LoW CARB for babies

[lczeledoc]

We are going to start feeding solid food to our 5 month old girl. The Ped. recommends starting with cereals, then veggies, then protein foods, & finally fruits. I am thinking, is it OK to start with protein foods and forget about the cereals. If they are not good enough for me, they shouldn't be good for my baby, right? Any resources on low carb for babies?

[Relief]

the book "Nourishing traditions" recommends starting with egg yolk. slightly cooked and mixed with a little cream and/or butter. I think veggies are also a good place to start. unsweetened yogurt mixed with bananas or applesauce can be good too. they don't need much if they are breast fed.--just a taste of this or that.
I would totally stay away from cereals--especially the highly proocessed "baby" cereals. total junk, and I would think, a good start to getting a kid's brain hooked on carbs.
I had 8 babies, all breast fed all grown up now. and have 20 grandkids. my daughters are all raising their babies sugar free and natural. you almost don't need baby food at all when you go this route. at 5 or 6 months or older when they get ready to start eating ( none of mine were much interested till after 6 months and a couple were even as old as 9 mo. before they wanted " real food" some start earlier--every kid is different) mashed up table food--a little of whatever you are having--works fine.

all my babies loved chasing cooked peas and carrots around the high chair tray. Mashed up beef stew is great. cauliflower and cheese... you get the idea. Some babies don't like to eat unless they can feed themslves. ( one of mine at a year old--her favorite food was pepperoni!!!) some are really gung ho on ANY kind of food. One of my grandbabies--at 5 months; is like a baby bird--come at him with a spoon and his mouth pops open wide!

anyhow use your best intincts and what you know about good food and you'll be fine!

[Ottawa]

"We are going to start feeding solid food to our 5 month old girl. The Ped. recommends starting with cereals, then veggies, then protein foods, & finally fruits. I am thinking, is it OK to start with protein foods and forget about the cereals. If they are not good enough for me, they shouldn't be good for my baby, right?"

I have to disagree. Let's take the inverse.

If it's good enought for the baby it should be good enough for me, right?

Right now your baby is building up reserves and using it's foodstores for incredible growth. Mother's milk is an incredible resource for doing this, but not so for an adult. We would gain extra weight quickly.
Also, I believe that the child is developing new fauna in the digestive tract, and this will require a variety of foods to develop a healthy digestive tract, populated with whatever is needed for healthy digestion.

Just my 2 cents worth but I would include a variety of foods, using the less processed foods as Relief suggested.

[laughingW]

you almost don't need baby food at all when you go this route. at 5 or 6 months or older when they get ready to start eating ( none of mine were much interested till after 6 months and a couple were even as old as 9 mo. before they wanted " real food" some start earlier--every kid is different) mashed up table food--a little of whatever you are having--works fine.
This is what we did too, and it worked great. 3 kids, all breast fed, all started on table food, no baby food. Only thing is I cooked everything without salt or strong seasonings and the adults added that at the table. The kids ranged from an extreme of 9 months without any interest in real food to 5 1/2 months grabbing the pizza out of my hands....

Regina Wilshire has an interesting blog entry about her kids' day of eating at age 3. You have to look at the archives for Thursday, Jan 25, 2007 http://weightoftheevidence.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_weightoftheevidence_archive.html

[pelhamga]

In my day care group,I am feeding 2 babies. 1 is 6 months old, the other is 7.5 months old, They eat barley or oatmeal cereal for BF (REG KIND)


Lunch is ,egg yolk,meats,veggies,some fruits
no juice but sometimes gator ade and they get only water in sippy cups
no cookies no crackers yet
they are still toothless but love to eat mashed up foods
they were breast fed 4 months and drink 2 formula bottles during their 9 hr day with me
the 1 year olds eat oatmeal ,cheerios, eggs, for BF
Lunch is chicken,beans,peas,cheese,whole wheat bread,peach
Snacks they love ham and cheese rollups,whole grain gold fish,apple
whole milk or water
in cups and we make smoothies alot w/ whole milk yogurt and berries
they are all slim and happy kids

[Thedabara]

My child's pediatrician was trying to push the rice cereal on me as well. I debated over it, and I through the cereal away. I will agree with randy that a variety is good. But baby cereals are basically just carbs. I have a copy of nourishing traditions. There are a few good suggestions in it. I think I did a search on the westin price web site for feeding an infant and got a bunch of great recipes. From everything I have read, and noticed, babies digestive systems are geared for proteins and fats, not carbs. bananas are good because they come with their own digestive enzymes. Okay, my 10 month old is awake so I have to cut this short! Good luck!
Jenny

[LMN]

I breastfed my daughter (now 13months) until she was a year, but she introduced herself to solids at about 5 months by helping herself to Butter Chicken Curry off my husband's plate and has not looked back since. She eats exactly the same as us and always has done with the exception of leafy salad which she just can't manage with only 6 teeth!
We eat at what would be a maintainance level of carb for most people, so she does eat bread/grains/crackers etc - but good quality and not huge amounts. I refused to feed her commercial baby cereal because it seemed so unnatural, so my "standby" in the early days was things like cooked, mashed apple or pumpkin which I would freeze in icecube trays, then pop the cubes out into ziplock bags. Avacado is an instant, carry anywhere, easy mash food. Just pack a ripe avacado, a fork for mashing and spoon it straight from its skin!
What I always try to ensure is that she gets adquete protein at every meal/snack. Yoghurt is great! You can freeze it into iceblocks too. She also likes fruit smoothies. Grated cheese and cheese slices. She loves meat - I just slice off some of my steak etc and chop it finely, or shred chicken. Stews and cassaroles are great - I mash or chop up any big bits that get in her bowl. Berries (fresh and frozen) are always popular. Try freezing slices of kiwifruit for teething times.
I did make her a traditional birthday cake for her first birthday - but she didn't like it. However if she is at a party and there's all sorts of high carb food I don't stop her from eating it - kids are entitled to "honey tree days" too. It's just not how she eats every day.
I didn't introduce eggs early as there is family history of allergy, but I would have done otherwise.

[LMN]

Another thought - I've heard heaps of people say to leave fruits til last so that the baby doesn't develop a sweet tooth. In my opinion this is rubbish. Breast milk is very sweet!

[Mitra]

It's not what I'd recommend, but my mother says she started me on "solid" food at three weeks (the day I was due to be born). She had an infection so couldn't breast feed, and the formula available didn't suit me. As a slightly older baby I used to dig through the shopping bags in the bottom of the pram to root out the polony and pork pies :o . Who knows if I'd have been healthier if she'd followed some other route? I survived it, anyway :).

[Gaelen]

Hi gang...I've moved this thread to "Building a Protein Power Family," since how to feed kids is one of the main topics in that area, and it will make it easier for people to find all of the similar discussions when searching. Carry on! ;)

[Inez]

I never gave my kids baby cereal just because I thought it was foul-looking and smelling! I breast-fed a year with my first and 8 months with my second, and I didn't think it was important that they get nutrition from other food -- so it was more the learning-to-eat process that was important. I gave them mashed banana first (my older daughter's word for food was "nana" as a result!). Also yogurt, pieces of scrambled egg that they could pick up with their fingers, frozen peas & carrots microwaved briefly, and later strips of cheese. I didn't know low-carb existed at the time -- those just happened to be the foods that worked for my kids -- and they did just fine!