Wednesday, June 3, 2009

We need foodvice!

We've been pretty excited about moving Kaylani through foods for awhile now. And once we got our Beaba we were ready to cook and puree all types of food. The last piece of the equation was getting the fresh fruit, so with apples from Wegman's, we were ready to go. Or were we?

Yesterday was Kaylani's gaggy day. She gagged on the Veggie Puff, and then again on the fresh apple puree that Mommy made for her. Not to be dissuaded, Mommy mixed the leftover apple puree in with Kaylani's oatmeal this morning to make a delicious apple oatmeal cereal. According to Mommy, the apple was so light that it wasn't even tastable within the oatmeal, and for the most part, Kaylani ate it like she normally would. The first few bites went fine, then about halfway through she would get a little whiny. The halfway point this morning was a little bit more than whiny though.

The worst thing in the world to experience is watching Kaylani gag. If you watched yesterday's video, then you know what her face looks like, and it's not something Mommy (or I) like to deal with. But today, Kaylani went beyond gagging into what Mommy describes as full on choking. After finally getting her out of her highchair (which required moving the seat back and getting the tray out of the way), Kaylani rescued herself...by throwing up all over the place. Not spitting up. Throwing up.

It went everywhere (so I'm told). On the floor, on the highchair, on the kitchen table, on her highchair toys, and on Mommy through the pleasant path down her arm. I won't be able to do it any justice since I wasn't there, but it was warm and not nice smelling. Luckily Mommy's natural reaction was to clean Kaylani up instead of throwing up herself which is what it typically would have been. And after everything was back to normal, Mommy made the call to the pediatrician.

The phone nurse told us that we should slow down Kaylani's intake of new foods. Any food we give her should be Level 1 (basic foods) and we should give her a spoonful or two a day so she gets used to it. We should stay away from foods like berries (or things with little seeds), avocados, yogurt, corn, and meats until Kaylani hits the 9 month mark.

The advice sounded fine and might make sense, but the problem is it is contrary to what our normal pediatrician told us. At our 6 month appointment, she told us to work our way through the cereals (done), then green/orange veggies (done), and then fruits. Going back to level 1 veggies means we'll be stuck on green beans, peas, carrots, squash, and sweet potato for another 2 months. It also means that we'll be working through apples, bananas, and peaches slowly for the next 2 months too.

Maybe going slowly through food is the right approach, but that's where we're confused. We think she's ready for next level veggies (like corn-squash combos, or vegetable mixes) because she eats her veggies with no problems, and we even thought she was ready for food mixed with yogurt. Most of our friends were right at or well past those stages at Kaylani's age. Or more specifically, they're all well past those stages before their baby turned 9 months. So why are we being held back?

I guess I can see the argument that if she's throwing up something as basic as level 1 fruits, then maybe she should slow down. The problem is I'm not convinced the phone nurse came to that conclusion. I think that the phone nurse is from the school of thought that says babies shouldn't try food until 9 months. The problem is we're from the school of thought where babies should start trying food at 4-5 months. Plus, Kaylani will be 7 months in a week, so isn't she old enough now?

So what do we do? Anyone have any advice? Been through the same thing? Going through the same thing? I did a quick Google search and can't really find anything on babies being allergic to fruit other than the people who say food shouldn't be started until much later. For now, I guess we'll revert back to our staple foods. It just seems wrong to go against what the nurse says. Even if we don't necessarily agree.

11 comments:

Tom Sherman said...

Maybe you should try a different fruit instead, like banana. But I would let her stomach rest a couple days before you start the great food experiment again =)

Tom Sherman said...

When do you start her in on chicken feet and pig intestines?

Mom said...

I think she is not ready for the "puff" as BT said she hasn't got any teeth yet! Every baby is different and maybe Kaylani is not ready yet.

As to the mixture of the apple and the oatmeal, had she tried apples before? If not, you should let her have a couple spoonfuls for the first time, then gradually increase it. Real apple is different than baby food. Also did you puree a raw apple or a cooked apple. It makes a difference too.

SurprisedMom said...

It's confusing when one doctor says something and another, something else. I agree with Tommy, about giving her tummy a rest, not the chicken feet and pig intestines! I believe I started the girls with bananas. They seemed to be more easily digestible. I also introduced new foods slowly, so they could get used to them. Good luck and may your little one's upchucking episodes be few and far between.

Daddy Files said...

I wouldn't start over, but I'd wait a little bit and then try again. It's a little bit of trial and error. If she continues to have adverse effects to apples, just cut them out. And I'd only introduce one new food a week because anything more than that is asking for trouble.

Honestly, my son ate everything successfully but I wanted to wait. It took my wife showing me that even though he gagged at first on new foods with new textures, he got the hang of it very quickly.

Just go with your gut and base everything on Kaylani's reactions. She'll let you know what's good and what isn't.

JonnyTam13 said...

We've tried bananas, apples, and peaches all at different times. She had all of those for the very first time a few weeks ago. This latest time was cooked, pureed apple which tasted delicious (to us!)

We'll probably give it a few days before trying a little bit each day. We're an odd couple since Mommy wants to keep trying new things, but not keep trying things she gags on, while I would be happier waiting and trying things slowly but more regularly.

Thanks for the advice everyone! Keep it coming! Oh, and chicken feet and pig intestines won't be for a LONG time...like next Chinese New Year :)

Julie Thompson said...

We had Kaitlyn on yogurt when she was 7-8 months old and she gobbled up the Yo-Baby Yogurt, all flavors with and without cereal. She was also eating puffs and cheerios around 7-8 months and things like spaghetti and mashed potatoes around 9 months. Our doctor always said to use the baby food fruits first since Gerber does something to the fruits to make them less harsh on the belly (same thing with juice). Maybe she does not like the sweetness (or tartness) of the kind of apple you bought?

Rina said...

I'm having issues too! So, I took this class on baby food making and have all these books and, of course, the internet. I was deadset on making Conner's food b/c it's more nutritionally sound and tastes better, etc. He did ok for a while, but then I gave him some Gerber b/c I ran out of food. He totally likes it better!! I've tried matching the consistency and everything, but he won't even open his mouth to see whether or not it's homemade or gerber. It's like he knows just by looking! The only thing he will eat now that's "homemade" is banana. So....maybe Kaylani's doing the same thing. Maybe she just likes the jarred stuff better.

Ashley said...

Dude. Cut her some slack. She gets a moment to adjust to this chewing sensation, and different tastes and smells. For the record I'll say when ever I tried to "make" baby food my kid spit out. Save yourself some time, heartache, and what not. The folks at Gerber have been doing it for years...and babies actually eat it and live...and you're not a bad parent if you take a short cut or two. I realize the nutritional value is not the same- but you'll eventually get to a point that time being "with" her will mater more than stressing about making baby food. Take that baby food contraption back, buy some Gerber and have fun with your baby.

JonnyTam13 said...

You know, we actually weren't deadset on making food, but we gave it a shot because Kaylani didn't seem to like the Gerber/Earth's Best food the first 3-4 times we tried to give them to her. We gave her a break today and will probably tomorrow too, but then we'll go back to the jarred foods to see if she gets used to it.

Hopefully someday in the future she'll like homemade food. If not, we just spent a lot of money on a frozen drink machine :)

Mayte said...

Fruts have a strong flavor for some reason to babies it take while for them to get used to. Kayleb just turn 9th months he just started to like some fruits, bananas, prunes but at the beggining he hated them also. The faces the poor kid did...
It take time for them to adjust also to new things plus they all have theit own taste. Nolan never like peaches and a week ago on his every day sheet form school his teacher mention he had peaches and love them even had seconds.