Big Day

Today, to commemorate the struggles and successes of labor unions throughout history, Greta ate 4 teaspoons of brown rice cereal.

She's five and a half months today and we decided this past week that we were ready for her to start solids. I'd always assumed that we'd wait until six months, as per the guidance of the WHO, but she just seemed really ready. Also, my supply dropped quite a bit in the last month since I've been back at work, and I've been worried that I can't pump enough for her. Best to get some extra calories in her, since she's already a pretty small kid!

Sure enough, she seemed pretty  ready. She opened her mouth eagerly, grabbed the spoon and held it in her mouth, and made little "mmmm!" noises. Yes, a lot of it still ended up on her chin and the bib, but to be honest I think she consumed 80-90% of what we gave her.

And once we were done she proceeded to have a mini-meltdown. Mama and Papa had teased her with just a small amount of food and now she was SO sad. As soon as I got her nursing, she ate hungrily, which was a relief because I'd worried she wouldn't be hungry. We'll have to experiment with timing milk vs. solids. This time it definitely didn't decrease her intake of breastmilk (which is good), but in the future when she's eating more (we gave her a third of a "serving" this time) we may need to give her solids after nursing, or at other times of day. Right now, she typically is willing to nurse right after a nap, no matter how long it's been since she nursed last. So maybe giving her solids right before a nap would ensure that she'd be hungry for milk after the nap regardless of how much was still in her tummy?

This is a whole new world for us! Any advice is appreciated!