
photo credit: http://www.hawaiidiscountblog.com
When my first son was about 3.5 months old he started showing an interest in food. He would open his mouth when we ate and stare at our spoons and forks. His little brother, who will be 4 months in 2 days, started doing the same thing at around the same age.
I live in Hawaii and (luckily!) have access to Poi. You can find more information about it here, but in short: Poi is the result of pounded taro root mixed with water. For those who have never had taro, it is a root and the taste is very mild, in the same family as tapioca. What makes Poi so special? Well I’m not sure how it works but let me tell you this: it has been a miracle food for my second baby.
My second son was not as lucky as my first one: he had digestive problems since the day he was born. He had really bad reflux (he would actually choke in his sleep), he was really gassy and was very irregular. His tummy worries got better when I got him special bottles, but still. About 10 days ago I started adding 1 teaspoon of Poi to his last bottle before bed. His stomach problems went away almost overnight. The next day he already had less gas, and no more reflux. 2 days ago I started adding it to his morning bottle as well… he LOVES it.
My first son never had any problems with solid foods, and so far my second son seems to be doing great as well. I’m a big advocate of organic homemade baby food, and I like to think that Poi also helped paved the way to the food experience for my boys. Maybe our ancestors knew what they were doing after all 🙂
Have you ever heard of Poi or anything like it? Is there anything similar in your culture? At what age did you start feeding your baby solids?