The Hazen Family: Nana's Special Touch

Right around the time Danielle turned 6 months old, I tried to start her on solid food. She wasn't too fond of having something other than formula in her mouth, so it didn't go all that well. I don't think it was the taste that bothered her. I think it was the texture. She absolutely refused to swallow it.

Peter even gave it a try, but it was a no go. She wasn't ready to eat yet. She obviously preferred her bottles.

Thinking that maybe she just didn't like the rice cereal, I even tried apples and pears. I tried several times over the course of a few weeks. She would take a bite, but every bit of it just came right back out. She seemed to play with it in her mouth a bit, and then she would just spit the entire bite out.

Then Nana came to visit. The day before she came, I tried to give Danielle some pears. Once again, she spit them out. She just didn't want to swallow them. However, now that Nana has fed her, she's a great eater!!

One day she refuses to swallow anything, the next day she loves eating cereal, pears, prunes, sweet potatoes, cheerios, and peach yogurt drops (which Peter also enjoys!). I think my mom must just know how to feed babies - I guess after having four, she should know. :) Maybe Danielle just needed a new face to convince her to eat. Whatever it is, though, I'm happy. She is finally eating solid foods which means a little cutback on bottles. It also means that she's on the way to eating table food!