[b3lvedere]

The first born defenitely changed me somehow. As if some evolution gene was suddenly ordering me "You will protect this with everything in your power!" The second born, not so much. Perhaps the brain was already settled in the right configuration :)

[MomsAVoxell]

For me, my first born taught me that love is infinite, no matter how much I loved my wife, that little creature was getting all my love as well, somehow as if there were some parallel source of infinite love for the two of them.

Our second born, taught me that exact same lesson, again - that no matter what, there will always be three human beings in my life for which my love is infinite, and that I would step in front of a bullet for any one of them.

Whereas before it all went down, I was pretty much all alone, now I know for sure there are 3 other human beings I will want to say goodbye to, properly, some day.

[fullstop]

With the first kid you sterilize everything. After that I guess you learn how much dirt they put in their mouths and don't bother.

[andrew_lettuce]

I have 3 kids. When they started on solids: #1 got fancy home made baby food, like cheesy chicken broccoli frozen into ice cube chunks. #2 got steamed yams and crackers. #3 got whatever we were eating, ripped into baby-sized chunks. All are fine.

[readthenotes1]

It's likely that your number 3 child is both the smartest and best looking. Not sure what that has to do with diet but it can't be a coincidence

[fullstop]

This is written like a number 3 child. ;-)

[pixel_popping]

Kuddos on the big family, such an accomplishment. I must note, the first strategy is better for their brain tho, actually, I dislike reasoning around the education (I count feeding in it as it's extremely important to develop the brain) about what's fine and not what's best, because it's a slippery slope where you feel that small actions don't have such an importance, but after all it's the compounding of small (and better) actions that matter the most to improve intelligence and other aspects of a future adult. It's like sending your kids to a public school, sure, it's "fine", but let's not say it's optimal and it does have an impact in the end.

I have a 2-year old daughter so I can relate in part, she just joined a pre-school now (breaks my heart to drop her) and same as your #1 - top notch nutrition, supps, probitiocs and so-on (deeply studied & argued) and chef level taste, never had once something in her mouth that isn't vouched :p

Chose breastfeeding entirely for the first 6 months (better for their brain as per my knowledge), then introduced solids progressively, I'm super grateful to be in the AI era at the same moment I've had my daughter because it allows me to study extensively everything regarding children.

[john_strinlai]

>the first strategy is better for their brain tho

why/how is ice cubed food better than yams or whatever is for dinner

[pixel_popping]

I understood the "thought process" behind, it's not about the ice cube or whatever, user seemed to imply that for #1, he cared much more about the details in a way (what's exactly being fed, in what form and so-on) which often leads to just better nutrition.

We know that food isn't equal, and we know that food can change your brain/energy level/memory... both as children and as adults which indirectly affect life outcomes.

Actually, anyone that has started eating properly (lower portions, never be full, always eating useful things) can attest that they are just overall a better person, healthier, fitter, sharper...

[fullstop]

I have two, both adults now. The first one, if she woke up early and I was still asleep, would politely come over and say that she was hungry.

The second one, though, she was a scavenger. I woke up to her crunching on something. She was eating pistachios -- shell and all!

[sublinear]

This mental shift can also occur before your first born.

Some men who are fathers now had to jump in early as the older sibling due to unreliable parents. Some of those men also chose not to be fathers. Taking responsibility for others is a broad range of experiences.

For all that is said about "dysfunctional" families, sometimes adulting early leads to better outcomes because you were given more time to think.