New Baby Food

modernhomemodernbaby.com

We have been working with Colby for the last two months on eating cereal and drinking from a bottle. We haven't made any progress on the bottle (this kid can't figure out how to suck on a bottle or a pacifier for the life of him) but we're slowly making progress on the food. He really struggles eating off of a spoon and HATES cereal so I've been trying to find other options for feeding him. In an effort to find different things he liked it seems like I was just creating a bigger distaste for food, especially when he was being spoon fed. I got to the point where I would feed him with a syringe because he had such a hard time with a spoon. He would do okay with the first tablespoon but then when the cereal taste set in he'd get very upset with me. I kept trying to figure out different options with the syringe but I didn't know how I was going to keep doing this when it was time to move onto baby foods that were thicker.

A while back my mom had mentioned that she had seen a family friend feed her new baby food from pouches at a baby shower she had gone to. She though it was the coolest thing, seeing how things have changed since she was feeding little ones. I didn't really think twice about it because I had never seen anything like that and I was so frustrated with how things were going I just didn't want to waist anymore money on food. After getting advice from friends I had been working with Colby on different table foods like carrots, peas and bananas and he did well with them but he couldn't get the knack for chewing or picking them up like I hoped.

In the Easter package my mom sent for both kids she included the Gerber Yogurt Melts for Colby. I was happy to have some on hand because Riann LOVED them and I thought maybe when Colby was a little older he'd like them too. After looking at the package of yogurt melts a million times I thought to myself, "Colby already knows how to chew and swallow his freeze dried Antacid pill - why couldn't he eat these if they were broken up?" So after asking Paul what he thought, we tried them out. Colby was a little unsure of them at the beginning but after a few bites he really seemed to enjoy them. After making progress on those, the conversation I had with my mom about the baby food pouches came back to mind. I thought maybe I should look into them more thinking, "Colby hasn't been a "traditional" kid from the beginning so maybe I should start looking into less traditional ways to feed him". I had looked at the few stores we have here in Rexburg and didn't have any luck. After talking to the friend of mine who my mom had mentioned in our conversation I found that these pouches were sold at Target. Sadly our only Target is in Idaho Falls which is 30 minutes from Rexburg. I had gotten super anxious to try these and I couldn't get them out of my mind. I ended up needing to do a run to Sam's club and using that as my excuse I packed up the kids as soon as Paul had the car home and we set off.

Last night we tried one of the new pouches and it was so happy with the results. They aren't anything amazing in terms of taste. They have odd "flavor" combinations but in general they are just like any other kind of baby food. Colby wasn't sure of the taste at first and he wont eat a ton at each setting but I can lay him in my arms and squeeze a tiny amount of food into his mouth at a time. He has such a hard time eating sitting up because he can't get the food back past the tip of his tongue and so feeding him this way seems to help him eat, swallow and enjoy his food. It's also a lot cleaner for a kid like him because we can keep his hands out of the way and we don't have to scoop up everything he accidentally spits out as he's trying to tongue/swallow his food.

What I love about these too is I don't have to empty them into a bowl and worry about them spoiling before I can get back to it. I just have to warm the pouch up in a cup of warm water, screw off the lid and serve. Then when Colby's done I can put the lid back on and keep the rest in the fridge. We are also able to feel him more often each day with these because he has an easier time eating. With the cereals and other baby foods it was such a pain to set up a meal that I never wanted to do it more than once because I never wanted him dressed when he ate he was so messy. I think I'll be buying a lot more as long as he continues to like this method and as long as he keeps eating. This has been a great change in our routine and so far it has been a great product!!!