Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Oatmeal and bananas

Last week, on the advice of our pediatrician, we started Callum on solid foods. He won't be eating much for now--just oatmeal and one or two types of not-too-sweet produce--and only once a day until he's six months old. This is more about introducing him to food and getting him excited about it than about feeding him enough to provide real nutrients--that's what formula is for at this point.

My parents were in town to witness the first feeding, which was nice for everyone, particularly Callum since he got extra cameras flashing in his face during the big event. There are plenty of photos on Flickr, but here are a couple videos that are a pretty good overview of how it went. Please excuse my ridiculous baby voice, thank you.

First he didn't know what was going on:



Then he caught on and actually opened his mouth:



So, I'd say it went pretty well, with no issues with the tongue thrust reflex and over a tablespoon of oatmeal consumed. The next day went even better: he ate the whole bowl (not that it was full), and learned very quickly to open his mouth when the spoon came near, so that was nice.

We gave it a couple days and then introduced mashed banana, again following the suggestion of the pediatrician. And... well, he ate it. Grudgingly. A few bites. And then he started crying and turning his head away. I'd fed him oatmeal first, so I thought maybe he was just full. We tried again the next day and I did manage to feed him the whole quarter-banana that I'd mashed up for him, but not without much fussing and a distinct lack of enthusiasm.

Here he is after his first bite of banana. He does not look too impressed.

The day after that, I tried feeding him the banana before the oatmeal, when I knew he was hungry, in hopes that it had just been a coincidence. Again, he took a few bites without any apparent enthusiasm, and then kept his mouth firmly closed and turned his head away from the spoon. After that, he didn't even want his oatmeal, which on previous days he had happily devoured. He didn't spit the bananas out, so I thought that was encouraging, but maybe he just didn't know how?

Anyway. Apparently I have one of the only babies in the world who doesn't like bananas? I might try just plain oatmeal for a couple days, and then give the bananas another shot later in the week. Maybe he just needs some time to get used to them? After all, it's definitely the strongest flavor he's ever encountered.

Oatmeal is a huge hit, though. So that's good. And next we get to try one more type of produce. I'm thinking maybe sweet potatoes, but I'm not totally sure. Our only restrictions are no citrus and no berries. For those of you with kids, what have been popular food items with your babies?

17 comments:

  1. We started B on rice cereal. Other first foods were avocado, bananas, and sweet potato.

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  2. He is the sweetest little thing. Neither of my boys took to bananas right away, either, but at 3 years and 17 months they both love them. Carrots were a HUGE hit with both of mine, as well as pureed butternut squash.

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  3. Luke loved sweet potatoes and squash. He never took to the fruity baby foods until he was older and eating 4 bananas a day and I had to cut him off.

    Callum is such a cute baby!

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  4. Aw, he's so cute. My kids first loves were avocado, butternut squash, apple sauce and sweet potatoes.

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  5. My little guy is just over 6 months. He really enjoys prunes, banana, pears, apples, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, creamed corn, oatmeal and rice cereal. He's kinda meh on carrots and peaches.

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  6. My son (now 2 1/2, how did that happen?!) loved green beans when we first were starting out. He could just be weird though, ha!

    Callum is absolutely adorable! I'm sure you knew that though! :)

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  7. I love the look of adoration in his eyes when he looks at you...

    It's all kind of hazy now, but I do remember the look on Si's face the first time we fed him pureed green beans. Utter inside-out revulsion. We both laughed, of course. Now he loves green beans. Well, loves is too strong a word. But he does eat them, and most other things, with gusto.

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  8. He's looking so grown-up all of a sudden - what a cutie!

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  9. He is SO CUTE.

    Madeline liked sweet potatoes, squash, and a grape/plum mix. Oh and blueberries - although I know that's off the plate for the moment, but someday. :)

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  10. Owen LOVES banana. He's also big on sweet potato, peas,mango and some fruit mixes. But he dislikes applesauce, which I think is super strange!

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  11. I love watching babies eat! So cute.

    I think you may be on to something when you mention he didn't know how to spit out the banana. Oliver learned to do that around.... 9 months? One day I gave him something that was too hot and he instinctively stuck out his tongue. As the food fell from his month you could see his eyes light and something click. Immediately after that he started spitting out food that he didn't enjoy. Prior to this revelation he would just clamp his mouth tight and shake his head to avoid eating something he didn't like.

    His first favorite food was any sort of mashed squash or sweet potato. I would often season them with cumin, cinnamon or a mild curry; he loved it. He was not a fan of avocado, but most babies seem to be.

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  12. We waited on solids until just after 6 months, but introduced all yucky green veggies first and worked our way towards fruit. By the time we got there it was so exciting to have something sweet, it didn't matter what I stuck on the spoon. LOL

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  13. You could try mixing the banana into the oatmeal to see if he learns to like it that way?

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  14. My son enjoyed baby food bananas when he was a baby, but has never developed a like for eating an actual banana. Maybe it's the texture? He'll eat it when it's on his plate, but he would never choose to have it there...

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  15. haha, i love how confused/concerned he looks in that first video. like, mom, WHAT are you doing....??

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  16. Chiming in to say mashed avocado! Mild flavor and nutritious.

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