It should come as no doubt that I love food – good, wholesome, nourishing food. Indeed, I take great pleasure in cooking, but one of the greatest pleasures I’ve encountered is the gift of nourishing my family. There is an immense sense of satisfaction in knowing that I’ve fed my family well and in a way that satisfies their hunger for flavor and for health.
Stopping for a Quick Top-off after a Long Hike
It began easily enough with breastfeeding. And while those first few weeks of nursing were anything but easy, a motherly drive in me and my husband’s unwavering support encouraged me to persist through thrush, through a wicked case of mastitis, through milk blisters, cracked nipples and other annoyances until my son self-weaned a little after turning 3. But, he relied on me and only me as his entire source of nourishment for six months and, truly, my body remained his primary source of nourishment well past his first birthday.
Seeing him at six months in all his lovely chubbiness provided me with such an enormous sense of gratitude – gratitude for my body and my ability to nurture and nourish him in the most healthy way possible.
Most importantly, I took care of myself so that my milk could nourish him well and help him to grow. I ate well, and though my diet was largely vegan at that time (thank goodness I know better now!) it was based on whole foods without soy as that aggravated his reflux. While what a nursing mother eats invariably effects her milk to some degree, it is important to note that even the milk of a mother whose diet is poor is still superior for an infant than artificial breast milk substitutes like formula.
Experimenting with Taste & Texture (uh ... ignore the white rice. We know better now!)
We knew it was time for him to begin solid foods when he began exhibiting clear signs of readiness: sitting without support, a pincer grasp and the loss of his tongue thrust reflex and we introduced solid foods. Initially, I went through considerable effort to steam and puree his foods and package them into tiny little amounts. After two weeks of trying to spoon-feed him, only to have blueberry purees and mashed squash spat back at me.
Then, I was introduced to the concept of child-led solids. It makes sense as I look back. Solids in the first year provide little sustenance for growing infants and their purpose, contrary to popular belief, is not to serve as a source of calories or nutrients as much as it is to expand their concept of food.
Solid food’s primary purpose during that first year is to help babies develop motor skills like the pincer grasp necessary for self-feeding and to expose them to a wide variety of tastes, textures and flavors. Breast milk which is higher in calories, micronutrients and fat than most baby foods provides sufficient nourishment and, for that reason, babies should always be offered the breast before solid food.
So, understanding that his primary source of nourishment (my breasts) was sufficient for his continued growth and development, we relaxed our approach to solid foods and we simply fed him whatever it was that we ate. He’d gnaw on a ripe pair or chew on a floret of steamed broccoli. Some food got into his system, most didn’t and he grew beautifully.
Tasting His First Sweet: Gluten-free Birthday Cake with an Avocado Frosting
As he grew more proficient at feeding himself, solid foods grew to be more important in his diet. His need for breastmilk waned, and solid foods became his primary source of nourishment, but that didn’t happen until he was well over a year old. It was a slow process, as it should be.
Still, we enjoyed providing him with whole foods. It was about this time that I discovered traditional foods through Nourishing Traditions and the Mothering Traditional Foods Forum. I slowly modified our diet to include bone broth and wholesome fats and, eventually, meat.
A Big Boy Now - Weaned onto Sourdough Peach Pancakes and Raw Whipped Cream
Now he’s completely weaned, and he has developed a love for nourishing foods. It warms my heart when he asks for more kefir or sauerrüben. Or the way he can down salmon egg nigiri at the sushi bar and ask for more.
There’s an enormous sense of gratitude and pride to know that I nourished my son’s body and mind to the very best of my ability.
You should be so glad you knew all this with your first. These are all things I learned as I had more and more babies. I did nurse all my babies for at least 6 months, but the first 2 were weaned to formula then. The youngest 4 all had breast milk only until they were 1, but the longest I nursed was my youngest to 14 months. He was the first one I made all of his baby food for. And I love how his taste for real foods and not processed foods is greater than any of his siblings.
We do eat whole grains and homemade everything most of the time. It really is amazing to see how we can form our children’s taste buds around the family table. Be thankful you have such a wholesome family table.
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This sounds so familiar. I, too, started off vegan (about 18 years ago), but that changed after our first child was born. Our eldest daughter is now 16, the other two are 12, and 6. I can tell you that all of them understand what real food is. They know what it feels like to eat well, how a healthy mind and body operate. When they go to a friend’s house and eat processed food, they feel it right away. I think that’s one of the saddest things in children’s lives – that they don’t even know what it feels like to be in a thriving body.
My children will eat anything. They are open to all sorts of tastes and textures. Supper tonight is grass-fed beef tongue tacos (traditional recipe), with homemade sour cream, cultured homemade salsa, guacamole (prepared by our middle daughter), and a big, green salad with a simple vinaigrette. Your little one will grow into a big one with that same love of good food, guaranteed.
Tara at http://www.harvestinghealth.blogspot.com‘s last post: Sweet Misery.
Is that guy gorgeous, or what??! Those eyes!! Obviously, very well-fed AND very well-loved
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Your son has beautiful eyes
Oliver, my youngest, is by far the best fed child I have had. I only wish I would have had the knowledge I have now, when my older boys were infants. But, live and learn, they eat a fantastic diet now and you do the best you can!
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Lovely post!
I am so thankful to have learned so much before having my little guy, and now my little lady is due in just 2 weeks! Still nursing my two year old and am so thankful for his good health. We’ll know even more this time around thanks to bloggers like you! 
The easiest sign that your baby is ready for solid food is this: there will come a point when Baby is no longer content to nurse in the sling while Mama eats (my kids always seemed to want to nurse at mealtimes, so it was sling to the rescue!). Instead, Baby starts grabbing the food off of Mama’s plate & trying to eat it. This is when the baby’s mealtime location changes from sling to high chair & we start out with simple purees to rule out allergies, moving on to such tidbits from adult plates as the baby seems able to handle & other parts of dinner mashed up in the baby food grinder. But I don’t seem to use it long, either. My kids like to EAT–and they quickly make it clear that they want food like Mama and Daddy have. I have used organic jarred baby food, but haven’t given either kid any sort of baby cereal.
Heather -
I love it when babies first try real food – grabbing it off mother’s plate and mashing it in their mouths. It’s so sweet. Have you seen this post: http://nourishedkitchen.com/baby-led-weaning/? We talk about baby-led weaning it greater detail. I miss having a baby in the house.
Take Care -
Jenny
I love that top picture, beautiful!
Hello,
I have just seen this post about nourishing your child and I am so glad you have found Sally Fallons nourishing traditions. It is the food bible that myself and wife follow to feed our lovely daughter.
We have been feeding her wild atlantic salmon, steamed and pureed vegetables, fruit and whole fat yoghurt and she loves it. Never turns it down.
We also use it to make our own dinners etc.
Great to see someone else using it.
John.
i’d be interested in the cake that you made for your son’s first birthday. i’ve been trying to find one for mine that’s grain-free and sugar-free and i’ve found a few options, but nothing ideal. i like the idea of the avocado frosting! did yours have any type of sugar in it?