Here’s a few shots we did the other day in our kitchen. Look at that sookie face all because she did not wanted to sit on the kitchen bench. Also, did we notice the little strawberry mess on my top? Always a smart idea to wear white x baby x food isn’t it.
How To Increase Your Baby’s
If you’ve always had a child that eats everything at feeding times then consider yourself very blessed. It started off like that for us when we first introduced solids to Nova at 4 months, but she became disinterested in solids altogether during 7-11months due to teething which was incredibly stressful for us as parents. So we found & adapted to a new feeding schedule that appealed to us & it turned out so effective! We added in more snack times in attempt to increase her appetite & it worked. Nova’s intake has increased by large & good eating habits have been restored which makes feeding times easier & more enjoyable for all of us.
If your bub is a selective eater like Nova than try the “+ (plus), – (minus)” method (I totally made this up btw) where you pick foods that your bub favours & mix with those that bub does not favour. For instance, Nova loves berries (+) so I’d add them in with her cereal (-) which she hates. It confused the fork out of her, but she soon warmed up to the combination. It was certainly not as easy when it came down to protein. Plenty of hesitation, rejection & struggle at first just to get her to open her mouth, let alone swallow her food. It took a good 5 days with multiple attempts per day of stressful feeds for Nova to adapt & completely adopt to the new schedule we had created. She finally came around to finishing a meal without a fuss & it’s been quite consistent since. For anyone reading this with thoughts “5 days is short”. Yeah, well try dealing with a child who refuses to eat but is probably hungry AF. Trying to stay committed was incredibly challenging, if only I could cut my hair any shorter Lol
Create An Eating Schedule
I think it’s important to identify & follow your bub’s cues because every bub is different. Start by pinpointing the times where your bub cues for hunger & sleep. That’s exactly what we did, we worked around the times where Nova was most likely hungry for a feed, active for playtime & when her battery was on low. Identifying your bub’s cues will assist with establishing an eating schedule & will also help ease them into a routine. Trial it & see how it goes for bub & you.
We have been feeding Nova exactly every 2 hrs (excluding sleep times) with snacks (only after breakfast & before dinner time) in between . She’s now 1yrs of age & eats absolutely everything we offer to her. She can well differentiate between home cooked foods vs ready-made food jars/pouches now. She’s much happier eating home cooked foods, but will still finish other ready-made foods when given. Her daily solid intake would be about 300g per meal, 3 times daily with snacks & bottle feeds in between.
I will admit it is difficult to follow our feeding schedule whenever we’re out vs being at home due to other distractions. Nova has her comfort zones where she’ll tend to reduce her intake when not in familiar places, but always make up for it when returning home after a day out. Below is Nova’s current eating schedule.
BOTTLE
180ml formula first wake up call in the morning
150ml formula second wake up call
150ml formula right before bed
LUNCH
Option 1: Baby cereal
Option 2: Pancakes with mashed banana/scrambled eggs/avocado
Option 3: Ready-made baby food jars/pouches
Option 4: Blends
• chicken, rice, sweet leaf, chicken stock
• pasta, potato, broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, pork stock
• pork, rice, carrot, pork broth
• pumpkin, corn, chicken, rice, chicken stock
• pumpkin, potato, beef, chicken stock
• winter melon, rice, prawn broth
SNACK
Option 1: 1 Boiled egg
Option 2: Plain yoghurt & diced fruits
Option 3: Smoothie
• strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, watermelon, mango
• coconut water, plain yoghurt, banana, spinach
Option 4: Pressed juice
• celery, apple, orange, cucumber, carrot, rock/watermelon, kale
Option 5: Soft cooked veggies
Option 6: Raw fruits & veggies
Option 7: Puffs/biscuits (especially when teething strikes)
Option 8: Pasta shells (Nova’s happy to eat them plain so I always leave some aside after blends)
DINNER
Option 1: Blends
Option 2: Beef noodle soup
Option 3: Seafood/chicken/pork congee
Option 4: Glass noodle mushroom & chicken soup
Option 5: Fish & soft cooked veggies
What are your bubs eating? I’m always up to try out new recipes.
No Comments