As you may already know, I’ve been on a long journey of getting Jasper to eat solid foods. I had intended to share this blog post back when he was about six months old, but honestly, he wasn’t on a consistent schedule with eating and I was feeling pretty clueless.

Now, Jasper is nine months old and I feel much more confident in his eating habits and schedule.

There is so much to know when first introducing solids to a baby, but I also like to remind other mamas (and myself) to keep it simple! Today on the blog I am going to be sharing how we introduced solid foods to Jasper, a look into our daily eating routine, and what has worked best for him and us as a family.

I want to preface this post with saying every baby is different and each family/parent is different. This is to show you what worked for us and maybe help you if you’re feeling a little clueless or maybe you’ve exhausted all options. Please, do not take this as the only way to feed your little babe. As always, this is our experience.

Introducing Solids to Jasper

Like most first-time parents, we were very excited to start Jasper on solid foods. My husband, Mark, and I are big foodies ourselves to having our son join in on the fun was something we could not wait for!

Ya’ll, I had a plan. I dreamed of making my own purees mixed with a little bit of baby-led weaning. Jasper would eat everything and anything I’d give him, and he would love this experience. If you had a baby, then you know things NEVER go as planned. Whether it is the birth of your child or how they will eat, have a plan but leave room for change and be okay with it.

We began introducing solids to Jasper right at six months old. After doing my own research and talking with other mamas who are very knowledgeable on the topic, we decided this is what was best. Prior to six months old, a baby’s gut is not ready to eat solids so waiting until the six-month mark is crucial for later in their life. If you want more detailed info please visit my sweet friend, @madlywholistic on Instagram, she has SO much knowledge on this subject after healing her daughter’s eczema through diet. Again, this is what WE chose. I personally have a lot of gut issues, so I didn’t want to put Jasper at even more of a risk.

His first food was mashed avocado. It took about a week for him to actually eat it, but after a week or two of him exploring avocado we introduced banana. Then sweet potatoes and other soft foods that were easy to mash up. We also gave him these soft foods whole, so he could learn how to pick them up, feel their texture, and feed himself.

After about a few weeks of this I noticed he started to become uninterested and I also felt like I was running out of options on what to give him (that is not the case now…hindsight is 20/20 lol). So, I just stopped feeding him solids. I was making all of this food just to have it go to waste. However, I know he needed to be eating something other than breastmilk, so he could learn how to chew and feed himself. After talking with my husband and doing more research, I decided to purchase store bought purees. We chose the brand Plum Organics. Turns out, he LOVES them. I could literally copy the exact recipe from the store-bought puree and Jasper would not eat it, but he would eat the one from the store. At this point I knew we had a picky eater on our hands.

In the beginning I felt like a failure. I was beating myself up over not feeding him “properly”. When he reality, he was still getting nursed (and still is) every 2-3 hours. I would ask myself questions like, “what if I just did this from the start?” “did I not try hard enough?” “why didn’t I research more”. If you’re a parent, then you also know this struggle. Is Jasper actually a picky eater or did I screw this up? Is something I STILL ask myself. But, at the end of the day I know he is happy, healthy, and most importantly, fed.

Today, he eats much better! I sometimes still feel like he’s “behind” compared to others his age because we started over at around seven-ish months, but nonetheless he is eating much more than he ever has.

At nine months old, Jasper nurses when he wakes up around eight o’clock and then will usually have a soft cooked egg yolk (no egg white) or puree. He will nurse about 1-2 more times before eating lunch which usually consist of some type of puree, banana, avocado, or another soft food (we usually give those to him in chunks so he can learn to grab them himself, feel their textures, and feed himself). Then, he will nurse the rest of the day until it is dinner time. At dinner we all sit down as a family and Jasper will usually eat another puree. If possible, I give him some of our dinner (if it is safe to eat. For example, we had pasta the other night, but he doesn’t eat any grains yet so I sautéed spinach that we also had in our dish). Throughout the day he likes to eat the teething cookies and chew on carrots, cucumber, and celery.

The only things Jasper does not eat yet are grains (even gluten free), dairy, and egg whites. He also doesn’t eat processed foods.

I hope this helps any parent who may feel stuck or alone. I never thought I would have a picky eater but, here we are. I hope as Jasper gets older things will change but for now I am following his lead!

Share your thoughts with me! Comment below or head to my Instagram page (@iamdevonjade)! 

XOXO,

D.J.