When people ask me about what my girls are eating, I say that they are pretty much eating real food and we are about done with baby food. You should know my life is always explained using euphemisms. I’ve been saying the same thing for months. The truth is we are making progress, but it's much too slow for me, and much slower than I expected.
I started at four months with baby food and they just weren't ready. The practice with the spoon probably helped, but at that point progress was too slow for my sanity. I did want them to get used to flavors and textures and expose them to possible allergens early, so we did a lot of "tasting" foods from out plates. Our doctor told us the AAP recommendation follows research showing that introducing common allergens often and early actually helps decrease allergy risk. Totally interesting, and makes sense! But I totally gave up on food for a time. Nursing was more convenient, but as they kept growing, my supply had to keep increasing. I could do it, but that meant I was feeding them every two to three hours during growth spurts and I felt like I had two newborns again. Along with all the sore nipples. Fun, but I'll pass.
I'm writing this realizing that I am probably not having fun mostly because my expectations are too high. But also baby food is hard. I can nurse two babies in 10 minutes. I have a system. I can multitask with a book, my phone or even eat my lunch. On the other hand, I have two mouths and one hand/spoon (yes, they share). Also, I don't know how normal this is, but Peyton and Zoe don't seem to care much about eating. They will be completely focused for about five minutes until their hunger is barely satiated. Then all they want to do is turn around, play with their straps, talk to each other, eat the side of the high chair, and grab the spoon. They do love self-feeding, but I'm not only going to give them bread and crackers. And about half of the food they feed themselves ends up on the floor. The two mouths, the bibs, the eternal mess, and the steady dip, wipe, scoop, wait, and work to get attention tries my patience more than anything else.
Love,
Lauresa