Lydia's First Solid Food: Rice Cereal

Saturday, December 12, 2009
Lydia's First Solid Food: Organic Rice Cereal

We gave Lydia her first solid food per a conversation with our doctor regarding her increased intake of breastmilk and my worry that I won't be able to keep up with her increased demands at some point. The suggestion was made to introduce her to small amounts of rice cereal and monitor her reaction. Well Little Miss Lydia is always adventurous and eating rice cereal was just another exciting experience for her. We made a big deal about it and set a special time and date in which we could both be there to feed her and watch her reaction. We hyped it up, but I don't think Lydia understood what all the hype was about. She was a great little eater and ate the tablespoon of cereal that we mixed with 2 tablespoons of breastmilk. Afterward, we gave her a standard amount of her bottle. She is eating a total of 32-36 ounces of breastmilk a day! She does a great job with her morning schedule and eats right at 7am, 11am, and 3pm. She usually then eats at 5pm and 7:30 pm before we lay her down for the night. She sleeps usually from 8 or 9pm until 6:30-7am.

We do have her humidifier in her room and the doctor reinforced the importance of that during the winter months. I think she likes the white noise the humidifier generates as well. We still play classical music for her at bedtime. I am even getting used to hearing it through the monitor as I go to sleep. We have loved dressing her up for the winter months. She has a plethora of hats and mittens to keep her warm as the weather gets colder.

I included some pictures below of her first feeding. I added quotes from Lydia's point of view.

"This looks interesting. It's not the normal bottle that I am used to at breakfast time. I wonder what this could be?"

"Let me see that, dad. It looks like organic rice cereal. I bet this is tasty. I think I want to eat it!"

"Hmm... this stuff isn't too bad. I might have a couple spoonfuls. I will eat whatever you give me, but I still want milk though!"

"So what was all the hype about? It was good. I ate it all! I think I want more tomorrow! When do I get those green and yellow veggies you have been chatting about making for me? I can't wait... I think I want avocado first!"

"Now that all that big girl eating is out of the way, I think I will just give this bib a taste test."