We have been giving Xav solids now for a few weeks and I wanted to share the full journey and schedule. If you’ve been following along, you’re aware of my obsession with the way the French feed their children and wanting to mimic it to the best of my ability. They emphasize “taste development” at a very early age and have their kids eating any and all veggies and even what many Americans would consider “grown up foods.” And here’s the biggest catch: the kids actually like them! This way just seems to make the most sense to me if wanting to raise a “foodie baby” who will eat just about anything.
I’ve been following French baby food recommendations and have done a lot of research on the FSP (French Society of Pediatrics) vs the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics). ***I am not a doctor or an expert - this is all research mixed in with what our pediatrician has also recommended - I just want to share my bebe’s food journey with y’all because that’s what I do, I talk about food!*** I posted a bit about this already (saved on highlights on Instagram @andreas_cooktales under 🇫🇷Baby Food🇫🇷 if you missed it). After I posted, I got a lot of questions, so I want to take y’all from start to finish on our baby food plan, why, and how it’s been going so far.
As always, I will emphasize: the plan YOU have for YOUR baby will always be the best plan. I just want to share mine per all my French research. I’m not saying it’s THE way. This is just what we plan to do. I’m super passionate about it so I’m hoping it goes well. If it doesn’t work out, I will let y’all know.. Believe me! I’m going to be very transparent about this and share every step of it with y’all. As I put these ideas into action, I will be posting reels, videos, and additional blog posts about it. I would love for y’all to go on this journey with me. Even if some of my choices aren’t for you, I hope you follow along and share what you’re doing. I love hearing all the different ways yalls babies are eating. Here’s the breakdown of what we’re doing:
🍴We are starting with homemade purées rather than cereal. I’ve read a lot of research on cereal first vs. purées first and that’s what I decided. My reasons vary but the gist is little nutrition in the cereal, more substance and health benefits in veggies, and according to the French the sooner you introduce a variety of veggies increases the likelihood of them enjoying them.
🍴We are starting purées at 5 1/2 months. It sounds late, but it’s what my research told me and it was backed up by my pediatrician who said standard recommendation is 5-6 months so we are going the halfway mark.
🍴Our feeding schedule looks similar to the one I posted from the book “French Kids Eat Everything” (you can find that post on my Instagram highlights under 🇫🇷Baby Food🇫🇷) and will continue to look like that until 9 months. At that mark, we will go full-blown FSP recommendation, which the AAP may not agree with - 4 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner) and stick to it rigorously. Here’s why:
The French don’t believe in walking around with snacks in your bag.
Structure and routine.
Sitting and enjoying meals together.
They don’t believe in children telling them when they want a snack or when they should eat. The child doesn’t decide when he eats. The parent does. The parent is always in charge - even when it comes to food.
Being hungry when they sit down makes them “good eaters.” If they’ve had snacks all day, they won’t eat at mealtime and they certainly won’t eat vegetables or try new foods.
When they sit down to eat they’re truly hungry, therefore, they’re excited to eat whatever you’re serving them. Not to mention, being hungry turns them into little adults at the table. According to the French, when a child is genuinely hungry, he’s less likely to act up, throw food, or pitch a fit at the table.
4 meals a day teaches patience and again, structure. Patience - If a child is given a snack each time he says he’s hungry, he will never learn patience and appreciation for food. Structure - He will know if he doesn’t eat enough at breakfast, he’s not going to be able to eat again until lunch, therefore, he will more than likely eat his entire breakfast. Likewise, he will do the same at every meal because he knows a snack isn’t an option.
Food is not a bribe, reward, or distraction. Rather, food is something to look forward to, throughly enjoy, and savor.
Photo by Abbey Bratcher, Home: Pettigrew Adventures
These tips all come from the two books I’ve read on this: “Bringing Up Bebe” and “French Kids Eat Everything” + additional research I’ve done online. I’m not saying it’s THE way. This is just what we plan to do. I’m super passionate about it so I’m hoping it goes well.
Update: We started purées with Xav a few weeks ago and this has been the schedule, amounts, and foods:
All pure veggies - no salt, no fat, and all on their own (you can also mix with a little potato for smoother consistency)
A few bites then milk right after - we’ve done maybe 2 to 3 teaspoons so it’s very underwhelming at first, I kept thinking “this is not even real eating” haha! But a baby has never had food before, so it takes time.
Purées at lunch - we decided on lunchtime in case his belly doesn’t agree with something. That way, he doesn’t go to bed with an upset stomach. We’ve not run into this problem though. I’m sure dinner time is fine too.
Harsh veggies first, sweeter veggies later - we went with greens first and then will ease into the veggies babies tend to like best. I read the French do this to get their tastebuds used to green veggie flavors so they don’t fall in love with the sweet stuff first and refuse the greens later.
Introduce a new veggie every 3 to 4 days (about 6 veggies the first month) - I’m strictly following what I’ve read the French recommend doing here. It’s all about “taste development” to them and they believe (and statistically are right in most cases) this gets your baby liking and eating all foods at a young age.
Our Schedule Thus Far and How It’s Been:
Week 1: “Vegetable Soup”
I read to warm up babies taste buds to vegetables, they do a veggie soup in their bottle first (just a few tablespoons mixed with milk). This “vegetable soup” is actually just really a broth or juiced veggies. I made mine with carrot, celery, a tiny amount of onion, and a lot of water. When veggies were soft, I blended everything up very smooth then took a strainer lined with fine mesh cloth and strained it into a juice. I wanted to make sure there were no chunks whatsoever for safety reasons. Verdict: he wasn’t a fan of it in his bottle with milk so we ended up spoon feeding it to him.
Week 2 and 3: Real Solids
*I homemade these myself using a baby food maker. You can also just steam them and purée very smooth in a high-speed blender.
Day 1, 2, 3: Spinach
Day 4, 5, 6, 7: Zucchini
Day 8, 9, 10: Green Beans
Day 11, 12, 13, 14: Turnip Root
*So far he hasn’t “loved” anything - haha! I’m just being honest. He’s still at the stage where I don’t think he understands why there’s food in his mouth and he’s not drinking milk! I say to him after each bite, “Xav, you can’t drink milk for your entire life.” I would say so far, zucchini and green beans have been his favorite (kind of not really - ha!), he’s “put up” with spinach, and he literally projectile vomited when I fed him turnip yesterday (He had just had a bottle so maybe that’s why. By the way, I usually always give food before bottle and I plan to keep it that way, he was just really hungry when he woke up so I shoved a bottle in his mouth). According to the French, this is normal and you keep trying. They say it takes 7 or 8 times before they can actually decide they like something or not.
Week 4:
Day 15, 16, 17: Leeks
Day 18, 19, 20, 21: Carrot
We haven’t gotten to week 4 yet but I’ll update y’all as soon as we do. Once we’re done with these, we will circle back to the spinach and start the whole process over again. Then most likely move on to sweeter veggies and some fruits. I’ll keep these detailed posts coming. Until then, find more info on my Instagram page @andreas_cooktales