The Journey to Solid Food

When Riley was born, she latched right away and was breast fed without incident until just before she was 2 months old. At this time she started getting fussy at the breast, latching poorly which led to painful nipples and within a couple of days I developed cracks. I had tried everything I knew to do and decided that if I wanted to continue breastfeeding I was going to need some help. So I made an appointment to see Jill, the lactation consultant at Milton District Hospital. She told me Riley and I likely had thrush and would need to be treated with Nystatin drops and Dr. Jack Newman's APNO.

Now if you've never had to deal with thrush, you might think of it as an infection. Just take your meds and the problem goes away in 7 to 10 days. Not so. The problem is, yeast can easily reoccur and can get out of hand quite quickly if you're not careful. You need to keep things sterile, cool and dry. Here's what I had to do:
1) Pump milk to relieve engorgement and bottle feed Riley. Those first couple of days were really painful and I had to forgo breastfeeding in order for my nipples to heal enough so they wouldn't crack when Riley latched on.
2) Every time Riley had a bottle, it had to be sterilized before she used it again. Along with the bottles, the breast pump, soothers and any toys she happened to put in her mouth had to be kept sterile on a daily basis.
3) If my breast pads got wet, I had to change them ASAP. Keeping things dry is key to keeping the yeast in check. I also had to be careful with bibs and clothing. If it was drooled on, it had to be changed.
So after 4 weeks of this I was so happy to have a baby who was latching properly and gaining enough weight. There were times when I wanted to give up but my weekly appointments with Jill gave me the encouragement and strength to keep going. I can happily say Riley was exclusivly breastfed for six months and we both enjoyed it. I was lucky that my bout with thrush was a mild one and I sympathize with mothers who have to deal with recurring symptoms.

Now at six months old Riley has started eating solid foods. It was a milestone I had been anticipating because, while I was pregnant with her I discovered Baby Led Weaning. This is introducing foods in pieces big enough for her to grab and eat herself. It is advised that babies be at least 6 months of age and have lost the tongue thrust reflex. To test this reflex, Riley's first solid food was puréed sweet potato. She didn't do too well which completely burst my bubble. It took her just over a week to master swallowing puréed food. A few days after that I reinflated my bubble and jumped into baby led weaning.

I cut butternut squash into fries and steamed them. It started off well but after a few pieces, Riley didn't seem interested. I wondered if it was the squash she disliked or the fact that she had to feed herself. So I went into the fridge and cut up some pear. She did a little better and ate about four pieces. Since then she's had peas, actual fries, Cheerios and carrots. I'm still not sure if she's digging this baby led weaning thing.  I went back to puréeing some food and it's hit or miss so I've decided on no more mush.  It may be the fact that she doesn't want to be on a feeding schedule.  I did breast feed on demand so maybe she'll eat solids when she wants and not necessarily at specific mealtimes.  Although the theory behind baby led weaning is that baby will eat when she's hungry and until she's full, I'm really going to have to pay attention to her hunger cues and keep a variety of foods available to her.  My next attempt will be rutabaga...keep your fingers crossed.

As promised, here's a couple pics of Riley's first tooth. And I must add that as of today, she has cut her second tooth!

about a week after I noticed the tooth.

a couple of days ago