Birch The Big Eater
Baby nutrition is one of the most fun parts of motherhood. And the most messy!! Birch is a very good eater, and he really enjoys mealtime. He’s eating three times a day – breakfast, lunch and dinner – and nursing 4-5 times a day. I nurse him when he gets up for the day, after both naps, and at bedtime, sometimes with a bonus session if he doesn’t nurse well at one of the others. I usually wait about an hour after nursing to do a meal to create some space in his stomach.
Baby Led Weaning Or Purees?
We started out slowly with purees and pouches and have moved to mostly finger foods. I’ve had several people ask me if we were going to do BLW or purees like I have to choose between one or the other. We do both! I think there are good reasons to do both.
I look at pouch purees as the best way for him to get nutrients that would either take me a long time to make myself (ex: beets) and/or foods that he can’t chew all that well but are nice to get in his diet (ex: kale) or foods that we don’t always have fresh but he sometimes gets as finger foods too (ex: mango). But I wouldn’t want pouches or purees to be the only way to eat!
I try to give him veggies, fruits, whole grains, fats, and proteins at every meal, made up of finger foods we have on hand from our own meals. Surprising even myself, I didn’t do much homemade baby food making this time around because most of B’s meals come out of our dinners / leftovers. He’s been a better self feeder than his brother was, and it’s great for us to let him feed himself, mostly hands off, while we either eat ourselves or work in the kitchen/dining room. He’s had flakes of salmon, gnocchi, pasta, beans, fancy cheeses, pulled pork, guacamole, etc. – all from our meals. Plus the usual baby favorites: bananas, blueberries, muffins, scrambled eggs, french toast, avocado strips, baked sweet potato cubes, peas, shredded cheese, macaroni and cheese, steamed broccoli and carrots, smoothies, yogurt, etc.
Blueberries + Muffin Crumbles + Yogurt Pouch for breakfast
Baby Foodie Favorites
Here are some of our MVP items for baby feeding this time around.
- OXO Tot Sprout High Chair // Shout out to our high chair because we love it – for its looks and functionality. I like that they tray is small-ish and easy to clean and the seat is wipeable instead of cloth. Also shout out to the OXO customer service who replaced the old tray for free when it had a sticking issue.
- OXO Tot Sippy Cup // Has a straw for easy sipping, no spill, handles for easy holding. The OXO Tot spoons are also our favorite.
- Ezpz mini mat // This silicone mat suctions to the tray (or any surface) and is a great first plate. Dishwasher safe. Also comes in elephants and flowers! I’m going to order another one soon.
- Boon Feeder // I’ve mentioned this a zillion times, but I had to include it here because it’s been an MVP for those first few months when I was on super high alert for choking. Our favorite thing to put inside is a strawberry!
- Smock bibs // These have been AMAZING for keeping food off of B’s clothes and arms. It’s a lot easier to wash a smock than it is to wash a baby at the sink. They do get a little stained, but machine washing and sunshine help.
- Silicone Bib // Silicone FTW. I put this on top of his smock to keep the smock cleaner and because the pocket is big enough to catch food that he finds later and eats
- Happy Baby Pouches (flavor variety, organic) + Once Upon A Farm (organic, cold pressed, B corp)
Feeding himself oatmeal. This was before the mess really started!
Meals out of the house
Meals out of the house are always the hardest, again I think that’s when the pouches and puffs save the day! I also try to pick meals that he can share with me or bring a whole fruit like a banana too. We love the Lobster high chair for eating out, and also the ezpz mat I mentioned above which has its own little carrying case.
Banana at the pool!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
So cute! Love all the blue-coloured baby products you picked too! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Miche says
Hi! At the EZPZ website, with the code EZPZSummer, it’s BOGO 50% off. I love the tiny cups for open cup training (they have a weight to them which helps them stay upright)
KathEats says
That’s golden!!
Shanae says
I appreciate this post so much! Great to hear your take on feeding a baby as a RD + mom. Do you find the Boon feeder to be a bit large for Birch to manage? The reviews on Amazon are making me a bit hesitant.
KathEats says
It’s definitely big but he gets it. He opens wide kind of like he’s nursing on it? I don’t think I’d want it any smaller because it would be too hard to fit food in there. It’s hard enough shoving a whole strawberry in!
Alexandra Keane says
Thanks for sharing, I have an 8month old and want to start more solid foods and self feeding, but am so terrified of choking! How did you manage that and whats the best way to start – I think he’s ready for real food and grabs at our stuff all the time, but they don’t teach you how to let them feed themselves!
KathEats says
I make sure that nothing I’m offering is the shape or size of an airway. So blueberries get smashed, food is sliced in strips not cubes, and everything needs to be able to be mashed between my fingers (aka the same strength as baby gums). Sometimes they might cough something back to the front of their mouth, but that is different than choking, which is a blocked airway and silent.
Disclaimer: don’t feed your baby anything but liquids – haha.
Laura says
Check out the Instagram page feedinglittles. They have a TON of great info on feeding babies!
KathEats says
Second that! I follow them too.
Kelli @ Hungry Hobby says
We’ve already talked about this but yes to both blw and purées! Baby kal is a great self feeder too which is such a relief after all the drama with his weight gain! Love all the recommendations!
Lauren says
He is so cute!
KathEats says
Thank you <3
Sarah says
i have a 5.5 month old and just starting to make my own baby foods. i’m finding my kitchenaid immersion blender is my most used item! way easier to clean than the vitamix. did you mix breast milk in when you started birch on purées?
KathEats says
Agree! Immersion blenders are so easy to clean. I did mix breast milk in for things like oatmeal o whenever I needed some liquid. That is if I had some fresh milk in the fridge.
AmyB says
That banana picture though!!
Jeanie says
None of the MVP items were around when my kids were babies. I love that Birch likes such a variety of food.
Liz says
When you say that Birch eats mostly components of your meals…do you modify salt at all? I find this age so hard with feeding because I want to make it easier on myself by giving my babies what I’m eating, but I worry about added salt, so I feel like I don’t really have any choice but to make separate things for baby. Any insight on this?
KathEats says
I don’t, but I also don’t cook with a lot of salt or broth/canned soups/other high sodium foods. I know it can hide in things, but it’s not something that I’m so concerned about that I would make two of everything. I don’t salt any of the foods I make just for him though – like scrambled eggs.
India says
I was wondering this too. That’s one of the biggest struggles I have – the no salt part. My baby loves eating and I’d love to feed him more of what we eat!
Lucy says
I wish you would do more posts like this!! I have the EZPZ little mini set with the bowl, cup and spoon. I was wondering if you notice food off that mat tasting soapy? I had read on some amazon reviews that it holds onto soap residue and I ate some food off the little bowl mat and it did taste soapy. I want to buy this mat but don’t want it if you notice a soapy taste.
I was also wondering when you started offering Birch a spoon/fork to feed himself. I have an 11 month old who isn’t interested in the spoon end of his utensils.
Kath Younger says
I haven’t ever tasted soap, but I can’t say I eat off the plate myself. We put ours in the dish washer and have two of them. Birch seems to do fine. And the spoon thing started (as most things do) by accident when he grabbed it and wouldn’t give it back. He’s pretty good with it when eating rice or yogurt.