Happy Thursday everybody!
Thanks to Brittany for hosting Munchkin Meals!
Okay, time for a look at what dinner is like for Miss Lula, who will be ten months old on Monday!
Lula gets dinner in three parts. The first course takes place at her high chair. We feed her iron-fortified oatmeal every night, per our pediatrician’s recommendation. Until we start introducing more meats and other high-iron foods, we’ll continue giving Lula cereal.
We used to mix it with breast milk but have recently started using a pureed fruit or vegetable to jazz it up a little.
One of the best combinations we’ve discovered is pureed zucchini + cereal. The zucchini is watery enough that I don’t need to add much of anything to it, which means I don’t need to pump as much! 
With a sweet potato or carrot puree, I usually need to add a tablespoon or so of breast milk to make it more palatable.
Course number two, dessert, also takes place at Lula’s high chair. Dessert is also known as infant toothpaste (wonder how long I can keep this ruse going). We don’t think we would have much success using a brush on her pearly whites at this point, but we do want to make sure her teeth are being cleaned since she is eating so much real food now, not to mention the sugar found in breast milk.
Pa came up with the idea to use a washcloth to scrub her teeth. We first put the corner of a damp washcloth in her mouth and let her gnaw on it to help clean off any food residue. From there, we put a pea-sized amount of toothpaste on the rough side of one of her baby washcloths and rub it on her teeth (front and back).
This is a risky game we are involved in as Lula wants to bite down, HARD, on our fingers! She actually drew blood when Pa was scrubbing her teeth one day.
Our pediatrician recommended using a non-fluoride based toothpaste since babies typically swallow some toothpaste at this age, which can lead to spots on teeth. This kind has worked perfectly for us.
Lula’s final course is nursing! Once she is done with parts I and II of dinner, we change her diaper, get her into her pjs, and I take her back to the nursery for one last nursing session before she goes to sleep.
And…that’s a wrap! Have a wonderful day! 
Ack- I really need to start taking care of Audrey’s teeth! Thank you for the reminder, haha. You have a good system going.
Audrey absolutely loves zucchini mixed with cereal. I’m happy that she will eat a green vegetable
Yeah, a friend of ours has a three year old who has a bunch of cavities and that kind of scared us into making sure we started using toothpaste immediately!
T loves having his teeth brushed! I haven’t talked to our Pediatrition or anything, so for now we aren’t using toothpaste. I mostly want to get him used to the toothbrush. He tries to chew on it and thinks its really funny. I sing an awful “toothbrush” song and he flips out; it’s the cutest thing!
Sorry for any typos – I’m using my phone and I’m all thumbs!
That’s awesome and I’m glad that T is cool with a toothbrush- I will have to give ours a try. Good for you for getting him comfortable with it now and yes, why not make it a fun time! My sister used to sing Raffi’s “You Brush Your Teeth” to her son and he LOVED it! I’ve heard teeth brushing can be a terrible battle in later years so hopefully, by making it positive now, we are lessening the likelihood of that taking place.
Your hubby have a great idea there with scrubbing the teeth clean with a washing cloth. Wow! Would have never thought of that. We used a small toothbrush from the beginning but this is such a cool idea.
Thanks Marleen- he is a clever guy!
I love the idea of calling toothpaste “dessert”! I just bought toothpaste and a toothbrush for Liam yesterday, so we need to get started brushing his two teeth.
Yay! Good luck! I will be curious as to how your little guy does with a toothbrush- keep me posted!
Aw! She is so cute! Great idea with the washcloth and toothpaste!
Thanks, Autumn!
I LOVE the idea of toothpaste as dessert! I always forget teeth brushing in these early stages, and you’re right it’s so important… my little guy doesn’t have any teeth yet, but when he does, I’m borrowing this idea. (Do you think I can convince my 3, 6, and 7 year olds that toothpaste is dessert??!)
Haha! Thanks for stopping by!! Sorry about the late reply- i’ve been away from wi-fi. I am hopeful we can continue toothpaste for dessert for a little while but it definitely doesn’t work on me!!