Any advice for a mum at the end of her tether? I seem to spend every spare moment of the day (and I don’t have many) cooking for my eight month old, Laura, who spits everything back at me. Then, when I open a jar of puréed baby food, she eats it as fast as I can feed her. Does it do her any harm to have the odd jar of baby food so I can keep my sanity?
How frustrating for you! Do take heart from the fact that you are doing exactly the right thing in persevering with the food you’re offering, and make sure any leftovers go into the freezer as they will be very handy once Laura does get used to different textures.
Your daughter is at an ideal age for babies to start eating coarser textures and lumpier foods, but it really is a learning process. It’s common for babies to initially prefer commercial puréed baby foods, which have an extremely fine texture that is virtually impossible to achieve at home. There are a few strategies you can use to help your daughter get used to more coarsely-textured food:
- Try serving your home-cooked foods when Laura is particularly hungry.
- Mix a little home-cooked food into the commercial baby food, gradually increasing the proportion of home-cooked food each day.
- Offer Laura ‘second stage’ commercial baby foods, which contain lumps, mashing them a little yourself if necessary.
- Many children enjoy finger foods before they start eating baby foods containing a mixture of lumps and smoother textures. You could try offering thinly sliced, buttered toast soldiers, chopped banana or well-cooked pasta shapes.
- Try, try and try again!
In the meantime, take heart from the fact that, while home-made is certainly best, the occasional jar of commercial baby food will do no harm. There are quite strict guidelines for baby food production (prohibiting the addition of salt, for example), so they do make a good back-up if it’s been a particularly tough day, or for when you’re out and about.