Creating Little Foodies, Step 1

Food is a major debatable issue when it comes to babies, and I feel like its even more so in areas like Brooklyn, where there's organic everything and wheat-free dairy-free most things. Everyone has an opinion, from your mom to the lady in the elevator to the French; and while I do think there are some very important guidelines set by the American Association of Pediatrics and your own friendly pediatrician, beyond that, listen to your gut. There's no one way to feed any person, so do what makes sense for you and your family.

It made sense for us to start solids around five and half months (as suggested by our pediatrician), right after I stopped breastfeeding and pumping and switched exclusively to formula. We didn't start with rice cereals, just jumped right into puréed fruits and veggies. Bananas, sweet potato, butternut squash, puréed pear, and apple sauce were the favorites at first - later we tried mango, papaya, melon, and the twins loved it. Carrots are good, too, but you have to cook them for awhile to get them super puréed, which we felt was important for them at first.

My non-expert advice would be to not stress about starting solids; don't overthink it. At first, we gave them one "meal" a day, which happened around lunch, mostly because that's when they were in the best mood. At seven months, we increased to two meals and added chunkier consistencies like pureed peas and beans. And by nine months they were doing three meals a day and eating mushed EVERYTHING - meats, veggies, cheeses, yogurt, fruits. 

It also makes sense for us to feed them exclusively homemade meals. But that's mostly because I love to cook and I'm home with them full time - all homemade all the time might not work everyone, and there are a ton of amazing packaged options these days. 

Now that J and N are eating real(ish) meals and drinking cow's milk, I'm having so much fun introducing them to new flavors and seeing what they like and don't like. I've always believed in feeding them wholesome food that tastes good, and I was never afraid to add a little salt, pepper, and other spices to their food (something my pediatrician said was fine, and even advocates - "babies need bland food" is a myth, apparently). They eat three meals a day with milk and they just drink water in between meals. Eventually I'll probably add in an afternoon snack, but this schedule works for us right now.

I'm happy that both babies seem to enjoy food and the ritual of meals, even at their very young age. I hope to keep them on this path of eating wholesome foods and to not consider any food off limits, but to understand the difference between everyday foods and treats, and meals and snacks. This is one of my favorite parts of this whole parenting thing so...stay tuned for more!