Oliver's Menu

I've had numerous questions from parents wanting to know more about baby's first foods.

I'm of the school that grains aren't the best way to start. Rice cereal became a popular first food because it does not pose allergen risk (untrue), it is easy to digest (untrue), the added vitamins and minerals were beneficial (I prefer naturally-occurring nutrients from whole foods) and it is easy to manipulate into different textures for different stages (okay, I'll give you that). With all that said, I don't think rice is a horrible baby food - I just think there are better choices like fruits and vegetables.

Although I am a huge believer in baby led weaning and introducing finger foods for baby to self-feed from a young age, it's not something that works for our family. Because I have a severe (severe, severe, severe) choking phobia that has actually caused me to be on liquid diets and go 24 years without taking a capsule or tablet, I had trouble watching Oliver eat anything more than a puree until recently. Since he has mastered his beautiful two teeth and has proven to me that his gag reflex is sufficient, he has been enjoying finger foods. (I can't say I have been enjoying them however - panic attack!)

I want to share a list of the foods Oliver has been introduced to, at various stages, to give you some idea of what I think is appropriate through the first year of life.

Birth - 5 months old

• Breast milk
• Organic coconut oil - I gave him 1/2 tsp on my finger occasionally to introduce healthy fats. I was comfortable letting him try it early because I had already been using it on his skin since birth

5 months

• Organic green peas, cooked and pureed
• Avocado, fork mashed - I don't buy organic every time because pesticides do not permeate the avocado's skin (studies show) however organic is still a good choice for the environmental sustainability and for the health of the farmers
• Organic mango, steamed and pureed
• Organic carrot, steamed and pureed 
• Organic apple, steamed and pureed
• Organic squash, steamed and pureed
• Brown rice teething cracker - This was more to chew on, I don't think it ever entered his stomach, ha ha

6 months

• Organic banana, fork mashed
• Lentils, cooked and pureed - Hates them

7 months

• Organic sweet potato, steamed and pureed
• Organic apricot, ingredient in an organic sweet potato baby food by Dr. Sears
• Organic peach, ingredient in a baby food by Dr. Sears
• Cinnamon - Began adding to foods for taste, especially bananas and squash
• Organic spinach, steamed and pureed - Loves with pureed apple
• Organic pears - steamed and pureed - Also introduced steamed and cut into finger-sized pieces at 8 months - Loves to chew on them
• Organic broccoli, steamed - Pureed at 7 months, given as finger food at 8 months
• Organic nectarine, steamed and pureed - Great as a blend with apples
• Beef - I had made a super plain hormone-free roast and let him taste a tender piece. I also gave him the stock (the remainder of water in the crockpot after cooking) to puree other foods
• Kiwi, fork mashed (very ripe)
• Organic brown rice cereal (not a baby version with added nutrients, just 100% rice)

8 months

• Papaya, fork mashed - My grandpa is slowly turning Oliver Brazilian when he can
• Egg yolk, cooked - This is dry as heck so he likes a cup of water with it
• Organic strawberries, fork mashed
• Organic turkey, potato, millet, garlic, oregano - Ingredients of a baby food by Dr. Sears
• Plain, organic yogurt with added maple syrup (my own) 
• Organic hummus (chickpeas, oil, tahini, garlic) - He had already eaten sesame seeds off the floor one day when I dropped a bagel so I wasn't worried about seed allergy
• Organic corn - Pureed baby food
• Oranges - Enjoyed sucking on them at Calvin's parents' house
• Organic quinoa, cooked - If I add extra stock or water it makes a soup and he goes nuts for it - Also good "sweet" with bananas or berries
• Blackberries, fork mashed

Oliver turns 9 months this weekend and I have, sadly, noticed he is starting to wean off breast milk. Because of his age I'm not okay with him giving up nursing completely (I have committed to nursing him a minimum of twice daily until 1 year) but I know that part of "on demand" feeding is letting them skip feedings when they want to. He tends to nurse a lot in the morning and evening but during the day when he has his foods he's less interested. Oh, my baby is growing up.

Next thing you know he'll be able to point to the moon when you ask him to (started doing this on Saturday).

If you want to know more about feeding your baby check out my friend Joni's page - Feeding Little Foodies.