Miss Isabella has decided that it is time for solids. I had planned to wait for exactly her 6 month birthday but this little one has been SO ready for solids and there has been a lot of mixed research on whether to wait til 6 months or if waiting that long causes the child to have some aversion to food so we decided to start them just shy of her 6 month appointment. Signs that she has been ready: she can easily sit up on her own in the high chair, she has been grabbing at our plates/drinks for months, and acting more hungry.

Since getting pregnant I may have become super/ultra crazy vigilant about watching for additives/unsafe things in stuff we eat/drink/and put on our skin. I swore off most artificial sweeteners, avoided certain things in facial cleanser/makeup. After my pregnancy I really started thinking...if those things weren't good for me while pregnant....then they really probably aren't good for me. Sorry I'm rambling. So obviously with my precious daughters arrival this has continued and I have been very aware of the things I eat, put on her skin and now plan to feed her. When I started doing research on rice cereal I just decided that most commercial rice cereals had very little nutritional value to offer my daughter..typically cause most children to have constipation so I knew it wasn't going to be the first food I wanted to offer our daughter. I threw around trying avocados first but was afraid it might be too much of a drastic taste change for her so I decided on oatmeal. I mixed it with breast milk and she was in love...I have a whole other post coming on introducing solids but have to find the time between working full time, spending every minute I have with my precious daughter and searching for a nanny (it is proving to be horrific for us so far). If only I could just get paid to blog and make bows:) Wouldn't that be heavenly. Anyways here is how I made the above cereals, so super easy...it is a little more work when I go to feed her because I have to cook it each time. Commercial cereals have been cooked and processed then placed in the box and that is why they don't have to be cooked. (eek!)

(Also make sure your oats are not quick oats but regular oats, organic if you prefer)

Bring your water to a boil. Whisk in your oatmeal powder. Whisk rather vigorously to prevent clumping. Then reduce heat and let simmer for about 5 min. Easy as that. Then add in breastmilk or formula to achieve the consistency that you want.

Brown Rice



1 cup water

1/4 cup brown rice powder (organic brown rice ground into powder with blender)

Bring water to boil and stir in brown rice powder. Then cover and let simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionaly.  Add breastmilk or formula for desired consistency.

Barley

1 cup water

1/4 cup barley powder (organic barley ground in blender into powder)

Bring water to boil. Whisk in barley and let simmer about 8-10 minutes. Add in your breastmilk or formula like above

Once you have started to add in fruits/vegetables these are great to mix with. When Isabella refused avocado adding in a little oatmeal defintiely helped. Just remember to use the "3-4 day wait rule"...only start one new food at a time and wait 3-4 days before introducing new foods watching for allergic reactions.

I usually boil the water and whisk then while it is simmering I nurse her so it is ready when we are. Works perfectly everytime.

So far my absolute favorite website has been Wholesome Baby Food....incredible and so helpful...another post to come on more things I have learned:) We are on our 4th food!   

Also, shockingly there are tons of strange color additives in children's medicines here are my favorite dye free, additive free options for little ones. Was just talking to one of my besties about this, this weekend and thought I would share.

Tylenol 1, 2

Motrin 1, 2

Vitamin D drops 1, 2, 3

Benadryl