feeding babies is hard work. not in general, in general it’s relatively easy but specifically getting new people interested in solid foods is a challenge.
when we started this endeavour it seemed like it would be smooth sailing. our foray into crib sleeping (aka that time i thought we had a magical kid who would sleep through the night) should have been foreshadowing, however. once dylan decides she is not interested, she digs her heels in and is not. interested. reminds me of a few people i know. *cough*
when the doctor said she should be getting most of her nutrients from food (at her 9 month visit) i just about panicked. she eats okay, but sometimes she flat out refuses, and like my favourite comedian Louis CK jokes, i’m required by law to make sure she eats. it’s frustrating. and sometimes disheartening – you go through the effort to make food that just ends up going to waste.
it was a huge relief when we hit the point where she could start eating a lot of the same foods that we eat. within reason of course, but she’s trying to snatch food out of our hands anyway so it’s a natural progression. she is so so about purees but she prefers texture, to squish things with her mighty hand (!!). she’s tactile, i get it. but it’s hard to keep her interest.
one thing i’ve learned, she likes to “find” it on her own. put it in front of her and turn your back, she likes to think that eating is her idea (i know someone like that also).
my other fear with this pickiness is she’s not getting the vitamins and nutrients that she needs. mostly iron, because she’s not a fan of the iron enriched cereals, and we don’t do red meat or a lot of leafy greens (she bores easily). you gotta get it in any which way possible, yes? in comes ninja antics in the kitchen, and this simple recipe for banana pancakes that she actually seemed to enjoy that one time.
I can’t tell you how many times i’ve tinkered with the mix to get these right. if you add water it just boils off… all you need are two ingredients – banana and baby cereal fortified with iron. I use organic bananas because well, organic but also because they are sweeter. and for this particular batch, heinz multigrain baby cereal with sweet potato.
ingredients
1/2 organic banana
2 tbsps baby cereal fortified with iron
1/4 tsp coconut oil
combine banana and baby cereal in a bowl and mix until well blended. warm coconut oil in pan. spoon banana cereal mixture into pan in desired shapes, cook until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes, and flip, letting cook on the other side, remove from heat. a lot with paper towel to remove excess oil.