I’m not big on grains for babies. Not right away anyways- their little digestive tracts are still developing and it’s easy for the big proteins in grains to slip through the cracks.
I probably would have brushed that off if it weren’t for the food allergies & intolerances that we’ve already dealt with. We’re trying to find a balance between being cautious and not worrying so much.
That being said, we waited until 8 months to introduce beans and grains, and even then we did so slowly. Now that we’re almost at 10 months {eep!} we’ve gotten a couple grains under our belt and really opens up the choices for finger foods- especially ones that don’t need a ton of prep.
At our 9 month well visit we found out, as I’d suspected, that Kabes wasn’t gaining weight or growing in length. The timing coincides with the normal dip in growth for breastfed babies along with his crazy calorie-burning crawling, so I’m not too toooo worried, but nonetheless, we’ve been following doctor’s orders to stuff that little belly full of solids in addition to his 4 nursing sessions a day. {So yes, our days pretty much revolve around eating.}
The key to feeding a hungry baby nutritious foods is finding the time to prep them. For me, like most of you I’m sure, that time is nonexistent. The easiest way to go about it is to hand the babe something to munch on while I finish slicing up some fruit or veggies, or quickly cooking something for him to eat.
Fruits and veggies are pretty easy to make baby-friendly, but there’s actually not that many that need zero prep at this age. Most need at least diced, if not steamed or lightly cooked. This is especially true since until recently we had a completely toothless babe.
Enter the baby pancake.
And pancake muffin.
Pancakes are my all time favorite breakfast food. I’m sure it’s not a coincidence that I have fond memories of making silver dollar pancakes with my mom on the weekends growing up.
Lately one of the reasons I love pancakes is for their one-handed convenience. I can snack on them while I do a variety of things with one hand free; pretty much a necessity these days.
Since I love pancakes and Kabes tolerates oats just fine, I figured I’d make him his own little pancakes to munch on as he hangs out with me in the kitchen getting the rest of breakfasts ready. I still shy away from quite a few things due to allergies, so that means no milk, yogurt, eggs, etc. But that’s ok- none of that’s needed for these super easy to whip up pancakes.
I know, you’re probably saying, “how do you have time to flip batch after batch of pancakes if you’re trying to feed a baby?”. That’s where the pancake-muffin comes in. Pancakes in a mini-muffin tin. Thank you, . Genius. Bake them all at once and you’re good to go. I make a bunch of extra so I’m set for a few days. You’d be surprised at how many he downs at once.
All you really need is the banana and the oat flour {or ground oats}, but I prefer adding at least a little baking powder to make them nice and fluffy. After that, feel free to add in whatever your little heart desires. We like berries, cinnamon, flax seed, and even pureed spinach.
Once I’ve gotten him distracted with pancakes and the like, we can move on to his other favorite finger foods. Here’s what he’s loving at 9 months: {<—ahh he’s 10 months today!}
What are some favorite finger foods for your little one? Especially non-gluten-grains ones…
Figuring out how to feed your baby isn’t easy…see some of the other challenges moms have on this month’s .
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