cooking for your baby pt.3
BEABA cutlery set and snack tower / Phil and Ted high chair / BONDS Wondersuit (on sale for $15)
Moving on to my the last post of my series 'cooking for your baby'.. this one is all about FEEDING.
So you've done your recipe research, written your shopping list, bought fresh produce, slaved in the kitchen for a few hours and it's time to see the fruits of your labour pay off.
Seeing the satisfaction on your baby's face when you give them something delicious (and usually nutritionally sound) is the best. The tapping on the high chair, mouth wide open, GIVE ME MORE.. is pretty dang cute. BUT - what if everything isn't as smooth sailing? Here are some of my tips for navigating tricky feeding times.
- Try to avoid your baby being ravenous. This is not going to go down well. They'll usually get too worked up before eating that they'll just go beyond and forget they were even hungry.. cue apocalyptic baby. Even it's a fruit snack, it's better to put something in the tank while you're hurrying up getting the meal together.
- The right tools are key. A good highchair that's easy to clean (as you'll be doing A-LOT of that), easy to hold/clean spoons, snack containers, bowls, plates and a bib that catches food.
- If you wouldn't eat it yourself, why should you expect your baby to? This goes for pre-packaged baby food in particular. If you think it tastes like pure goopy guck, why wouldn't your baby think the same? Bin it!
- I've found with Lily that her tastes can change on a weekly basis. One week cucumbers are the rage and the next they are on the floor. I try to make a multiple options (refer to last post) for when her tastes shift.
- I can't remember where I read this but act like you don't care if your baby loves or hates the food. Keep it cool. Babies are smarter than most think and are super in tune with mama or dad. They can read when your stressing out just as much as when they know you're happy. Play it cool no matter what.
- Above all else, don't force it. I've been through that moment of frustration when you've presented 10 different foods and all are rejected. Don't force feed, it will just end badly. You don't want to build a negative connotation with feed time so refer to dot point above.
That's all for my series - hope you've enjoyed it and learnt something. Always open to counter suggestions and feedback so shoot it through.
And lastly - if you're interesting in getting your hands on some BEABA product or any of their other amazing products, I've partnered with Beaba to give you 5% off and free shipping when you use the code 'SHARDAYENGEL' at the checkout.
x Sharday
