Real foods for baby, especially your allergic baby! Part 2 – first solids.steemCreated with Sketch.

in #baby7 years ago

Part 1 covered some alternatives if there are any issues breastfeeding. In Part 2 we’ll look at introducing solids.

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Hopefully this isn’t the case all around the world, but in our western society, the prevalent (and inaccurate) belief that low fat is the healthiest way to eat has spread even to young children. So cereals are often recommended as a first food. But they can’t be digested till around 12 months, when sufficient of the enzymes needed to digest carbohydrates are produced.

Breast milk is high in fat, so your breastfed baby’s digestive system is used to digesting fat, and babies need a high level of dietary fat and cholesterol to promote healthy growth.

For all babies, it makes sense to introduce the foods that are easiest to digest first, but this is especially important for babies with allergies or digestive issues. First we’ll look at first foods for the healthy baby, then at foods for the sensitive baby. Whichever way you go (or pick and choose from both), introduce small amounts at a time, and keep feeding mostly breast milk or formula.

First foods for the healthy baby

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According to the Weston A Price foundation, a rough rule of thumb of what to introduce when is:

4 months:
• egg yolks with a pinch of sea salt
• drops of cod liver oil
• mashed organic banana

6 months:
• pureed meats
• mashed or, in some cases, cooked fruit
• vegetables, cooked and mashed with butter or coconut oil

8 months:
• soups, stews and some dairy products

12 Months:
• properly prepared grains – How to prepare grains
• nut butters made from crispy nuts that have been soaked then dehydrated
• cooked leafy green vegetables
• raw salad vegetables
• citrus fruit
• whole egg.

You may be wondering why grains should be introduced at all, given the level of gluten or carb intolerance these days. If your baby is healthy, and their digestive system is sound, there is a window of opportunity around 12 months of age, when the right digestive enzymes start being produced. If properly prepared grains are introduced in small amounts at the right time, this will maximise your child’s chances of being able to handle grains later in life. Of course, if he or she shows signs of not being able to tolerate them, seek professional help.

For more information, see these helpful articles on the Weston A Price foundation website:
More information on what to feed when, and how to prepare the foods for optimum digestion
• For what foods to offer after one year of age, see this article on tantalising foods for toddlers
• If your child is proving a picky eater, here are some useful techniques

First foods for the sensitive baby

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These tips are from Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride, the author of Gut and Psychology Syndrome.

I have written about GAPS before, and you can learn more from these articles: About the Gut & Psychology syndrome (GAPS) diet Part 1 ~ GAPS diet Part 2: Foods we can’t have ~
GAPS diet Part 3: Foods we CAN have ~ GAPS diet Part 4: What if I can’t eat some animal foods

Dr Natasha recommends different starting points for bottle-fed and breastfed babies. For bottle-fed babies, start at 4 months. If your baby is breast fed and seems satisfied, you can wait till 6 months.

Each week, introduce 1-2 new foods. Start with 1-2 teaspoons of the new foods before giving the breast or bottle. Keep feeding the foods that have been successful from the previous weeks, and gradually increase the amounts.

Before introducing any food, do the skin test. At bedtime, take a drop of the food to test (mashed up with a little water if needed) in the form, cooked or raw, you intend feeding it. Put it on baby’s wrist and let it dry. In the morning check to see if there is any angry redness on the skin. If there is, avoid that food for a few weeks then try again. If there is no redness, this doesn’t necessarily mean the food is ok. You will still need to watch carefully for the results, observing bowel motions, skin conditions, mood or whatever your baby’s symptoms usually are.

The skin test won’t always pick up a sensitivity. So always start with tiny amounts and work up, noticing the results. If you notice any reaction, discontinue, wait a couple of days and test another food.

• Start with homemade chicken or meat stock (including the fat) - 1-2 tsp per meal. This is the most important food as it will help heal your baby’s digestive system. Chicken stock recipe
• Freshly pressed carrot juice, diluted with warm water and taken within 30 minutes – 1-2 tsp a day
• Add other veges to the fresh carrot juice eg cabbage, celery
• Add probiotic liquids to the stock. This can be homemade sauerkraut juice or fermented vegetable juice, or whey drained from homemade yoghurt. If the whey is well tolerated, you can try homemade yoghurt or fermented cream.
• Cook veges in the meat stock and puree with a little fat. Use non-starchy, peeled, seeded vegetables such as carrots, pumpkin, squashes, leeks, onions, garlic, broccoli, cauliflower or zucchini. Vary the fats. Safe fats to use are animal or poultry fats, butter, ghee, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil. Gradually increase the thickness.
• Cod liver oil – best brands Green Pasture, NutraPro, Rosita – start with a drop or two
• Boiled meats and fish can be added to the soups. Include the skin and fattier bits.
• Ripe avocado can be mashed and added to soups
• Introduce or increase homemade yoghurt or fermented cream
• Add raw, pastured egg yolk to the soups
• Add ripe apple that has been cooked with plenty of ghee, coconut oil, or butter and pureed
• Add the yogurt or sour cream to the fresh pressed juices or water in a bottle.
• Increase the well-cooked, gelatinous meats
• Stop formula feeding (if breastfeeding, continue topping up after eating)
• Nut butter pancakes (made with almond or hazelnut nutbutter, squash, and eggs) – Recipe here
• Increase fresh juices and try adding apple to the juicing mix
• Add raw lettuce & peeled cucumber (blended & added to veggie soups/purees)
• After these two veggies are tolerated well you can slowly add other veggies, prepared in the same way — carrot, celery, cabbage, bell pepper, kohlrabi, etc.
• Try egg scrambled in plenty of good fat (see list above). Cook the egg gently, serving just a tiny bit, and serving with avocado or veggies.
• Add peeled, raw apple (as a between meal snack)
• Add ripe banana (between meals, make sure there are brown spots on the skin!)
• Add homemade cottage cheese made with your homemade yogurt.
• Add GAPS friendly bread – eg. my Grain free, dairy free Pumpkin & Cashew Bread
• Add small amounts of natural salt

Your baby will now be close to the full GAPS diet. Note that this doesn’t include any gluten, starches or unfermented dairy, as they are too difficult for a child with poor digestion to handle. In time, the diet is designed to repair the digestive system, so more foods can be eaten,

This is a overview of the order to add new foods – for more information on preparing each food, see Dr Natasha’s website.
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Thanks for reading

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Makes me think back to my two when they were younger.

Thanks for another informative post @kiwideb ... very timeous as I am going to be a grandfather one of these months {sulk}... I cannot believe that their is such a thing as a 'sensitive' baby...just my personal opinion. Also, why on earth would a newborn baby have allergies?
Not detracting from your article.... just believe that we mollycoddle and over pamper our children in the West. I am quite willing to bet that if research was done on African children up to the age of 10 years old versus the typical Western child the African children will have very few or NO allergies.

(edited) I think you're right about non-western children not having as many allergies, but I don't think it's molly coddling (mostly anyway). I think it's the terrible lifestyle and the appalling food which lead to gut dysfunction, which in turn leads to allergies. Most of the time they're not true allergies, but sensitivities, which is why I called them sensitive children. These first foods are less likely to lead to those issues later on.

Also the mum's gut flora passes to baby so, generation by generation, gut health is getting worse. And I think a baby whose digestive system is already damaged can react very badly to vaccinations.

I'll never be a Grandma myself, but I remember the weird feeling when my baby sister became a Grandma for the first time! I think I might call you Gramps from now on, just to get you used to it. Is that ok? ;-)

"I think it's the terrible lifestyle and the appalling food which lead to gut dysfunction" ...Ok, I buy that one, especially as the mum's state gets carried over to the baby . As regards the appalling food ... so far that has not been the case here in South Africa as I guess around 95% of families still prepare their own food from fresh fare.... but the problem is that those fresh produce are becoming more and more tainted with chemicals, irradiation, genetic modification ....
On the subject of allergies I believe that abuse of antibiotics is a leading cause of this...
Call me Gramps and 'yere will ruin the friendship' {sulk} .... {more sulks}

Allergies come from things we aren't supposed to be eating, and thus if we aren't used to it and used to the side effects we react badly.
That's why non-whites are often lactose intolerant, and that's why white people lose their lactose tolerance if they are not fed lactose-containing foods throughout childhood.
We're intolerant and allergic for a reason, at least for the big allergies, some people genuinely have odd allergies like to bananas, which is one in thousands.

Nice and very informative article. I wrote this related article you may find interesting, https://steemit.com/health/@motowngold/lead-found-in-20-of-baby-food-we-simply-must-demand-better

Thanks for your comment. I commented over on your post.

Oh @kiwideb I wish I had seen this post in time to re-steem. This is the most clear and informative article on food for babies that I've seen - ever! Thanks for sharing this, I do hope some new parents came across it and learned some essential things!

You could still re-steem. The money is nice, but getting info to more people is even better :-)

Oh no, it won't let me, there's no button :-(

Darn, I didn't know that. Oh well, we learn something every day.

Tis true, tis true!

Oh can I do that? I will!!!

I think so... But maybe I'm wrong. We'll see.

Great article. I am hoping that more people will post parenting and baby content here on Steemit - it is such a good forum for discussion. Happy to follow you. I just wrote about iron supplementation in babies: My Baby Hates Poly-Vi-Sol . Hope you'll check it out!

Thanks. I commented over on your post.

Thank you for gifting this post to the world @kiwideb! In return, we offer you a gift of 1.0 Ohm.

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Absolutely fucking horrifying m'lady, I provided citations in my article smashing milk, and I'll be more than glad to make one smashing eggs and the like as well, even if the whales in the parenting community hate me for it.

Mind citing anything that says you should be feeding your baby fucking eggs at 4months and worse, meat at 6months?
Genuinely, I am saying anything even industry-propaganda, because I don't even think they can fabricate something so horrifying bad into a good thing.
Babies should be having human breast milk and they should have ANY solid foods, ideally, well past their 3rd month, even ideally into and past their sixth month.

Don't believe me? Good, trust in the science.
Delayed introduction of solid foods associated with a lower risk of obesity long-term, and further breastfeeding and more breastfeeding significantly reduces the risk of childhood obesity.

I wouldn't think I would need to cite things on how meat is horrible for people when most every meat is linked to cancer, all are linked to prostate cancer, obesity, and basically everything bad from heart disease to even suicide figures.
But by all means, I'll dig one up if anyone wants it.

I'd like to disclaim that while I may intend to be direct and coincise, I am not trying to come off as rude, although I potentially am. That's because I consider this arguably child abuse and am extremely intolerant of practices like this, especially because they'e always going against science and generally disregarding all the facts because...you tell me?

And every single day some other science contradicts the old science. I totally agree that breast feeding is the right way to go... for at (in my non scientific opinion) least 4 months. One could probably dig up scientific research which contradicts every one you dig up .... and personally I see no reason to, or not to, give your baby egg yolk at the age of 4 months.

So because science can be disproven (rarely) you shouldn't listen to reason at all and simply throw your hands up and do whatever because who knows?
Sorry but it doesn't work like that. If you look for good methadology, non-industry funded research, or simply properly set up studies and meta-analysis's, it's clear animal products (Short of honey) are literally the worst thing you could do to your health.

Do you also see no reason not to give your baby a cigarette and teach them to smoke?
You're sick and are rationalizing insanity.
Eggs do not have a proper nutritional profile for the children, they're not sustainable to produce and therefore will kill the child through environmental destruction later, they're frequently contaminated with disease, not to mention they're expensive, promote constipation, etc etc.
Feeding it to your child, especially regularly, is really just not okay.

So I take it you are a Vegan? Ah well, I am sick and rationalizing insanity ...{pours another double whiskey...slices a piece of lovely beef carpaccio ...chews, swallows with a smile}...{belch}... Enjoy your life and good luck to your children. Mine are already adults, not an allergy amongst any of us and we doing just fine...insanity and all !!

Allergies are 100% determined by length and amount of breastfeeding mate, not diet. That's why I'm allergy-free, I breastfed significantly till I was 4.
Eating garbage doesn't make you peel over and die in your 20s, 30s, or even 40s. Give it another twenty or thirty years and then reply to me, if you can. You'll almost certainly be on a dozen medications and having trouble doing just about anything. That's not natural. We aren't supposed to become useless balls of pain in our early 70s. Cultures that have ate better have displayed we naturally feel great and operate fine well into our late 90s and even the first years into 100.

"Allergies are 100% determined by length and amount of breastfeeding " ... I bet you regretted writing that the second you pressed 'submit'.

"Eating garbage doesn't make you peel over and die in your 20s, 30s, or even 40s. Give it another twenty or thirty years and then reply to me, if you can. "
I am 20 months away from compulsory retirement ... I will be heading off to play in a competitive bowls tournament for a week then the day after (15 July) I will be doing the Knysna Half Marathon. I doubt I will get my sub 2 hour this year, but will be close..give or take a few minutes. {sigh} ... Enjoy your Vegan lifestyle, if it works for you and yours... great, but to my mind you should not be blasting others for their lifestyle or believes based on your dogma.
I agree with you about Legumes, especially Beans ... I love them in all shapes, size and prepared styles.
My motto 'Moderation moderation moderation' {thinks} 'Errr, except maybe sex {grin}'

The reason why I'll blast people with "my dogma" is because not even you agree with your lifestyle. That's why you probably pay other people to kill the animals for you. That's why if I showed you footage on where your "food" comes from you'd refuse to watch or be disgusted.
There is simply no rational or even irrational reason against veganism. There is no argument against it. The best you can say is "I don't care" and that must include about the environment, your health, the animals, literally everything.

I only rape children a little bit, so it's okay, right :)

Moderation is another justification.

Wow, this is the first food article for babies I have ever viewed on Steemit.com. Keep up the awesome work, @kiwideb. I have just upvoted your post!
You may enjoy reading my new post in which I'm interviewing the TV show "Top Chef": https://steemit.com/food/@lazariko12/t-h-i-s-t-v-s-h-o-w-r-o-c-k-s-m-y-t-o-p-c-h-e-f-t-v-s-h-o-w-r-e-v-i-e-w

These are all wonderfully information, my friend! I didn't know pureed meats are okay for 6-month olds. Here, it's mostly pureed veggies fed to babies until they get their teeth in. Nice to know that alternatives are available. I wish I have a baby right now just so I could contribute more to the discussion.

They really aren't okay for them, it's just unless you're feeding them a spicy pepper or literal battery acid you can eat it.
Meats been proven to have tons of contaminants and cause cancer, constipation in kids, and far worse things such as early puberty, which takes off years of their life.
Raw-meat and eggs is downright dangerous in every single way yet they recommended it. Stop reading articles with zero science or studies linked. These are just that persons opinion and what they do. I could tell you you can have sex with your baby when they're 6 months old and it's healthy to do so, but that doesn't mean you should do it. Where's the science?

The only thing that's safe for children long-term to eat that comes from an animal is gelatin, honey, and vitamin E. All the big "whole" forms of regular animal-foods fuck kids up, and really do adults too.
I'll happily provide citations of how and why, or comparison studies between out population and, say, the Okinawans, which traditionally ate only 1-3% of their calories from animal foods and lived the longest of any society, easily reaching into the 90s and often 100s, perfectly functional and able to walk with no cane and bend over and the whole shabang!

Yeah, so, no offense but there are tons of other ways to get your point across without being a dick. No matter how a person takes in information, it's really still up to them which they choose to do. Compassion is key, man, so if you really want to win over people, you could about things through a better approach. You make good points, but it's all overshadowed by your abrasive approach. If you have a contrary opinion, express it in a more diplomatic matter. I won't even dignify the other things you said with a response.

Being nice and skirting around the issue just encourages complacency and people pushing it off as if it doesn't matter. If someone is deeply wrong and told it their entire life simply telling them nicely isn't going to do anything.
Think, if I asked someone who genuinely believes it's okay to have sex-slaves and rape them "hey, that's really not nice those are people too and should be free to choose what they do" they'll just brush it off.
The same applies here. Unless you explicitly say it how it is and say how dead animals aren't good for health they'll almost always brush it off.

Funny thing, you do the other option, which is when you say it how it is, rather than addressing you piss off and refuse to acknowledge the truth or talk about it as a way to escape. An excuse.

This is so nice that you know that some babies might be allergic specially lactose intolerance can be worse nightware for any parents if their baby has that problem.

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