Starting Solid Foods

A lot has changed since James was a baby.  He is only 28 months old to put things into perspective.  When he was a baby, I was told by the doctor not to start solid foods until he was six months old, and I followed that advice exactly being a new mom and all and wanting what is best for my baby.

Well...Sam just had his four month check up, and the doctor gave the okay to start feeding him rice cereal and if he does well to introduce other cereals and fruits/veggies.  I was a bit surprised but fine with it because I am hoping the rice cereal helps with the major spitting up.  Anyway...it is only Day 7 of the rice cereal, and Sam is doing amazingly well!  He is eating quite a bit of it and seems to really enjoy the process.  We are offering him a small amount in the morning and a small amount at night.  Sam doesn't seem to have any problems at all with the new introduction which I am happy about.  However, the down side is the rice cereal doesn't seem to be helping with the spitting up.  Oh well!  He will outgrow that eventually.  The spitting up is one of the few things I don't think I will miss as I look back on Sam's babyhood.

Part of me wonders if a lot of James's food issues could have been avoided if I had started solid food with him at four months as well.  James had the hardest time with textures from the very beginning.  He took awhile to get the hang of eating, and then whenever the texture was thicker, he would gag.  When James started finger foods, he couldn't even eat those dissolve-able puffs without gagging.  I would literally have to break the dissolve-able puffs in half, and even then he would still gag on them.  For awhile we were worried he wouldn't be able to handle a birthday cake for his 1st birthday.  Thankfully that worry was unnecessary, and now he is doing great as far as eating is concerned.  Of course he can be picky, but that comes with being a toddler.  Lately James has decided he no longer likes the apricot and mango Greek yogurt that Trader Joe's carries since it has chunks of fruit in it.  I know everyone has their own preferences, so that's not a big deal.  James eats extremely well now...no one would know he had so many eating issues as an infant.