Your baby’s first real meal is a big achievement and a big stepping stone. Prepare something that is homemade and delicious for the big day. This is a great recipe I learned in my Montessori training. My children still love it at 10 months!

STEP 1. What you’ll need

1. Organic rice cereal – I like this brand, Lundberg, the best. I’ve tried Bob’s Red Mill, Arrowhead Mill, but they were too coarse. Lundberg did a great job at creating a very silk smooth texture with this product that is perfect for babies.

2. Real Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese – not a cheap substitute, it really makes a difference

3. A small organic tomato

STEP 2. You can use the proportion stated on the box or do what I do: Use 1/4 cup rice cereal and 1 1/2 cups water (or any 1:6 proportion). I like to use more water because I find when you cook the rice longer, the rice is creamier and silkier. In short, it tastes better. But that’s just my personal preference!

STEP 3. Cut the tomato in half. Separate out the seed, skin and the flesh. Throw away the skin and seed (the seed makes the whole thing taste bitter – that’s a secret I learned during my Montessori training!)

STEP 4. Finely chop the flesh of the tomato.

STEP 5. Pour the finished rice cereal into a bowl.

STEP 6. Combine the chopped tomatoes and shaved parmesan cheese with the rice cereal

STEP 7. STIR!

STEP 8. Add 3 drops of organic olive oil to add some healthy fat to your baby’s diet.

TASTE IT! Does it taste good to you? It should be bland but TASTY.

STEP 9. My kids love to eat this. We’re already at the bottom of the bowl and Mackenzie is still eating eagerly!

My favorite topic is eating. Trying to feed two babies at once is not an easy task, but if you create a safe, child-friendly eating environment, then foster their love for eating AND their love to feed themselves, then your job as mom will be much easier. You will need patience because in the beginning it will be a mess. It really will be. But once they get the hang of it, you will be amazed at what your children are capable of.

To date, my favorite baby purchase has been the weaning table and chairs. It is a child-sized table that is about 24” x 24” and two child-sized chairs. The dimensions on these are very important. I bought mine at Michael Olaf or you can have a carpenter make one for you (email me if you need exact dimensions).  It was about $150 for the table and $100 each for the chairs. These wooden tables and chairs are heavy and sturdy, so the babies cannot move them easily. This is important for safety reasons. If you have particularly rambunctious little ones, you can also screw in iron plates at the bottom of the table and chair to make it even heavier.

Weaning Table and Chair

The height of the armrest needs to be correct in order to support young sitters

Best time to start using the weaning table and chair is when your baby first starts solids, around 5-6 months. Use small pillow(s) to support them if they cannot sit up by themselves yet. Here is B and M at 7 months. Notice the small pillows that we put on either side of them to support them.

You also need child-sized spoons, small shallow bowls and very small glass cup. Don’t use plastic plates and utensils! As your children are absorbing information about the world, give them the best that our world has to offer – give them beautiful spoons (I bought demi-tasse spoons from William and Sonoma and Sur La Table), real bowls (we use small IKEA sidedish/dessert bowls, Corelle bowls are also good because they won’t break) and glass cups (shot-glasses are good, I bought mine at Sur La Table). Glass and silverware have a very distinct touch and weight whereas plastic is light and slick. Let your child experience the true pleasure of eating from a young age – and it starts with plates and utensils.

Also, many parents go from bottle to sippy cup to plastic cup to glass cup. Skip all the steps in between and go straight to glass cup.

Small shot glasses and water pitcher. All made of glass. A see-through pitcher would be even better so the child can see how much water is left in the pitcher.

Use bowls that are shallow so the child can see what’s inside their bowl. If the bowl is too high up, their vision will be blocked by the bowl

Here is Mackenzie sitting at her table, eating applesauce+yogurt and drinking water!

Met a father whose 13 month old hates eating and looks about the same size as Mackenzie (8.5 months). I invited him to bring her over to lunch with my girls. Eating is contagious, if everyone else is enjoying eating and drinking, you’ll probably want some, too!

Update on Saturday, September 17, 2011 at 5:05PM by Stephanie Woo

Met a mother of 11 month old girl who also hates eating. She said she only gives her mush and lets her play with the clean spoon but never lets her feed herself. My suggestion: give her larger pieces of food that she can hold and feed herself.