over himself and his environment, and in this way we are showing him respect. Our obligation is just to offer him healthy foods to explore, and make sure he doesn’t choke!
I must admit that when he turned 6 months old, I began to stress out about solid foods. I know that this is the typical age when most people start giving their kids solids, if they didn’t already start at 4 months! And everyone typically starts out with rice cereal – oh, rice cereal! There is even a gal at Dan’s office who has been regularly asking if Greg is eating rice cereal yet (even after Dan said he was eating chicken and vegetables - LOL)! (ask me about the history of rice cereal some time…) I was really starting to sweat it, but deep down I felt that he wasn’t really ready yet and regardless, rice cereal was probably not in his future! Thank goodness for my wonderful mamas at La Leche League – their reassurances about the signs of readiness and that many of their kids weren’t interested in solids until closer to a year old laid all my worries to rest. And so far, we are really pleased with the choices we have made in starting this next phase in Greg’s life! It sounds so serious when I say it that way, but it really is kind of a milestone! And I know what we are doing isn’t what works for everyone, but hey, its working for us!
So I have perhaps some slightly more boring videos for you today, but here’s Greg enjoying some broccoli. He also has been playing shy – here he is playing with Daddy sitting across the table, but he frequently does it when new people greet him as well – too cute!
And we just got him a set of baby-sized silverware (silver-plated!) and he actually uses it – how cute!! I have to load it up for him, but he can get the food into his mouth with it – here he’s eating some peas which I have squashed so he doesn’t choke on them… Also I’d like to point out that he has adorable baby blue enamelware dishes – no plastic or melmac around here – are you surprised!?! ;)
And fortunately, children are washable!
