The Diary of Mom Lucia, Part 3: Introduction of solid foods

The first swaddling of the baby, the first bath, the first ride in the car and in the stroller, the first time in the carrier. There are a lot of these first things in the first month of the baby, which happen very quickly one after the other and you can't wait for each of them to come. And then there is the introduction of solid foods. The visiting nurse usually mentions that she can visit you when you think it's time to start introducing solid foods, which is between 4 and 6 months. Some start earlier and others later. We belong to the latter. Generally. 

It was like that with the first two children. I remember that with the second child, due to bronchitis in December, we were even a little late with the introduction because the best medicine for infants is mother's milk. In case of Sara and Jurij, I got the book Baby at the Table to help with the introduction of solid foods, because it is well explained when to introduce which food, the sequence, menus for the baby, extended to a menu for the whole family, for several months. With all three of them, I started to introduce foods according to that book, I just introduced dinner into the daily routine more quickly. With the first two, I steamed the food, mashed it with a fork so that it was a thicker meal, and I never pureed the food. When I pureed a meal with meat for the first time, namely, I found that the food gets a slightly different taste and that the slightly mashed one is my favorite. 

 Sara and Jurij are already big sister and brother who eat everything put in front of them. Mostly. :-) Of course, there are times when they suddenly don't like carrots or peas or something else. We insist that they try at least a little of each food, they don't have to eat it all if they don't like something. I despaired only with the red pepper... They just don't like the taste, the consistency. 

Introducing solid foods to Hana 

Hana is at the beginning of that journey. It started quite suddenly when, after she was five months old, my TO DO list accumulated more additional obligations, rather than ticking things off as I would have liked. There was a day when nothing suited her. I wasn't feeling well, I was nervous because of the aforementioned reason - the TO DO list. Me bored, her irritated. I nursed her once, and again in half an hour. And in fifteen minutes again. I will never forget the feeling that went through my whole body: I ​​can't feed her, I don't have enough milk. I knew that if I got any more upset, she would be twice as much upset. Grateful for the pumpkin from the home garden, I prepared it for her, looked for the mini-spoon that we have in the drawer saved for the first months of introducing foods. I took Hana in my arms and offered her the pumpkin. Little by little, very small pieces of her first vegetable meal. A bit of indignation, a bit of spitting, and still chomping in her little mouth. And pleasure. Mine, hers. Because I knew how to respond to a moment that I didn't think would come so unexpectedly. 

First, second, third day. After a few days of introducing solid foods: Sara had a cold, Jurij is healthy, but he also stayed at home for easier organization. "Full house". In the evening, I proudly told my husband that we had had a great time. That I was quite tired of flying from one nose to another little mischievous one with excess energy, and to the third one that simply has to sleep and eat. That we cooked, baked, that I ordered honey and hung up two loads of washing and... that I went to sleep with the children. :-) On that day, I breastfed Hana a lot and there was a 14-day break from solid foods because Hana also caught Sara's cold. At that moment, I was asked if we introduced solid food according to the BLW method, (the rest of the sentence unclear in the original text). Then Monday came, when Hana turned six months old and it was time for a new start. At that moment, Barbie (@barbiinmatic) on the Instagram profile @pikarije even posted several expertly supported recommendations why it is so important for a child's sensory learning to touch food, to try to eat larger pieces - so, feeding according to the BLW method. I took two deep breaths and exhaled, put the cooked food in front of Hannah and just watched how much work she had, how much she actually ate and of course what a creative mess she managed to make around herself. 

I am aware that I will have to do a lot of digging to adopt recipes that will be suitable for the solid food introduction method when I am at home and when possible. When we are at home, and she gets food like her brother and sister get. I want to be flexible; to stick to a set path, and at the same time to be open to changes, the possibility of a day that is led completely differently. These are things that can be adapted depending on circumstances, and those that my husband and I do not deviate from and remind each other of. We try to make sure that those of us at home sit at the table together and eat, whether it's a main meal or a snack. When we eat, we eat. There are no books on the table, no other toys (all of which are watching us from the adjacent dresser) and no telephone (we have no television). We don't want any distractions; we want quality time with each other. Because, the day too often slips by us that we should at least dedicate the time at the table to each other, talking about the day, the past one and the one that is in front of us.   

Lucia is the mother of two girls and a son and Filip's wife. Each month, they will share with you a record of varied family life. She will write notes related to motherhood, although she is aware that it is important that she is accomplished first as a woman, and only then as a wife and mother. Also, a large part of her life consists of music and active spending of time in nature, as well as good coffee in a quality company. 

Photo courtesy of: personal archive