Carrots-Making and introducing

We tested out carrots last weekend! WOW, I think this might be the funniest thing we have witnessed since Addison was born. I have never seen such weird faces. For those of you who do not have babies, you probably wont care about this post, except for maybe the picture at the end.

Initial Approach (My Idea):

1. Full nursing period
2. Offered cereal and gave her half the normal serving (which is about 1/3 cup powder now)
3. Offer carrots (about half of an ice cube size)...REJECTED
4. Tried to give the remaining cereal...REJECTED
5. Administered gas drops (not knowing how her sensitive tummy will handle all these new foods, we give drops after every meal with solids)
   

Second and Ultimately Successful Approach (Matthew's Idea):

1. Full nursing period
2. Offered carrots--weird faces at first, but after encouraging words she started to swallow it
3. Offered cereal...SUCCESS!
4. Administered gas drops

No allergic reactions to report as of yet.

Key Takeaways:

• Texture not taste: I think it is much easier to believe a baby has a taste aversion than a texture aversion, but after watching Addison very closely as we give her carrots, you can tell it is the TEXTURE she is uncertain of---not the taste. It makes sense, all she has had are smooth foods--milk and cereal! I think breastfeeding her also makes her slightly more accepting of new flavors (breast milk has slight flavors in it based on what I eat vs. formula--not that one is better than the other, just an observation).
• Expectations: The initial rejection may have also been due to expecting cereal. We fed her cereal and then all of a sudden switched to this new food. It's like taking a drink of water expecting coke or something! Next time, we will offer the NEW food before offering any familiar foods.
• Persevere: Since I believe its mind over matter with introducing foods, we must learn to persevere! If she does not like a food after 3 days of consecutive introduction, we will move on to a new one and WE WILL try again several times until it is accepted!!! Perseverance is key with a baby in general and I think breast feeding has taught me that very fast! If we had not persevered throughout all the COUNTLESS bumps along the journey in breastfeeding, I would have given up LONG ago!

Carrot Making:

1. Purchased ORGANIC whole carrots (its important they are organic so that the amount of nitrates is low)
2. Washed and Peeled
3. Cut into chunks
4. Placed carrots into a pot with water, boiled/simmered covered for about 15 minutes (or until very tender; do not overcook--it causes the nutrients to be lost)
   
5. Drained ALL the water
6. Placed cooked carrots into a chopper to puree and added breast milk as needed to reach desired consistency (be careful to ensure all large chunks of carrots are pureed, mine still had one or two small pieces in it since I used a chopper rather than my food processor. It is ok if there are tiny pieces in there, they can be easily mashed up when you feed the food to baby. I left my carrots a bit on the pasty side since I knew I would add more milk to thin them up as she needed)
7. Place carrots in ice cube tray and freeze
8. After they are frozen, I popped them out of the tray and placed them in storage ziplock bags so that they would store more easily---That is it!

*I used about 5 carrots and got about 6 "ice cubes" of carrots

Serving the frozen carrots:

• In the morning, take cube and thaw in the fridge to prepare for lunch/dinner
• During the introduction I only offered HALF a cube so I would cut it in half just before serving
• Pop in microwave about 15 seconds, add milk to reach desired temperature and consistency.
  
• It's that easy!!!

I am off to make more carrots and now...PEAS!!!!!

Introducing Cereal---Looking Back

Addison now takes cereal three times a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner). Babywise suggests offering cereal at all three meals until 1 year and we plan to follow the recommendation. Since her cereal has breastmilk in it, she is getting lots of good nutrients within the cereal so we felt it was wise to take the suggestion of Babywise.

As I reflect upon our journey of cereal introduction and reintroduction there are some things I would do differently. If you are a frequent reader, you know we introduced cereal at 4 months (see previous blogs: Cereal Day 4&5, Cereal Day 3, and Cereal Day One) and then back off for several weeks reintroducing at just over 5 months. Every baby is different, but I offer our story for all the Mommy readers out there who might want to file this information away in case it is needed.

• Increase quantity more slowly: Round one we ramped up the amount offered fairly quickly (day one 1 tablespoon, day two 3 tablespoons, day three 4 tablespoons twice a day, etc.). Round two we spent one week offering only 2 tablespoons ONCE a day. Looking back, it was key for the initial introduction to cereal to be very slow, while the frequency offered could move much more quickly. It was as if she had to learn how to digest it ONCE a day and after that hump---she was good! Ultimately it took us about three weeks to get to three cereal offerings a day.
• Watch for elimination changes before increasing amount and frequency: Round one we did not pay attention to changes in her elimination, period. Round two, we introduced the cereal at once a day, small quantity, slightly runny and waited for three eliminations before making any changes. This way we knew the cereal made it all the way through her system successfully and unclogged.
• Consistency of cereal: During round one, the consistency of the cereal was similar to cream of wheat from the get go. I feel like this was the cause for her stomach issues;it was simply too thick! Round two, we allowed the cereal to be on the runny side until we were serving cereal three times a day.

All in all she enjoys the experience of eating and I believe, she actually prefers it to nursing. I am not surprised she prefers eating over nursing. She has never enjoyed nursing or even the occasional bottle of expressed milk. Addison is too interested in moving on to the next milestone and seeing the world than laying down to nurse or take a bottle. This continues to be one of our few struggles, however I realize we have a great and contented baby and I am grateful.

Blogs coming up soon...

• Introduction to Carrots
• Separation Anxiety
• The Sippy Cup
  

Solids-Take Two, Teething and More

Ever since she has been teething, she has been crinkling her nose when she smiles!

Solids-Take Two

As you may (or may not) have read in a previous post, we stop solids after one and half weeks in and just restarted about 2 weeks ago. Although Addison was psychologically ready, her tummy was apparently not. We reintroduced VERY slowly. We started with 2 teaspoons once and day and ramped up the amount to probably 4 tablespoons over one and a half weeks. We also let the consistency be a little on the runny side so as to not clog her up. We only just recently added cereal twice a day. We plan to hang out with twice a day for another week or so. Since the reintroduction, she has been very gassy and you can tell uncomfortable. The doctor said we will just have to get over this hump, so we are waiting...somewhat patiently :) But, we will get there eventually. I already made her carrots for her first veggie and cant wait to test them out. I will post how I made the carrots once she actually tries them. I know how much she LOVES eating big girl food so I cannot wait to move on to other foods! AND I CANT WAIT TO MAKE THEM!!!!!

Teething

Addison has two bottom teeth coming in. Can this be real? This early? Yes, it is true! I have read some babies don't even notice teething, while others are particularly sensitive. Addison is latter...majorly. I feel so bad for her because she TRIES not to grunt and whine, but sometimes---ya just gotta vent. On the other hand, she has been ULTRA sweet in the moments the teeth have not been bothering her. She has been very uncomfortable since Saturday so I am hoping we are over the hump. It appears that the teeth are almost all the way through the gums. Whew! I tried tylenol, teething tablets, oragel and teething rings. I think she prefers to tough it out without much assistance.

& More

Walking: Addison has been learning to take steps lately when you hold her fingers to stand up, she walks around. Sometimes she will really get going, other times...she just moseys around.
Crawling: She can push all the way up on her hands and sometimes pulls her feet under her, but only scoots a tiny bit. I still maintain she will skip crawling. But, I will not be ashamed if I am wrong :)
Pacifier: I keep forgetting to share about this. For about a month now, Addison can see her pacifer, pick it up and put it in her mouth on her own. In fact, she can find them in the middle of the night in her bed and put them in. It kind of freaked me out the first time she did it over night....I was like "did a ghost do that? No way did a 4 month old just figure that out." Sure enough...she did.
Dreamfeed: After much debate, we dropped the dreamfeed (the 10 PM feeding where she was basically asleep). We dropped it cold turkey and she never skipped a beat. She eats 4 times a day now...every 4 hours. BUT...in order to maintain milk supply...Mommy must do 5 feedings (aka pump...BOO).
Eyes: Her eyes are changing colors. They look green now. Maybe they stay green or maybe they will go to brown as I anticipate. Its been so fun watching them change!

She is just growing up too fast!!! See a few sweet pics below :)

More crinkled nosed Addison.

Grandma Grant made this outfit. The pants are a little long, so this will fit just in time for fall!

Grandma Grant made this outfit too! Its SOOO sweet, unfortunately, it will be too short by Christmas because it fits perfect now! It was intended to be her for cousin who is 9 months older, but it was teensy bit snug...so I was HAPPY we were able to use it, cause I love it!

Her friend Alex...hehehe! He is SO smart!! He started WALKING AT 9 MONTHS!!!

Just testing the sippy cup. She does not like water in it that is for sure! No hurry though, we are just letting her explore!

Mia got her this outfit, I just love it because she looks SO girly!!

Alex and Addison playing again! And they SHARE!!!

Daddy gives the best baths!; look how happy she is!!!

Homemade Cereal Day 4 & 5

Below is a summary of days 4 & 5 of introducing oatmeal cereal:

• Offered up to 4 tablespoons of oatmeal cereal
• Offered it twice a day AFTER a full nursing period.
  
• Addison ate anywhere from 2-4 tablespoons each time it was offered
• She has started to grab for the spoon and put her hands in her mouth during mealtime, but when she does I pull the spoon away and say "no, where do your hands go?" and either I place her hands in front of her on the tray OR (get this) she places them in the appropriate spot.
• I believe the oatmeal is giving her gas, I expected this. The gas doesn't seem to bother her but it is an observation worth noting.
• Sometimes she loses interest in eating and starts jabbering. She is very easily distracted.

So here is what our day looks like:

8:00 AM: Wake to Nurse, offer up to 4 tablespoons cereal
8:45 AM: Play time
10:00AM: Nap
12:00 PM: Wake to Nurse
12:15 PM: Play time
2:15 PM: Nap
4:00 PM: Wake to Nurse, offer up to 4 tablespoons cereal
6:15 PM: Cat nap (anywhere from 45 min to 1.25 hours)
8:00 PM: Nurse and BEDTIME
10:00 PM: 7 oz dreamfeed bottle (she does not wake herself up for this but is still mostly asleep for this feeding)

Next Steps over the next two-three weeks:

• Introduce cereal at all three meals (starting tomorrow).
• Introduce rice cereal.
• Introduce a yellow veggie at the end of the 2-3 weeks (probably carrots, again homemade--YAY!)

Once I introduce a vegetable, I will update the blog again.

Homemade Cereal Day Three

Introducing homemade oatmeal baby cereal day three....

Summary:

• Offered 3 tablespoons
• Offered at one meal (breakfast, 8 AM)
• Cooked oatmeal after I nursed enough for two meals. I refrigerated the left overs for tomorrow.
  
• Nursed both sides then offered cereal
• She loved it, but tried to grab the spoon a few times. We are encouraging her and directing her on where to place her hands on the high chair while she is being fed. Once she has the fine motor skills to feed herself, she can do so---BUT with HER spoon, not the spoon mommy or daddy are using.
• No allergic reactions.

Homemade Cereal Day Two

Today was day two on Addison eating homemade cereal.

Summary:

• Increased amount offered from 1 tablespoonish to 2 tablespoonish
• Offered at one meal (8 AM)
• Nursed on both sides THEN offered cereal
• Used oatmeal I prepared yesterday and then reheated. It did not reconstitute perfectly, but all we did was microwave the cereal for 20 seconds and then added milk to reach the desired consistency. Using a fork, we mashed it up so that MOST (not all) the tiny clumps were gone.
• She loved it again, although you could tell she got very full this time since she nursed both sides before eating cereal.

Little washed out with the flash...

Little blurry without the flash...

Homemade Baby Oatmeal Cereal Food-Take One (Day One)

Today we made our own baby oatmeal cereal and Addison ate it for the first time! Watch out, because I think she FINALLY enjoys eating!!! Only time will tell if her tummy handles the oatmeal well...hopefully it does. See videos, pictures and instructions on making cereal below!

Day One Summary:

• Nursed one side for 6 minutes
• Ate 1 tablespoon-ish of oatmeal cereal (see instructions on how to home make it below); she ate it well and was opening her mouth for more--this means SUCCESS!!!
  
• Nursed other side 4 minutes (and would not take a supplement bottle--so she was full)
• Offered it at one meal, noon.
• She loved it...THIS time. Opened her mouth for the spoon after the first couple of times and smiled LOTS :)
  

Changes for tomorrow:

• We will nurse on both sides THEN do the food, because I think she liked the food more than nursing.
• Today we gave her closer to one tablespoon of cereal. Tomorrow, we will give her a little more, closer to 2 tablespoons.
  
• Today I made the oatmeal and saved a little for the tomorrow in the fridge. I am going to use the refrigerated cereal tomorrow and see if that works.

Her First Bites of Food!! Look at her diving after the spoon after the first few bites.


Watch her face at the end of this video...smiles proudly at her eating abilities, then looks up at Daddy feeding her....priceless.

Daddy feeding her and she was excited!

All done...and looking confused!

It's easy to make your own cereal and the best part---no additives, its all natural!

Step 1: Grind raw 100% whole oats (becomes oat powder)
Step 2: Combine 1/8 cup oat powder and 3/8 cups water in small sauce pan
(we will increase the ingredient amounts proportionately as she eats more cereal)

Step 3: Stirring constantly, bring to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes
Step 4: Separate about desired and add breast milk until cereal reaches desired consistency (amount the consistency of Cream of Wheat). Serve Warm. *
Step 5: FED HER!!! We gave her about 1-2 tablespoons to start with.

*I allowed the oatmeal to cool since I made it ahead of the feeding. Once I was ready to feed her, I popped it in the mircrowave for about 15 seconds to reheat, then added the milk to make it the proper consistency. We had to mash and mix it with a fork to get the mixture reconstituted, but I think it worked fine. There were still a few chunks, but thats ok---I think it helped her keep it in her mouth better. BUT we will see how her tummy feels.