We tried to feed Zoodle bananas on his half birthday--our first attempt at feeding him solids. He liked the taste, but he was totally clueless on what to do. There was no swallowing involved, just a strong tongue-thrust reflex.
A couple of weeks later we tried again. Same results.
Thursday he was six days short of the seven month mark, and when I saw overripe bananas on the countertop I decided to give it another shot. The tongue-thrust reflex seemed to be lessened, but he still didn't understand how to swallow the yummy stuff.
I knew there wasn't any hurry, since breastmilk is nutritionally complete for infants, but I thought I'd see if anyone else was having the same issue. I went to my Internet group of parents with babies Zoodle's age, and began to type a post about Zoodle's difficulty eating.
Before I finished, I looked over and realized Chickie was holding the bowl of smushed bananas in one hand and the spoon in the other and that she'd just put a bite in Zoodle's mouth.
"No, Chickie!" I said. I explained to her that it's Mommy's job to feed Zoodle.
Then I realized he wasn't spitting the food out.
And I heard a swallow.
A few minutes later, he'd finished his very first (small) meal of solid foods, thanks to his sister giving him the first successful bite.
You'd think I might be threatened by a toddler who's got "the touch" when I couldn't get him to eat. But I'm not.... I'm just trying to decide if she's old enough to babysit yet. I'm sure I could teach her to change diapers, maybe even teach her a little infant CPR. Any thoughts?
10 comments:
That's so cute! Good for Chickie.
One other thing you might try, if you haven't yet, is soft fruit in one of the mesh safe feeders. They have to actually suck to get the food out, so he might know what to do better.
What a great milestone in their relationship. You'll always be able to tell them both this nice little bonding story. Very sweet.
Love it! Logan yells at me all the time "No mommy! Sylvie doesn't WANT to go into time out. That's not nice!" And my mom said she tried to get her down for a nap the other day and kept calling for her brother. My mom specifically said "She needs tosleep, it's not playtime." And Logan went up, said "Sylvie, you don't want to nap? You want to come downstairs?" and pushed a chair over and brought her downstairs with him. Sibs, it's the best!
So cute! Now that he's got the hang of it there'll be no stopping him! And what a great helper. I think you're definitely on to something about the diapers, as well! =)
How sweet of Ana to help out! My mom always said my brother did the same with me. And, he actually did change diapers (but he was 3 years older) Of course, girls do mature faster- so hey maybe she will be able to help out...
BTW, don't take this the wrong way...please please please...I have read somewhere that it is very important to get a baby to eat after 6 months otherwise they can have difficulty learning to eat because of the tongue thrust issue. So, be persistant! I know little Doodle won't have that issue. I just wanted to share it with you in case you didn't know. Of course, take it with a grain of salt!!
And again congrats on 2 milestones at once!!
Becki--Yeah, I should dig out the mesh feeders. Chickie loved eating frozen apricots out of hers!
Sandra--I'm so glad I'm getting all these stories down on paper (well, virtual paper!) so that I'll remember to share them!
Special K--Oh, so Logan and Sylvie have figured out how to double team your mom? :) I am not looking forward to Zoodle and Chickie figuring that out!
foreverfoldinglaundry--I'll let you know how the diaper changing training goes. ;) Thanks for visiting the blog!
Brook--That's very impressive that your brother changed them at that age! I hadn't heard that about the tongue thrust issue--I need to get those soft bananas back out and let him keep practicing. Thanks. :)
Just wait until she's teaching him the really fun stuff, like how to climb the kitchen counters, and then how to snag the keys to the car.
So cute! I can't believe he's old enough for food!
That is adorable! A natural! How cute!!!
It's nice when these kids get old enough to start earning their keep a bit. :-)
The first time Sammy fed Natalie, it was also when I turned my back. Unfortunately, the spoon went in a little too far and gagged her, and she was afraid to eat solids for a couple of weeks afterwards. Needless to say, my "older feeding feeding younger sibling" experience wasn't as heartwarming.
kudos for Chickie for being a full-pledged big sister in a very early age! the coolest kid for me.. :)
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