What do Asian mums feed their babies?

C

cazza1975

New member
There is a lot of information in Australia about what you should and shouldn't feed your baby. There are medical guidelines as to what to introduce and when and it is all pretty bland stuff - start with rice cereal at 4 months, then onto pumpkin or sweet potato after 6 months, no dairy until 7 or 8 months, nothing spicy, no salt and so on. So I was just wondering if Asian parents have the same sort of guidlines or do you feed your baby in a similar way to what you would normally eat? Obviously chilli is probably a bit of a no no until they are a bit older but what about the use of the spices and herbs that are so prevalent in Asian cuisine? And what about nuts? Lots of kids in Australia are allergic to nuts, especially peanuts. Do you avoid giving your children nuts until they are about 4 or 5 or is it not such a big problem?
 
Dear cazza1975, hi, I started feeding my daughter when she was 5.5 months old.Usually initially i gave her rice cereals but gradually i started giving her pureed things........but she wanted to eat the same stuff what we eat ...so gradually i gave her tht.....now at the time of dinner i sit along with her and feed her our food.......offcourse no chillies. If it contains chillies i just add yogurt. That way we both are very happy.
pragya
 
For Chinese local moms, it's basically congee with minced pork or chicken or fish (put in a boiling bag) and pureed vegetables, since people believe it's better than rice cereal. However, my daughter never likes congee and I gave her rice cereal and bottled purees and then rice. Now she prefers macaroni, spaghetti and noodles to rice.
 
My daughter had congee before one year old and now having steamed rice (quite soft one) with different types of vegetable, tofu, egg, fish and meat. I also give her Chinese soup, noodle, pasta, cheese, different types of fruits, durian, coconut rice, bread and a little bit of curry, spicy food and peanut butter. She loves it very much!
 
rice cereal vs congee

Don't have an answer for Cazza1975...but I am just wondering which is better: to feed rice cereal OR congee?? Wouldn't rice cereal be better because most are actually fortified with essential vitamins and minerals (ie. iron, calcium, zinc, vitamin C etc.) Where as congee is made of white rice usually refined in process. Your advice and opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
I;d go with the rice cereal. By 6 months your baby has used up its iron stores from pregnancy. If you formula feed I don't think it would matter since formula has iron anyways, but if you are breastfeeding then you will need the iron. My baby refused to eat rice cereal, ever, and was mildly anemic therefore we ended up giving iron drops becasue that was the only source of iron he ate, until he was a lot older and ate enough meat.
 
My daughter has cereal (rice, oatmeal, whole-grain, etc) and fresh milk for breakfast. We sometimes give her brown rice (congee)
 
The preference for congee to rice cereal is that people believe rice cereal will cause "yit hei" or "hot air", which will lead to constipation. If you have your local in-laws or mother looking after your child they will naturally cook congee for your child. For me, I'm too lazy to cook congee and my child does't like it anyway. I fed Gerber's, then Maeil's rice cereal to my child because they have more choices and taste good.
 
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