5 month old LOVES food

[JessManc]

So, my DD is 5.5 months and we started letting her try some single purées a couple of weeks ago as she was sat up and displaying all the signs that she was ready.

I thought maybe she would take a while to be interested in food but no, she LOVES it. I thought I’d just keep feeding her spoonfuls of the purées until she doesn’t want anymore but I don’t think she would stop!

My question is... how much is too much?

The purée isn’t replacing any of her breast milk feeds and her tummy seems fine, but I’m not sure if it’s normal for a baby this small to wolf down an entire ella’s kitchen pack of parsnips for breakfast, after her morning milk, and still be interested in more..!

Trying to limit it to one pouch / tub a day at breakfast for now but I’m sure she’d have more. She’s also not met a food she doesn’t like yet - a bit like her mother haha - but I guess I should clarify she is around 50th percentile so not a big or especially small baby

It's great, but maybe try to give her homemade purees or soups to increase variety and a taste closer to reality. The veggies in a pouch will not taste like the veggies in real life as they to be processed at high temperature to give them shelf life.
Also the process of sucking is different than swallowing so encourage the spoon. Maybe empty the pouch in a bowl.

Thanks for your reply @Cormoran!

We’ve been using a spoon (she loves to try and grab that too) but I’ll try more homemade purées. Think she prefers the smoothness of the pouches but I guess that something a bit more textured will help slow her down

Pouches are smoother because there is more water than in homemade.
Instead of steaming your veggies, cook them in 2 cm of water in a small pot, letting them simmer for 15 min and then blend them with whatever water is left. If it evaporates too quickly, add some more.
Babies/toddler need to learn that with mastication comes saliva which will lubricate the food allowing to slide down easily , so you need that extra wetness (and in pouches there is plenty of water) .

It is great that you don't give the pouch straight, because you eat with your eyes as much as with your mouth , so it is important to get use to the sometimes unappealing colour of vegetables puree.

It is the perfect age when they are open to anything and everything, so offer the widest possible range of vegetables, including strong tasting ones such as asparagus. Learn that it might take several tries to make her like one. Humans are animals of habit, we like what we know.

That’s great advice, I really appreciate it!

I've got four children and I was guided by them. First two were pretty easy weaners but dc3 was like a bloody seal from day 1 I would literally throw food and he would catch and eat He ate absolutely everything and was quickly in 3 meals a day plus milk.
Seriously though, embrace it and give her as much variety as poss and definitely Mix up the textures don't let her get used to one thing or then when the problems start.
Dc4 was a nightmare and used to vomit everything back up. They are 6 and 7 now and both are pretty good eaters even though complete opposites when the first tried food.

Good to know @troppibambini6! I’m going to get a load of veg today and do some prep - exciting times in lockdown!

It is an existing moment making a child discover all the great tastes that exist.
You have this unique window opportunity for a couple of months now in which she will be willing to try everything and you can build a food preference that will last for many years.
I you have the time, I would recommend to stay away form all the industrial so called finger food which mainly junk food for babies in which salt has been left out. Babies do not need cuffed snacks or extremely sweet cereal bar to learn and develop motor skills.

There is place for finger food of course, but think of it as which food you would eat with your fingers, which with a spoon and which with a fork.
Explore fresh herbs, from parsley to basil, including rosemary for all the vegetables you will roast in the oven, do not be afraid to use garlic and onion.
Place importance on taste and let your daughter be part of the preparation. Have her in your arms while you pick the veggies from the fridge, let her sit in her high chair while she watches you wash, cut, chop and place the veggies in a pot or a tray, and let the smell of the food fill the kitchen.
You eat with all your senses, you hear, you smell, you see, you touch and taste.
You can make a big pot of broth (1 big onion, 6 carrots, 3 celery stick, 2 zucchini, 1 leek, 4 fat ripe tomatoes) , fill pot with water and let simmer for 3 hours minimum. You can use the broth to cook baby pasta such as this one www.italiangourmetuk.com/product/barilla-tempesta-pasta-500g/

Use real parmiggiano reggiano or grana padano in risottos, soups or baby pasta. It has the higher calcium content of all cheeses.
Later, when you introduce her to fish, don't go for the fired or crumbled one. You can boil a piece of cod and serve it with melted butter and fish parsley or extra virgin olive oil and a spoonful or two of the cooking water. A sole cooked in butter is also a great first fish.

Just think about what you would her her to eat growing up and give her that food.

Wow, that makes me smile just reading it. We love to cook in this house so it makes me happy to think she can be a part of it and that I can feed her all these nutritious things while developing her love of food

Based on your reply, there are two books I would like to recommend.
The first one is a cookbook called On the side, by Ed Smith. It is by far, the book that suggest diet fort the widest variety of vegetable . Plenty of recipes with lentils and chickpeas as well. Just remember that you can not add salt until you have removed the baby's plate.
The other is not a cookbook but a reflection on how we eat and how we discover it form early age. It is called First bites by Bee Wilson. www.amazon.co.uk/First-Bite-How-Learn-Eat/dp/0465064981?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

When starting with fruit, you can make apple sauce but simmering piece of apples in minimal water. Pear sauce is equally delicious, and pear will develop a sort of vanilla taste when cooked. Banana is easier poached if baby hasn't developed mastication (boiling water, cut pieces of banana, cook for 2 min, remove banana without adding any water, blend or crush)
If you can, don't used canned fruit. A canned apricot tastes nothing like a real one.
My strongest recommendation remains to avoid the baby snack food aisle and the baby crips, baby puffs, baby bars. Processed food are addictive, nutrition void and don't taste like and altered tastebuds is recognised as a consequence of processed food life.spectator.co.uk/articles/processed-food-is-having-a-sinister-effect-on-our-taste-buds/