Food, glorious food

The baby has hit the 6 month mark and we've entered into the solid food stage. 

For the record, I hate this stage.  Sure, I should be excited about all the new things my baby gets to try.  But I'm a purist, and maybe just a little bit lazy.  To me, it's so much easier when breastfeeding is enough.  It's always the right temperature, always the right flavour and always with you.  I like it when the child can eat everything you're eating at the same texture you're eating it.  That is also easy.  It was great when my oldest child was about one year of age -- he could eat at a restaurant pretty easily, and since we were fortunate to avoid any allergies, we never had to be careful with what we gave him. 

I am more than a little bit anal when it comes to the food my children eat.  Sure, I'm pretty careful about what we as a family eat in general, but I tend to be even more uptight when it comes to my children.  I made all my own baby food when the toddler was at this age.  I actually enjoyed making his food.  Knowing I could control the ingredients (organic produce only!) and ensure I was giving him the healthiest start possible was great. 

So what's my issue then?  For some reason, it is during this stage that I question my parenting the most.  What do I feed first?  What comes next?  How do I introduce the food?  How old before I can stop listening to all the "rules"?  I have trouble with "rules".  I didn't pay attention to many when I had my first baby.  I introduced peanut butter at 9 months (gasp!).  He had honey before he was a year (double gasp!).  I'm pretty sure he had whole eggs before a year as well.  I just don't do well with rules. 

I'm a go-with-your-gut kind of parent.  I don't read parenting books.  I use common sense as much as possible and generally just do what feels right.  I'm not above polling my friends for opinions because I believe experience is the best teacher.  It's because of some of this sage advice I decided to try baby-led solids (a.k.a  baby-led weaning) this time around.  I had heard about this before, but by the time I knew enough about it, the toddler was through the puree stage.  Basically, the idea is to give the food...real food..and encourage self-feeding.  They'll be better eaters because they can explore, and enjoy, the food themselves.  (of course, there is a book that details this better than I can, but I don't plan on reading it...see above)  So far, so good.  The baby has taken to food SO quickly!  It's amazing to me how he can grab onto the chunks and get it to his mouth.  Oddly enough, I have forgotten everything I went through the first time.  What food to feed first?  When can I introduce meat?  But, overall, this is way easier. I can feed the baby what we're eating NOW, instead of making sure his food is all pureed.  And, because I am careful about what we eat (organics only!), I'm still comfortable with the nutrition he's getting. 

Maybe this time the food stage will be more fun so I can stop doubting myself.  And maybe this child will inherit my love of food.