Have been introducing new foods very slowly to Darius lately due to his fever and some diarrhoea after that. He has recovered and so I’m going to start new foods again. Lately, he no longer pushes out food, concentrates on eating and opening his mouth for every mouthful. I’m really glad that he finishes his meal fast.

He has since eaten new foods like:

• Split Peas – I bought dried ones, steam them for 10mins and pureed them quite finely in blender to make into foodcubes. I tried to feed him fresh mashed peas but no matter how I mashed, they were still in pieces. Even tiny ones, he will gagged on them. Blending only one tablespoon of freshly cooked peas for his meal is impossible since most will end up sticking on the container instead.
• Banana – only twice, once fresh, once from a foodcube
• Avocado – A few times, fresh or from foodcube.
• Tofu – introducing soon today to add to his brown rice porridge to make a complete protein meal.
• Oatmeal – I tried for a few days to give him Healthy Times Organic oatmeal with a fruit for breakfast, then some porridge for lunch(lesser amt than usual) and dinner. But he couldn’t finish lunch or he just hates eating during that timing so I think I’ll stick to two meals for him for now. When I didn’t cook, then it’s  HT oatmeal or brown rice cereal for him.
• Yogurt- Gave him 1-2 tablespoons natural plain yogurt during lunch hour with a fruit. Not daily. He likes it.

His  schedule at 8 months:

• 0650 or 0700 hrs – Upon wakening, milk at 5 ounces. Poo in potty, then go back to sleep.
• 0900hrs- Wake Up
• 0930hr – Breakfast is porridge. (I tried feeding him porridge in the afternoon but he doesn’t like to eat then but enjoys it if it’s morning).  Breakfast = 3 tablespoons cooked porridge (brown rice with fish/chicken bits)  + 1 Vitamin A veggie (carrot or pumpkin) +1 tablespoon of pea + 1 foodcube  fruit after finishing his porridge.
• 1015- 1030hr- Milk at 4 ounces.
• 1100 – 1230 hr or 1300hr – Nap
• 1330hr – Milk at 4 ounces.
• 1430 hr – 1600hr – Nap
• 1630hr – Milk at 4 ounces + a few gerber graduate puffs
• 1830hr – Dinner = 3 tablespoons of cooked porridge (brown rice with fish/chicken bits) + 1 Vitamin A veggie + 1 tbsp tofu + 1 foodcube  fruit after finishing his porridge.
• 2000hr- Last feed at 5 ounces.
• 2030hr or 2100hr – Sleep til the next day.

Total milk intake = 22 ounces.

Total porridge = 6 tablespoons (3 ounces)

Total add-ons = 2 foodcube veggie (2-4 tbsps) , 2 foodcube fruits (2-4 tbsps) , 2 tbsp protein complement (legumes like peas, soyabean-tofu)

Super Baby Food book’s recommendation is :

• Milk upon wakening, Three meals a day with three food servings each, plus one or two Snacks, plus water and diluted juice.
• Fruits/Veggies- 4-5 servings per day. Each serving is 1-1.5 foodcubes.
  
• Grains -2-3 servings per day. Each serving is 2-4 tbsp of dry cereal or up to 1/2 cup cooked porridge.
  
• Protein foods : 1-2 servings of meat/ legumes /nuts / seeds . Each serving is 1-2 tablespoons.
• Egg yolk : every second day
• Dairy: 1/2 cup yogurt. or 1/4 cheese.
• Breastmilk/Formula: 29-32 ounces a day. 2-4 ounces of water per day. Few ounces of diluted fruit juice.
  

I think it’s a bit too much for Darius right now. Maybe westerner’s babies eat more so I just adjust accordingly. And I don’t intend to introduce eggs til later. I may try to start him on three meals again though, with the lunch portion being lesser.

Fruit Juice – though the Super baby food book recommend fruit juice, I don’t intend to introduce since he likes to drink water and we could do without all the sugar, even diluted fruit sugar. Besides, it’s not easy to store or prepare because it has to be pasteurised (boiled before storing in fridge) to prevent bacteria. Might as well just give him the fruit to eat for the dietary fibre.

Mixed grains- I hadn’t started mixing different grains yet though it’s alright for him now.

Snacks – not sure yet whether he can eat so much. Will have to monitor for while.

At 8 months, he can finally eat fruits like: Apple (uncooked), apricot, honeydew melon, watermelon, grapes, kiwi.

At 8 months, he can also eat broccoli, one of our favourite veggies. Will take time to introduce these to him slowly.

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