Baby Food

[homechef]

This topic might drop a clue as to why I haven't been doing much posting of late

I'd like to make sure my baby doesn't get addicted to Kellogg-MickeyD industrial food, and in order to do that I thought I should start early... by avoiding the Gerber in favor of more interesting international flavors. So - what is fed to infants and toddlers in various parts of India? When is a good time to introduce the baby to various spices? Any old (Indian) wives tales about what to watch out for?

For that matter, what do infants and toddlers get fed in other parts of the world?

[Milagai]

congratulations.....

interesting topic!

how old is your baby? and what are you feeding him / her?

i fed my 2 based on what my mother, the veteran of raising 3 kids and

5 (and counting) grandkids, said.

i usually trust her more than the pediatrician....

mine: ~ age 6 months, slowly introduced

boiled mashed rice; then 1 veg at a time (e.g. carrots

or beans, or peas); then yogurt.

then slowly began dals (the simplest ones first - toor, masoor, moong).

at this time: the following spice mix to prevent / relieve bean associated gas:

roast and grind: saunf, ajwain, and jeera.

either mix a little with baby's solid feed, or boil in water

and make a "tea" and give baby a few drops with feed.

after all this, then fruits, then after 12 months, egg, starting

with yellow and then moving on to white, then the full egg.

by the time baby is ~ 15 to 18 months, they are doing fine

with idlis, khichdi, thayir saadam, daal + rice + ghee, etc.

by age 2 to 3; they're more or less onto simple table food

(dal and rice type of stuff).

i never bought commercial baby food or made separate baby

food, because it was way too much hassle. just set aside some

of what the rest of the family was eating, before spicing the rest.

there seem to be so many differences between baby feeding practices

in different parts of the world:

i know i fed my babies honey from a very very young age

(~ 2-3 months) because it relieves constipation.

but we never told the US pediatricians who would have thrown

a botulism fit.....

milagai

[foodietraveler]

my niece, 18 month old, eats everything my brother and sister in law eat.

Kitchdi is her favorite it seems.

She loves dhosa and paratha.

She loves beans and carrots.

Kheer and gulaab jaamun are her favorite sweets.

my sister in law adds lots of hing in food, help with gas.

[Monica Bhide]

This topic might drop a clue as to why I haven't been doing much posting of late 

I'd like to make sure my baby doesn't get addicted to Kellogg-MickeyD industrial food, and in order to do that I thought I should start early... by avoiding the Gerber in favor of more interesting international flavors. So - what is fed to infants and toddlers in various parts of India? When is a good time to introduce the baby to various spices? Any  old (Indian) wives tales about what to watch out for?

For that matter, what do infants and toddlers get fed in other parts of the world?

←

Congratulations! There is even a lovely book out by an Indian author on what to feed your baby.. let me see if I can find you a copy. PM me your address dear,

[rajsuman]

One thing I've learnt from raising my two kids is that the sooner you introduce the same kinds of food that you eat, the better it is. For example, I was anxious about feeding my first-born spicy food until he was about a year and a half. Even after that I wouldn't give him foods with the same heat level as what my husband and I ate. Result? At 5, he still has problem eating spicy foods. On the other hand, I got my daughter eating the same food as we do right from the age of 8 months. She absolutely loves spicy things - prefers them to sweets in fact. Of course it could be her personal taste, but I think starting her off on the same heat level as ours contributed too.

That reminds me of an anecdote: My son would ask me why dinner at his friends' places looked different from ours. That got me started off on how the food differs from one country to another. To give him an example I said that while Indians eat a lot of chillies, most Irish people didn't.

We went to India later that year and one of the first questions he asked with much excitement was, "Is everybody Indian here? Do they all eat lots of chillies like we do?"

Then a few days ago his Irish friend Shane came for dinner. While I was careful enough to serve Shane very mild food, he wanted to eat the other hotter things that we were eating. So I gave him a bit of that and was surprised to see him polish it off with relish and ask for more. Seeing him eat the spicy food my son said,"So you like spicy food? That means you're Indian!"

Suman

[Milagai]

One thing I've learnt from raising my two kids is that the sooner you introduce the same kinds of food that you eat, the better it is. For example, I was anxious about feeding my first-born spicy food until he was about a year and a half. Even after that I wouldn't give him foods with the same heat level as what my husband and I ate. Result? At 5, he still has problem eating spicy foods. On the other hand, I got my daughter eating the same food as we do right from the age of 8 months. She absolutely loves spicy things - prefers them to sweets in fact. Of course it could be her personal taste, but I think starting her off on the same heat level as ours contributed too.

ITA!  My friends think I am crazy to give my kids

licks of achaar since they were babies, but my goal is the same

as what you described above.  They still (age 7 and 3) are not

crazy about achaar but at least don't freak out at the bare idea.....

and they are pretty good about eating most sabzis, dals, etc.

That reminds me of an anecdote: My son would ask me why dinner at his friends' places looked different from ours. That got me started off on how the food differs from one country to another. To give him an example I said that while Indians eat a lot of chillies, most Irish people didn't. 

We went to India later that year and one of the first questions he asked with much excitement was, "Is everybody Indian here? Do they all eat lots of chillies like we do?"

Then a few days ago his Irish friend Shane came for dinner. While I was careful enough to serve Shane very mild food, he wanted to eat the other hotter things that we were eating. So I gave him a bit of that and was surprised to see him polish it off with relish and ask for more. Seeing him eat the spicy food  my son said,"So you like spicy food? That means you're Indian!"

Suman

←