Mommy Tips From the Trenches: Feeding Baby Their Very First Foods

Now that Claire is 6 months old we have ventured into the exciting world of solid foods! Feeding baby for the first time is so much fun, each bite, each flavor, is a new and exciting experience. It can be daunting for some people though so I thought I would share some tips I have learned along the way

* Make your own puree's! Trust me it is easier then you would think and you save so much money! Simply get out your blender and chop up some fruits and our veggies! This way you know exactly what is going into your baby, pure, good, whole food! No fillers  or additives

* mix breast milk into your prepared baby food to reach the desired consistency. Unlike water it will add important nutrients and a familiar comforting flavor.

* make it fun let them play, learn, touch, feel and experience new textures. Baby will instinctively want to put his/her hands in their mouth with the food....let them! It is all part of the learning process

* Bumbo seats with tray attachments are very handy, take up less space then a high chair, and are easily portable

* The Baby Safe Feeder is an uniquely interactive way of letting baby safely experience new foods on their own. It is a mesh bag with a handle attached. Simply add a fruit or veggie to the mesh bag and let baby chomp away!

* frozen banana's make a yummy treat for sore teething gums, we put some in Claire's Baby Safe Feeder and let her NOM NOM NOM away

* if your baby is prone to constipation beware of foods in the BRAT diet (banana's, rice, apples, and toast) as these foods have a constipating affect and are often used to dry up diarrhea

* make your own rice cereal! Store bought rice cereal often contains additives such as wheat and milk proteins which are very common allergens. It is very easy to do: just grind up 1 cup of brown rice in a food processor until it is in powder form. Toss that powder into 1.5 cups of boiling water, give it a stir, cover and let it sit on low heat for 20 minutes. You now have a rice porridge base that you can freeze or keep in the fridge. Simply add warm breast milk to it when you are ready to use it

* babies love herbs! Try adding some mint to your peas, or basil to your avocado. It may seem weird but babies have a much bigger flavor palette then we think. They taste all we eat through our breast milk, so why would we think they would want to eat bland foods? Claire loves basil!

* most important tip of all....embrace the mess! Strip baby down to just a diaper and let them get messy. Then you have a fun bubble bath to look forward to when its done!