Summary – First Month

It’s been a long four weeks, but it’s also gone by really quickly. Malina’s food adventures are really just beginning to start and take off as we get through the allergens we can introduce more and more combo foods and different things.

Speaking of allergen foods. The plan was to have introduced four of the major eight food allergens by now and instead we’ve managed to introduce six of them! We started with eggs, our second week introduced dairy, our third we kinda double dipped into soy and wheat, and finally this last week we tackled fish. During this process though we’ve occasionally given Malina Peanut Bambas as a snack and she loves them. And that covers her peanut introduction, though I’ll probably do a week for it still unlike wheat.

During this time we’ve also seen her develop favorite/preferred as well as disliked foods.

For fruits: she likes raspberries, bananas, and mandarin oranges.

For vegetables: she likes broccoli, potatoes, and carrots.

For meats: she likes sausages, trout, and turkey.

Her favorite snack are the peanut bambas. She also really likes yogurt and whipped cream.

And she loves water.

During this first month we’ve introduced 55 foods to Malina. Of those she’s eaten some of them, sorry I just don’t have the time to go back over and count them right now. This means that she is about halfway through her food challenge, but that doesn’t mean she’ll stop getting new foods even when we get to 100 (which might be sooner than I thought).

This last month has been so exciting and fun. My favorite moments have been watching Malina achieve new skills and showing that she likes certain foods.

I look forwards to next month as we finish up the allergen introductions of peanuts, tree nuts, and shellfish. Once we’ve done all of these and seen no reaction we can relax a bit and enjoy this adventure. Plus next month is our last month of only doing breakfast! So in another month we will be starting lunches as well and that is both exciting and scary (meal planning is going to become imperative).

So that summarizes what we’ve done in the last month and what we have to look forwards to as we continue on.

As always, please remember that you’ve got this and you are doing great!

-Erica

100 Foods by 1

There is a food challenge for introducing foods to baby. It’s called one hundred foods by one.

This food challenge is just that. A challenge.

It’s not some necessary thing. It’s not a “if you can do it you’re an amazing mom” thing. It’s not about shaming moms who can’t do it for one reason or another either.

Premie babies don’t always start solids at the same actual age as their peers. A lot of them and their parents wait until their adjusted age is 6 months. Then there are the babies with allergies. It’s difficult to introduce 100 different foods when baby is allergic to entire groups of things. And that’s without getting into reasons such as money, resources, time, etc.

This is a challenge that you can not do or even start and not finish and you’re still a good mom. I promise. Honestly, it’s more a “fun” challenge than something to stress over. With a baby you don’t need any extra stress, but if you approach it as fun then it might help with things.

For me, this challenge is fun and gives me more ideas for foods to introduce to Malina. Foods both a part of our culture and not.

When I did all my research into baby led weaning I also looked into food introduction around the world. It’s interesting the types of foods that different cultures introduce as a first food to their babies. In France they focus on vegetables, in several different Asian cultures they start with rice porridge, in our own Hispanic culture we introduce beans, tortillas, and rice early on.

It was while doing my research that I even came across this challenge. And even then, depending on the source or even the person the challenge lists different items and rules on how to complete it.

For example, some people only count eggs once. It counts as one thing no matter how you cook it, but it does not count if it’s an ingredient in a larger thing such as a muffin.

Because of arbitrary ‘rules’ like this the challenge gets very complex, convoluted, and confusing.

I’ve seen entire arguments between different moms arguing for why they think a scrambled egg should count separate than a fried egg or omelet. I’ve seen the same mom told all types of mean things about her choice to count that way.

In the end, you can count however you want though. This is a challenge and not something anyone’s going to tally up and tell you if you passed or failed.

The actual goal of this challenge isn’t really 100 different foods either.

The actual goal is to introduce different textures, different tastes, and just a variety of things. It’s about expanding babies pallet early and opening a door to what everyone hopes is a good eater who likes a diverse array of foods and isn’t picky.

Though there are no guarantees that this will be the case. I’m sure that everyone, even as as adult, has had a phase where they want only one food and eat it without getting fed up (It’s pasta for me).

There are so many different vegetables, fruits, seasonings, meats, and just foods in the world. Different cultures cook on different ways and have different things to offer outside of what you might consider your norm.

Lotus root is amazing for example, but I’m so used to eating it in Thai and Japanese food that I wouldn’t expect to eat it outside of those cultures plates (though I have seen it elsewhere and it’s still good). So when I decided to introduce lotus root it will probably be in a dish from one of these cultures.

My husband is El Salvadorian. In his culture there is yucca (casava) root and it is served in a traditional dish. I’ve only ever had it in this dish and it will be how Malina is introduced to it as well.

Neither of the last two examples are on any of the hundred food less I’ve seen so far. Which is further proof that there is no right or wrong way to do the challenge.

So it’s up to you if you want to try it out and if it’s something that you feel would be a good addition to your baby’s food introduction journey.

Again, this is not something that is mandatory. It’s for fun. So I hope you and your little one have fun with it like we plan to.

So remember, whatever choices you make, you are still doing great and you’ve got this!

-Erica

Day 7 – Allergies

So, yesterday we had our first allergic reaction. Malina is fine and it was a mild one. It might not have been food related either, but we are going to be safe here and take the day off from solids before continuing probably tomorrow.

For those wondering, this was the timeline we had.

Malina ate breakfast @8:20am

10:30am- We go out to grocery store and she chews on her wrap that I wear her in, as well as the car seat strap covers, and her car seat toy.

11:45am. We get back home and I notice a red spot on her neck above her shoulder and under the corner of her jaw. It looks like it might be a big bite but I check the rest of her and she seems fine. I also take her temperature and it comes back normal.

2:30pm Malina wakes up from a nap and I can see that she has broken out with an eczema rash all over her chin, upper lip, and neck.

Over the next five hours the rash gets redder and then slowly goes away until it is gone around 8pm.

Checking her this morning showed that she had completely cleared up but we are being cautious and taking a break from solids today.

The chart I keep handy about allergic reactions is as follows. The chart is a guideline and is not medical advice or meant to replace medical advice.

It’s also important to listen to baby and what you feel is right. There were a few moments when the rash first showed up that I considered going to a walk in clinic, but Malina was fine and so I watched and waited. That might not be the case if it happened again and I might do things differently. But I trusted myself and listened to her.

So back to what happened.

If this was a reaction to the food it was super delayed. That does not mean it can’t be the food but there are too many other things to rule it out one way or another. Malina started using a new lotion on Wednesday. I wore a face cream yesterday to help with my eye. There are too many factors, so taking a break will help and when we start again on Saturday we will focus on dairy to see if it happens again.

This type of eczema rash happens a lot in my family to the babies and kids. It is usually a reaction to acidic foods getting on the skin. Yogurt is acidic and it definitely got everywhere that Malina got her rash. So moving forwards I’ll pay extra attention to acidic foods and skin exposure.

Everyday is a learning experience with a baby. There is so much you plan for and do as preventatives but there is nothing all those things can do when you are faced with a problem. Once we figure out what caused her reaction we plan to take that info to her doctor and go from there. Hindsight is always 20/20 and with a baby it stings all the more. Still it’s important to remember that I am doing my best and that I need to trust myself because she trusts me.

So you remember too, you are doing great and you’ve got this!

-Erica

Quick Summary of What I’ve Learned About BLW

So in my reading, research, and anecdotes from other Mamas/Papas/Caregivers I learned a lot about what BLW is.

Basically, baby eats what you eat.

More complex is, baby needs limited salt and it is suggested that you also limit sugar and spicy foods but neither is mandatory.

Aside from that you avoid honey (even if it’s been baked or cooked, because botulism poisoning is really bad and not worth the possible risk) for the first year and avoid whole nuts, popcorn, unpasteurized milk products, and raw/undercooked meats (including eggs unless in UK where they have Red Lion stamp) until age 5. Reasoning behind 5 years old seems to be related to further development of esophagus reflexes as well as immune system improvements. But I’m not a doctor and so if the general consensus is to not do a thing I’m going to try and follow it.

This is the info-graph I reference when in doubt or when I need a refresher:

From The Beginner’s Guide to Baby Led Weaning Facebook Group

The other important thing is how you cut and serve foods. You want pinky finger length and halved width size pieces in the beginning when baby does not have pincer grasp and then later you upgrade to small baby bite sized pieces (think small cubes) when baby can use pincer grasp, somewhere after 8 months old.

Again I have nice references I use for this from Jenna Helwig’s book “Baby-Led Feeding” –

After that things get more varied opinion wise. What I’ve taken away though is as follows: experiment with seasonings (minus salt, sugar, and spicy spices), experiment with textures (for example, baked is different from steamed) and that does also include smoother and chunkier purée type foods, and just let baby try things over and over again because sometimes they don’t want the carrot unless it’s smooshed, cold, and covered in rosemary.

Also, relax buddy. No one has the right to tell you how to do this or judge you for your choices, it’s hard enough doing that to ourselves as parents.

You are doing great and you’ve got this!

– Erica