Solids, daycare, and control
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| Thu, 01-11-2007 - 5:50pm |
It's me again, thinking about solids. My DCP hinted yesterday that my son will be ready for cereal soon. I told her that we are going to skip cereal and also wait to introduce solids until he is healed from his recent bout with RSV and gaining weight back. She gets free cereal from the state that she could give him...I just want to go with something more nutritious.
I am curious as to how other working moms have gone about feeding solids. I would rather it be me who gives him the solids from 6-12 months because I can ensure that he is getting BM first and not getting too much solid food. I am kind of a control freak, and the thought of letting DCP feed my son solids is not sitting well with me. I like her and trust her on most other things, but she has said to me numerous times in the past that "he'll need more to eat soon," although I've told her every time that the amount of BM he takes should not change as he gets older. She just looks at me like "you'll see."
Anyone else go through this? What did you do? Any tips for me? I work full time...
Thanks,
Crystal
Mama to Jack (7/13/06)

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With my dd, even tho I was caregiver to her girls, she did most of the introducing of solids - later on, when they were eating more "meals" then *I* fed them but for most part, we timed it so they ate when she was home with them.
You can do it at first so you're giving the solids on weekend mornings - and then once baby is familiar with the solids, you can offer them in the AM before d/c if baby is awake, etc.
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I'm lucky that my mil is my dcp. However, I line things out very clearly for her and if she has questions she calls me. It works great.
I would put things in writing about what you want. Do you think she would follow written requests?
ETA: I introduce foods the first time then mil gives them after I have introduced them.
Holly
Edited 1/12/2007 12:54 pm ET by rayshinz
When I was thinking out loud about this last night, I figured out that I could introduce new foods on weekend mornings and then when that particular food is "established" I can feed him in the evenings during the week. Maybe when I get more comfortable I can just send as much as he should eat each day with him to daycare.
Thanks!
Crystal
Mama to Jack (7/13/06)
Hi Crystal-
I totally understand your feelings. I didn't even offer solids until 8 months because I couldn't figure out a good time when DH was home to watch too and use the video camera.
I agree with Theresa! It's so much easier to nurse, and sending solids helps prevent DCP from overfeeding the EBM. I would say introduce on weekends, then send the food with Jack to DCP. You can prevent them from giving too much by sending your own, as well as by requesting that he first get EBM or get the food as a "snack" in between bottles.
With DD, I made my own baby food, froze it in ice trays and sent 1-2 cubes a day to be fed to her. It allowed her to participate in meal time, kept DCP from feeling she needed more milk, and meant I didn't always have to pull out solids at home.
DS didn't really like solids for a long long time. So we did it mostly at home. He liked big foods instead of spoon feeding, so when he started eating peeled apples we just told DCP he could have it if he wanted. Same with each new food. I sent food some days, didn't others. (That's what happens with 2 kids!)
BTW, you can get brown rice cereal with some iron fortification at health food stores.
Good luck!
Stephanie
I agree - introduce new solids yourself on the weekend, send only what your baby should eat each day, and enjoy the fact that you might not have to pump *quite* as much EBM. DCPs mostly just want to make sure that your child is well cared for, and they're used to giving solids earlier than most BF mommas want to. Not to mention, if they're watching some FF babies too, despite what you say it will be hard for them to feed the other babies 20+oz a day and only give your child half as much - they'll worry that your baby is hungry! They mean well, even if they are misguided.
Rebecca
I worked FT too, and my dh and I controlled most of the early solids, and sent bm to dcp. We were VERY fortunate that our sitter never overfed bm, so we really didn't feel the need to send solids to keep from overfeeding (though I can see where this might become a problem in other settings).
DH did a solid feed in the AM--cereal mixed with bm, as it helped me to "stretch" my pumped stash a bit. We also did a more "nutritious" (read "more time to prepare") solids meal in the early evening when we had dinner (often food processed homemade from our current meals). We skipped the "baby food" stage altogether with the dcp. When both babies were ready for early finger-foods, we sent the jarred cubed veggies, cheerios (generic, with no wheat), homemade baby biscuits, tofu, etc. We sent some of the finger-foods for the "week" and some "daily." Our sitter would also often offer "parts" of the lunch she served, if they were soft, like noodles. This way, our sitter also was "freed up" by not having to spoon-feed, and both our babies loved the finger-food time. The main "meals" during this first year at dcp were bm, and we gradually increased the solids at home.
I hope this helps!
Meg
(with former long-time nurslings, Noah, 7 and Rebekah, 4)
I really like this idea of freezing the food into ice trays. I am going to do that!
Thanks!
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