Saturday, October 31, 2009

Mother bird? (updated)

How many of you "mother bird" it for your baby? Do you know what I'm talking about? Chewing up food and then taking it from your mouth and letting your baby eat it. (okay, so mother birds actually regurgitate it first)

Am I the only one who does this? When Karl wants something I'm eating, but it's too hard for a baby with only 2 teeth to eat, I'll chew it up first and then take it out with my finger and let Karl eat it. When thinking about it, it sounds so gross and I can't believe I do it. But Karl doesn't mind it at all and he gets to try something new.

update - I reread this and it sounded way worse than what I actually do. I don't chew it up like ready-to-swallow food. I just bite it a few times with my front teeth until the pieces are small enough for karl to eat. I don't chew it all up with my molars or anything!

Poor kid. He'll probably gag at the thought if I told him about it when he's older, but for now, he's my little baby bird and he likes it. Today, he got to try caramel bugles. And he loves them!

Another new food for him today was strawberries. I know we aren't supposed to give strawberries until a year old and I looked it up. Here is what I learned ...

  • 1. Children under 1 yr of age are more susceptible to develop allergies when introduced to certain foods too early. Strawberries are just one of the more likely foods to develop food allergies.
  • 2. All children are different, but up until 4-6 months of age their digestive system is not developed enough to handle any kind of foods other then formula or breast milk. Strawberries and citrus fruits are extremely hard on their sensitive tummies and will make a very irritable baby as they work out the natural acids in these fruits.
So the second thing shouldn't be a problem since he's almost 10 months old. But the first one may be a valid thought. None of my other kids have food allergies, so hopefully karl won't have any either.

I didn't baby bird the strawberries though. I gave it to him through his mesh feeder and he chowed down on it. He absolutely loved it!

Regardless of my disregard for the rules, I'll never give him honey though. That rule is definitely something I'll adhere too! (Honey may contain bacterial spores that can cause infant botulism.)

18 comments:

Tam said...

I can honestly say I've never done that!

areyoukiddingme said...

That grosses me out! But it also grosses me out when my daughter puts her fingers in her mouth and then touches my hand. Apparently I have saliva issues.

We would just give her things she could gum until she had enough teeth to chew things.

Elizabeth said...

I don't think it's gross--it's a great way to expose baby to lots of new flavors! I've done it with a few little guys I've cared for--with the parents' permission of course!

Photogrl said...

It's been so long, I'm not sure I was a "mother bird" with Miss O. or not.

Probably sometime along the way...

You crack me up!

Robin said...

I'm pretty sure I did that with Alli. And We did use the little chewey bag thing (whatever those are called) for her quite a bit. It was great if we were out at restaurants and she needed something to keep her occupied while we finished our food. She'd gnaw on a piece of steak or something like a little carnivore.

Robin said...

i don't chew things that are too hard, but i will use my teeth to bite off small pieces of something bigger that would crumble if i tried to break it with my fingers (i am thinking specifically of these organic graham cracker sticks we have.)

Kristin said...

Hehehe...I am getting the FUNNIEST mental picture from this.

mommybird said...

I do bite stuff off and give it to my babies. Layla is still not handling chunky solids yet so I haven't done it for her yet but I did it with my others.

KatieM said...

I know what you mean and I do it for Cullen too! We are only up to 3 teeth that have broken through so I "help" him out with some stuff.

jenn said...

I haven't done it yet- but I'm sure I will. I'll eat her finger foods to show her how & not waste them. Last night I gave her a whole snow pea pod to gum at the party we were at to keep her occupied. she broke a piece off & I ate it since there is no way she can handle a pea pod yet. That probably would have seemed a little gross to me before having her!

MrsSpock said...

Yes, I do it. And yes, it is quite the norm in many cultures.

Sarah said...

All the freaking time... lol

Even now, if we are eating an apple together, it's much easier to just bite him pieces off. I am almost embarrassed to admit that when he was younger, I would show him what I had and he'd get all excited and I ACTUALLY mother birded it to him, straight out of my mouth. *giggle* I would freak if someone else did this to him, but it's okay if I do.

Jenera said...

I think the only time I do is with fruit. Like taking a bite of banana and giving him a smaller piece. But other foods I just cut up small or pull apart.

Hollie said...

I think that it's perfectly fine for a mom or dad to "mother bird" food for their own kid. I have never done it. Just freaks me out a little. But it makes me kind of mad when other people do it for my kid. I know they do it even though I ask them not to. My brother always gives Boo whatever he is eating. I just think there are plenty of years ahead to eat normal food. No need to rush.

Tam said...

I commented earlier that I had never done that... but I must tell you that I am now a mother bird myself!!

I wanted my daughter to have her first taste of Halloween, but the only thing I had were SIXLETS. They are obviously a choking hazard, so I bit down on them before giving them to her. Good thing you posted this, otherwise I might not have thought to do that!

Jen said...

Yup I do that. If Jillian wants something I'm eating and it's reasonable, I'll bite off a smaller piece for her. And I gave her strawberries well before one too. She still only has two teeth (3 & 4 are on their way) but she can chew just about anything if the pieces aren't too big.

Beautiful Mess said...

I just love it when you explain stuff! You totally crack me up. My first thought was "hell no, I don't do that!" then when you explained it again...yeah I totally did that! When they're screaming for something you have but you know they can't eat that big of a piece, you don't think twice about putting it in your mouth. It's just what we do.

Good work, you're a good mom!
*HUGS*

Carol said...

I do the opposite, eat the food my kid hands me that he just took out of his mouth. Gross but true