Tuesday, November 11, 2008

First Foods

Smiley, as with most seven-month old babies, is in the middle of switching to solid foods for the bulk of his nutrition.

He now eats three of four meals each day, each with an amount of food that surprises us. Only a month ago he was eating to learn to eat (not to actually consume a full meal) and a teaspoon of solid food would make him happy. Now he eats 2-4 tablespoons at a time.

(Tangentially, his diapers have also changed, of course. Using cloth diapers is not any more difficult. The last step of changing a soiled diaper has always been leaving Smiley in his crib while the parent went to the restroom to wash his or her hands; now that restroom trip includes dumping out the diaper and flushing.)

Because of my wife's gluten intolerance we cook most of the food we eat--there simply are not many prepared meals safe for her. Since we cook so much it is not much trouble to use a baby food mill. This certainly saves money compared to buying baby food. It means Smiley's diet differs a bit from stereotypical baby food fare.

Currently recommended parenting technique advises parents to introduce one new type of food every three days, to allow for time to see any potential adverse reaction.

Here is what Smiley eats so far, and when we introduced it into his diet. During September he "ate" rice cereal, but this was only practicing eating. He also ate basil during September, since we would give him leaves from our basil plants when in the back yard to distract him from trying to eat other foliage.

UPDATE: I'm trying to keep the following list up to date.
  • Oct. 10th - injera
  • Oct. 17th - broccoli
  • Oct. 20th - applesauce
  • Oct. 23rd - red lentils
  • Oct. 26th - onions
  • Oct. 29th - carrots
  • Nov. 1st - pinto beans
  • Nov. 4th - garlic
  • Nov. 6th - squash
  • Nov. 9th - roast beets
  • Nov. 11th - peas
  • Nov. 14th - wheat and oats
  • Nov. 17th - millet
  • Nov. 19th - banana
  • Nov. 22nd - quinoa and amaranth
  • Nov. 24th - avocado
  • Nov. 27th - sweet potato
  • Nov. 30th - parsnips and turnips
  • Dec. 1st - garbanzo beans
  • Dec. 3rd - green beans
  • Dec. 6th - blueberries
  • Dec. 9th - eggplant
  • Dec. 12th - potato
  • Dec. 16th - apricot
  • Dec. 19th - mango
  • Dec. 22nd - corn
  • Dec. 25th - raspberry and jicama
  • Dec. 27th - grape
  • Dec. 29th - spinach
  • Jan. 2nd - egg yolk
  • Jan. 5th - pear
  • Jan. 10th - mushroom
  • Jan. 14th - pineapple
  • Jan. 17th - tomato
  • Jan. 20th - jack and cheddar cheese
  • Jan. 24th - artichoke
  • Jan. 27th - celerac
  • Jan. 31st - tangerine
  • Feb. 4th - cherries
  • Feb. 5th - whole milk yogurt
  • Feb. 8th - kiwi
  • Feb. 11th - zucchini and buckwheat
  • Feb. 13th - peaches
  • Feb. 20th - goat-milk cheese and yogurt
  • Feb. 24th - cauliflower and cottage cheese
  • Feb. 28th - coconut milk
  • March 5th - cranberries and dates
  • March 14th - tofu and sesame
  • March 18th - figs
  • March 24th - bell pepper
  • April 6th (one year old) - strawberry
  • April 9th - flax
  • April 15th - whole cow's milk (probable reaction)
  • April 24th - egg white
  • April 27th - honey
  • April 28th - peanut
  • May 3rd - almond
  • May 8th - papaya
  • May 9th - soy milk
  • May 28th - cantelope
  • May 30th - salmon
  • June 1st - sunflower seed
So far there have been no adverse reactions to any of these foods. Hooray!

We have not found a sugar-free and gluten-free cereal to use as a finger food, but crumbled rice cakes, small bits of injera, or tiny bits of apple work well.

He also really likes his mesh feeder. Almost anything can be put into that.

UPDATE: Here is a list of foods he has yet to try: papaya, melon, asparagus

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