Journey into Tara’s solids | Post # 2 of 2024

Today I ended up renewing my blog’s domain and hosting plan. This gave me a little push to make most of what I have – a platform to write in and call it “my own space”!

So a couple of days back I got a request on my Instagram DM for Tara’s food habits. Truth be told, I am not the epitome of perfection when it comes to her food habits. I have always been on the lenient side when it has come to salt, sugar and even junk! Tara is also a picky eater, and will not gobble anything or everything that is served to her.

When Tara started her solids, like every other mother, I too began worrying on what would I feed her? As a tech-savvy new parent, I researched all I could about introducing solids. Traditional weaning, baby-led weaning, introducing water and salt, puree, hand-mashed, etc. How much should I feed her? Should I get her a high chair or a booster seat? When would she be ready for self-feeding? Thousands of questions clouded my mind. But as they say, trust your instincts when it comes to your child. We followed Baby-Led Weaning which is an alternative method for introducing complementary foods to infants in which the infant feeds themselves hand-held foods instead of being spoon-fed by an adult. I was more comfortable with it, since it would introduce her to a variety of meals and she would be in-charge of feeding herself. We got her a high-chair, and she loved her meal time. She happily picks up food from our plate and puts it into her mouth. 

So since every parent has their own rule for their little one, I too set mine. Listing down the basic ones here, and trust me, you need not follow them blindly. I can only tell what worked for me, and they may or may not apply to your little ones as well.

1. We never offered puree or semi-solids to Tara. I can barely recall steaming fruits/vegetables for Tara. What we did was hand-mashed rice, pulses and potatoes for her during her 6th and 7th month.
2. We never gave Cerelac or Nestum to Tara. Our pediatrician did recommend Easum – a mix of rice and moong daal in the powdered form, and it was offered to her when she was 7-8 months old. However, Tara never seemed to like it. Hence, we did away with it after a couple of days.
3. We started offering her meals from the family pot – of course with little or no spices, soon after she started her solids. We started with khichdi, idli and steamed carrots. I clearly remember those initial days, when she would sit on a high chair, and I would anxiously watch her over, mashing khichdi and idli into her little palms.
4. Meal times were mostly family time. I would sit with her and she would watch me eat, and would follow my actions.
5. There have also been days when her caregiver would feed her, and I was absolutely okay with it. However, screen-time was usually not allowed during meal times. There are exceptions though!
6. Then again, there been days when Tara has outrightly rejected one meal after the other, and I have not lost sleep over it. There are days when I too do not feel like eating, so all I do is keep an eye on her pee count and activity.
7. Meal times have usually been messy, since she self-feeds. I have made it a point to wipe her mouth, hands, table, chair, all at one go, usually after she loses interest in what she is eating. I try not to interrupt her in between her meal time.
8. I respect her choices. If she says “finish”, I do not force her to eat another morsel from her plate.

Tara is on the leaner side when it comes to her weight, and trust me, I have no qualms over it! I know people around me who loose their sleep over it, but as they say, I have developed a thick skin to get past such judgmental comments by now.

Do let me know if you would want me to share child-friendly recipes that are from the family pot and approved by Tara. Would love to list them on my blog for you.

Until next time, take care!