The Adventurous Eater: Preparing For Baby’s First Bites

tilly_foodHas your little one been eyeballing your breakfast? Maybe she is reaching out to grab your fork or spoon during dinner. If this sounds familiar, chances are they are ready to try solid foods. First bites are a big milestone in a baby’s life. Often parents begin with rice cereal or baby oatmeal. But today, the bland fare that has traditionally dominated the diet of American babies – cereal, plain pasta, and the like – may be creating a generation of picky eaters. In other words, branching out of the traditional norm and dressing up baby’s first foods with spices won’t hurt your baby. In fact, breastfed babies have already enjoyed this experience as breast milk takes on the flavors of the food the mother eats. If you dine at your favorite Indian restaurant and then nurse, your baby will also enjoy a flavorful Indian meal. Going from flavor to bland won’t seem like much fun to baby. Of course, mixing foods and spices together should only be done after food allergies are ruled out.

When choosing ingredients for preparing your baby’s first meal, one thing that is known is that the organic factor matters more for certain foods than others. For example, asparagus, sweet potatoes, and avocados tend to have relatively low levels of pesticide residue. On the other hand, conventional apples, lettuce, and strawberries have some of the highest levels. For guidance, the nonprofit Environmental Working Group ranks 53 fruits and vegetables from worst to best in terms of pesticide residue.

If you find yourself ready to add Baby Food Chef to your mom resume, consider tossing some some rosemary in with that squash, liven up that chicken with a dash of cumin, and give those mashed potatoes a kick with a blend of paprika and parsley. You may be surprised by your baby’s reaction.

>> Recipe: Simple Apples & Cinnamon

Ingredients:

3 organic apples

Teaspoon of Cinnamon

Directions:

Peel, core, and slice apples.

Add apples to steamer basket and allow them to become soft (8-10min).

Transfer steamed apples to a food processor and add cinnamon.

Blend apples to desired consistency.

Enjoy!

>> Recipe: Apples, Cinnamon & Strawberry Puree

5 or 6 medium sized organic strawberries (washed)

3 organic apples

Teaspoon of Cinnamon

Directions:

Slice strawberries in half.

Peel, core, and slice apples.

Add strawberries and apples to steamer basket and allow them to become soft (8-10min).

Transfer steamed strawberries, apples, and cinnamon to a food processor and blend to desired consistency.

Enjoy!

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Before You Use the Bumbo Seat…

Hazel sitting in her Bumbo Seat for the first..and probably the last time.

Hazel sitting in her Bumbo Seat for the first..and probably the last time.

This one-piece, adorable little seat called the Bumbo Seat is made of foam, and has been popular among parents with infants for several years. Its popularity is no surprise – as soon as an infant can support his/her own head (usually by 4 months of age), he/she can sit upright, fully supported by the Bumbo and play with arms free while mom and dad finally get some stuff done.   It seems harmless enough, but in addition to its voluntary recall of 1 million Bumbo seats in 2007 to address the dangers of using the seat on raised surfaces, and its recall in 2012 to add a seatbelt after numerous babies fell out and suffered skull fractures, pediatric physical therapists believe it interferes with normal motor skill development.

Rebecca Talmud is a Pediatric Physical Therapist who published a blog about the Bumbo Seat as a guest on Mama OT. She describes the following as standard motor milestones in developing infants:

  • Between 6-9 months we expect typically developing children to begin to sit upright on the floor for short periods of time, first using support from hands and later independently.
  • Between 9-12 months, we expect children will begin to gain more control in seated position. When seated on the floor, they will begin to turn their trunk to reach and manipulate toys placed around them.

Rebecca states, “When children are placed in the Bumbo before they are developmentally ready for sitting it can interfere with the natural progression of skills.”

How exactly does it interfere? Rebecca explains that the seat claims to hold the child in a specific position that allows for the ‘active practice of the head and postural control,’ when in reality, there is no active control being achieved. The child is passively placed in position and then locked in.” There is a lack of muscle activation and joint mobility while in the Bumbo, and no natural weightbearing occuring, which robs the child of the sensory input needed for development.

Talmud’s post goes on to mention other inconsistencies between what the Bumbo claims to accomplish and what actually happens during use in regards to posture, noted in the Chicago Tribune by Mary Weck, Clinical Coordinator of Physical Therapy at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Seems a no-brainer to toss your Bumbo Seat so it can join the ranks of other failed and unsafe baby equipment. Instead of a Bumbo, help your baby practice sitting by physically sitting with your baby. If you need to get stuff done, make use of a Moby wrap or Ergo.

Check back later for the lowdown on the ExerSaucer!