when to first feed meat to baby

W

wandasmart

New member
i'm getting conflicting information on when is the best time to start feeding meat to my baby. i'v already got a small selection of veggie going, and a couple of fruits. however, i'm worried about iron and protein in her diet. some books have chicken and fish recipes for 6months old baby (annabel karmel) and others say wait until end of the 1st year.

any advice? also any advice on which meats to feed first?
 
Protein foods (mashed tender cuts of meat, etc.) come early in the list of foods to introduce once your baby has started solids. This is not so much for the iron content but rather because of their high calorie value.

Television commercials will have you believe your baby needs solids for the iron supplement. However, your milk has iron in it, and while in small quantities, it's very easily absorbed. Breastfed babies rarely become anaemic.

Most early solid food given to babies has a very low calorie content. Often the baby has to eat a lot for only a few calories. Meat and other high protein foods are much denser foods and so the baby has to eat less for more calories.

Low fat and high fibre diets are not recommended for babies because the baby can get full without getting enough nutrients and calories.

Best wishes,
Barb
 
fantastic info Barb... thanks for that. then i can feel confident feeding her the chicken puree i made.

i have been told however that beef should be held off until nearer to 1 year old?
thanks!
 
The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition, says that the order in which foods are added to your baby's diet is not that important as long as baby's breast milk intake is adequate. (This is, of course, for babies starting solids at around 6 months or later - babies starting solids earlier are much more prone to food allergies.)

Cereal is not at all necessary, particularly the baby cereals. Regular (whole grain) oatmeal is more nutritious for your baby. Many doctors recommend iron-fortified rice cereal as baby's first food because it is less likely to cause an allergic reaction.

Generally it is proteins which babies have problems with allergies. This might be the reason that you have been told to delay beef, although I?ve never heard of this.

This is the list of foods to be careful about and the suggested age to introduce them if your baby is likely to be allergic (usually this means that there are others in the family with allergy problems)

0-6 months
NO solids (this includes cereal) or juices
9-12 months
Wheat
Oranges and other citrus
Cheese
Yogurt
Soy
Peas and other legumes (except peanuts)
Egg yolk
Corn
12 - 18 months
Cow's milk (including cottage cheese, ice cream)
Pork
Tomatoes
18 - 24 months
Egg whites
Berries
2 years
Chocolate
2-3 years
Fish & seafood
Nuts (except peanuts)
3 years
Peanuts

LLL suggests this progression when introducing your baby (6 months or older) to solid foods:
? Ripe banana, avocado, yam, or sweet potato (sweet like breast milk)
? Meats
? Whole-grain breads and cereals (rather than baby cereals)
[wheat and corn are usually delayed until baby is 9-12 months old]
? Fresh fruits
[citrus fruits are usually delayed until baby is 9-12 months old]
? Vegetables
? Dairy products after 9 months
[cow's milk is usually delayed until baby is 12-18 months old]

There is a nice article from Leaven (a publication for LLL leaders) which explains why meat is a good early choice for babies starting solids, Introducing Complementary Foods, http://www.lalecheleague.org/llleaderweb/LV/LVDec99Jan00p130.html

Hope this helps,
SARAH
 
This web site explains about sensitivity to cow's milk proteins in allergic babies, http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/food-sensitivity.html

?A significant percentage of babies with cow's milk protein allergy will also react to soy. Most dairy-allergic babies will also react to goat's milk or sheep?s milk. Some will also react to beef.?

If your baby is likely to be allergic to cow?s milk protein it might be best to delay not just cow?s milk but also soy milk, other dairy products and beef.

Best wishes,
Barb
 
thank you Sarah and Barb

one more thing. how do i know if my baby is getting enough b/milk? i am already feeding her the breast first before solids. but she seems to love solids so much she wants a lot of it (even after the breastfeed)

i'm still feeding her 5 b/feeds per day. but as you know cannot measure how much she takes except the last feed which is expressed milk of 180ml

thanks agn
 
It takes between 4 to 6 weeks to establish your milk supply. Before that it is advised to protect your supply by breastfeeding directly as often as possible.

After your milk supply is established it is actually really quite hard to loose it. One research article I read said it took an average of 42 days after you stop breastfeeding to loose all your milk. 42 days is 6 weeks!

If you are continuing to offer your baby the breast and she is happy to keep feeding the introduction of solids will not affect your supply, especially the introduction of solids at around six months.

Please don?t worry about the amount of milk your baby is getting. Just relax and feed her both breast milk and the solids and she will be fine.

Remember also that as the amount of milk your baby drinks decreases the amount of immune factors in the milk will concentrate so that the baby is still protected. This is true even if your baby is only having one breastfeed once every week or two. In other words as long as you are breastfeeding your baby is getting the benefit of being a breastfed baby.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
How to wean a toddler

I have some questions for you, Sarah:

I b/f my 29 months old son first thing in the morning, in the morning when he wants it, before and after nap (sometimes once during), after bath, before sleep at night, and night time as he still asks for it a few times at night. I don't offer the breast, but give it when he asks for it.
I give him 1 cheese stick in the morning and 1 tub of yogurt (small) in the afternoon.

1. I'd like to wean him after he's 2.5 years but don't know how to do it. Any toddler-friendly weaning methods?

2. If I wean him, what should I give him as calcium sources and how much?

Thanks, Sarah.
 
Dear Lynn,

The traditional suggestion from LLL is called ?don?t offer, don?t refuse?. This method does work but it can take a long time ? often much longer than mothers feel comfortable with. This doesn?t mean that you don?t encourage the baby to wean by talking about it. We talk about growing older with small children and that one day they will be potty trained , go to big school, etc weaning is just another thing that babies/small children will do and therefore something that a mother encourages by discussing it with her child.

This subject is so huge that it is difficult to make suggestions without writing a book. And so I?m going to recommend a few books that we have in our library to you instead. Unfortunately we only lend our books to members as too many of them went ?walk about? before this policy. Please contact Maggie at 2817-7475 if you are interested in borrowing any of these books.

1. Mothering your Nursing Toddler, Norma Jane Bumgarner
Practical, reassuring, informative, and supportive book for the mother of a nursing toddler. Emphasizes meeting child's needs. Discusses importance of breastfeeding relationship, natural weaning, temporary changes in lifestyle, society's expectations vs. child's and family's needs.

2. Nursing Mothers Guide to Weaning, Kathleen Huggins & Linda Ziedrich
Explores all aspects of weaning beginning with an historical survey of weaning practices and ending with weaning a child over three and life after weaning. Discusses reasons for weaning as well as reasons to delay weaning; offers practical and helpful advice that respects the needs and feelings of both mother and child.

3. How Weaning Happens, LLLI
This book includes the personal experiences of mothers who have weaned in a variety of ways. It covers the kinds of questions parents have about natural weaning, explains how weaning can be accomplished at various ages, what to do if weaning is necessary for medical reasons, how to handle pressure from others, how mothers feel about weaning, and what to do if weaning isn't going well. Above all, it reassures parents that weaning is a natural developmental process.

If you are interested to continue the nursing relationship then Mothering Your Nursing Toddler will give you lots of support for that option. The book with the most suggestions of ways to stop breastfeeding is Nursing Mother?s Guide to Weaning. I like this book because it splits the child into different age groups. A method what works well with a baby of six months is no use when discussing a child of three years. And How Weaning Happens is a nice book because it gives so many stories of what other mothers have done.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
Sarah

i know you said not to worry to much. but when i feed my baby before the solids, she sometimes only drinks for 5-10minutes before she starts looking around and seeming like she doesnt want anymore. i keep trying to offer back and forth between the breasts to get her to drink until about 15-20min have elapsed. surely 5min is not enough time to get a lot of milk considering she used to feed for 45min or more?
 
As babies grow they get much more efficient at drinking. 5 to 10 minutes is fine for a feed as the baby grows older. My second child never drank for more than 10 minutes in one go from being about two months old.

If you don?t believe this ask a bottle feeding mother how long it takes to feed a small bottle to a four week old and how long it takes to feed a big bottle to a four month or eight month old. All babies get more efficient as they get older.

How long the baby feeds doesn?t tell you much. It is better to look at other signs that all is well:
How many wet nappies?
What is the weight gain like?
More importantly what is the height gain like?
Is the baby meeting her developmental milestones?
Etc.

It is always more important to look and see what the baby is like and how she is acting rather than worrying about how long and much she feeds.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
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