Month 5 Week 1: Solid success

We introduced B to solids today as he's been able to hold his head upright steadily, developed a strong grip, shown more interest in adult food/eating, control over his drooling, and seems to have lost his appetite for an all-milk diet.  Since he checked in at 8.3 kg (18 lbs) last week, we also feel quite comfortable weaning him now.  For starters, I got him wholegrain rice cereal, mixed 1 spoon of cereal with 3 spoons of expressed milk and viola.  He took to it quite well and from what I can tell, the organic cereal tastes like Nestum which I grew up eating :). I plan to keep serving cereal alternating with milk, followed by simple fruit and veggie purees over the next few weeks.  It's fairly easy to get started -  a steamer and blender for preparation, small airtight food containers for storage, and baby food planning and cooking library books for inspiration.

General rule of thumb below, though some moms I know do baby-led feeding and are more "liberal."

(4)-6 months:

• Offer the same solids 3 days in a row to ensure no allergies
• Start by alternating milk and pureed solids for lunch/late morning feed (after he's satisfied his overnight hunger), and then do the same at dinner and finally breakfast/early morning feed
• Maintain 800-1000 ml total daily milk intake (=4 to 5 bottles of 6-7 oz/180-200 ml milk).  Between 5-6 months, no milk should be needed after 7pm (B did this at 4.5 months)
• Once he takes to solids, also offer some water to help with digestion and hydration, esp. during the mid-day
• First foods - give them a runny consistency (add milk or reserve cooking liquid to dilute) as he'll need to overcome his protective reflex that prevents him from swallowing thick solids
• Cereal - rice, maize
• Veg - carrots, sweet potato, yam, butternut squash, pumpkin, potato, zucchini, sweet peas
• Fruits (non-citrus) - avocado, banana, cooked apples, pears
• AVOID - gluten (wheat, bread, rye, barley, oats), eggs, citrus, nuts, dairy/cheese, fish/shellfish, coffee, honey, excessive spice, sugar and salt
• Tips and tricks:
• Offer initial, small tastes (2-3 spoons) with a plastic, shallow weaning spoon - let him suck it off the end first, and gradually, he will learn to swallow without sucking
• Don't worry if he rejects, it may take up to 10 to 15 tries so try and try again 
• Crying in between spoonfuls usually b/c they are frustrated that feeding isn't continuous
• Sit him on your lap to reduce stress
• Don't mix solids with milk in a bottle -- this amounts to force feeding and may cause choking, faster weaning than needed, and doesn't enable baby to communicate 

7-9 months:

• Introduce single portion breakfast with milk, and lunch and dinner meals accompanied by cooled boiled water and diluted juice
• Total daily milk intake (inclusive of milk used for food prep) ~600-800 ml (=3 to 4 bottles of 7-8 oz/200-220 ml milk) with milk primarily given after meals now in addition to the mid-afternoon and late night/early morning feeds, as needed
• New foods - give a variety / coarser texture (minced/mashed vs blended) with iron and protein:
• Meat (usually mix with blander foods e.g. rice, potatoes, and offer at least once a week) - fish, poultry, lean meat e.g. lamb, turkey 
• Veg - artichoke, asparagus, broccoli, watercress, spinach, brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, cucumber, leek, cooked lettuce, parsnip, rutabaga, squash, carob, green beans
• Pulses - lentils, split peas, chickpeas, haricot, flageolet and kidney beans
• Fruit - cooked apricot, blueberry, cherry, cranberry, peach, nectarine, plum, prune + citrus (mixed with other fruits to counteract sugar and acidic content) + dried fruit (mixed)
• Finger foods - soft peeled fruit, steamed veg sticks/raw soft veg, bread, rice cakes + nut butters
• Wheat (pasta, cereal), full fat dairy (natural yogurt, well cooked egg, cheese, soy)
• Olive oil, herbs and spices can also be added now, starting mild, one at a time, as well as finely ground nuts, seeds - amaranth, quinoa, tapioca root, poppy, pumpkin, sunflower
• AVOID - cow's milk (wait till 2 years old), shellfish, soft boiled eggs,  coffee, honey, excessive spice, sugar and salt
• Tips and tricks:
• No need to sterilise everything all the time now
• Offer finger foods and water (in a beaker/sippy cup) in between meals, as needed. Get them involved in feeding themselves to encourage independence and coordination.  Finger foods also help relieve teething pressure 
• Talk to your baby while feeding
• If full, baby will close his mouth or turn head away

10-12 months:

• Establish routine with healthy snacks - 3 square meals a day with the family, eat together but beware his emerging personality (self-feeding, fussiness, food throwing, refusal to eat alone)
• Total daily milk intake falls to 500-600 ml. Reduce late night milk feed and supplement the mid-afternoon milk with finger food snacks and water
• Foods:  Try new things to stimulate appetite and senses, finely chopped and minced. Basically, almost all the food you eat yourself within reason:
• Fiber - peas, fruit, veggie juice. Avoid bulky fiber in brown rice or whole wheat
• Meat - at least one portion per day, wider range of fish - mackerel, tuna 
• Herbs and spices - parsely, oregano, basil, coriander, onions, garlic, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla pod
• Tips and tricks:
• Drop milk intake to allow room for solids.  Keep up water and juice to avoid constipation 
• Offer drinks in cups rather than bottles to help development of baby teeth as cup drinking is much faster - minimising contact with teeth
• Nutritional balance towards strength vs immune boosting - starch, protein, sugar, unsaturated fat for calories and absorption of fat-soluble vitamins
• Lots of energy rich food with fiber, esp. for breakfast (cereal, fruits) - his biggest meal 
• Eat small portions but varied types of food, as often as needed
• Enjoy the possibilities!

Month 4 Week 4: Childproofing creatively

While babyproofing our home, I challenged myself to think about redesigning for both safety and play.  As I've just started, the final result might take weeks (months? years? continuously evolve?) so I'm blogging ideas along the way that expand on the early play concepts from the meet up a fortnight back.

• Children don’t play in order to learn, they learn while they play
• Children need to feel a sense of belonging with the freedom to establish a culture and social world with their peers
• Adapt to children's ideas rather than structure their ideas to fit the adult's. Projects with directions and planned activities are fine in moderation but more time (80% in their early years) should be spent in open-ended, self-initiated free play. Children these days spend too much time in settings that focus on structured educational, enrichment and recreational activities. 
• Emphasize the enjoyment and value of the "process" of playing and creating, more than the finished product. Let children express what they see, hear, feel, think - and then find solutions and modify experiences to maximise creativity. Children should expect to "make mistakes." Accept unusual ideas and solutions - suspend judgment!  
• Facilitate creative play indoors and outdoor:
• Provide long, uninterrupted periods (45–60 minutes minimum) for spontaneous free play
• Encourage children to manipulate the environment to support their play
• Recognize the value of messy play, rough-and-tumble play, and nonsense play as well
• Allow time to explore all possibilities, moving from popular to more original ideas, considering opportunities for challenge and age-appropriate risk-taking
• Draw on everyday problems, observations and objects  
• Provide a variety of materials to stimulate different kinds of play—blocks and construction toys for cognitive development; sand, mud, water, clay, art and food stuff, other loose open-ended materials for sensory play; dress-up clothes and props for pretend play; balls, hoops, climbing places, and open space for gross motor play:
• Provide play-space(s) that allows age-appropriate easy, independent access to explore: 
• Cosy reading corner: Place books into an appliance box surrounded by rugs, pillows, blankets, armchair -- where both adults and children can read together. Use voices for the characters in the books you read. Change a book into a talking puppet. Make up stories!
• Open art center: Put a table next to an easel, tub of playdough, low shelves filled with supplies like crayons, glue, staplers, tape, scissors, cardboard/heavy/wrapping paper, collage materials (i.e. odds and ends - stickers, buttons, beads, scraps, etc.)
• Increase opportunities for rich symbolic role play. Pretend play engages children in the same kind of representational thinking needed in early literacy activities. Children develop complex narratives, link objects, actions, and language together in combinations and narrative sequences
• Change the furniture around and lay out a basket of props, clothes, etc.
• Picnic on the floor instead of the usual table meal
• Turn a chair/table over and make it a boat, car, house, bed, cave
• Modify a corner into the home of the three bears, a rocket ship, a vets office, etc. 
• Build towers and bridges with wooden blocks, tubes, empty paper rolls
• Go outside! Natural landscapes outdoors provide rich, diverse, multi-sensory experiences; opportunities for noisy, boisterous, vigorous, physically active play; physical challenge and risktaking that are inherent in the value of play; rough, uneven surfaces, development of physical strength, balance, and coordination; and natural elements and loose parts that children can combine, manipulate, and adapt for their own purposes.
• Show your appreciation of your children's creativity. Laugh, document, display and discuss often. Share works they are proud of.  Play on their terms, taking an interest, asking questions, offering suggestions, and engaging eagerly when invited - ride the slide, put on a hat, assume a role, etc.
• Accept and love them for who they are!

Sources:

- Mary Ann Kohl's article on Fostering Creativity 

- Let the Children Play: Nature's Answer To Early Learning