Feeding babies ?

peej76

My lil guy has just turned 9 months, and with my question you'd think he was my first born (I have two more older lil guys lol). But I'm thinking on starting him on some "big people" foods. I forget when and what I started my other son's on, and would like some suggestions on what to start out on. I'm not taking the baby food away yet, but thinking on toast for breakfast or something to that effect. Also what foods are not safe for under a year old due to possible allergic reactions? I've heard honey, peanut butter and eggs, is there anything else I should keep out of his diet for now?

peej76

My lil guy has just turned 9 months, and with my question you'd think he was my first born (I have two more older lil guys lol). But I'm thinking on starting him on some "big people" foods. I forget when and what I started my other son's on, and would like some suggestions on what to start out on. I'm not taking the baby food away yet, but thinking on toast for breakfast or something to that effect. Also what foods are not safe for under a year old due to possible allergic reactions? I've heard honey, peanut butter and eggs, is there anything else I should keep out of his diet for now?

MFS27

My lil guy has just turned 9 months, and with my question you'd think he was my first born (I have two more older lil guys lol). But I'm thinking on starting him on some "big people" foods. I forget when and what I started my other son's on, and would like some suggestions on what to start out on. I'm not taking the baby food away yet, but thinking on toast for breakfast or something to that effect. Also what foods are not safe for under a year old due to possible allergic reactions? I've heard honey, peanut butter and eggs, is there anything else I should keep out of his diet for now?

At nine months - you can definitely start him on some "big-people food." Depending on how many teeth he has, make sure whatever you give him is soft and mashed up. If he has some teeth - you can give him peas, cut up green beans/carrots, etc.

Avoid honey, PB, strawberries (all berries, really), nuts (anything hard - if they can't suck it/mush it up, don't give it to them). I haven't heard the egg one (unless egg allergy runs in your family.) I used to give my little one scrambled eggs, since they are soft.

Vilma

I have an 8 month old that eats EVERYTHING, lol. I started her with the fresh veggies ( carrots, squashes, sweet potatoes regular potatos etc) Since this is a little thicker than baby food it gets them used to "chewing". The I intoduced her to soft chicken (blended) and now she is eating the chunky stuff, pieces of it (tiny pieces anyway). I make her baby oatmeal with a little cow milk (1 oz at the begining) and thank God she is not allergic. Good luck, have water handy cause they need help bringing the stuff down. PS- This is my 4th and last child and I STILL have questions, lol.

krystalmoore1986

for starter foods I gave my son at 9 months
waffle cut into strips so he could hold it easily
whole peas well done
cheerios

all of the following in pea sized cubes-
small cubes of sweet potatoes well done
small cubes of cooked carrot well done
small cubes of peaches fresh or canned i would rinse off the syrup or get them in pear juice
small cubes of well cooked apple
plain brown rice (My son loved it)
soft scrambled egg yolks (The whites are the allergenic part)
small bits of pasta well cooked (Think the letters in alphabet soup small and soft like that)
mashed potatoes (They love practicing with a fork)
mostly all adult foods

I made all my sons baby food with a blender and ice cube trays so at this age I just went to goodwill and got a food chopper for like 3$ I put the food in the bowl then put the top on and push down on the handle over and over and the more you do it the smaller the pieces get so pretty much anything i made mashable with gums I would just toss in and chop it to small bits and dump it on the high chair tray and let him go at it. I used one like this-
http://www.wellgroup.com.hk/product/progress 2007/knife&peeler/food chopper GFC-100.jpg

krystalmoore1986

double post

AJCM

In Canada we recommend eggs at 12 months - yolks first, then the whole egg well cooked and scrambled (there is more incidence of allergy to white then to yolks)... my son is egg allergic (severe) so may 20 mo old is yet to eat anything with egg! Now I worry that I may have "sensitized" her to it because I've waited so long (and the body sees it as a foreign substance and reacts).

Good for starting so early! I agree with all the small, cubed finger foods!
:flowerforyou:

krystalmoore1986

In Canada we recommend eggs at 12 months - yolks first, then the whole egg well cooked and scrambled (there is more incidence of allergy to white then to yolks)... my son is egg allergic (severe) so may 20 mo old is yet to eat anything with egg! Now I worry that I may have "sensitized" her to it because I've waited so long (and the body sees it as a foreign substance and reacts).

Good for starting so early! I agree with all the small, cubed finger foods!
:flowerforyou:

Im not sure if they require vaccines in canada but in us they get their vaccines at 12 months that contain egg for some reason and my sons ped recommended trying eggs at least once before they go in for that shot because that way you will know if they are allergic beforehand. If they havent had egg before they get the shot and if they get a high fever or other symptoms you wont know if its a side affect of the shot or if it could be a dangerous allergic reaction. I think its up to each parent but I thought my ped made a good point of that so I chose to do eggs before hand. I think you should use your own mommy instinct and whether there are food allergies in your family to decide when you feel its right to give your child eggs. :flowerforyou: Good luck and enjoy the beauty of motherhood!!

tookieb

We have no known food allergies on either side of our family and I started both of my older kids, (they are 4 & 2 now baby #3 is 5 weeks) on mashed bananas and peanut butter as soon as they were ready for solids (between 5&6 months of age). They also got mashed eggs the whites and yokes. By 9 months they were eating what ever we ate for supper just cut small, or if the food was not too crunchy we let her pick up the entire piece and chew on it (she seemed to prefer this). Whole bananas, strawberries, hard boiled eggs, canned and homemade soups, peanut butter and jam or honey sandwiches, toast, and sausage. Both kids are very healthy and have no weight or allergy issues.

peej76

In Canada we recommend eggs at 12 months - yolks first, then the whole egg well cooked and scrambled (there is more incidence of allergy to white then to yolks)... my son is egg allergic (severe) so may 20 mo old is yet to eat anything with egg! Now I worry that I may have "sensitized" her to it because I've waited so long (and the body sees it as a foreign substance and reacts).

Good for starting so early! I agree with all the small, cubed finger foods!
:flowerforyou:

Im not sure if they require vaccines in canada but in us they get their vaccines at 12 months that contain egg for some reason and my sons ped recommended trying eggs at least once before they go in for that shot because that way you will know if they are allergic beforehand. If they havent had egg before they get the shot and if they get a high fever or other symptoms you wont know if its a side affect of the shot or if it could be a dangerous allergic reaction. I think its up to each parent but I thought my ped made a good point of that so I chose to do eggs before hand. I think you should use your own
mommy instinct and whether there are food allergies in your family to decide when you feel its right to give your child eggs. :flowerforyou: Good luck and enjoy the beauty of motherhood!!

Yeah we get the vaccine as well. I remember giving egg to my older two kids, and no problems with them. I'm pretty sure we have no allergies with anyone on either sides of the family, so I may try him on eggs here shortly. I've just been hearing all the fuss about egg allergies recently and didn't know if it was something to be extremely careful about. It sounds like the consensus is if there has been allergies in the past to be careful which would not apply to me. I'll just keep a close watch on him like I do for every new food he experiences. Thanks everyone for all the great ideas....It'll get us started!!!!

lisarae

Please do not give PB until 24 months. My daughter is allergic and we didn't know. She had been given PB twice which was enough to activate a reaction. The first exposure doesn't always show the reaction. It's like the body learns to recognize the allergy.
I ate PB almost daily while pregnant with my daughter. I don't know if that was the cause, but I avoided it on my second pregnancy with my son and we will be testing him later this fall.
You don't know how much peanuts/nuts are in foods until you start looking. My husband and I have become peanut Nazis.
There is a chance (20%) she will outgrow this. I hope she does!

peej76

Please do not give PB until 24 months. My daughter is allergic and we didn't know. She had been given PB twice which was enough to activate a reaction. The first exposure doesn't always show the reaction. It's like the body learns to recognize the allergy.
I ate PB almost daily while pregnant with my daughter. I don't know if that was the cause, but I avoided it on my second pregnancy with my son and we will be testing him later this fall.
You don't know how much peanuts/nuts are in foods until you start looking. My husband and I have become peanut Nazis.
There is a chance (20%) she will outgrow this. I hope she does!

Our kids school is 100% peanut free, your right it seems there are nuts in almost everything, very hard when it comes to sending school snacks. I thought it was no PB til 12 months so thanks for the info.

AJCM

In Canada we recommend eggs at 12 months - yolks first, then the whole egg well cooked and scrambled (there is more incidence of allergy to white then to yolks)... my son is egg allergic (severe) so may 20 mo old is yet to eat anything with egg! Now I worry that I may have "sensitized" her to it because I've waited so long (and the body sees it as a foreign substance and reacts).

Good for starting so early! I agree with all the small, cubed finger foods!
:flowerforyou:

Im not sure if they require vaccines in canada but in us they get their vaccines at 12 months that contain egg for some reason and my sons ped recommended trying eggs at least once before they go in for that shot because that way you will know if they are allergic beforehand. If they havent had egg before they get the shot and if they get a high fever or other symptoms you wont know if its a side affect of the shot or if it could be a dangerous allergic reaction. I think its up to each parent but I thought my ped made a good point of that so I chose to do eggs before hand. I think you should use your own mommy instinct and whether there are food allergies in your family to decide when you feel its right to give your child eggs. :flowerforyou: Good luck and enjoy the beauty of motherhood!!

I work in the medical field related to eczema and allergy - there has not been egg in vaccines in over 17 years (my ped recommended the same thing - and we took the vaccine down to our allergist and immunologist, who was sort of annoyed with our ped for not know this). In speaking with one of the scientists who develops vaccines for Aventis, I leared that current confusion stems from the fact that they do grow the bacteria (for the MMR) on chick embryos, so the concern related to egg allergy and vaccinating is only an issue when the egg allergy is concurrent with asthma (and even then the risk is very low).

My son does have a severe egg allergy - but luckily was fine with all the immunizations. Thanks for the message.
:flowerforyou:

AJCM

Please do not give PB until 24 months. My daughter is allergic and we didn't know. She had been given PB twice which was enough to activate a reaction. The first exposure doesn't always show the reaction. It's like the body learns to recognize the allergy.
I ate PB almost daily while pregnant with my daughter. I don't know if that was the cause, but I avoided it on my second pregnancy with my son and we will be testing him later this fall.
You don't know how much peanuts/nuts are in foods until you start looking. My husband and I have become peanut Nazis.
There is a chance (20%) she will outgrow this. I hope she does!

Just an interesting FYI (well, interesting to me as a parent of children with life threatening allergies)... current research is being reveiwed in Canada and the US by the Pediatric societies to inform their decisions regarding recommendations on introducing foods....

The new thinking is that we are actually sensitizing our children by not introducing foods earlier - a child grows up without ever coming in contact with the proteins in nuts until 2yrs old, and then the body interprets that protein as foreign, and an allergic reaction occurs. With that said, a compromised immune in a yound child also increases risk of allergic reaction - to anything.

In Israel, babies use peanut teethers, and there is almost no incidence of peanut allergy in the country. On the contrary, in the UK, where the pediatric society recommends not giving peanut until 4 years, there is the highest incidence of peanut allergy in the world - almost double the incidence per capita than in North America (Canada and US recommends not giving nuts until 2yrs of age).

It is very complex! One recent tip from our allergist / immunologist is that when you are introducing a high allergen food, do not give it once, and then not again for a long while. This can sensitize the child. For example, when you introduce egg, give small amounts regularly, not just an egg once, and then not again for many months. Additionally, it's not advisable to introduce a high allergen food at an immune compromised time (e.g. when baby is sick, when eczema is flaring, when astham is flaring, etc).
:flowerforyou:

AJCM

We have no known food allergies on either side of our family and I started both of my older kids, (they are 4 & 2 now baby #3 is 5 weeks) on mashed bananas and peanut butter as soon as they were ready for solids (between 5&6 months of age). They also got mashed eggs the whites and yokes. By 9 months they were eating what ever we ate for supper just cut small, or if the food was not too crunchy we let her pick up the entire piece and chew on it (she seemed to prefer this). Whole bananas, strawberries, hard boiled eggs, canned and homemade soups, peanut butter and jam or honey sandwiches, toast, and sausage. Both kids are very healthy and have no weight or allergy issues.

This is great - and this is where the new thinking is going! Interesting!!!! It's so hard for us Moms as we trust what our doctors tell us, and hope for the best!
:flowerforyou:

peej76

We have no known food allergies on either side of our family and I started both of my older kids, (they are 4 & 2 now baby #3 is 5 weeks) on mashed bananas and peanut butter as soon as they were ready for solids (between 5&6 months of age). They also got mashed eggs the whites and yokes. By 9 months they were eating what ever we ate for supper just cut small, or if the food was not too crunchy we let her pick up the entire piece and chew on it (she seemed to prefer this). Whole bananas, strawberries, hard boiled eggs, canned and homemade soups, peanut butter and jam or honey sandwiches, toast, and sausage. Both kids are very healthy and have no weight or allergy issues.

This is great - and this is where the new thinking is going! Interesting!!!! It's so hard for us Moms as we trust what our doctors tell us, and hope for the best!
:flowerforyou:

Exactly, especially when research changes things ALL of the time. And everyone's experiences are different. I guess the only thing we can really do is to keep an eye out when trying new things!

Marla64

We have no known food allergies on either side of our family and I started both of my older kids, (they are 4 & 2 now baby #3 is 5 weeks) on mashed bananas and peanut butter as soon as they were ready for solids (between 5&6 months of age). They also got mashed eggs the whites and yokes. By 9 months they were eating what ever we ate for supper just cut small, or if the food was not too crunchy we let her pick up the entire piece and chew on it (she seemed to prefer this). Whole bananas, strawberries, hard boiled eggs, canned and homemade soups, peanut butter and jam or honey sandwiches, toast, and sausage. Both kids are very healthy and have no weight or allergy issues.

This is great - and this is where the new thinking is going! Interesting!!!! It's so hard for us Moms as we trust what our doctors tell us, and hope for the best!
:flowerforyou:

My kids, too, were on table foods early, no holds barred-- and no allergies. Go figure.

As for trusting the doctors? Never again-- when I was pregnant with my 4th child in 1995, I began spotting. I was told after a vaginal ultrasound that I had miscarried and needed an immediate D&C because my body wouldn't expel the tissue. Doctor said that would help me to begin my physical and emotional healing.

We refused D&C and insisted on a second blood test to check for hormone levels and a second ultrasound the following week before agreeing to the surgery-- in the meantime, I was nauseous like never before, and blood tests showed that my hcg levels, indicative of the "pregnancy" hormone were elevating as in a normal pregnancy.

Doctor then told me the hormone elevation was due to a 'molar" pregnancy which meant that it was all placenta, no baby, and could be pre-cancerous and again insisted I undergo an immediate D&C.

We again refused and waited the most excruciating week for the second ultrasound. Hubby came with me for the second one. I couldn't see the screen, but he made sure he was positioned behind the technician as she silently began the second ultrasound. Suddenly, I saw his eyes mist up as he asked the technician, "Isn't that a heartbeat?" It turns out I had indeed miscarried a week earlier-- the twin to my healthy baby boy who was still alive and well within, whose life would have been ended had we mindlessly obeyed "doctor's orders" and had the surgery they were insisting.

So, my friends-- doctors don't know best-- not always.

AJCM

We have no known food allergies on either side of our family and I started both of my older kids, (they are 4 & 2 now baby #3 is 5 weeks) on mashed bananas and peanut butter as soon as they were ready for solids (between 5&6 months of age). They also got mashed eggs the whites and yokes. By 9 months they were eating what ever we ate for supper just cut small, or if the food was not too crunchy we let her pick up the entire piece and chew on it (she seemed to prefer this). Whole bananas, strawberries, hard boiled eggs, canned and homemade soups, peanut butter and jam or honey sandwiches, toast, and sausage. Both kids are very healthy and have no weight or allergy issues.

This is great - and this is where the new thinking is going! Interesting!!!! It's so hard for us Moms as we trust what our doctors tell us, and hope for the best!
:flowerforyou:

My kids, too, were on table foods early, no holds barred-- and no allergies. Go figure.

As for trusting the doctors? Never again-- when I was pregnant with my 4th child in 1995, I began spotting. I was told after a vaginal ultrasound that I had miscarried and needed an immediate D&C because my body wouldn't expel the tissue. Doctor said that would help me to begin my physical and emotional healing.

We refused D&C and insisted on a second blood test to check for hormone levels and a second ultrasound the following week before agreeing to the surgery-- in the meantime, I was nauseous like never before, and blood tests showed that my hcg levels, indicative of the "pregnancy" hormone were elevating as in a normal pregnancy.

Doctor then told me the hormone elevation was due to a 'molar" pregnancy which meant that it was all placenta, no baby, and could be pre-cancerous and again insisted I undergo an immediate D&C.

We again refused and waited the most excruciating week for the second ultrasound. Hubby came with me for the second one. I couldn't see the screen, but he made sure he was positioned behind the technician as she silently began the second ultrasound. Suddenly, I saw his eyes mist up as he asked the technician, "Isn't that a heartbeat?" It turns out I had indeed miscarried a week earlier-- the twin to my healthy baby boy who was still alive and well within, whose life would have been ended had we mindlessly obeyed "doctor's orders" and had the surgery they were insisting.

So, my friends-- doctors don't know best-- not always.

Oh my goodness! What a story! I agree - I take what the doctors say "under consideration" and add it to my knowledge of the subject, and usually the information from a few doctors (I believe in second, third, fourth opinions!). Thank God you didn't do that D&C - sometimes I mother just knows!

Beautiful story!
:flowerforyou:

Marla64

Actually-- at the time, I was one of the ninnies that believed a doctor knows best-- my hubby was the one that insisted we wait. I would have killed my kid, unwittingly.

tookieb

As a new mom I probably would have listened to all the current do's and don'ts if it hadn't been for my mother in law and my mom saying "well it never hurt you kids and you all turned out fine". As well when I sat down and thought about it; there was only one girl who died of a peanut allergy (from a cookie eaten while on a trip to Europe). Other then that I don't recall hearing of any other kids with any real food allergies between the time 1980 and 1993 (while I was in school). Both of my kids have a sensitivity to cinnamon but that is only if they take a long time eating their cinnamon toast and the spice sits on their skin for a while. Their skin turns bright pink where the cinnamon was on their face, but this goes away withing a couple of hours after it's washed off.

peej76

Actually-- at the time, I was one of the ninnies that believed a doctor knows best-- my hubby was the one that insisted we wait. I would have killed my kid, unwittingly.

I am with you there, after what happened to my sister in law I'm going on instict from now on. She had a cancerous brain tumour and it was removed, after she suffered a coma for 9 months due to infection. They also found more cancer but told my brother that chemo wouldn't help. The dr's were ready to send her home to die and were advising friends and family to say their goodbyes. My brother refused to give up, insisted the dr's try the chemo and radiation. It's 5 yrs later and my sis in law is alive and well. I hate to think what would have happened had my brother taken the dr's advice.

songbyrdsweet

When my sister was a baby, I babysat ALLLL the time. I was 11 at the time, and wasn't really privy to all the 'feeding' rules. I don't think my mom was either, and she worked two jobs, so I fed my sister a lot. I knew not to give her honey from a magazine article I'd read, but I didn't know about shellfish or PB. So one day I'm eating a PB sandwich, and I gave her a bite, and she was fine (and she still is). But my stepmom and aunt were MORTIFIED at what I'd done, and I still feel bad about it to this day! :frown: I am really glad she wasn't allergic.

As far as doctors....well, here's some perspective:

Most of what we say about physiology is just a guess. Most drugs are prescribed because we know they work, but we have no idea *why*. Medicine is far from an exact science. I agree that you shouldn't take everything a physician says as fact, because it is honestly just educated guesswork. At the same time, they aren't out to ruin your health or just take your money and run. They simply don't have a lot to work with because we know so little about the human body. They know 'what' but not 'why'. :flowerforyou: