Congrats from another nana!
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My grandkids do not eat puree food. I remember I tried to give my own kids baby food from a jar and they both hated it. D1 started her kids on solids starting at 6 months, and they were regular food, not pureed. They get yogurt in a pouch so it’s not too messy.
GD2 only likes food that’s not on her plate. She’ll “steal” your food instead of eating what’s on her plate, even if they were the same.
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My 5 year old GD likes a huge variety of food, especially anything Lebanese, but she doesn’t do hot-spicy. The cool thing is that she will try foods, even if she’s sure she won’t like them, although this is a more recent development. She was very surprised to find that she likes fish, which she didn’t like a couple years ago … she agreed to try again, and she was so excited that she liked it.
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My daughter was a micro preemie so did have food issues - lots of them. It took me so much time to get calories into her that I decided not to fight about food. She never had to eat anything she didn’t want. I would have loved it if she would have eaten Kraft M&C but nope, just elbow mac with butter, no PB&J, nothing green, nothing with bananas (a lot of baby food has bananas). Once she discovered real food, no more baby food (which she never liked anyway). Nothing slimy like yogurt or pudding and there are a lot of condiments she still doesn’t like; solid food is best in her opinion and she never would have eaten food from pouches.
Many of her preemie friends were taken to clinics to learn to eat. I just gave her stuff I knew she liked and would eat and she drank a lot of milk.
I don’t make stuff I don’t like. My kids were allowed to have preferences. Not a big deal to add something they liked to the table. Calories going in was the most important.
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For sure if there are medical or other extenuating circumstances, accommodations are necessary.
My GD was not a preemie, although she weighed on the smaller side at birth, but she also sees a pediatric feeding therapist because she has bottle feeding issues (she is 3 mos). She has a lot of tension in her upper body, neck and jaw as well as problems with tongue placement when she bottle feeds. Some doctors recommend snipping the “tie” underneath the tongue, but the therapist doesn’t think it’s necessary in most cases, and my daughter has been able to do some therapies with her to help with tongue placement and releasing tension in her upper body.
I’m not sure many new moms are aware of the feeding therapists unless they have a preemie/micro-preemie. The one my daughter sees was able to identify the problem right away, when she observed a feeding session, and offer treatment solutions. I feel like a lot of new moms struggle with various feeding issues and just kind of muddle through on their own, trying to change bottles, nipple sizes and types of formula to find a solution. Every time I hear a friend mention feeding issues with a new grandchild, I suggest the feeding therapist.
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Congratulations
My GD will be 9 months next week and she was found to have a tie under her tongue when she was a couple of months old. GD is breast fed and D1 was able to learn from the feeding therapist how to best position her for feeding. They also gave some exercises to do to help GD with feeding. Things have worked out well for GD and there was no need to snip the tie under the tongue. When I was born I had a tie which they did snip as it was common back then.
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My GD also has a tongue tie, and it made feeding difficult. D had a lactation consultant, but she ended up feeding breast milk by bottle - she had to try a bunch of bottles to find one that worked for GD. D chose not to have the tongue tie clipped/lasered, after researching and talking to the pediatrician. Some choose to remove it & that’s cool; D simply preferred not to and found a way to make feeding work.
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Both of my GDs had tongue tie and they had procedure done. They did feed better after the procedure.
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D just had her tongue tie released in her mid-30s. We never fought about food. We asked the kids to at least TRY everything that was served. If they didn’t like the meal, they could quietly make themselves a peanut butter sandwich. They rarely had to resort to that but I wasn’t cooking a variety of meals.
Both kids were full term and weighed just over 6# at birth. They’re still on the thin side, like H & me and many of their cousins.
My grandson had his tongue released at the suggestion of the hospital lactation specialist. I think they consulted another resource before doing it. At 3 1/2 due to a genetic condition he still sees a feeding therapist weekly. Due to low tone he initially ate puréed food. He has learned to swallow but still needs help learning to use his pinchers to grasp food. He’s our best eater. He eats all vegetables and meats including salmon, sardines. The wide variety of pouches was great for them. Serenity kids makes pouches in salmon, turkey, bison,beef and chicken. They also make a lot of vegetable pouches and they test all their ingredients.
My picky eater grandchild didn’t start off a picky eater. When she was starting solids she ate everything they gave her. At some point she stopped eating a lot of foods. She wasn’t gaining weight and will not eat what she doesn’t like. She is now willing on occasion to try a bite. She also eats cheese burgers but don’t dare give her a sesame seed bun.
The other grands are decent eaters. It depends what week it is what they are eating. My daughter did baby led weaning and used an app Solid Starts.
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THat’s the same case with my grandkids, DGS6, DGD4, other DGD4. They ate a wide variety of foods as toddlers, and gradually became pickier and pickier!
DGS is having a renaissance here as he approaches 7 and gets ready for first grade. We took care of him during the day last week, as he had no summer camp. He has suddenly learned to read well, (as in, almost overnight). He has learned to swim well, (I have been teaching him). He takes instructions better and behaves reasonably in public. He is more aware of his little sister’s point of view, and quicker to apologize if he accidentally bumps her. He attended a public Spanish immersion school for K and that, and the beginnings of a second language, means he is very interested in discussing languages. Dang! That boy is growing up, and I really love being with him, and the other GKs. 
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Converted GS’s crib into a big boy bed this afternoon–it was easy and was only a matter of undoing 4 screws to take down rail and putting in 3 screws for the railing. In a related story, spent part of yesterday anchoring the climbable furniture in his room to the wall.
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Yes, my kids were climbers too. Fortunately, they NEVER fell. S now in his late 30s enjoys rockclimbing (but never in my sight).
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S was also a climber. We had a sort of mesh tent zippered on the crib because he would climb out.
Saw the grands twice this weekend. GD loves to see me and yells out “Mimi” and hugs me when she does. She also compliments me if I am wearing something she likes like the sundress I had on yesterday.
GS turn 1 this month ( a few days after his sister turns 4). He can stand for several seconds and take a step or two. D was worried about him not cutting teeth but his two bottom front teeth just popped.
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Not my grandchild but my sister’s – so, my grand nephew. He’s touring colleges in the Northeast right now, and then taking some three-week course at Brown. (He’s a rising senior.) It’s fun talking to his father (my nephew) about what he’s looking for. I hope I’m around when my own grandkids (now 7 and 5) look at colleges.
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I am looking to stay a bit connected on college insights for the grands (they are only ages 1 - 8), but the oldest of my nephews’ kids (my side) and DH’s niece’s kids are entering 8th and 9th grade. Also, with the activities that help them learn and explore interests during summer break. We just picked up niece’s daughter at Nashville Airport to get her to Space Academy (Space Camp) in Huntsville yesterday. She won a slot with Air Force Youth Programs. I can relate to our niece about how good it is for the activity and interest exploration and talk with her about examples with our two DDs. This niece’s mother was an educator/education administration and they took advantage of opportunities for her. My nephew/kids are in Des Moines (where his wife and he went to college), so there are things available there for their kids - right now they all are involved with sports but some of the fine arts as well.
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We had our first Patty Duke* moment yesterday.
Twins went to a 1 week summer program at their school where the teachers didn’t know them from the regular school year. Twin A wanted to be with her best friend who was in Twin B’s class, and, helpfully, Twin B wanted to be with her best friend who was in Twin A’s class. So they switched their ID tags and went to their preferred class and answered to their sister’s name all day.
The twins were highly pleased with themselves when they got home and told us at dinner about their “trick”. Although we admired their creativity, we reminded them it wasn’t necessarily right or safe to fool adults like that. We told them they could continue in the switched classes, but they had to tell their teacher their real name.
*is anyone old enough to remember the Patty Duke Show where Patty Duke played identical cousins who were always switching places?
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I mostly remember the opening song/skit. A real classic!
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We are in southern Portugal, with a lot of great seafood. I ordered clams with garlic sauce. GD1 tried one âne loved it. GD2 also wanted to try, so they are both clam lovers now. We need to order two portions.
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