How did you start solids?

Nina wrote:

http://www.fooddomain.msu.edu/newsle...0I%20know%20in
fants%20should%20not%20eat

Q: I know infants should not eat honey, but what about honey graham
crackers?

A: Honey is not recommended for infants because it may contain botulism
spores. Consumption of honey by infants one year of age or younger may
result in infant botulism. Honey graham crackers are processed by a roasting
heat treatment that leaves no viable spores for possible botulism toxin
development. Therefore, the crackers are safe for infants to eat, as are any
commercial products such as cereals (Honey Nut Cheerios) that are prepared
by a heat-roasting method.

Ooooo, thanks! When I dug around a while back I couldn't find this
(wrong key words, I guess). :-)

--
Brigitte aa #2145
edd #3 February 15, 2004
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/j/joshuaandkaterina/

"Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare."
~ Harriet Martineau

Nina wrote:

What about things made with corn syrup, that was also on my list of Dont Feed To Baby.

Not sure about corn syrup. Isn't that considered a high allergen?

--
Brigitte aa #2145
edd #3 February 15, 2004
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/j/joshuaandkaterina/

"Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare."
~ Harriet Martineau

HollyLewis wrote:
I want to start
with table food and avoid cereals and jarred food (mostly for my
convenience). From what I understand, this should be possible since I've
waited until he is 6 months old. He doesn't have any teeth yet - does that
make any difference in what I feed him?
Well, TBH, we used baby cereal and some jarred food because it was more
convenient. :-) So you might want to reconsider that.

Until baby has molars, you can't give him anything he'd have to chew, and until
he has incisors, you can't give him anything he'd have to bite through. That
leaves table foods that are soft -- or that start out firm but turn to mush in
the mouth -- and that are either in small bits or can be easily broken into
smaller bits with hands, lips or gums.

Small pieces of soft fruit -- banana, very ripe pear, apricot -- are good
starters. But you have to peel it and, at least at first, either cut it up
into small pieces or mash it. That's why jars can be more convenient.

Also keep in mind that your baby may need iron, and he won't get it from fruit.
He can get it from meats, but cooking and preparing meat so that it's soft
enough for an infant is a hassle. That's why fortified baby cereals can be
more convenient.

I guess when I say 'more convenient', I mean that I would like to progress
quickly to the point where I can just mush up something on my plate at a
restaurant to feed him instead of bringing little jars with me. I had
family members stay with us for a few days with their one year old and she
carried little jars of baby food, bowls, and spoons every where with her.
It seemed like a pain. I know that DH didn't start solids until 9 months
and went straight to eating food off his parent's plates.


Day care provides jarred food and
table food for the babies. Their snack list contains graham crackers,
diced peaches, cheerios, yogurt, etc. When can he eat things like cheerios
and graham crackers?

Anytime, really -- or as soon as you're willing to introduce wheat. He doesn't
need teeth for those, because they turn to mush easily in the mouth.

I'm pretty unconcerned about allergies, so I'm not planning on delaying
introducing man items - just your usual stuff like peanuts and egg whites.
There are no food allergies in either family. No allergies of any kind
really.

We started with cereal when DS was a couple days shy of 6 months old. We then
progressed to various pureed or strained fruits and vegetables, mashed
potatoes, then some finger foods like cheerios type cereal, rice cakes, whole
peas, pinto beans, diced fruits. At 8 months, he grabbed the banana I was
about to cut up out of my hands, flipped back the peel and stuffed it into his
mouth. That's when we figured we didn't have to dice everything for him any
more. :-)

Okay, call me totally clueless, but I just don't get the whole
pureed/strained thing. I am totally cooking illiterate. My cooking skills
are basically heating various types of whole foods or pre-processed foods.
We eat a lot of frozen veggies - carrots, peas, corn, etc. Can I just cook
some carrots an extra few minutes and smoosh them with a fork? What is the
difference between puree and strain?

Manda

DeliciousTruffles wrote:
Nina wrote:

I dont thik botulism is a problem for baked or cooked goods containing
honey,just plain honey.

Yes, it is. Cooking and baking do not destroy the spores.

How much of a risk is this, really? I know all the food at day care is
catered by a company that specializes in toddler food for day cares and
they do avoid peanuts, egg whites, etc. Do you have a good reference for
this? If I can find something, I'd like to give it to them so they can
reconsider whether they should be feeding the babies graham crackers.

Manda

wrote:

DeliciousTruffles wrote:

Nina wrote:


I dont thik botulism is a problem for baked or cooked goods containing
honey,just plain honey.


Yes, it is. Cooking and baking do not destroy the spores.


How much of a risk is this, really? I know all the food at day care is
catered by a company that specializes in toddler food for day cares and
they do avoid peanuts, egg whites, etc. Do you have a good reference for
this? If I can find something, I'd like to give it to them so they can
reconsider whether they should be feeding the babies graham crackers.

Nina found a couple of sites that say "commercially-prepared" graham
crackers (and cheerios) are fine. I would definitely question whether
the caterer uses commercially made graham crackers or if they make their
own. If they make their own, the spores could still be present/dormant.

A baby that is under a year has immature gut flora which can allow the
spores to germinate and release the toxin that causes botulism and cause
baby to become dangerously sick. Infant botulism is the most common
form of botulism.

Standard cooking/baking will NOT kill the spores.

Symptoms generally begin 18 to 36 hours after eating a contaminated
food, but they can occur as early as 6 hours or as late as 10 days.
They a

* Constipation
* Lethargy
* Poor feeding
* Weak crying
* Poor muscle tone

--
Brigitte aa #2145
edd #3 February 15, 2004
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/j/joshuaandkaterina/

"Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare."
~ Harriet Martineau

"DeliciousTruffles" wrote in
message ...
Nina wrote:

What about things made with corn syrup, that was also on my list of Dont
Feed To Baby.

Not sure about corn syrup. Isn't that considered a high allergen?


Not sure about it being allergenic, but it can also harbor botulism spores.

"DeliciousTruffles" wrote in
message ...
Nina wrote:


http://www.fooddomain.msu.edu/newsle...0I%20know%20in
fants%20should%20not%20eat

Q: I know infants should not eat honey, but what about honey graham
crackers?

A: Honey is not recommended for infants because it may contain botulism
spores. Consumption of honey by infants one year of age or younger may
result in infant botulism. Honey graham crackers are processed by a
roasting
heat treatment that leaves no viable spores for possible botulism toxin
development. Therefore, the crackers are safe for infants to eat, as are
any
commercial products such as cereals (Honey Nut Cheerios) that are
prepared
by a heat-roasting method.

Ooooo, thanks! When I dug around a while back I couldn't find this
(wrong key words, I guess). :-)


To be fair, I also saw links that said NOT to give honey graham crackers or
cheerios. I didnt want to seem like I was trying to prove you wrong, my last
baby is 8, so between what I have forgotten and what has changed in 8 years,
I dont know what current reccomendations are

I guess when I say 'more convenient', I mean that I would like to progress
quickly to the point where I can just mush up something on my plate at a
restaurant to feed him instead of bringing little jars with me.

Oh, absolutely. But remember, it is somewhat dependent on the baby -- some
don't seem to cope well with finger foods until a much later age than others.
I suggest starting with baby cereal or pureed fruit -- at home, where it's easy
-- and see how he does with it before you try finger foods, is all.

Most restaurants, we found, were pretty capable of providing *something* that
DS could eat, even if it wasn't actually on the menu. Applesauce. Plain
vegetables, cooked until soft enough to mash with a fork. Crackers. Not that
he ate in restaurants all that often until he was at the point of eating finger
foods -- since at 6 or 7 months, the solid food isn't providing a significant
part of the baby's nutritional needs, it's no big deal to just skip a meal if
there's nothing appropriate available.

I had
family members stay with us for a few days with their one year old and she
carried little jars of baby food, bowls, and spoons every where with her.
It seemed like a pain. I know that DH didn't start solids until 9 months
and went straight to eating food off his parent's plates.


Yeah, I wouldn't want to carry all that stuff around either. By a year DS was
mostly eating the same things we ate for dinner. But using baby cereal for his
lunch was still pretty darned convenient. :-)

Okay, call me totally clueless, but I just don't get the whole
pureed/strained thing. I am totally cooking illiterate. My cooking skills
are basically heating various types of whole foods or pre-processed foods.
We eat a lot of frozen veggies - carrots, peas, corn, etc. Can I just cook
some carrots an extra few minutes and smoosh them with a fork? What is the
difference between puree and strain?

Manda

Heh. I know what you mean. That's why we did use some jarred foods -- in
order to introduce stuff that we either don't eat ourselves or that would be a
PITA to cook. Like squash.

Supposedly you shouldn't cook carrots for babies at home, because the nitrate
level is too high. But other veggies, yeah, you basically cook 'em and smush
'em. "Pureed" means chopped up so finely that the texture is almost liquid,
usually in a blender or food processor. "Strained" means smushed through a
strainer -- the end result is similar, but it separates out skin, seeds, and
that sort of thing. I did strain some peas, early on, and what a pain that
was! Fortunately, peas are small, so as soon as baby's ready to try finger
foods, you can just let him eat them whole. Corn kernels, also, though many
people delay corn for allergy reasons.

Canned fruits (packed in water rather than syrup) worked pretty well for us
too. No cooking necessary, though some things did require pulling off the
peels, at first.

We do have a little electric chopper/mini food processor, which I mostly use to
chop nuts for baking. But it came in handy to puree fruits and vegetables for
DS for the first couple of months. Among the stuff we tried early on that way
was watermelon and (frozen) spinach.

Holly
Mom to Camden, almost 3
EDD #2 6/8/04

"DeliciousTruffles" wrote in
message ...
wrote:

DeliciousTruffles wrote:

Nina wrote:


I dont thik botulism is a problem for baked or cooked goods containing
honey,just plain honey.


Yes, it is. Cooking and baking do not destroy the spores.


How much of a risk is this, really? I know all the food at day care is
catered by a company that specializes in toddler food for day cares and
they do avoid peanuts, egg whites, etc. Do you have a good reference for
this? If I can find something, I'd like to give it to them so they can
reconsider whether they should be feeding the babies graham crackers.

Nina found a couple of sites that say "commercially-prepared" graham
crackers (and cheerios) are fine. I would definitely question whether
the caterer uses commercially made graham crackers or if they make their
own. If they make their own, the spores could still be present/dormant.


Yeah, I would use commercially prepared things,m but be cautious with home
made or "low tch" type stuff.

See now, I just don't agree with that. My son doesn't have molars, but he
chews just fine. Until they get them, they do a variation of the chew, and
chew with their front teeth. Or rather, all the babies I know without
molars... who would go crazy not being able to eat things because they have
no molars and therefore "can't" chew.


Depends on your definition of "chew", I suppose. Yes, it is amazing the things
a toothless baby can gum to death. Trust me, I am not overly cautious about
food for older babies, compared to most mothers I know. But I wouldn't offer
celery, or an unpeeled apple, or a thick steak, to a toddler who didn't have
any molars yet.

Holly
Mom to Camden, almost 3
EDD #2 6/8/04