I exclusively breastfed my daughter for 6 months.
While doing that I remember having a lot of pressure from loving family members to start introducing her to other sources of nutrients apart from breastmilk so that weaning her won’t be difficult. I succumbed!!! Hmm
Our first try was milk. We chose a brand based on ‘popular request’. Lol. She hated it. I tried over and over again but she wouldn’t budge. Finally one of the days I forced it down her throat and she drank some amidst crying. ‘But she must start having something else apart from breastmilk’ or so I was made to believe. About five to ten minutes later she throws up everything through her nose and mouth. I was totally freaking out. ‘Oh my God what have I done. I’m going to kill this girl.’ She was choking and screaming her lungs out. P.S. She’s more dramatic than I am. And oh i know I’m very dramatic. I managed to calm her down, wiped and changed her and gave her what she wanted: Breastmilk.
But really she was fine. And that was the last time she allowed me to force something she didn’t want down her throat. Hahahahaaaaa.
Over the one year period she has moved from drinking only breastmilk to eating porridge, only custard, cerelac, rice etc. We have tried a lot of things. Now, she’s a year old and, all of a sudden she eats anything so far as it’s not too sugary or peppery. Her sensitivity to refining her sense of taste is on the rise now and I’m enjoying it. We spend very little time on meals: 10 to 20 minutes tops and we’re done. This is in contrast with 35 to 45 minutes earlier.
Immediately she sees you with a plate of food she says ‘aaaammm’ and she’ll wait patiently until she’s offered some. She’ll keep coming back for more if she likes it. Other times she turns away just by the smell of the food. And then again they’re times she just takes the first bite and that’s it. On days she’s full, it’s a sensory activity for her. She’ll play with the food: mashing it between her fingers, on the floor and anything else that’s within her reach.
She still loves custard. She enjoys rice with corned beef or dried ground herrings stew. She eats fufu and light soup and enjoys banku with okro stew as well. Cerelac, bottled processed foods, banana and pawpaw smoothie, purried vegetables and Irish potatoes are all in the mix somewhere. Lool.
What’s my take on feeding your child. Decide on the kind of baby you want to have: healthy, obese, underweight, overweight, etc. Think about how much it will cost you to care for the baby you’ve chosen. Discuss it with your spouse or a close relative who has the child’s interest at heart. They usually have a better perspective on the matter because guess what? They don’t have anyone to impress and are not thinking overly.
The baby is yours so trust your instincts if it doesn’t feel right then maybe it really is not right. But again, a second opinion is usually a good idea when you’re not too sure. And not every advise is good for your child.
I’m out 😉
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