Feeding an Infant

So, I finally had a bit of a revelation regarding Joseph's food intake. I had been so concerned about it, but really, he nurses so much still that it really doesn't matter what he eats for solids, so long as he gets some iron in. And that's covered by his vitamin.

In that vein, I decided to stop making purees. About the same time (well, a little before) Joseph stopped gagging on solids. Timing is everything, people! I'm learning that you can't make a kid do anything ahead of their own schedule.

He's really enjoying feeding himself now, and wants to hold the spoon all the time. We regularly have two in rotation these days, and I let him self-feed whatever I can.

We've been branching out some in the food department. I can't remember where I left off on here, but he eats a wide variety of stuff now. In the last couple of days he's had cheerios, yogurt, banana, clementine (a whole one!), hummus on crackers, cheese, mixed veggies, salmon with balsamic blueberry reduction, polenta with spaghetti sauce and parmesan, and grilled chicken. I'm trying to give him more of the foods that I make for T.J. and myself. It seems to be working pretty well! He had some of my gumbo and red beans and rice - he loves to eat from Mama's plate! Everything tastes better that way, I guess.

We're still focusing on organic food where we can for all of us.

Without sounding like a know-it-all, here's my take away from feeding Joseph:

1) A child will let you know if he's hungry
2) Babies take a long time to self feed, be patient
3) Don't fret too much about how much and what they eat (see #1)
4) Keep nursing on demand!

Of course, now that I've got it all figured out he's turning ONE in a couple of weeks. Then I'll have to figure toddlers out!