You Can Teach a New Baby Old Tricks!

I know that I owe you more tips about how to stay glamorous.  First though, here are some tips about feeding an older baby.

Although I have committed to breastfeeding for a year, at eight months the baby is eating some solid food. The transition has been an adventure. She hasn’t rejected food like some babies do. Indeed, her transition from breast only to the bottle was seamless too. My baby seems to really like food, in general. She doesn’t really seem that concerned about how she gets it.

Her general interest in food seems to be why she tries to grab whatever is on your plate. She looks at it intensely, lunges for it, and gets upset when she doesn’t get it. I imagine her mind is saying, “Everybody else has food, I WANT FOOD!” Her being on solids helps appease her. Although she’s not getting what’s on our plates she at least has a utensil and a bowl. She seems to like that.

Honestly, since she was born my baby hasn’t been very interested in being a baby. She has always seemed think that that she was bigger, more mature, and stronger than she actually is. She may be an infant on the outside, but she’s a toddler on the inside. That’s why she attempts to feed herself at every turn. It’s cute, until you have to get some things done. So, mealtime has become a bit of a game.

When she’s being particular challenging I hum and play the airplane game. I take the food all around her head and go in for the landing. It gets her every time. The only thing that seems more interesting to her than food is playing with her food. My games are better than hers though. At the end of my games the food is in her stomach. At the end of her games the food is on the floor, on the wall, on me—you get the picture.

The one “new” trick that I have learned involves the spoon switcheroo. Since she is convinced that she is a big girl who should feed herself, feeding her can be an exercise of wills. Whose will is stronger? Dare you ask? She ALWAYS wins in a straight up battle. In order for mommy to win plotting is required. So, I give her a spoon to play with while I feed her with the other. And when she reaches for my spoon I switch with her. Poof! Take that baby! So far, she has been none the wiser.

Thanks to my creativity, our feeding times have become more peaceful, more fun, and something we both look forward to. Perhaps that’s the point. Maybe I’m not fooling her after all. Maybe, just maybe this has all been a part of her master baby plan… You never know. I am convinced that she is already smarter than I am and she’s only eight months into this life thing. Go figure?!