Feeding Baby

[goldie]

I made my boys' food. I had a great book for our oldest called "Mommy Made (and Daddy Made, too) that had a chart with suggested ages to introduce foods. I used the chart more for my oldest than I did with the younger two, but it was useful. Basically I did as all the other writers suggested. My sons' favorite table food (and it is still a fav) was homemade chicken soup with rice and carrots. They also loved legumes when they got a bit older. One thing to think about in terms of gaseous foods is that you wouldn't make a meal of broccoli so they probably don't need to either. At first a little starch and a little applesauce and then breast milk or formula is a great meal. Then you can build their meals a bit more. Have fun. I loved this time in their lives and it is amazingly short!

[srhcb]

I made teething biscuits from a recipe in the King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cook Book for my de facto grandson, and he enjoyed them a lot, as did out dogs. And I really enjoyed making them.

I'll see if I can post it to RecipeGullet.

SB (another one on the way in August!)

[daniellewiley]

Has Dax done cheerios? Max tried this weekend and was choking a bit. the little bugger has no teeth, so i think it's harder? not sure. maybe I need to try again. he just really really wants finger food.

pirate's booty is a good idea...

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We tried Cheerios recently, but he couldn't really pick them up well. I think he just dropped them all, and didn't manage to get any in his mouth. He has 2 teeth (one just erupted in the last few days), but they can't really do much.

There's also those teething biscuit things. I seem to remember someone posting about English rusk biscuits.... Must look for this...

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We did cheerios tonight. He couldn't pick them up very well, but enjoyed them when I gave them one at a time. He didn't choke at all tonight.

I also gave him an Earth's Best teething Biscuit. He LOVED it.

I tried putting a cheerio in the palm of my hand for him to pick up with his fingers and he leaned over and ate it out of my hand like a dog.

[iguana]

So much good advice! We used the food mill and ice cube method. La Martha does have good recipes; Super Baby Food was a bit too much for me. Pureed favorites: applesauce, butternut squash, carrots, beets, green beans, mango, split pea soup. Bananas and avocado just needed to be mashed. I still have cubes of applesauce and some of black bean soup for 'emergency' use. We tried some jarred baby food someone had given us (peas and carrots) and it was yucky.

Kitchen shears make quick work of cutting toddler food into tiny pieces.

[Trishiad]

Those teething biscuits can be quite crumbly and seemed to cause mild choking in a number of the littles that I know. My critter really liked rice cakes. They get really sticky though so don't let your critter wander the living room with one. They are easily picked up and held by the tiniest paws and are nice for gums or teeth. Our friend Q loved pizza crust and frozen mini bagels.

My critter adored baked yams (no food mill required)...Won't touch them as a four year old!

[srhcb]

I also made Graham Crackers for Zack when he was little-r.

I've posted that recipe too.

Edited March 8, 2006 by srhcb (log)

[srhcb]

In a feat of reverse engineering I once used baby food in a regular recipe:

"Baby Food Brownies" is posted to RecipeGullet

[Werdna]

In a feat of reverse engineering I once used baby food in a regular recipe:

"Baby Food Brownies" is posted to RecipeGullet

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I've got some ice-cube-sized containers of purreed, roast duck/duck skin /duck fat for our baby in the fridge, and I cant resist stealing one every once in a while, made some awesome fried rice with one of them mixed in.

[daniellewiley]

I've got some ice-cube-sized containers of purreed, roast duck/duck skin /duck fat for our baby in the fridge, and I cant resist stealing one every once in a while, made some awesome fried rice with one of them mixed in.

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wow. In my next life, sign me up to be YOUR baby!!

[bavila]

Ugh. Went for Dax's 6 month check up today. These days the AAP is now recommending waiting until age 2 before introducing shellfish and nuts!!! Our pediatrician, who is also a friend of ours, was giving me this look like "oh god, don't hurt me, I have to tell you this even though my kids were eating pb&j as soon as the could pick it up".

As much as I'd like to blow that off, Dax is already showing signs of being allergy-prone -- hives a month or so ago and mild eczema. Guess I might have to wean Madi off the pb a bit.

[Kouign Aman]

We stayed away from peanuts but we did give HRH almond butter.

Next they'll ban cheerios and then what will moms do ?

[tejon]

We were really careful with all the common allergens (mainly the top 8 offenders: egg, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat) and delayed introducing solids at all until 6-7 months old since I had severe food allergies as a child. I don't know that I'd really recommend such careful attention in families with no history of allergies, though.

Excema and hives would pretty much point to an allergic reaction of some kind. I'd keep track of what the baby's in contact with (detergents are also a biggie in contact dermatitis - Tide being the worst offender of the lot) to see if you can figure out what's causing a reaction.

[CYvonne]

While I would never want to put anyone off making their own baby foods you DO need to be careful with salt:

BBC news

It is very rare for babies to die from salt overdose, and this one was only 3months old - so his kidneys were probably less developed than a 6 month old but caution is advisable. Salt (sodium) is needed, but like so many essential nutrients more is not necessarily better and babies will get the sodium they need directly from food without having to add extra, especially if you feed them some meat which is great for iron, protein and other essential nutrients too.

A heaped teaspoon of salt is about 6g - and babies can't deal with that amount.

[Corinna Dunne]

That really is a heart breaking incident. The parents obviously cared deeply for their baby and thought they were doing the right thing. As far as I know, a baby's daily requirement of salt is 1g, which is very low and can be found naturally in a varied diet of natural foods. So, cooked dishes which don't include processed ingredients, and are whizzed up before any salt is added, should provide an excellent diet.

[KitchenQueen]

I'm an older divorced single mom. Daughter is grown already. But I agree with the food mill purchase. A blender turns everything to mush.

I used to freeze in ice cube trays, but if I'd had a

Foodsaver back them, it would have been better. You can freeze in trays, put them into Foodsaver bags a half inch apart, the suck the hell out of it.

They will vacuum pack separately. Damned handy.

I usually took veggies and meat (my dinner) and pulled out a bit a before I added my own salt/seasonings. My darling Bridget got a teeny bit of salt or whatever added to hers before I served it. Then smooshed it till she could handle it.

I NEVER ate anything that was not put on her high chair tray. Well, except that Nacho-Tequila night, and I ditched that Gerber jarred stuff early on. When she was a bit older, she always had a salad of some sort. She demanded salads later. Loudly.

When she got older (3-8) I had one rule. Especially good for restaurants. One bite is all that's required. If you do not like it, you may spit it quietly into your napkin. I said QUIETLY! No repercussions,even if you ordered it yourself.

This is the same kid who later never refused to try something. Like the time she had a sleepover about age 6. Parents took the kids to a Cajun Fest. She came home crowing how good fried alligator was. Some other kids in the group would not even consider trying it.

Her favorites (high-chair stage) geen-beans and cado. Green beans and avocado.

Then there was the night I put an all veggie dinner on her plate. Still in diapers and I get this scream. NO MEAT? I'll never forget it. It was hysterical.

She learned to try anything.

And off topic for brand new parents, from one who knows.

Teething baby? Take spanky clean terrycloth washcloths. Dampen them. Put them in a baggie and freeze.

Let baby have them to gnaw on when teething hurts. The most comforting thing for a teething baby ever. And I mean ever. Nothing works better. The terry is soft, the cold stops the pain. The child quits crying.

I would suggest you not give Louisana red beans and rice to a real young one who is just learning how to use a spoon.

A lot of rice and beans stuffed deeply into the ears can cost over $500.00 in an emergency room.They did not charge for the excess in her hair.

[Kouign Aman]

Those poor british kids (the parents).

originally posted by KitchenQueen:

You can freeze in trays, put them into Foodsaver bags a half inch apart, the suck the hell out of it.

They will vacuum pack separately. Damned handy.

Brilliant idea.

[tammylc]

Coming a little late to the thread, but I'm another baby food making mama. I used some jarred foods when Liam was still deciding that he wanted to eat, but after that he's been on homemade food all the way. He's almost two now, and I still make two of the recipes I've been making for him since he was quite little, although everything's in much bigger pieces now. (He mostly eats whatever we're eating, but I need to send a lunch with him to daycare, and it's handy to have something in the freezer I know he'll like.)

Super Baby Food really annoyed me, but I loved Annbel Karmel's First Meals.

And I've also used homemade baby food in regular cooking. And

blogged about it, no less! (Actually, there's a lot of baby food talk in that blog, and cute pictures too!)

[Rachel Perlow]

I saw Eric Ripert, from Le Bernardan restaurant in NYC, on Martha Stewart's daily show a while back. This link is to his recipe for Butternut Squash puree, click on the video link within to watch the segment and hear his experience and opinions regarding making your own baby food. There's also a recipe for poached halibut with vegetables (yes, for baby).

[bavila]

Cool. Thanks, Rachel. I actually think fish is a great baby food, once they can handle the texture and the protein (9 mos is the going recommendation, I think). It's generally soft and mildly flavored. Great for teeny mouths.

I didn't see any butternut at the grocery store today, but I did pick up some sweet potatoes for Dax. I also got jars of plums to try out.

As for the FoodSaver idea, I wonder how the new Press-n-Seal stuff would work for such a thing. Anyone have any experience using this in the freezer?

[KitchenQueen]

As for the FoodSaver idea, I wonder how the new Press-n-Seal stuff would work for such a thing. Anyone have any experience using this in the freezer?

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[bavila]

Good product, I love it..  But I've tried it several times in the freezer, just comparing it to the cost of my Foodsaver bags.

Not worth a crap.  Totally useless. About as bad as no wrapping at all. 

It's just not what it was made for.

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Was that the plastic wrap or the new Press-n-seal freezer wrap? I just saw it advertised for the first time this week.

[bavila]

Oh boy, do I have an eater.

Dax is 9.5 months now and has 6 teeth (no molars though). We've basically reached the point of his eating what we eat. And so far, the only thing he seems really not to care for is potatoes. Fine by me. He's also a bit sick of Cheerios, I suspect.

I never did get the baby food mill. I was pretty happy with my immersion blender and a little mini-chopper-processor thingie.

At 7 or 8 months, I decided to skip the pureeing and just steam cut veggies, freeze them in a single layer, then in a ziploc so they could be easily retrieved a portion at a time.

Now I basically feed him from my plate, but try not to salt food before giving it to him.

Here's today's menu for an example:

breakfast: steelcut oats with cream, banana, shared with mom

lunch: strawberries, avocado, watermelon, eschewed potato (my lunch was a chili dog, which I figured was not the best choice for him!)

dinner: homemade mac-n-cheese, steamed carrots, sauteed chard

Feeding him the healthy stuff has also helped me feed my daughter (age 3.5) better. Somewhere along the way I'd slid into just giving her a cheese stick or turkey sandwich for dinner. Now she gets what we eat. She doesn't have to finish it, or even try everything. Unless of course, she wants dessert. This has resulted in the discovery that she loves chard! yay!

As we move into cups versus bottles, I find that I'll need some of those sippy cups without valves to serve fruit smoothies (I use frozen fruit, whole plain yogurt, and milk) and such. I gave him one the other day and he was completely undone when the valve got clogged by the teeniest but of pulp.

[snowangel]

As we move into cups versus bottles, I find that I'll need some of those sippy cups without valves to serve fruit smoothies (I use frozen fruit, whole plain yogurt, and milk) and such.  I gave him one the other day and he was completely undone when the valve got clogged by the teeniest but of pulp.

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Glad things are going well on the eating front! One of the reasons I liked the Happy Baby Food grinder was that we were often at our cabin with no electricity!

BTW, you should minimize use of the sippy cups with the no spill valves. They do not teach a child to drink, but to continue to suck, and elementary school SLP's are finding increased speech problems with kids who used these exclusively.

I remember loving summer. Plastic glasses of water outside for the kids. They learned quickly how to drink, although it took them a few times to get them set down right side up!

[bavila]

BTW, you should minimize use of the sippy cups with the no spill valves.  They do not teach a child to drink, but to continue to suck, and elementary school SLP's are finding increased speech problems with kids who used these exclusively.

I remember loving summer.  Plastic glasses of water outside for the kids.  They learned quickly how to drink, although it took them a few times to get them set down right side up!

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Oh yes, I learned this with my daughter. She was a total sucking fiend, and we had to do a cold turkey sippy cup intervention around age two. I remember the pediatrician telling me that sippy cups were just bottle substitutes, and I thought, "ok, you come clean my floors". Guess he was right.

[LaurieA-B]

We were really careful with all the common allergens (mainly the top 8 offenders: egg, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat) and delayed introducing solids at all until 6-7 months old since I had severe food allergies as a child. I don't know that I'd really recommend such careful attention in families with no history of allergies, though.

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6-7 months doesn't seem like a delay; I think that's the common recommendation now for starting solids. My daughter started solids at 8 months and wasn't interested in it (we offered a little each day) for a couple more months. She did very well on just breastmilk up to 8 months. I know other families who waited to introduce solids even longer. I don't see any reason to rush; feeding gets more complicated once you're giving solids (though less so once they've got teeth and can eat what you're eating).