1st baby solid food: survey on what you gave

[qarezma 0]

peeling carrots is normal for me too, i cant imagine not peeling them.. hehehe..

my dad always says tropical local fruits (eg mango papaya rambutan etc) are safer to consume, as far as pesticides are concerned, cos they come with thicker skin that we HAVE to peel before eating, as compared to imported ones, apples, pears and such, many people (like me) just eat it without peeling.

[lyven 0]

is it oatmeal might cause baby to constipate! I plan to start my baby on oatmeal porridge for her first solid. Or i should start on rice cereal first.. Any advice please.

[qarezma 0]

is it oatmeal might cause baby to constipate! I plan to start my baby on oatmeal porridge for her first solid. Or i should start on rice cereal first.. Any advice please.

i dont think so, i read somewhere that cereal and oats are also good for fibre for baby's bowel

as first solid, why not give plain rice cereal first.

[meiteoh 0]

Cereal and oats are what is known as insoluble fiber whereas fiber in fruits are known as soluble fiber. Too much insoluble fiber and too little soluble fiber or water can lead to constipation because the fiber stays in the bowels while the intestines contain to extract water from the fiber. This is why many dietitions will tell you that when you consume foods high in insoluble fiber, you need to drink more water as well. The best approach is again a balanced diet - water + equal amounts of fruit/veg and grain servings.

[junibabe 0]

agree with meiteoh. i dun think oats that caused my son to be constipated. the doc just suspect oats mite be the culprit...i think my son just hv a rather sluggish digestive system like mine. it is been 3 days my boy did not take his oatmeal and his poop is still pretty firm, but he doesn't give the red face and teary eyes when he's doing his business now. got to feed him with more water and fruits/vege.

[purple lotus 0]

AH, my paed nutritionist friend did warn me that many Asian babies suffer from iron deficiency and it usually stems from two things - too much milk (calcium binds with iron and thus the body cannot absorb it and it gets flushed out) and an inbalanced diet.

Actually, rather than opt for herbs (I drank 5L of red date and kei chi water in my first week after delivery and I was diagnose AFTER that one week with mild iron deficiency), why don't you offer him more red meat (beef, duck) and foods high in iron like spinach, beans/lentils, broccoli and such? Try googling for some idea on foods high in iron.

Also, best to start offering more textured and chunkier food instead of porridge in order to get him used to the idea of chewing.

If you need any input from my friend, I can ask her on what you could do to counter this iron deficiency problem with Ivan. Just let me know ya?

Thanks mei,

I'm giving Ivan beans, brocolli, spinach with his porridge everyday and so far he takes it. Regarding red meat, me and hubby do not take beef or duck becos of some reasons I would not like to mention here, so I did not include it in Ivan's diet. Calcium binds with iron and it gets flushed out? Oh dear, no wonder.... I think Ivan has a balanced diet with fruits (I think I forgot to mention he takes fruit daily) but the milk intake is too much. I have always thought that breast milk is good, so doesn't matter how much you gave. At least that was what my lactation nurse told me. I think I should slowly start reducing his milk intake and give him juice or water instead or give him some snacks if he is really hungry.

Regarding more textured food, I did try to cook his porridge to be more like rice in soup, but bbsitter complain that Ivan took a few mouthfuls and then vomitted everything out. Haizzz.... So I went back to cooking porridge, really soft. I noticed that if I gave him textured food, he tends to gum it in his mouth for very long time. Sometimes the food goes down, but sometimes he gives me the going to vomit action... I tried giving him high fiber oatmeal bread and he can swallow without problem.

[chrysalis 0]

thanks meiteoh & junibabe for your story and suggestion. Will definitely try to vary her food.

she is doing better now, no more crying. I think is because she is not used to firmer stools initially.

chrysalis,

i faced similar situation as you. My son who is also 6m+ just started solids have the same problem as well. only diff was he was on formula but able to poo poo almost on daily basis. when he started solids, i noticed his poo becomes looks 'sticky' and came 2-3 days once. Matters got worse few days back when he suddenly burst out crying mid of the night for no reason. then i noticed he cries even louder when he farts. and yesterday, when he poo, i noticed he pushed so hard till his tears came out! he didn't cry but i know he was trying to push his poop out, face gone all red...i almost cried when i see him suffered like that. when he finally fnished, his poo was so firm and came out like fishball size.

brought him to the paed the same day but doc didn't prescribe any med cuz she said he cleared most of his bowels. she told me to give more fruits and vege in his cereal and opt our oatmeal for the moment. (my son has oatmeal during AM and rice cereal during PM; both meals accompanied with fruits/vege) she suspected oatmeal mite be the culprit so i hv to hold back until he's a lil older. i remembered asking her if it is normal is bbaby's poo looks sticky; she said its fine so long its not firm/hard. if you're still worried, try natural remedies like Heinz prune juice or glucose :)

[ashandrea 0]

Ok, off topic again: Is the book Super Baby Food good? I can't find a copy in my bookshops and can only order it online without being able to read through it. Read through the reviews on Amazon and it seems ok but is it well worth the cash to get it?

[meiteoh 0]

It's my bible (it has recipes but more for toddlers rather than those starting on solids and rightly so because when you're starting on solids, it's just steam or bake single items and puree before serving as it or mixing. :p ). In fact, I don't see the point in getting any other book because it has everything I need (although some of her info is a bit off like peanuts to kids below 1 yo - to her credit, she did mention to hold back if there is a history of allergies in the family - and no meat diet which can be off putting to some people here). I believe if you search this thread, you should be able to find a short review on the book. :)

[qarezma 0]

i previously inquired abt kiwi fruit turning sour after being heated up in the microwave.. after several discussion i was convinced it was just the kiwi that was sour.

But yday i had the experience again. I cut 2 kiwi fruits into half. They were cold, i ate one half, nice and sweet. The rest 1.5 i put in the microwave to heat up for hubby, cos he is having cough. Guess what, the taste turned sour, like so sour u dont feel like eating, even the color turned from dark green into pale green.

Just wanted to inform u mamas.. in case u ever microwave your kiwi fruits :P

[meiteoh 0]

I still find it strange that you're warming up the kiwi leh. :P

[qarezma 0]

I still find it strange that you're warming up the kiwi leh. :P

me too...

it is all due to belief that fruits cause cold... hubby forbidden to take fruits due to cough, and mom too was avoiding it, but she says it is ok to heat up and eat (i am like whatever la, i am tired of debating already)... so she heated up for herself and hubby, and the punishment is super sour kiwi, LOL

speaking of which, today paed told that no relation between cold and fruits.. asked us to give whichever fruit we are comfy with... mom was there.. but u know moms.. she still says some forbidden ones should be kept at bay... but i am gonna start apples and papaya etc with him! yippieee

[bearbear 0]

Normally for kiwi or papaya, I'll take it out from fridge and let it cool till room temperate before feeding my baby to avoid the cold fruit issue....

[meiteoh 0]

I still find it strange that you're warming up the kiwi leh. :P

me too...

it is all due to belief that fruits cause cold... hubby forbidden to take fruits due to cough, and mom too was avoiding it, but she says it is ok to heat up and eat (i am like whatever la, i am tired of debating already)... so she heated up for herself and hubby, and the punishment is super sour kiwi, LOL

speaking of which, today paed told that no relation between cold and fruits.. asked us to give whichever fruit we are comfy with... mom was there.. but u know moms.. she still says some forbidden ones should be kept at bay... but i am gonna start apples and papaya etc with him! yippieee

I agree with your paed but y'know, it's a start - better than nothing. :)

My mum loves fruits and likes it ultra cold especially oranges, watermelon and the like. So she has no problems with me giving Eva fruits straight from the fridge and the madam likes it cold...particularly when it's hot or when she has a sour throat. Her latest gimmick is to take a slice of orange, shove it all into her mouth, chomp down and have squirts of juice dribbling all over her mouth! Heh.

[sumsum2202 0]

Hi All,

My son is having fever since last 2 days and he has no appetite to drink his milk. I also cannot feed him porridge or cereal.

Now he is only has about 2 - 3oz of milk. Any food that you can recommand to me that my baby can have it during this tough period?

I can see that his lose his weight immediately within these 2 days. My heart so pain..... :(

Thanks!

[qarezma 0]

Hi All,

My son is having fever since last 2 days and he has no appetite to drink his milk. I also cannot feed him porridge or cereal.

Now he is only has about 2 - 3oz of milk. Any food that you can recommand to me that my baby can have it during this tough period?

I can see that his lose his weight immediately within these 2 days. My heart so pain..... :(

Thanks!

the first time i had same exp as u, doc told me as long as baby takes min 1oz every hr, it is ok, whatever weight loss they will gain it back in no time (true for my baby)

the second time, my baby did not take much milk, throat irritation, so i gave him his bfast cereal (apple muesli - heinz) and he seemed to be happy to eat it.. so i put his FM in cereal, and gave abt 3 times a day... it made me content to see him at least eating that

[meiteoh 0]

When a child has a fever or diarhea, it's important to increase fluid intake - getting in liquids is more important than solids - so it's good that he's still drinking milk. Maybe consider things like yogurt or puree (this sounds stupid but why can't you feed him cereal or porridge - he doesn't like it?).

[sumsum2202 0]

When a child has a fever or diarhea, it's important to increase fluid intake - getting in liquids is more important than solids - so it's good that he's still drinking milk. Maybe consider things like yogurt or puree (this sounds stupid but why can't you feed him cereal or porridge - he doesn't like it?).

Chinese culture that fever cannot take rice. Cereal too heaty for fever. I also don't understand.

[meiteoh 0]

Well, if you have read my previous posts, you'd see that I don't really bother about all this heaty or cooling thing. :p

[Ally'sMom 0]

Ally also fell sick Monday night, throat and ear infection with fever :( It is the first time she fell sick, so we are all kelam-kabut. Because of her throat infection, she also refuses to take milk or porridge. So we give her lots of yoghurt, fruit puree (cold better coz I think it numbs her throat) and mealtimes will be soupy stuff - ABC soup, egg soup, chicken soup, pork soup. We also boiled pear juice and apple juice for her. Barley as well, but she doesn't like it. My paed says can also give ice-cream or ice popsicles, but Ally doesn't like them, I think coz its too cold. Medication time is a nightmare as well. She refuses to take them and sometimes throw up after taking them. So now we mix with yoghurt. She makes faces, so she knows we mix the medication in the yoghurt, but at least she finishes them, whew!

[bunnyNwife 0]

Jaylene also down with running nose and cough. My mum told me that Jaylene woke up every hour due to cough yesterday night. Hoping for self healing. So we will feed her with lotsa fruits, bath her with herbal tea (mum bought it from chinese medicine hall), feed her with Eu Yan Sang's Bao Yin Dang alternate day. Jaylene loves Bao Yin Dang despite it's bitter but she hates western fever med.

HB passed the virus to Jaylene.. and now my throat is dry and having mild fever too.

[qarezma 0]

better take care ladies, the viral fever nowadays is pretty nasty.. it takes everyone in the family with it once...

[Ally'sMom 0]

Bunny, what is Bao Yin Dang? what does it do? And how to give?

[bunnyNwife 0]

It's chinese herb for baby and it's in powder form. I just pour the powder on a spoon + a few drops of water and feed Jaylene. She will lick it clean! For health maintenance, it is recommended to take once a week. If kiddo is sick, then alternate day.

Malaysia version

http://www.euyansang.com/index.php/product...o-ying-compound

My mum prefers the HK version than the Msia one. She said the HK version works faster and more effective. So I got a friend to buy 1/2 dozen back from HK. Each box contains 6 tubes. 1 tube = 1 serving.

According to my mum, Jaylene's running nose will become very bad after taking it (like detox) and will turn better and heal within 2 days after clearing the stuffy nose.

[ashandrea 0]

Bunny, loving all the recipes esp cake ones on your blog. Have the hot milk sponge cake in the oven now & it smells so good. Can't wait to try out the yogurt one. Your daughter's so lucky!