pc@hplabsb.UUCP (Patricia Collins) (01/25/84)
Our pediatrician's comments on diet was "Anywhere you see so many different recommendations, you ca be pretty sure it doesn't much matter!" There are foods which people tend to be more sensitive/intolerant of: dairy products, eggs, wheat products. Obviously, if either parent has food allergies, it's prudent to consider holding off on those foods. One new food every four days (not to the exclusion of other foods already in the diet) is not a bad idea if you're concerned about allergies. A tried-and-true plan might be: rice cereal (real soupy at first, gradually more cereal-like), oatmeal cereal, barley cereal, applesauce, pears, banana (this one's great for "loose" digestive systems), sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, green beans, peas All of these are pureed or Gerber/BeechNut consistency. Allergic reactions are usually vomiting, diarrhea, or hives at this age. If you've gotten this far without incident, you can add new foods more quickly. You can start using a baby food grinder (or your food processor) to feed the baby pulverized table food some time around 8 - 9 months. Our pediatrician suggested that this more coarsely prepared food helps the child get used to "table food" as your family eats it-- with all of its varied textures. White potatoes, chicken/turkey, juices, apples, summer fruits (peaches, nectarines, etc.), bit-size pieces of whole wheat toast with a small amount of peanut butter (this assumes some chewing ability, but not many teeth), rice (coarsely ground), .... (I recommend NOT using the jarred foods since they don't taste nearly as good as freshly prepared food.) If you don't need to be concerned about dairy products, PLAIN yoghurt is a favorite among children; cottage cheese (small curd) is also good. Most thinking now encourages parents to feed children as much as the child wants, and not one spoonful more. In our child's case, this is an amount comparable to what we eat! (He's 11 months old and somewhat slender for his height.) It's easy to see if your child is gaining a "healthy" amount of weight without any daily weigh-ins. Is the child active? Sleeping well? Well proportioned? Oh--Cheerios are wonderful! In addition to being food the child can easily handle without help, it actually has the side benefit of providing eye-hand coordination exercise when these skills are just budding. Enjoy! Patricia Collins hplabs
ksh@cbosgd.UUCP (Karen Summers-Horton) (01/26/84)
Making your own baby food is a great idea, but you should take a few precautions. The reason the store-bought food 'doesn't taste as good' is that they add NOTHING. You really have to watch grinding up table food - spices of any kind and especially salt are not a good thing to be giving your baby. Keeping this in mind, cottage cheese is VERY high in sodium and not really a good idea for young children. Karen Summers-Horton