When Eric first started on solid food I envisaged such a different weaning journey to the one we experienced. I pictured him eating all kinds of things, sharing our meals and trying out new flavours and textures daily. In reality Eric didn't cut his first tooth until he was 11 months old so for months and months everything had to be mushy and soft - and often out of a jar or pouch - rather than just prepared and put in front of him. At the time of writing this post Eric is now cutting another three teeth so I'm hoping this means we can switch up his eating a little bit to incorporate even more texture but for the time being, this is a general overview of what Mr One Tooth eats day-to-day.
Breakfast - Eric starts the day off with whole cows milk. This is usually about 7oz and we put his vitamin drops in this as this is currently the only drink he will sit and have in one go. He still has this feed in a bottle so while he is drinking up I usually change his nappy and get him dressed.
About 30-45 minutes later Eric will have his 'proper' breakfast. We always try to leave a gap in between milk and solids because he does suffer from a little bit of reflux so having the two elements too close together means that there is the chance he may bring something back up. Typical breakfasts for Eric include:
Baby cereal.
Toast and peanut butter.
Scotch pancakes and 1/2 banana
Scrambled eggs and toast fingers.
Crumpets.
Lunch - We are out and about pretty much everyday so what Eric has for lunch will depend on what our plans are. Eric loves his food so will happily gobble up most things you put in front of him. Again if we are out and about and somewhere that serves food I will try and find something on the menu Eric can have but I always carry a jar of baby food and plenty of snacks (crisps and fruit) with me....just in case. If we are at home, I tend to serve up:
Avocado on toast.
Buttery toast and a diced (very ripe) pear
Pre-made baby food.
Cream cheese on toast and a yoghurt.
Mashed avocado and banana.
Dinner - I can be a bit more varied with dinners. Our weekly shops revolve heavily around having Eric-friendly foods in stock so it is rare I am stuck for ideas. If we have opened a jar of baby food during the day he will finish this off, but if not I will often cook him something warm and comforting. We try and include Eric in what we are having as much as possible so that he isn't a fussy eater. It might not be that simple but so far there hasn't been a food he hasn't had a little go at eating. Dinners often are:
Baked beans and toast fingers.
Scrambled eggs and baked beans.
Cheesy scrambled eggs on toast
Soft veg and a fish cake.
or.... a small portion of what we are eating (if we are all eating together).
Just before bedtime we will give Eric another bottle of milk (8oz). He used to love drinking this but over the past few days he hasn't seemed that fussed by it so I don't know if he is dropping this feed. This does seem pretty early to me but if he's ready for it so be it. It just means I'll have to offer milk during the day and ensure he gets his calcium intake another way.
Snacks - If my baby is hungry everyone knows about it. So having snacks to hand at all times is pretty much a necessity. I always have a bag of baby crisps in my pocket or in his changing bag, a banana and jar of food so that we are not caught out. I still don't really like Eric having sweet treats but if it is a special day I will let him have a few white chocolate buttons but as he doesn't seem that bothered by chocolate (which is exactly what I wanted) I only tend to offer these every once in a while and in very small amounts.
Drinks - We only offer Eric milk or water, both of which he loves. Finding a beaker he would accept for his water was a little tricky in the beginning but we soon realised he was really good at using a straw (I still don't know where he learnt that one) so picked up a cup from Mothercare with an inbuilt straw that we use for water. We are going to try transitioning him onto a beaker for his milk to see if he likes that better but of late nothing will coax him into having his last bottle so I'm not sure how to solve that one just yet.
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