Solids.

As you all may know, I am a big believer in baby-led solids. I don't like the idea of jamming a spoonful of pureed food into my baby's protesting mouth, supposedly to make him "learn to eat." He doesn't need to learn to eat; he needs time for his mouth to mature so he can eat properly. I think babies who decide when they are ready to eat are happier and more independent.

However, with recent revelations come a huge drop in milk supply, and wouldn't you know, I'm blessed/cursed with a baby who will not take a bottle of anything, ever. He hates artificial nipples - we've tried every kind, and he just won't take them. Pacifiers are out too. So how do you get nutrition into a baby who won't take a bottle and who can't get what he needs from the boob?

With rice cereal and a clean pinky finger, that's how.

I mixed up some rice cereal with a half scoop of formula and a half ounce or so of breastmilk, then added water to make it very runny, like the consistency of tomato soup. Then I drew it up in a syringe. I put my pinky finger in The Babe's mouth and stuck the end of the syringe in there alongside it, and gently pressed the plunger as he sucked my finger.

And there you have it. The Babe's first solids. The poor kid has nursed nonstop the last week or so, and I thought it was due to something else entirely, but I'm fairly certain now. When I say nursed non-stop, I mean every half hour or so, day and night.

He just ate about a tablespoon and a half of the cereal/formula mixture. If my supply drops much more, it will probably be regular formula mixed with enough cereal to just thicken it. I don't feel guilty, either, because he needs it. The kid has to eat somehow.