Baby Food, Spit up and Laundry

There's no reason not to make food taste good by adding a little apple sauce or pear to the rice cereal. Rice is generally suggested as a first food because it is very rarely allergenic. But I know people who started with pureed peaches or even avocado. Babies have a natural sweet tooth, and adding fruit is the best way to get them to eat some foods like spinach.

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H. B

Hi Shoshana,
You didn't mention how old the baby is. I am a mother of 2 beautiful girls, 10 and 15, 2 grown sons, and a grandmother of 3. I've found that under 1yr old, spit up is fairly common especially if the baby tends to eat fast. He might be getting indigestion. As far as mixing cereal and veggies or fruit, mom's have been doing that since for ever. If that is what he likes and he is happy with both choices, I don't see any cause for concern. Most children adjust later, to eating their food separate. My 10 yr old still mixes up some for her favorite foods. Try applying a paste of laundry detergent to the stains and let stand 15 to 30 mins and then wash as normal. Enjoy your beautiful baby.

Is he really spitting up or is it more that he hasn't quite learned to move the food to the back of his mouth and swallow so he is spitting some out? I think that some spitting up is normal and as long as he is gaining weight, happy and otherwise healthy you probably shouldn't worry. My daughter was a big spitter until about 6-7 months and once she spent most of her time sitting up it stopped.

I also mixed things into the cereal, vegetables, fruit whatever she liked. As long as you are still only introducing one or two things at a time to check for allergies I think you should go with what he likes.

I hope this helps.

Hi Shoshana,

I don't know much about the spitting up part, but we always mixed my son's rice cereal with something tastier. If you have ever tried the stuff, how could you blame him? We started him on solids around 6 1/2 months and from the beginning I made the food at home. It is surprisingly easy- I would make a batch and freeze it in ice cube trays and store in zip-lock bags. Then I just pop them in the microwave. I gave him both fruits and veggies, cooked separately and then they can be put together in different combos for variety. The problem with store bought baby food is it is designed for convenience, not taste.

I have also heard that you should start out with veggies over fruit, but fruits are the easiest to digest. May be worth a try if he has a sensitive tummy. Starting out, he loved apples, bananas and pears especially.

Now he is almost 14 months and is a very good eater. I still make most of his food at home and freeze it, except, now they are more complete dishes. His favorite is chicken soup with rice, which is so great because you can put all kinds of veggies in it. He always has some fruit for dessert.

As for the food stains, if you really care about the clothes, the best thing is to try to get the stain out right away and not let it sit. I used totally toddler stain remover and would run it under warm water. Otherwise, just let it go- they grow out of them so quickly anyway!

Good luck.