Introducing solid

Bub is close to 6 months but I actually started him solid 3 weeks ago. Have tried offering him quite a variety of foods already and he enjoys most of them. But when it comes to apple puree, I have a challenge here. The texture does look smooth but when I feed him, he coughed as if choked. Then he tended to just suck the juice leaving the refuge on the spoon(well not exactly refuge but I guess apple puree is not as smooth as pear puree in terms of texture?). Same case for carrot. Does anyone have similar experience before? Is there anything I can do before the blending process to get rid of the refuge? Or is bub simply isn't ready for it yet? (but apple is supposedly one of the first foods to introduce right?)


I have so far been introducing rice cereal, banana, pear, sweet potato, squash, apple and carrot. Would love to know how you mix and match the food to make different combinations and that taste good too. Any advice?

Sorry I used the wrong word. I mean the roughage of the fruit which is hard to digest for baby. Appreciate your advice!

Yes I cook all the fruits I gave him. I cooked the apples until soft, and then put it in the blender. Still I think it's not soft like the pear when pureed.

Nicher - your bub is almost the same age as mine. I've just introduce him solids 2 weeks ago. If he can take in pear, he should be able to take apple just as well.


What kind of apples are you using? Try to use organic apples and the really red ones cos they are sweeter. I first use the normal apple and my bub grimaces at first taste. I tried it myself and boy, it was quite sour! Cook them till really soft though and blend (which is what you are doing already).


I've also let him eat avocado and he prefers to eat it with some milk in it since the fruit is quite thick. For this, I did not cook it but give him the raw fruit.


So far, I've not mixed any fruits with rice as I want him to experience the various tastes with fruits. Unless he cannot finish his rice cereal (which is rare), I'll just mix the remainings with the fruit. For vegetables, I've mixed them with rice cereal - carrot/rice, cauliflower/rice, pumpkin/rice, sweet potato/ rice.


If you like to know about other vegetables that you can use, try to purchase the Gina Ford book on weaning. It's quite good.

Hi Bellybutton - I am actually following Gina Ford. My baby started on rice cereal and he likes it. He can eat up to 1 table spoon just cereal. But when I introduce him new food (esp fruit), he also grimaces at it so I have to mix it with the cereal to dilute the taste, and then gradually increase the portion of the fruit when he accepts it better and better.


For the apples, I have been using the very red Washington apples. I esp choose the softer ones too. Do you think it's possibly too sour for a baby?


I have not tried avocado yet worrying that he may develop a sweet tooth and rejects veggies. But I gave him banana which is the same good treat :)


Do you feed him milk first and then solid or solid in between milk feeds? Sometimes I feel like he doesn't eat much because he's prob full after milked. He always fails to take in the amoung Gina suggests. I have trouble controlling his milk intake as I breastfeed and I seldom time him now. I want to make sure his milk intake is sufficient while at the same time get him used to a portion of solid in his meal.


Another challenge to me is that he is very impatient in his high chair. So even though he may be capable of eating more, he's just too bored staying there for 20 min, lazy to open his mouth/ struggles to climb out of the chair. So ends up just taking half the portion. I have to get my helper to distract him with rattles behind me so he can look up and let me feed him. It's so exhausting for everyone. How do you deal with this?

I'm using Gala organic apples. They sell it in Wellcome. It may mean that your baby doesn't like apples. Mine doesn't like sweet potatoes and he kept spitting out. I've stopped giving him that and will try at a later stage. Try giving your baby another fruit instead and use apples perhaps a few weeks later after he has taste other variety of food. He may be more receptive to it.


Right now, he's coming into the end of his 2nd week of weaning, so I'm feeding him 120ml of milk, followed by solids. After his bath, which is approximately an hour after the beginning of his milk, I'll feed him the balance of the 120ml. What I've done during the weaning process is I stop direct breastfeeding, but instead, pump it out, just to make sure that he has the right amount. I know what you mean that it's tough to control the milk intake when you do direct breastfeeding. You might want to start thinking about doing it.


I prop my baby on his rocker (it's like the rocking chair) cos it's his favorite seat. He does wriggle out of the chair now and then so, I'll have him sit on my lap and I'll feed him the rest. Also, sometimes, he doesn't like it if the food turns cold. So, I'll have a bowl of hot water on the table which I can use to warm his feeding bowl. During each feeding, I'll encourage him by doing lotsa silly stuff - exclaiming "yummy!" regularly, singing a "mealtime song" and looked really happy and pretending to eat his food (quite embarassing when the helper is around, but who cares if it helps your baby to eat :O)! So far, he finishes his food plus first milk feed all within 20-30 mins. I'm avoiding using toys or television to distract him cos I don't want to start a habit of him playing or watching tv while eating. Sometimes, my baby will get bored and impatient if he's fed too slowly!


Oh! one more thing, feed water between the feeds as my baby will sometimes wriggle out of his chair if he's thirsty - a signal to me!

Nicher, I started my second child--at about 5 ½ months--with rice cereal/banana, once a day for about two weeks. At 6 months, I introduced other fruits (all peeled but RAW – he is okay with it, taste/digestion wise) and veggies and he was on two meals a day. At 8 months, he started having 3 meals a day and at 9 months, I introduced cooked white rice, lentils and egg yolk. Now his breakfast is a combo of pureed (raw) fruits, lunch comprises cooked rice, lentils and egg-yolk and dinner is generally a combo of cooked veggies. I do not breastfed immediately before/after his meals (never did, even in the beginning) - he has 4-5 feeds interspersed during the day, in addition to the night feeds (yeah, even at 9 months, SIGH) .


What is your child's intake per meal? At the moment, mine takes in upto 170g per meal (slightly less though--around110g--at 6 months). I guess if your son is already full after a breastfeed, then it is only natural that he will not be very enthusiastic about eating solids – hence, the restlessness.


As for food combos, I do not follow any particular book. When my little one began refusing foods like pureed spinach, unless I added formula to it, I began adding a slightly sweet veggie to a bland/not-so-pleasant-tasting one, eg. sweet potatoes to spinach. This seems to be working now. I have not had problems with solids but with water/juice. My elder one began drinking juice/water only after he turned one. The younger one also seems to be following in his brother’s footsteps – just pushes away the sipper.

I guess food turns cold is another issue too... hm I may as well try your method and place a bowl of hot water nearby to warm the food again from time to time.


For his two meals with solid - my helper bottlefeed at lunch and I breastfeed in the evening after I return from work. I don't want to replace the evening one with bottlefeed coz am worried about the decrease in my milk supply. But I'll let him finish half the milk first and then solid and then the rest of the milk method. See if it works better.


Another reason why he becomes so fussy (esp during evening feed) is coz he is getting sleepy. He wants the feed to be done quickly so he can go to bed. I may as well switch the solid earlier before bath time so he just takes the milk before bed time.


I'm amazed how you can just fit him with him sitting on your lap!! I tried that too but he just kept grabbing the spoon and the food just spilt over everywhere but his mouth. It's too messy that I had to pop him still in a chair with another person gently pressing his arms. I also tried singing and pretending to eat for him to follow. He looked amused at the beginning but soon lost interest. Didn't want to switch on the TV too as you said it's bad habit.

I try to make sure that he gets his nap before his 6 pm feed (at least half an hour which normally starts between 4-430pm). He'll wake up at abt 5 pm, play a little and ready for dinner by 6pm and sleeps at 730pm. His schedule is a little off from Gina Ford's, but at least, he's happy with it!


I know what you mean by the messiness. My bub grabs the spoon too and I have to try to direct it to his mouth. I've given up making sure that his face is kept clean. But I have to say that he's getting better in putting the spoon straight to his mouth. I take it as if I'm training his motor skills!


Btw, when I scoop the rice to his bowl, I tend to put in a little more to compensate the spit ups and spills!


Good luck and let me know if it works better!

Thanks for the tips bellybutton. Sure will have lots to share with you on this haha. Mine is also off Gina's routine. He usually sleeps at 8 sthg (I intentionally moved his whole routine 0.5 - 1 hr ahead so that I can make it for the eevning feed after work and play with him a bit before he sleeps). I'll let you know how it works/ PM you the progress :)

My intention is not to take over this thread with advertising but you might be interested in knowing that I am teaching a course on healthy cooking for infants at the YWCA (English members department) in June. It covers topics such as when to start solids, how to puree and freeze, some ideas on finger foods and when to start and which foods to introduce during each month of the first year. I will demonstrate some recipes for 4-6months, 7-9 months, 10-12 months and 13-18 months using fresh fruits, vegetables and cereals. I want the course to give some knowledge and confidence to mothers on using fresh ingredients and their benefits.

I am a mother of two and a passionate cook and believe that good dietary habits start from when solids are started.

Have a look at this website or if you have any questions you can send me a PM.

http://esmd.ywca.org.hk/

Course title: Healthy cooking for infants

Course code: MI001