How to Feed a Henry

A few days after Christmas, Henry started reaching for our forks during meals. I thought it was a good idea to support Henry's lead and break out the flatware.  I wasn't sure if Henry was really ready for a fork. The general guideline is that babies can learn how to use a fork between 12 and 15 months, but I figured it would not hurt to let him try a little earlier.  Henry tries chicken on a fork. Right away, Henry figured out how to hold the fork and maneuver the food to his mouth. Sometimes he holds the handle and other times the prongs. It's a combined effort of using his fork and his fingers, but I'd say he is doing a great job with less than two weeks of practice.  I am not a fan of the plastic kids flatware. It looks and feels like a toy, not a tool. I figure if Henry wants to be like Mommy and Daddy using a fork, then we should let him use utensils that looks like what we use. Finding metal flatware for kids, however, is a challenge. Fortuna...

We’re back with a few more baby food reviews . This time I thought we would sample a few of the new baby food pouches since they seem to be all the rage . I picked four types that combined fruits and vegetables in one mixture. I noticed that although the label often lists a vegetable first, the actual order of ingredients always starts with a fruit. The Blueberry, Pear and Purple Carrot from Plum Organics was quite tart. Daddy did not like this flavor but Henry even preferred it to his morning toast crust. I think this puree has potential as a homemade popsicle. It was bright purple and would make a very colorful frozen treat. Henry slurped down the purple puree. Next on our tasting adventure was the Carrots, Apples and Parsnips from Ella’s Kitchen. This orange blend was not a particular stand-out. Henry did pass his spoon back to me for a second scoop, but then he moved on to his roasted vegetables without looking back. Henry gave was not as excited about the orange...

Continuing with the food by spoon theme, I thought we should taste test some baby food purees. I have a small assortment of store-bought jarred baby food from the baby shower that we might as well use as research. Since Henry eats what we eat, I figured that the opposite applies too. Daddy and I would taste test the food along with Henry. Since I already know what plain peas taste like, I picked out a few of the combo purees to try. Our first jar was Spinach & Potatoes from Earth’s Best Organic. It seemed like a promising flavor with spinach, potatoes, carrots, barley flour and brown rice. Unfortunately, Daddy and I agreed that this mixture was completely bland and tasteless. It had a strong spinach smell, but the flavor was quite plain and unappealing. Henry did not seem impressed either. He made a very disagreeable face when we gave him a preloaded spoonful. Someone in the company’s test kitchen should rethink this blend, as this is exactly why jarred baby food gets a...

Before we completely discount spoon-feeding, I thought we should give it a try. Some foods are just too runny to eat without some sort of utensil. Yes, I can smear yogurt or applesauce on a piece of toast for Henry, but with that method he ends up getting a lot of bread. So this week, we’ll be testing out foods by spoon with Henry. Some of Henry’s first toys were plastic baby spoons. We had them in a rainbow of colors and they were easy for him to grasp and bang around. Until this week, however, he had not used spoons as an implement for eating. Of course, he has seen Daddy and me using flatware but I’m not sure he really gets what we are doing. Brightly colored plastic spoons were one of Henry's first baby toys. There are two approaches to giving food to a baby by spoon: conventional spoon-feeding and preloading. With conventional spoon-feeding, an adult scoops the food onto the spoon and puts the spoon in baby’s mouth. The Baby-Led Weaning model recommends preloa...