Disclaimer : Am not a BLW purist.Following things that suits me & my baby.
My feeding schedule from 7th month to 9th month
- Started with porridge once a day (morning)
- Then after a week two porridges a day (morning + evening)
- Then porridge (morning) + Any Fruit or Veg Purees/Soups/Mash (lunch) + porridge (evening)
- Mild easily digestable food like Idli for breakfast + Soups,Boiled Veggies or Daal for lunch + Porridge or purees in evening
- Idli/Dosai for breakfast , Kichdi/Rasam Rice with poriyal for lunch, Porridge/Purees/Fruits/Yogurt for evening snack, Idli/Dosai for dinner
She is turning one next week and her solids feeding schedule is pretty much the same with little bit tweaking (like reducing spice,salt,sugar) of the same menu that I cook for us..
Breakfast – Idli,Dosai,Poha
Lunch – Rice with Dal,veggies or One pot meals like Kichdi & yogurt, Sambar Rice/Rasam Rice with Koottu or Poriyal,
Dinner – Roti,Upma,Dosai or Idli
Snacks – Smoothie, Fruits,Soup,Porridge,
Rice Crackers or any store bought baby friendly snacks
Some tips on how to start feeding them (without highchair)
- Have Never force fed her. Means, if she feels full after 5-6 spoons of porridge I would just leave it at that
- Started making her to sit on my lap (when she couldnt sit without support), or near me and would feed her. I dont carry her and move around much with her while feeding
- No TV while feeding
- I talk to her a lot, play with her and when she moves away from me, ask her to come back to me and then feed her
- By now she knows that if she needs the next bite she should come to the place where I sit
- When feeding foods like Idli,Dosai,Roti I initially feed her few bites and later I will leave her to pickup from plate & eat it by herself. I started doing this from when she was around 9 months
- After few weeks she started picking up the food and eat it all by herself. Dosai,Idli & Roti – I cut them into bite sized pieces and place it in a bowl. When feeding rice i let her to take veggies from the plate and ask her to eat it by herself
- She holds snacks like Rice Crackers or Soup Sticks and finishes it off
These are just few tips. Every day is different with kids and they dont stick by a routine. Being a Mom it is natural for us to be anxious, to be upset when the baby doesnt eat or gain weight, to constantly be worried about their milestones, questions like “are we doing enough”? Keeps popping in our head.. The only solution is to first follow your instincts, nobody knows about your baby better than you. Always always check with a professional immediately if you have any queries or concerns about your baby’s health.
