Of Bananas, Fingers, and Spoons :-)

Karissa, this post was inspired by you! :-) 

You may be wondering why we chose bananas instead of rice cereal (or anything else for that matter :-) as the first solids to introduce to our little Peanut Butter Cup, and the answer to that question is pretty simple. Peanut Butter Cup is a breastfed baby and breast milk is a very sweet substance. While I was doing research about introducing solids to a baby, I read that formula is very bland (as is rice cereal), whereas breast milk is sweet (and so are bananas--which is what makes them an ideal first food for breastfed babies). So, it was suggested that a baby may be more accepting of the new substance being placed in his/her mouth if it's flavor was similar to what the baby was already used to. So, there you have it, that is why we decided to start with bananas.

Now, in case anyone has been wondering why I was using my finger to feed the banana to him, it's not because I don't have any baby spoons! Ha ha! That was another topic I read about during my research. A baby is already used to his/her mother's finger and will more readily accept it into his/her mouth than a spoon--which obviously is a completely foreign object initially--so paired with a new substance, some babies may be less willing to try the food. Hence, introducing solids with a finger. Cutting out one new thing and introducing them one at a time instead of all at once just seems to make the transition to solids a little more pleasant from where I stand. :-) I'm all about setting Peanut Butter Cup up for success from the beginning.

Peanut Butter Cup ate off of a spoon for the first time this morning. We had tried introducing it a couple of times this past week, but he wasn't ready for it just yet. This morning though he was much more accepting of it, so we'll see if tomorrow will be the same.