On Friday evening after Mike got home from work we decided to let Chloe try solid food for the first time. I mashed up a little bit of avocado and mixed in some breast milk to thin it out. We were both so excited that Chloe has now reached this exciting new milestone and we couldn't wait to see her reaction as she tasted the avocado for the first time. Right away we could tell that Chloe was not thrilled with the taste! She made the cutest, funniest faces and after a couple tastes turned her head away to signal she was done!
Tuesday evening we decided to give solid food a try again. This time we used banana and let Chloe feed herself instead of pureeing it. It was so much fun to be able to sit back and let Chloe have control. I loved seeing the excitement and curiosity in her eyes and she experienced the texture of the banana in her hands and tasted its sweetness on her tongue!
Mike and I have been going back and forth between the idea of making Chloe's baby food ourselves or trying the baby led weaning approach to solids, but after experiencing both we know the right thing for Chloe and for us is to let her feed herself. Right now food is just for fun and will continue to be for fun until she's a year old. Chloe will still be getting the majority of her nutrition from breast milk. I know the older she gets the more food that will make it into her mouth instead of on the floor!
In a few days we are going to be trying avocado again but this time I will cut up a big enough piece for Chloe to hold by herself and just simply let her experience the texture and taste all on her on. I have a feeling she will like the avocado much more this way!
For anyone interested in learning more about baby led weaning or about making your own baby food here are a couple of links I found useful:
She is such a cutie! I would just start with solid food for snacks. Then she will reach a point where she will refuse anything but adult food. That's what Sydney did. One day she just refused formula and from that day on she got whole milk and whole food.
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