I have been thinking a lot about how to feed this wee babe of mine lately. I felt uncertain about how to feed my other babies- opting to forgo the rice cereal, but not totally sure what to replace it with. My first babies ate a variety of fruits and veggies and bits of what we were eating, but I never felt really confident I was on the right path with the best foods to give my wee ones. One of my kiddos loved everything we gave him and my other really would have been happiest on a strict diet of bread and cookies! Later on, we discovered various food sensitivities and issues with food and gut health and I though back a lot to the early foods they had been eating, wondering if a more conscious, nourishing diet might have helped to avoid some of these issues. They hadn't been eating junk certainly, but I just had a feeling that we could have done better during those early months and years of feeding those little bellies.
So during this pregnancy I was just a wee bit preoccupied with thinking about nourishment and food. I didn't read a single book about pregnancy or birth this time around, but I did real lots about food! After our family's journey with the GAPS diet, and the healing we had with it, and with our focus still being on real, local, nourishing foods, I knew that was where we would start with this baby once she started joining us at the table.
But after lots of reading I came to the conclusion that there is no one right way to feed a baby! Babies first food's around the world vary hugely (soups, seaweeds, fruit, fish, eggs, legumes, butter, grain porriges, all kinds of different veggies and meaty bits and bobs!) and reflect local traditions, climates and tastes. All sorts of different foods are good for babies! And yet I also knew from our time on GAPS that having a healthy gut is so integral to good health, and that some foods are especially good at promoting digestive health. Plus, it seems obvious that since these little people are growing so darned fast, they need lots of good nutrients to grow on! So I decided to focus on food that was easily digestible and as nutrient dense as possible.
Thankfully wee Willa is happy to eat it all! Her very first food was homemade chicken broth and she approved! Since then she has tried all sorts of things, but usually broth is a componant- since it is so good for the tummy and such an all-round healthy food. And it is such an easy transition food from breast milk for little taste buds- no new textures to adjust to right away! Now many (but not all) of her meals start with bone broth -which the rest of the family is often eating as well- but with various veggies and/or meats mixed in and mashed up a bit with some healthy fats (coconut oil, butter ghee...) and a little probiotic food like whey from our homemade goat yogurt or some fermented veggies. So far some of her favorites are carrots, squash, leeks rutabagas, onions, meats- including liver (I wish the rest of us could learn to love it like she does!) fish, plain goat yogurt, avocado, banana, fresh carrot-celery juice, cooked apple (and gnawing on a raw one,) banana. She also adores our lacto-fermented pickles of all sorts- which is awesome as they are such a healthy probiotic food- and a great teething toy to boot! Lots of sources suggest egg yolk as a good first food, but they don't agree with Willa's tummy yet so we'll wait and try again later on those.
I am finding now as I am offering her a greater variety of things that usually she can be eating from the foods we are eating and there is getting to be less prep work to feed her. I make a lot of soup for our family, so I can just scoop out some veggies or meat and some broth and then add in other ingredients for the rest of the family. If I am making something just for her I try to make extra and freeze small portions, but already I am needing to do this less and less. She will be eating most of what we are eating fairly soon I think, though we will hold off on any grains for awhile. She seems pretty happy and healthy, so, hopefully we are on the right track.
My favorite resource has been Super Nutrition for Babies which has lots of great information and some excellent recipes- lots of great grain-free ones that our whole family has enjoyed. There is a chapter on baby feeding in the GAPS book which I have kept an eye on too. I also read French Kids Eat Everything when I was pregnanct and really enjoyed it (and it has finally helped me get my big boys to stop snacking insistently and my picky eater to start eating more real food which is something to celebrate!) It isn't specifially about feeding babies, but I was insprired by the variety and approach to feeding little ones that she talked about. Along the same lines is this beautiful website by a french mama- she posts her baby's weekly menu too, which is fun to read and glean ideas from! I also read Real Food for Mother and Baby while I was pregnant and it laid things out in a way that helped me feel calm and sure that feeding and nourishing mamas and little people is totally doable.
I am loving being part of the Feeding our Families discussion with other mama bloggers. Please check out the other posts, and join in on the comments too!
Melanie from Our Ash Grove
Jules from A Little Crafty Nest
Melody from Bespoke
Sarah from Our Island Home
Tonya from Joyful Living
Heather from Shivaya Naturals
Renee from Heirloom Seasons
http://heirloomseasons.blogspot.com
Hello Taisa,
ReplyDeleteI do so enjoy your posts and all you write...so very conversationally and interesting. So many times I wanted to jump in and ask you something and nod in agreement.
With my biggest boy, the first food I fed him was mashed quinoa with breastmilk...he loved it and promptly threw up. After that, I learned a little more and applied some Steiner approaches with feeding the food closest to heaven downwards to the ground. That worked well, though truthfully, my babies really would have eaten what we were eating. I froze cubes of mashed yams and broccoli and thawed them, adding breast milk for goodness sake, but really they ate their own bowls of what we were eating and that extra step was unnecessary. I think perhaps because we waited to feed them until the first tooth had appeared so they were good and ready. Though I am finished with this chapter of my life, I will file away your book suggestions for friends. Lots of love...
xo Jules
Yes, it is easy to go overboard, isn't it? I have not heard of the Steiner method before, that sounds interesting. xo
DeleteDear Taisa,
ReplyDeleteI have wanted to read that book, "French Kids Eat Everything." Thank you for the reminder!
So interesting how different all of my kids have been. Winter boy had the gag reflex until well past a year, and so didn't really eat solids until then! And Sunbaby, he also loved bone broth at Willa's age. I agree wholeheartedly with feeding babies nutrient dense and easy to digest foods!
I have to say, you put that darling photo of Willa first, and I have been admiring it so much! She is such a healthy little beauty- you must be so proud, Mama! ANd yes indeed, I think you must be on the right track!
HUGS
Thanks Mel, we are rather fond of her! And I think you will enjoy the book. I know you struggle with snacks too, and it really has some great thoughts on that. xo
DeleteGreat subject! I loved this post! Thank you for sharing your resources.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sarah!
DeleteHi! I'm visiting through the Feeding Our Families link-up. I have three children. My oldest got rice cereal and baby food, but luckily I decided that my later babies should be eating the healthy food the rest of us were eating. This grosses some people out, but I would often partially chew up little bits of meat or foods and give them to my babies. They loved it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting! I think it makes sense- surely this is what all mama's did before baby food grinders?:)
DeleteYum! Looking forward to reading along!
ReplyDeleteI love that you've figured out your own way and felt the same way about sort of following the general guidelines of GAPS with my second babe. I recall giving her soft boiled eggs and sauerkraut juice and broth and drumsticks as her first foods. She still devours sauerkraut. My first who was a picky eater became a wonderful water thanks to gaps. And the healing is absolutely incredible! Do wish we could stomach liver too! Good for Willa!
ReplyDeleteThis was wonderful Taisa, thank you. You know it is on my mind very much too… (By the way, that 7th tooth never really appeared, so we are still at only 6…)
ReplyDeleteElsa had sauerkraut for the first time a while ago, Chloe was eating at the table (there is a good chance there was nothing but sauerkraut on her plate, she likes it for a little snack) and baby walked up and asked (not with words of course) for a bite.. she took the piece in her mouth, experienced the taste, and ran away! And then she went right back for more and more! She loved it! Which is great, since I so love feeding fermented veggies to my family…