Feeding Excitement - Baby Food Making

I'm so excited! Chloe's actually still sitting next to me in her high chair playing with cracker crumbs as I type. As I mentioned before, Chloe does not like any type of texture in her food. We've experienced vomit at the dinner table a few times. 1 - mashed avocado experiment gone horribly awry; 2 - first homemade chicken experience was a grainy nightmare; 3 - "melt-in-your-mouth" puffs that really don't m-i-y-m; 4 - I actually don't remember the 4th but I'm certain there was a 4th.

We had a visit from the Occupational Therapist on Thursday and she suggested that Chloe's vision issues might be partly to blame for her texture issues. She noted that we all look at our food to see what we're about to put in our mouth and that maybe Chloe just can't see the chunks in her food. She's not expecting them so they surprise attack her gag reflex when they hit her mouth. She also said that Chloe may need practice moving food from side to side with her tongue. I'm skeptical because I know of two other babies with similar issues and neither has vision issues but I'll never throw out an educated suggestion.

We're taking a two-pronged approach to the issue. First, I'm starting off meals with a wash cloth routine. I get a clean and rough-ish wash cloth and rub it up her arm and neck and toward her mouth. Then I rub it on her lips and on the inside of her cheek giving her a chance to reflexively attack it with her tongue. This sort of warms up her mouth for what's to come. Then I crumbled up some saltine crackers and put a bunch on the tray for her to play with. She seemed to enjoy moving them around with her fingers. This is another way to prepare her for what's about to hit her mouth. I then sprinkled a few cracker crumbs on top of a spoonfull of pureed baby food and into the mouth it went. No reaction! We continued this over and over and I even started sprinkling bigger crumbs. At one point she was even doing a chewing motion when a fairly large chunk of cracker went in. And not a single gag! This is terribly exciting! We mixed smooth and crunchy! I can't wait to try again :-D I'm using saltines for savory foods and will try graham crackers for sweeter foods.


And speaking of baby food. I just started making it about three weeks ago and am crazy about it! Thank you to my anonymous friend who suggested lentils. I LOVE giving Chloe lentils. They're helping to keep her regular, too! This is always a concern with Chloe. She seems to have small pipes, if you know what I mean. If you have ever considered making your own baby food I strongly recommend it. I don't know for sure if it's cheaper but I wouldn't be surprised. Plus, you don't even need to buy a fancy baby food maker. I just cook in the oven or stovetop, puree in the blender, and freeze in these handy dandy trays ( http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4312595 ). The next day I pop them out (very easy to do with these trays) and into a labeled Ziploc and then just use the cubes as I need them. The quality of the food is amazing. Plus, I'm able to buy many more organic foods than stores sell in baby food jars. Some of our favorites are:

- lentils mixed with blueberry juice (the juice is leftover and frozen from when I made blueberry puree)
- lentils mixed with canteloupe
- blueberries (I also mix into yogurt)
- nectarines
- plums
- spinach mixed with blueberries
- peas
- peaches
- green beans


I've also made chicken and that wasn't a huge hit but I've been able to successfully hide it in peaches and nectarines. I also heard babies love pears so I bought a bunch of pears yesterday.

I'm using wholesomebabyfood.com as a guide but have also received a couple of recommendations for Annabel Karmel.