I’ve learned a lot in my first year of motherhood! Two things being everyone’s journey is different and most of the time people don’t want to share the hurdles they face; which I will never understand. You never know when your struggles can help someone else. For us, one of those hurdles was eating solid foods. I’ve had many other moms reach out to my via dm on my Instagram (@diaries.of.danielle if you don’t already follow along!) to ask how we got to where we are now because they were also having issues with their little one starting solid foods. I figured sharing our experience could help someone else, so this is what we did that helped transition to solid foods.
When we got the go ahead to start solids, I didn’t think much about it. I figured we start with purees and eventually we would start incorporating more solid foods into the mix. So that’s exactly what we did. I did start noticing that when we eventually got purees that were a little more textured there would be some gagging happening. At first it completely freaked me out! I honestly thought he was choking and I would rip him out of the highchair and start trying to pat him on the pack. One thing I will mention is that Mo was a NICU baby (read our NICU journey here) and was known to be a little bit of a choker/gagger. First and foremost it’s important to know the difference between gagging and choking. I will also say that my panicked reaction was not helpful! It freaked me out and I’m sure it didn’t make him feel any less freaked out either. An Instagram page that was helpful with videos on gagging is @feedinglittles. They show you what is normal gagging while eating, it helped me to understand better and what I should expect.
As we continued to practice with different purees and foods, I noticed that anytime food would hit the middle of this mouth, it didn’t even have to be far back, he would start to gag. Something that we had to practice was pushing it to the side of the mouth and chewing, then swallowing the food. Gerber puffs was a snack that I swear helped us through the tough part. I liked that they were small and dissolved after some time of being in his mouth. I would physically take a puff, put it in my mouth and show him what to do. I found he would then start to mimick me. It took some time and I was always on pins and needles, but eventually he got better and better with it. We also used the Gerber yogurt bites as well. I would literally chop them in 4 pieces when we started because I was so nervous!
Once I noticed him doing well with the puffs, we moved onto actual foods that were soft and easy to break down. He loved the three ingredient pancakes and they were easy for him to eat. Every food we tried I would practice with multiple times so he could get the hang of it. I also always and still do cut things into small bites for him. Seeing Mo eat today and to think back to where we started is so crazy! He eats just about everything now, and we don’t have those episodes anymore, thankfully! I’m still very cautious while he’s eating, as any parent should be. It only takes a second and one look away for something to happen, but we have come leaps and bounds from where we started! Below are two recipes for two of his favorites that helped us make the transition. Please always feel free to reach out, us mamas gotta stick together!
3 Ingredient Pancakes
– 1 Banana
– 1 egg
– Cinnamon
Mash up one banana with a fork, add one egg and mix. Check the texture to make sure it’s not too watery. If it looks like it needs a little thickening I will add some actual pancake mix. I add some cinnamon at the end for flavor. Sometimes I’ll add some blueberries as well. So easy to make and he loves them!
Yogurt Bites
– Organic Greek Yogurt
– Fruit of your choice
Puree whichever fruit you have decided to use, we like blueberry and strawberry. I don’t use exact measurements, I kind of just eyeball the two. Mix the greek yogurt with the fruit puree. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and spoon out the mixture into small circles and place into the freezer. I will usually let them sit overnight and once frozen stick them into a tupperware so they’re ready to go for breakfast. These are really good for when they’re teething!
