Starting Foods

With his 6 month "birthday" came a big milestone--it was time to start introducing some solids!  When we went for his 6 month check up, his doctor talked through several options and gave us lots of great advice.  We decided to do a mix of some Baby Led Weaning (where Cooper learns to feed himself a variety of foods) and purees.  Our pediatrician said that's what she's done with her boys and she gave me some good resources.  She also recommended starting with some higher calorie foods like avocado, sweet potatoes and bananas.  Since Cooper is a tiny guy and his weight percentile has fallen again, she thought some of those would be good starters.

We were so excited to try it out! 

Avocado

The first night at dinner we gave him some avocado slices (sliced up big enough for him to hold and handle on his own).  He liked playing with it and got some in his mouth.  He also just wanted his pacifier a lot of the time.  We did mush a little bit up and gave it to him on a spoon.  He seemed pretty indifferent to the avocado.  Unfortunately, after we finished dinner we gave him his bottle and then he threw up, so we've put a hold on the avocado. I plan to try it again soon, mashed up with a little breastmilk to see if he has the same reaction.  But not a great start to our feeding journey

Sweet Potatoes

After our experience with avocado, I decided to try offering the pureed version of food earlier in the day and then if he tolerated that well we could offer slices for dinner.  This method has worked out well--this way I can sit with him for the purees and we do it as part of our daily routine.  And then at dinner we don't have to feed him--he just plays with the food and sucks on the slices of whatever we offer while we eat.

Not so sure at first...

 ...he realized this is pretty good, so he started bending his head forward to meet the spoon when I brought it toward him...

 ... I love sweet potatoes!  After we finished the jar, I gave him the spoon to hold and play with and make a mess with :)

That night for dinner, he had roasted crinkle cut sweet potatoes and did well with them!

Banana

 He did pretty well getting some bites off as he held it with the peel to keep it from being too slippery

 And then he enjoyed some smaller slices that he could feed himself

Apples

 These were definitely a favorite!  Between each bite he would starting making a "m, m, m" sound and move his whole body.  This was also the first one that Daddy got to feed him which was fun

 Apple slices for dinner!  He did end up choking on these, but was able to get it back up with a little pat on the back.  I read a lot about how to offer apple slices for baby led weaning and we tried them peeled and steamed, but these slices were too wide for him.  We've since tried thinner slices and he has taken those like a champ

We've also now tried carrots, pears, pears & blueberries, peas, and spinach & pear.  So far the only thing he hasn't liked is the peas (which I don't really blame him for!), but we'll try them again someday.  We had originally planned to do more baby led weaning and less purees, but honestly Cooper loves the pureed food and he gets more with the purees, so we'll probably stick with them

This is how he feels when the food is all gone ;)

It's been a fun adventure trying out new foods for him!  I can't wait to see what he discovers next.