Another booby juice thread

I suggested "something like" cheerios, because that is what my children liked when they were ready for solid foods (they were each a good bit older than landscaper's kid, but all babies are different). They wanted to pick up their food and feed themselves. There is nothing about practicing eating solid foods at six or even 12 months that makes it a "staple source of food or nutrition" Solids are just for practice when baby is that young, breastmilk should remain the main source of nutrition for at least the first year or two of baby's life. Most babies cannot digest solid foods until they are between 12-18 months of age. But there is nothing wrong with giving them some finger food to pick up, put in their mouths, spit out, and play with. It's far far better than the rice cereal some parents put in their baby's bottles, that stuff has no nutritional value other than the vitamins that were sprayed on it, and it constipates many children horribly. But my point was, that when baby can pick things up in a pincer grip with forefinger and thumb, that is usually a good sign that they are ready to feed themselves a practice food that is easily digested, like some sort of whole grain oat cereal.

 

How would I go about preparing the veggies? How often shuld he have them to start? I am told that they can't handle veggies and fruits at his age, and that I need to start them of on cereal. I am going to try looking for a new doctor, one who is into more wholistic healing and foods. Hr did drink pumped milk from a bottle last night, but he always seems like he is still hungry. He shows all the signs that every one has talked about for being ready to eat, including trying to steal food right out of my mouth! For the teething I have been giving him carrot sticks to chew on, but only when I am holding him, and I watch closely to make sure he doesn't break any peices off to choke on. Is this an O.K. idea, or should I try something else? This has been a rough week for both of us, but we are starting to figure it out. It seems we have a lot to learn from eachother, and he is an excellent teacher, not afraid to let me know when I am messing up. The problem is he will let me know for four hours straight ! I am learning a whole new level of patience. Who'd have though being a stay at home parent would be so difficult. It's like "Uncle Johns band"- "The first days are the hardest days....." Any how, back to topic, does anyone know any websites that give good directions on preparing veggies and fruits? Or if any of you would like to share your info....

 

there's a book called "mommy made" that's recipes for little ones. you can find it online. it's really great.

 

hey colorful, here's the link to that silly story. http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles?id=n20060209085809990013&cid=936

back to the topic at hand - i always used fresh veggies & steamed them until soft. but stay away from cauliflower & brocolli for a while, they make babies gassy! joey's first veggy was carrots & green beans, first fruit was RIPE bananas. green bananas can make em gassy too. he still loves his veggies more than anything else. i gave him cheerios too - he had lots of fun throwing them around mostly, but i believe they are a pretty harmless food. mashed potatoes are fun to play with too - i always make homemade, not box potatoes. i don't know what the nutritional value is on that - but it made him happy to sqoosh it everywhere. i tried him with some different squashes too, some he liked and some he didn't. i made his food seperate - no butter or salt, babies don't need all that.

i'm still nursing him, btw. i did not switch him over to just food - but at 6 months babies love to explore their world, textures & flavors are part of that. there are some craft sites online that will give recipies for edible fingerpaint & stuff like that. you're gonna have so much fun with your baby boy! he'll get used to mommy being gone, so will you.

another thing he can chew on that might help with the teething is frozen icepops. give it to him unopened, he won't know there's sugar juice in there until you open one for him

 

i'm not sure why, but kai ADORED zweiback toast. i also got her those arrowroot cookies to practice on, because they just turn to mush. it's so hard to stomach, watching that mush spread everywhere, but it brought her such joy. kai also REALLY loves avocados. she's so cute in the store "mommy!! atocados!! i want atocados!" who can say no to that?

 

Even as a Lactation Consultant, that isn't quite what I learned. Both the World Health Organization, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as most research into infant nutrition have found that the middle of the first year is when most babies can digest and actually need solid food. Yes, human milk should be the MAIN food for at least the first year, but not introducing food until 18 months would cause some growth problems in most children.

The gut is ready for solids in small quantites at about 6 months or so. Some babies need them a little sooner (but not much) and some babies need them a little later.

 

hahaaa!!! atocados! but it sounds like skye is ready - he's tryin to snatch food out of daddy's mouth!

i tried joey on avocados, but he didn't go for em. maybe when they come into season again this year...

my mom got joey these 'biter bisquits' when he started teething - i ended up not using them, cuz they were so hard & he could break them up into choking size pieces. made me nervous.

 

kai was about 8 mo's before she would take solid foods. i just waited for her to be ready, kept trying.

 

My second baby, Moon, was about 8 or 9 months, too. She never ate anything mashed, only things she could feed herself. I steamed or boiled potato, carrot and sweet potato cubes and she fed herself. The other kids ate mushy food for a short period of time, and then ate cubed food.

A babyfood grinder is nice. You can mash what you are having, before you add the spices and the baby may eat that. As long as they have already been introduced to each food already.

Usually the spacing is no more than a new food ever y4-7 days. By doing this you can usually tell if a baby is allergic to a certain food.

Stay away from citrus, tomatoes, shellfish, dairy (that includes yogurt, as it is the protein that babies are allergic to) and melons. As well as cruciferous vegetables, they are OK for mom to eat (the gas doesn't get into the milk) but the complex sugars in these are too much for babies to handle directly. If you have allergies in your family, stay away from wheat for the first year as well, as allergic kids may react to wheat protein or gluten.

 

yeah, kai hated anything mashed. wouldn't touch the stuff. she's still not a big fan of mashed sweet stuff. she's always prefered veggies to fruits, which is nice. i read a study a while back that said that whatever sort of food you ate while in the last trimester of your pregnancy, say you ate a lotta salad or whatever, would be food easily tolerated and generally well liked by your child. it seems to be true, so far as i can tell. i was huge into salad and veggies when i was pregnant. lots of milk and veggies in my diet at the end there. it was all that would go down confortably.

 

In my opinion the doctors are full of shit.... Breastmilk is the most nutritious thing you can give your child. If he is still fussy after you give him a bottle try a couple spoon fulls of rice cereal if he likes it and doesn't have any kind of reaction to it a week later mix in some baby food veggies. after your done feeding him give him a cold spoon to chew on.

 

Definitely just steam the veggies until soft and then mash them up really well, HLS.

Cereal is just not the route to go. It's bad for baby tummies that aren't ready for it.

But veggies and fruits will illicite responses on his little face that will leave you racing for your camera.

 

At this age, every little thing baby does should leave you racing for the camera! They grow up fast and you want to remember it (even the fussy parts!) Seriously, though - you sound like a wonderful and attentive daddy - I'm sure whatever you choose will be the perfect thing for your little man.

 

Thank you everyone, Skye and I are doing much better now. He hasn't been very fussy at all the last couple of days, and has been doing the bottle even. I am planning on getting a food processor next week and will start him on veggies then. I have been wanting one anyway, and now I have an excuse to get one. I am asking around at my kung fu school and a few other places to find suggestions on some different doctors, and now that Skye is napping I am going to try a web search for some good doctors around here. I will set up some interviews and see how Skye reacts to the ones I like. We will find a new one together, someone we both feel comfortable with. I appreciate all the help you have all given me, thanks again.

 

Oh, I've heard of some good questions to ask pediatricians...but I can't remember them! When I remember, I'll be sure and post them. Nothing's more important than a good pediatrician.

 

I'm glad for this thread. Jim's doctor said today to give him a "big bowl of cereal" before bed. I wasn't even planning on giving him ANY cereal for another month or so. He doesn't seem to want anything but the boob and is quite satisfied with that. I should hold off, right?

 

YES! Hold off! A baby shouldn't eat until a baby is ready, and cereal is NOT a good option for a first food. Like I said, in a thread that I can't seem to find, Brighid said that the best first foods are red, yellow, and orange veggies and fruits and ONLY when the baby is displaying signs of readiness.

Not to mention, Sweet Baby James is only 4 months old, right? He's still got a little while.

 

Yeah, I thought so! This guy was a putz. He's NOT Jim's regular Ped. He was showing me J's growth chart and I asked if it was based on formula or breast fed babies and he said it shouldn't matter that they have the same caloric content per ounce or some such. Eh? Anyways, J is healthy as a horse, except for a hydrocele that might be a hernia. 90th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight and head circumfrence, respectively.

 

YES!!!! He's really too little for solids. Human milk's calories change during the feeding (the foremilk at the begining is low in calories, but high in lactose for brain growth, the hindmilk near the end of the feeding is high in fat and calories to help the baby fill up. Babies need both, but the calories conent of early foremilk in the afternoon and hindmilk from a morning feeding can be more than 75% of the cals per oz difference. The AVERAGE if you took all the milk you make in a day, might be 20 cals per oz, which is what formula is, but every feeding is different, and that is one of the reasons breastmilk and breastfeeding is so versatile.

There is foremilk and hindmilk in every feeding, as long as you feed the baby long enough. One thing that is related to low weight gain is being too eager to switch breasts, wanting to end the feeding after a certain number of minute. The baby may not have gotten to the hindmilk and isn't then getting all the calories. The best things it to let the baby end the feeding, and let the babe decide when to switch breasts.

Babies can even ALTER the calorie content by feeding in different ways, depending on whether they are more hungry, more thirsty or just need some nummy.

 

Wow. That's really cool. I didn't know that. Maggie, you have been a fountain of information, and all my breeding friends (seriously, more than half the people I know are either pregnant or just popped) are very grateful, because every time I find something interesting for them I print or email it to them!