Motherhood Mumbo Jumbo Part 2

Have you come across these insta/shorts memes about new mothers? Like Vadivelu version or Brahmanandam version or Babu mohan etc. Well, the feeding dresses part of the meme is outrageous and so true. I tried so many versions from different fashion websites but ultimately the hanging zips and lack of definition will make them look ultimately like nighties. Then I figured if the feeding mostly happens at home, why not just a T-shirt. At first, I used to wear T-shirt with long skirt and then with leggings or regular pants. Makes me feel much better about myself.

Also there is this hack from the Youtube channel Healthnut Nutrition of how you can use a slip inside and T-shirt for better feeding experience on the move. This definitely cuts down the costs of buying dresses you will hate to wear again, And dont even think about nursing bras. Regular sports bra or the one that looks like wrapping cloth are perfectly suited for feeding.

So, lets check out few terms of infant solids feeding.

BLW - baby led weaning - Just making your baby feed themselves. As scary as it sounds, it apparently is possible with finger foods, foods that are easy for the baby to grasp and chew on. For example, banana, avocado, sweet potato steamed. But ofcourse, they are cut a certain way for easy grasp of the kid. There's gag reflex and chewing reflex which help the baby actually eat food. I was so terrified of this but once I saw my baby eat watermelon and mango, I realized its not that bad. They do gag when a big piece gets into the throat and bring it out. Do visit instagram channel "Vahini - Little Laughs" for more and ideas on how you can do this with Indian dishes too.

Traditional weaning - Here, we feed the baby with our hand or utensils but by baby's cues. Like even if you are holding out the food, you should not keep in their mouth as a surprise or force it. Baby should come to you for the food you are holding.

Note: So for both ways, you are allowed to offer regular food that your family eats, the catch being food that can be squished between two fingers. We did with pureed foods as well as finger foods as we were introducing Indian based dishes. (eg. partially mashed khichdi with vegetables). But we never blended to zero texture. Following this definitely helped baby to be used to chewing and we see her doing better with lots of textures as she grew. Also no distraction feeding (with TV/phone or games or moving around) is allowed and pediatricians completely advise against it. We did not follow complete BLW or traditional but a mix,, we dined together and it definitely helped us a lot as the baby grew. Now she can feed herself in a public setting of course not rice based dish. Slowly we can build to that too (fingers crossed).

Cereal - When we are talking about infants, cereal means fine powder of grains or pulses etc. These become creamy when mixed with water or milk. These are convenient and so instant foods. Most of them need to be cooked for a couple of minutes. So check the box instructions always. These are great for travel but definitely add food with textures into the mix on daily basis. Trust me, it helps baby's oral function too.

High chair - Its a chair with high seat and tray for little babies. It's suggested even by paediatricians for babies because it gives the right posture for feeding with least possibility of choking. They can be costly but the one from IKEA is the cheapest available as far as I checked.

Sipper cup - Its a training cup for toddlers much like adults sipper. They come with handles for easy grab

Straw cup - Its a training cup for infants. Much like the name it comes with a straw attached for infants to learn to drink water. Recommended for babies above 6 months.

Open cup - Much similar to the tumbler we use, comes in safe materials making it infant friendly. Again recommended for babies starting solids around 6 months.

Note: So in general, most professionals do not recommend giving water in a regular baby bottle as we want to teach them regular ways of consuming liquids.