Saturday, December 27, 2008

Follow up to the JUST EAT IT post

After my recent post and talking to several people about my frustration with my picky eater, I got a lot of really good suggestions. Here are the conclusions I've come to.
1. I waited too long to introduce table food to him. Too late to fix now, but I will learn from my mistake. My next baby will not eat Gerber baby food. I plan on making all her food so she doesn't get too used to the smooth texture of Gerber purees.
2. When he doesn't like a food, I need to try it again at least 3 more times before moving on to the next one, to give him a chance to get used to the texture. So spaghetti O's it is for the next 3 days!
3. I need to let him start trying to feed himself. This one is a hard one for me because I don't like the mess he makes, but after talking with a few nurses last night at work they convinced me that I need to let him play with his food and start trying to feed himself, even if he does make a mess.
4. I need to cut way back on the bottles. If he fills up on milk or rather formula, he isn't going to be as motivated to eat food.
5. As for not liking regular milk, I am going to try a few things; soy milk, and whole milk blended with banana like a smoothie.
Today at lunch I decided to give the self feeding thing a try. I stripped his shirt off and put him in his highchair with the food (in a bowl that suctions to the tray so he can't throw it) and let him have at it. He made quite a mess as I suspected, but I was quite surprised that he actually did seem to eat better this way. I still hate the mess, he had to go straight into the tub afterwards, but I think he will make some progress if I let him feed himself. Maybe just one meal a day for now though, he can't be taking 3 baths a day.

I wonder if he will be left handed or right handed. He held the spoon in his left hand, but he put the food in his mouth with his right hand.

15 comments:

Tina in CT said...

Looks like he really is enjoying those spaghetti o's. A hint for the floor is to put newspaper down or an old towel.

As for the mess, give him only a very small amount and when he has eaten that, give him more.

He's at the age now that he is starting to show independence and feeding himself is a start. Just hang in there as he'll get better at it.

Natalie said...

He looks like he had a blast! That is soo messy though. I would HATE to have to deal with that. It would be soo hard for me to watch. Hats off to you for that one.

Amy said...

He looks like he is enjoying that! It doesn't look like he is as picky if you do it that way. I used to give my kids the less messy stuff (cereal, little fruit pieces, etc)to eat themselves and "help" with things like spaghetti o's. Did he let you help?

Rachael said...

Hahaha. You are too funny. Talk about jumping in with both feet on the letting him feed himself. Spagettios? I probably would have let him try something less messy until he was a little more skilled. But, hey, if you're going to give him a bath anyway, why not?!

PrincessGreen17 said...

I'm glad you got some advice. I'm learning a lot about babies here! :) My boyfriend's niece is almost 6 months old and I saw her eating baby food last night. I think it was just applesauce.

Natalie said...

If you really do like that tree skirt, they have them online for the same price, but they also have them in a limish green and a rustic red with the shiny beads, but they have some other ones too that are pretty cute. When I was looking for a cute tree skirt, they were all really expensive. I would rather pay just a little more and get a nice one than an expensive one from target or meijer or something like that!

Ellen said...

I wish I could offer some words of wisdom! It seems to me that you are doing the right thing. Such a good mom! :)

Shanna said...

Sounds like a great plan. I remember those days of self feeding. Mine are 3 and 4 and still look like that with spaghetti sometimes!

Carie said...

Oh, but he is so cute with the mess on his face!

Paula said...

You are a brave one to put a spoon in his hand and spagetti in front of him ! Looks like he had a great time. I think all of the advice was great.

Francie said...

I love your new blog header! What a cute picture! I think that new camera of yours is giving you some inspiration to take a ton more pictures! Am I still going w/ you to the class?

TwoRing said...

Lori!
Thank you so much for your blog comment! I would absolutely love to photograph your little cutie! Your family is adorable too-maybe some family shots would be in order too!? =)

Jill

Rachael said...

Hey, I tried to call you back but you're not answering. I want to see the slide show you made for Kristen!

I like your new lay-out too, and I'm uber-impressed that you did it all by yourself! :)

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