We started Baby M on thin, watery soups today. The first one was simple "daal ka pani" (water in which lentils have been boiled). The daal was "Masoor dhuli" (Red lentils). We had been thinking of starting her on this for a long time now - ever since she turned 3 and a half months old. But something or the other kept preventing us from doing it. Then, a few days back, my dad said not to do it since it was the "Shraddh" season. Now, I am a non-believer. But over the years I have changed a lot in this respect. Even though I don't believe in all this stuff, I do respect other people's beliefs. So I waited until today.
It was a vey simple, totally non-ceremonious event. I am not one for ceremonies. I mean, I do love celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, but that is about it. So we simply boiled some lentils and in the afternoon everyone took turns feeding Baby M. First it was mommy's turn. Then Daddy's and then big sister's. Then Nani and Nana took their turns. And then we found out that Nana, who had been manning the camera, had only taken pictures of Baby M and completely eliminated the person feeding her in every single picture :D Since we thought it will be quite difficult, 6-7 years from now, to recognize each person just by the picture of their hand, we went again. This time Nani took pictures :P
Oh, by the way, Baby M loved the soup!!
Note: Pics will follow soon. I need to download them onto my laptop.
The start of the 'daal soup' reminded me of when I started it first for Anirudh too. He also loooooved it and just lapped it up! I'm sure a change from the same old milk is a welcome for them! :)
ReplyDeleteHow sweet that you have a 'tradition' for weaning - everyone takes turns feeding the baby...
ReplyDeleteI'm not even aware if such traditions exist in my family - I raised my two all by my lonely self away from a *huge* family back home in India.
Keep updating on the solids issue. I haven't started Squiggles on solids yet but may have to if her weight gain continues to slow down. And I'm happy to copy food ideas from you :).
ReplyDeleteHi Ceekay,
ReplyDeleteI am a lurker but love ur blog.
I have a 3.5 month old also and he is not taking a bottle at all and i have started working from this week, so i am interested in starting him in solids also. how did u feed Ninni the daal soup?my spoon or bottle.send me the receipes. i would love it.
Thanks
Sandhiya
~nm: I am sure that they are happy to get something other than milk :)
ReplyDeleteMummyjaan: Awww! It must have been tough raising them alone, away from family.
Squiggles mom: A post on introductory solids coming up! I'd be happy to share ideas with you :)
Sandhiya: Welcome! I got spoons for the soup - they are soft, silicon spoons, big enough to fit into the small mouth and Ninni loves to chew on them :D
For the daal soup I just took about a fistful of "Masoor Dhuli" (Red lentils) and boiled it on the stove top with about 6-8 times water (approx.) Or it can also be pressure cooked. Remember to add more water than usual and give him only the water in the beginning - until you are sure that he can digest it properly. And DO NOT add any salt, ghee or haldi at this time. Their kidneys cannot process extra salt right now so all their food must be bland. I gave bland food to S for about 6-7 months and only after that I started adding salt to her diet. I think I started adding ghee a little bit earlier than the salt - after she had started eating vegetables (boiled, mashed) for meals - at around 5 to 5.5 months of age. Start with two teaspoons of soup for the first week - the idea is just to introduce a new taste and not to introduce it as a full meal right away. Give him the same thing for at least 3 days in a row to make sure that he can digest it well. Increase quantity gradually. And introduce a differetn food (like rice water) after three days. Will write more in a separate post.
Ceekay: Thanks a lot.
ReplyDeleteEagerly waiting for the post on more about solid foods.