Thanks to Plum Organics for sponsoring my post about tips for baby feeding magic. What if you let baby choose what’s for dinner? Check out their cute “Quest for Yum!” video and see what happens!
We’ve been lucky when it comes to feeding Alexa. The girl loves to eat. She very rarely turns her nose up at anything — with the exception of green beans. Still, even with our willing subject, there are certain methods we employ to make sure feeding time is a breeze.
1. Down to the birthday suit.
Strip that baby down! I can’t tell you how many cute outfits have been spared a sad demise by simply removing the entire thing prior to feeding. (I can tell you that sometimes H doesn’t do this, and cute outfits do meet their untimely demise, sigh.) The ulterior motive behind this is to keep you happy and relaxed while feeding baby instead of worried about doing another load of laundry. Happy parent, happy baby.
2. Get silly with it.
Anything to keep the baby’s attention. Some people use the airplane/landing strip when bringing a spoon to a baby’s mouth. Me? I make a vacuum noise. Kind of like a white noise “khhhhhhhhhh.” And when the food makes contact, I make a quick sucking sound (hwee) for impact. The girl loves it. I’ve also been known to sing “Shortnin’ Bread” in a silly high-pitched voice.
3. Be prepared for a mess.
Oy. It probably won’t be pretty. Chances are the baby will stick her hands in her mouth, then her hair, then all over her face. Chances are a bib won’t contain the mess (see tip No. 1). That’s why I moisten a kitchen towel prior to the feeding. Makes quick work out of cleaning up the mess as it happens. You know, before it settles in and becomes food concrete.
4. Read the baby’s cues.
Watch for the baby to show you she’s hungry. Lunging toward any morsel in a five-mile radius is a good sign. Opening her mouth like a hungry bird is a good sign. Turning her head away from the spoon and becoming interested in talking to the cat is a sign that feeding time is over. Don’t force it!
5. Let the baby explore.
Now that Alexa is growing past the puree stage and getting more interested in solid foods, we are encouraging her to pick up food and get to know it better. Hopefully one of these days the food will make it inside her mouth. I recently purchased Super Puffs to aid in this quest. They’re small and dissolvable but not as messy as picking up scrambled eggs off the floor.
Hopefully this helps any new moms out there who are looking for ways to get feeding time to work for them!
Oh, and don’t forget to check out Plum Organics’ “Quest for Yum!” video.
I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. To learn more about Plum Organics, visit their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/PlumOrganics.
