Feeding Chinese food to baby

nicolejoy

nicolejoy

Registered User
I have a nearly 9 month old mixed baby girl - and she eats anything I put in front of her. I've mainly been feeding her "western style" foods - and at the moment, she eats chicken, vegetables, pasta, toast, crackers, yoghurt, cheese - things like that... When we go to a western restaurant I ALWAYS can find a million things to order that she can eat too, however I have no idea what she can or should eat at a Chinese restaurant!! So far, her Chinese cuisine has been limited to congee.

So my question is, what kinds of Chinese food are appropriate for a 9 month old baby? What do Chinese people feed their 9 month olds? What things are definite no-nos? It seems to me like everything is really saucy, or oily, or has bones etc... and the fish is generally garoupa which is really high in methyl-mercury... What things are appropriate for say, a one year old?

I'd love some tips because I'm at a bit of a loss in that area at the moment!!
 
i usually got stuff that had a sauce as it made the rice easier to go down.

we took scissors with us to cut up the food into tiny pieces for such a young one. we pretty much gave them from whatever we were ordering. sometimes noodles, sometimes rice. my kids both love fish, chicken (again, just took the breast portion, removed the skin and cut into manageable pieces, pork). we didn't give seafood until 1 year, but both of my kids love prawns, lobster, crab & squid.

both of my kids have always loved dim sum, too. my son loves cha siu bao, cheung fan, spring rolls, ha gow, ham soy gok... almost everything that i love myself. i have always HATED congee. i never gave it to my kids, but my m-i-l did when she took my son for lunch.

by 1 year a baby should be able to eat most things that an adult eats, just cut smaller. honestly, i think my kids prefer chinese food sometimes.
 
my daughter is 10mths and I have started giving her congee...fish congee actually and she loves it. when we go for dimsum, she gets some of the bread from the cha siu bao, and noodles when we have that. since she doesn't eat large portions, i'm not too concerned (at this point) with the mercury level of fish...chicken she eats too (of course in small pieces), steamed fish, and of course plain rice! i try to give her a variety of food....at least the ones that she can chew (with her 4 teeth) so she will not become a picky eater (hopefully)...
 
Our son prefers cha siu bao and a lot of the dim sum foods--most of those don't have bones in them and very few (except for fish balls) are made with fish--there is a lot of pork and a bit of seafood. The only thing I ever am concerned about with dim sum is the high level of salt and MSG. But because my son is half Chinese and has Chinese grandparents who love to go "yum cha" and take him along, I can't really say that he isn't allowed to eat dim sum--as long as it's not too often, I'm okay with it. His favorite, though is cha siu bao.
 
Oh, and I forgot...our son LOVES noodles...more than rice. He especially loves Shou Xi Gai Mai Xin (shredded chicken with rice noodles). Noodles are always a hit with him--and have been since he was around your daughter's age.
 
Just tonight I was out with my husband`s Chinese colleague and his wife. WITHOUT ASKING, they tried to feed my 6 month old this stewed fatty pork and only stopped bc I looked horrified at what was about to happen. I explained that he was only on a few fruit and veg until now, but they maintained that their daughter and ALL CHINESE from 4 months eat everything, like what was on our table. Which were dishes full of fat, oil, starch, msg, sugar, salt, soy, egg, seafood. When I was like NO, everytime my son cried (bc he was stuck in the colleagues arms and was getting tired) they just said `poor thing, he wants to eat`. Even at the end of the meal they tried again to get me to feed him watermelon. I couldn`t believe it.
So, anyway, apparently you can feed them ANYTHING. Hey, why not just put oil and msg in the newborn`s bottle?

Signed,
Horrified in Hong Kong
 
I was just wondering if other people have had a similar experience to Shenzheniffer--but only with a people from a different culture--not just Chinese people?

I know my extended relatives in the States have their own opinions about what my son should be eating and how he should be eating and I always had to watch them to make sure they weren't feeding him something I didn't want him having.

Back here in Hong Kong, my son's Chinese grandfather tried to feed him a piece of chocolate cake when he was about 5 months old and I also watched in horror until my husband stepped in and put a kabosh to that.

Surely it can't be that only Chinese people are that pushy with other peoples' kids?
 
Well, I will be finding out soon when I see the Japanese in laws next week, surely ready to shove rice crackers down my son`s throat the minute I turn my back!
 
To Nicolejoy

How about some soft steamed tofu? I'm sure tofu is on the menu of most Chinese restaurant. Steamed is ideal coz' it shdn't be too oily compared to the fried food. You can ask for less oil or soya sauce. Tell them it's for baby.

Or the sweet bean curd (tau foo fa) especially if you go yum cha. Tell them to give the syrup separately.

My son loves congee, cha siu pau, tofu, noodles and an occasional crunchy springroll skin(just a little) now that he's 19 mths old.
 
Maybe on the food side, Japanese in laws will have the advantage because Japanese food generally is more healthy? I guess except for the raw fish--but then again, the Japanese kids are eating it and not dying so it must not be that bad. Rice crackers shouldn't be too bad as long as they're softened with a bit of sake, I guess. Lol!
 
Liek carang we just carried a pair of scissors around and gave them whatever we were eating. You will find that when you expose them to lots of things they won't be picky at all. Now at 3 and 5 they eat pretty much any type of food, western, chinese, japanese, east indian, greek, etc. even spicy foods.
 
How much should we worry about things like MSG etc? Some people seem quite worried - but then other people don't really care. I'm sure my Chinese husband probably grew up on it and it hasn't seemed to harm him. *shrugs* It's hard to know what to worry about and what NOT to worry about...

I also want to know - slightly different topic - but how young can babies eat sashimi? When I was a kid, my family never ate it so it wasn't an issue. But my husband and I eat it at least once a week...
 
I wouldn't feed any young children sashimi till they are at least 4 or 5. I think cooked sushi is fine. California rolls and those egg rolls but obviously from a reputable rest. I think as long as you don't eat too often from outside rest. It's ok with the MSG. I mean we get artificial additivies to our food everyday. We don't want to start them young but unless you cook everything organic and bring food outside. You can't really worried too much MSG. As long as they are not getting allergies, just let them eat what they want.
 
The way that Ithink of it is that we don't eat out every day and we don't eat msg everyday, so once in awhile is okay. Same with eating fish and shell fish in HK, probably contaninated, but we are only there a few weeks at a time. I think of it as benefit vs. risk, never eating chinese food is not really an option when you are a mixed race family. the benfit of chinese food is worth the risk of occasional contamination.

I think our son started eating sashimi and other raw fish around 2 or 3. It is pretty rare to get a parasite, but it could happen. i don't eat any of the raw fish myself, but my husband loves it and our now 5 year old loves it. my 3 year old doesn't like the texture and spits it out.
 
nicolejoy said:
How much should we worry about things like MSG etc? Some people seem quite worried - but then other people don't really care. I'm sure my Chinese husband probably grew up on it and it hasn't seemed to harm him. *shrugs* It's hard to know what to worry about and what NOT to worry about...
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My son is sensitive to food additives and I don't think long-range a bit of MSG once a week at yum cha is going to damage him but I know for sure after he's had yum cha he is more irritable and gets more hyperactive--just like he does with any kind of food with food colorings and additives in them. A lot of children are sensitive in this way, I think. MSG is also a salt and all things published on the subject say to limit how much salt your children take in because it can be hard on their internal organs.

For my husband and I, we eat yum cha on a regular basis with his parents and we always feel just worn out, bogged down and exhausted as well as super thirsty after having it. Even if we only have a few pieces of dim sum and not a full meal we nearly have to go home and "sleep it off." My husband also notices this even though he also grew up eating yum cha at least 2-3 times a week with his family and grandparents all of his life. So, it can have an affect on your body. But I agree with the above posters who said that as long as its in moderation and you're using your best judgment (taste it first and if its so salty it makes you pucker or obviously has a litre of syrup in it, probably not a wise idea to give it to baby) then Chinese food once in awhile at a restaurant isn't going to kill your child.

Raw fish, however, I won't be allowing my son to eat for at least another year.
 
shenzhennifer,

you must be horrified , i would too. your chinese colleagues are terrible.. !!!
but luckily i have not meet anyone that .. pushy.. normally, when ppl give me advice. that i can start feeding my kids this and that..i'll just keep quiet.. and if i refuse to feed my baby certain food, they'd better respect me for that.. or else , i'll jump at them.. like a lion...

hehe..
have a nice day
 
everything in moderation is a good way to go (except for sashimi)...when I go to restaurants and ask if they have MSG in the plain congee - some say yes, others say, no we don't have MSG in our food...but then I taste the food, it's too good to be true....I think they're putting in chicken powder instead...not "MSG" but same kind of thing - what do you do?!? I try bringing my own food, but last minute decisions to stay out kind of screw me up and I end up buying bottled food (organic)...but, I'm not sure which is better "adult" food or bottled food that is "organic" - what do you guys think?
 
lesliefu said:
everything in moderation is a good way to go (except for sashimi)...when I go to restaurants and ask if they have MSG in the plain congee - some say yes, others say, no we don't have MSG in our food...but then I taste the food, it's too good to be true....I think they're putting in chicken powder instead...not "MSG" but same kind of thing - what do you do?!? I try bringing my own food, but last minute decisions to stay out kind of screw me up and I end up buying bottled food (organic)...but, I'm not sure which is better "adult" food or bottled food that is "organic" - what do you guys think?
Click to expand...

I think that neither is really "better." If it's organic, then there is the advantage that it probably isn't contaminated with pesticides and other yucky substances. There is only so long that you can feed your child organic baby food from a jar, though--it's different if your baby is under 12 months old but once they really start eating and are totally off breastfeeding or the bottle then most are pretty reluctant to go back to mushy, unflavored food (especially if they've had Chinese grandparents sneaking them butter sugar cookies when their parents are looking).

For us, it's a totally different story at home. I'm really picky at home because I have full control over my son's eating habits there. So, it's always honey or stevia instead of sugar and if it happens to be sugar its raw, organic sugar. It's a bit of selenite sea salt here. Virgin olive oil for cooking. Veggie and fruit smoothies. Limited dairy intake (he still gets plenty of calories and calcium). Organic soy milk. Meats I can say that are reasonably safe and toxin free (not quite free-range but...).

When we go out to eat, I've found it's just way too stressful to be having to run off to buy my child a jar of food when he's hungry and wants to eat what everyone else is eating too--he is a part of the family afterall. I used to be really picky at restaurants as well and I'm sure my Chinese in-laws think I'm coo-coo, but I guess what has happened to me is what happens to most new parents--we chill out a bit--pick our battles a little more carefully and do our best to find the middle ground when it comes to food choices.
 
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