Baby Oliver is Eating Solids: Potato Chips, Liver Pate, and Guacamole

Oliver just turned 6 months old and this week he started eating solids. His first food was actually a potato chip. He grabbed it out of my hand at Kate’s birthday party.

Don’t worry, it was the good kind of potato chip, organic, fried in coconut oil: Jackson’s Honest Coconut Oil Potato Chips.  (Yeah, I freaked you out with that title, eh?)

Baby-Led Weaning

Then I was holding him the other day as I was eating some guacamole and he grabbed the fork out of my hand. This is called “baby-led weaning” — when you let the baby decide when they are ready to eat. He is definitely ready!

It’s time, because he was demanding more and more breast milk and I was starting to get worried about getting my supply up. Now that he’s eating food, even though it’s not a lot of food, I am producing more than enough milk.

We’re Still Breastfeeding

We’re still breastfeeding and I plan to keep this up as long as he wants. At least a year, 2 if possible.  There are so many benefits to extended breastfeeding including greatly enhanced immunity.

I breastfeed him about every 2-3 hours during the day and he sleeps 12-13 hours at night. I pump at night before bed and again early in the morning before he wakes up, or after his first feeding. This produces an extra 6-10 ounces of milk (it varies, depending on how much fenugreek capsules and oatmeal I am eating) per day, which he usually eats right before bed around 6 pm.

By the way, don’t let anyone tell you that letting a baby sleep for 12-13 hours per night will hurt your milk supply. That’s just not true. As long as you are nursing or pumping during the day, you’ll be fine. 6-month-old babies can and do sleep 12-13 hours per night — both of mine did. Your breast milk supply will adapt to when you need it. (Quite amazing, if you ask me!)

What Oliver Eats

I’m introducing new foods one at a time. So far, no allergic reactions. (I know that happens to many babies with egg yolks and dairy.)

Liver is one of the most nutrient dense foods, so we have that in rotation, along with healthy fats like cream, cheese, full-fat yogurt and milk, coconut oil and cod liver oil (I’ll be adding butter and coconut oil soon).

I’m also doing my best to stick to grass-fed meat, eggs and dairy, and organic food whenever possible.

Here is the list of solid food he has eaten so far, in order:

Coconut Oil Potato Chip – Licked it and spit it out, so I’m not sure if this even counts
Guacamole – Loved this! (I am from Texas)
Crème Fraîche, or French Sour Cream – Loved this! (I am 1/4 French)
Liver Pâté – Pâté de Campagne from a French restaurant near our house
Brie cheese – He loved this!
Egg yolk – He has this every morning for breakfast – runny organic pastured egg yolk with a pinch of sea salt
Banana – He gnawed on this for a second and lost interest
Cod Liver Oil – I’m giving him 1/4 teaspoon daily of Rosita Raw Cod Liver Oil — much easier for baby than fermented cod liver oil
Yogurt – grass-fed, full-fat, organic, plain (although today I added a tiny bit of maple syrup)
Mango – Licked it, not really his cup of tea
Raw milk – grass-fed organic unpasteurized whole milk from Organic Pastures
Avocado – He ate almost 1/3 of an avocado today at lunch

What’s Next?

I’m going to start giving him pureed fruits and vegetables with cream and butter and coconut oil. Also, mashed chicken livers cooked in butter and coconut oil.

Read More About What to Feed Babies

Here’s a post I wrote about why it’s good to start feeding babies at around 4-6 months of age: When To Fed Baby — Why Start Solids at 4-6 Months

Here are some posts about what I used to feed Kate:

9 Months
11 Months
1 Year
14 Months
1.5 Years

What Are You Feeding Your Baby?

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