So far Mack has eaten rice cereal, avocado, sweet potato and carrots. The avocado gave him a little bit of a bum rash, but he hasn't had problems with anything else. He eats two "meals" a day, without cuting back one bit on his nursing (which is good). Each "meal" consists of a fruit or veggie plus some cereal. We got a book called "Super Baby Food"to give us some food guidence. Good snippets from the book include lots nutritional information/references and concrete reasons for holding off on certain foods. However overall, its turned out too extreme for our family's lifestyle. For starters, there aren't many organic food stores here in Monterrey (actually I haven't seen any), we don't own a food processor, and I do not scrub down the can opener with a toothbrush after every use. The author vehemently despises canned baby food--basically because it is not organic. If I were to make Mack's food I could in never check it the way Gerber etc does. Normally, you wouldn't think twice about smashing up bananas for your baby, but in Mexico I'm worried about FUNGICIDES. Bananas have a porous skin that sucks them up. (Frankly, even produce grown stateside has me a little worried because I have NO idea what they do to it once it crosses that border.)
One more thing I've got to get off my chest: the author has NO medical credentials. She qualifies herself for the job by stating that her twins were never sick. OK...? She did a bunch of research and wrote a baby book. Heck, I could write a book about taking care of a baby, but there would be one problem...My views are bias. EVERY BABY IS DIFFERENT. Where is the baby food book about the little boy who weighed in at 10 lbs at birth and at 4 1/2 months has already grown out of a swing. Mack weighs close to 20 LBS! now. Where is THAT book? Basically, I'd like a magical book that tells me exactly what I want to hear.
- Any info/tips for feeding bigger babies?
- Any info/tips for getting bigger babies to sleep longer at night? Mack gets up twice to eat now and We would just love to be able to get him back down to once a night like he did before we moved.
- Do big babies sleep more because they're big, or do they sleep less because they need more food (because they're big)?
3 comments:
Well, I don’t have any credentials, either, just two kids and my own set of biases, but here’s my humble opinion about the whole baby-feeding thing: First, the “experts”, self-proclaimed or otherwise, are only worth so much, because not only do they change their recommendations every decade or so, but they can never agree amongst themselves. And even those experts who have medical credentials are still going to have their biases. As far as I’m concerned, parents are the real experts, because they’re the ones with the physical, spiritual, and emotional connection to their kid(s), and they’re the ones who are entitled to receive inspiration from the Spirit on their child’s behalf.
Our chunker HAS hit the 20 lb. mark at about six months old, and despite all “expert” opinions, we feed him whatever we feel will be good for him, and because he yells at us if we try to feed him “baby food” when it’s obvious to him that everyone else is eating chicken crepes or broccoli and rice casserole. So we just let him eat the easily-gummed-up parts of our grown-up food…bits of rice, mushroom, bread, potato, whatever we feel is pretty benign…and we don’t sweat too much if there’s some kind of sauce on it that has soy gasp or pieces of meat or fish gasp, because we feel he’s big enough to handle it. We just give him a little bit to start, to see if anything bad happens, and usually nothing does (or else a mild rash, like Mack and the avo). Then, if there’s a rash, we just remember not to try that food again for a few more months. If there’s some food with bigger chunks in it that he wants, then I sometimes run some through the blender for a minute so that he can eat it with us, adding water if necessary (and he doesn’t seem to mind it looking all mashed up…seems to be the smell that he’s most sensitive about). And with both of ours, we’ve been shocked and amazed at all the things a kid with no teeth can “gum” and digest without any problems. I can’t ever say that what we do with our kids is the right thing for EVERYBODY, because I don’t believe that. I just think parents know what’s best and they should go with their gut and/or the Spirit.
Gosh, we’ve NEVER scrub down the can opener with a toothbrush! You know what I do like in that book, though…the toddler hors de’ouvers (sp?)…never leave me alone with those granola balls, or there won’t be any left for the toddler. Gosh, that’s rough having to worry about fungicides getting into the bananas! I complain about how things work in this country, but at least the US has pretty safe bananas, (as of this morning anyway). You don’t have any yard for growing your own organic junk, do you? Cuz that’d be kinda cool. Good luck. Dang, this is a long comment, sorry! Oh, as far as getting Mack to sleep better at night…with our first, she would wake for a feeding at 3am every single night, so finally at 7 months we Ferberized her…let her cry it out…it only took about an hour of crying for that single night, and that was it…she’s always slept through since then, (except when she had a cold last winter). The crying was sad, we wanted to run in and rescue her, but we forced ourselves to stay away, and we were glad afterwards, and she’s no worse for wear…. The other one would wake 2-3 times a night every single night, and he was sleeping right next to me on the floor… The very night we moved him into his own room in his own crib, he slept through (he was 5 months old). I don’t know where Mack is sleeping in relation to you, but that’s what worked for us, however un-helpful. Most people I’ve talked to seem to think their bigger babies slept longer, but we’ve had one little one and one BIG one and they’re been about comparable, so I dunno. But it sure makes a big difference to have the baby sleep long at night, when it finally happens! Okay, that’s the end of my novel…gotta go fold laundry.
Thanks Shauna!
You're probably right. I should just follow my gut. But sometimes my gut gets confused.
We don't have any space for growing anything. They LOVE their concrete here. I have have managed to start some herbs inside in little pots but that's about it.
Mack has been in his own room since we moved. I didn't see the point in making him adjust twice (the move and the new room). We let him cry durring naptime sometimes. Overall he goes to sleep fine, but thinks he just HAS to eat at night. Evenually we will try the crying at night, but I think we'll wait a few more months for that.
I'll have to checkout those recipes in the back. I'd love to give Mack stuff we're eating but there is no WORKING blender in our kitchen.
My gut gets confused, too. Actually pretty often. :-)
Shoot, they need a DI down there (and out here, too, while they're at it) so you can get a blender on the cheap.
That's neat that you're growing herbs! We've only got concrete here, too, but SOMEDAY...
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