When to Introduce Meat

hi lauren!
go to wholesomebabyfood.com as it is full of great information for you!!
i, too, make most of my baby food and could not have done it without this website :)
hope this helps
D.

I read Karen's answer and agree. For the most part. I also made all of my daughters (13 mon.) food. We began at 6 mon. with pureed foods. We followed all the rules for introducing new foods. Bright color veggies, three days in a row, ect... At 9 mon. she was insisting on feeding herself, so I began chopping all of her food and giving it to her to eat herself. By 10 mon. she was eating table food, meaning that she was eating off our plates, the same foods we were having for dinner. I just made extra, prepared it for her, and stopped making "baby" food. I never followed the rules too closely for when to introduce certain "allergic" foods. I gave her meats as soon as we went through the veggies along with dairy products, aside from milk. You have to keep in mind that formula does have milk protein in it. We began with yogurt, probably at 9 mon. and then cottage cheese, cheese, ect... When it came to allergic foods, I stayed away from peanuts and honey, but as for the others... You have to have the food, such as strawberries, to form (for lack of a better word) the antibody that causes subsequent allergic reactions. There is research both ways as to the introduction of foods, when they are introduced and the likelihood of allergies. I tend to think that if they are going to be allergic, it doesn't matter when they are introduced. Also you can have a food several time before forming an antibody against it. We didn't hold off on strawberries, blueberries, even fish (excluding shellfish.) Our daughter, I can honestly say, loves everything. Fruits, veggies, bread. She loves avocados, eggs, salmon/tilapia/cat-fish, strawberries, melons... the list goes on and on. No allergies. Her father and I have no allergies, which I am told has something to do with it as well.
Check out www.wholesomebabyfood.com I used it a lot, and it answers questions about food introduction.
http://www.drgreene.com/21_1295.html for allergy info.

If your baby is on formula (24oz daily), she will be getting all of her protein from that, as most of her nutrients. Remember, the first year is a trial period for solids. It's a practice time to get things down pat until they turn a year old, go off formula and are on solids full time. You can blend meat into her veggies at any time. You can use regular table food like spaghetti and such, just grind it up and feed.

Most veggies should be fine, just introduce one at a time in case of allergies. Allergies can be as simple as a non-irritating light skin rash. Carrots tend to be a veggie though that will give problems if there's going to be one.

With fruits, you'll want to be careful of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc. Stick with apples, bananas and pears for starters. Peaches will come later and then save those seedy fruits for last as those will be allergy problems if there is going to be a problem. Grapes are fine if they're cut and the skin taken off if possible.

Some kids are great chewers and others are not. You know your child better than anyone so just take it one thing at a time and judge what your child can handle.

I wouldn't worry about yogurt at this point since she'll be getting formula, or breast milk. But it shouldn't cause a problem since formula is milk based unless otherwise stated like soy, etc.

Back to meat, when she's eating primary finger foods give her soft, shredded meats like poultry and fish. Beef, unless ground, will be tough to chew and digest well. Hot dogs, even cheesy ones, diced up is fine.

Canned veggies are already diced and soft, easily picked up by little fingers. Same for canned fruit cocktail. You can rinse mini or micro ravioli for easy pick up and eating. There's more healthy whole wheat or spinach ravioli stuffed with cheese in the cooler section and is fresh.

As long as the food that the parents are eating isn't spicy give them that, just blend it or chop it up. Freeze left overs for baby later.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

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s.

Hi Lauren, You can start with meat whenever you want...introduce it just like you do any new food. Don't be surprised if she doesn't like it. All three of my girls were "anti-meat" until they were over 2yrs old. All three are teens now and they still don't eat a lot of meat...which I have no problem with. I actually started all three of my girls on yogurt as soon as the Dr. said I could start them on baby food...yogurt makes a great quick breakfast or snack on the go. I always gave the Yoplait custard style and they still love it today. I started with banana, strawberry, and vanilla flavors. Also since my girls were doing so well my Dr had me start them on whole milk around 9 months old (although you should listen to your Dr.). The only food you should really avoid until age 2 is honey as far as I know. Best wishes.

Yogurt is a GREAT baby food... though, I would just buy it (the Yo Baby is the best!) rather than make it if I were you. Kids just can't switch to cows milk rather than breast milk or formula before the age of one because cow's milk doesn't have enough iron for their needs and has too much sodium... but supplementing with cheese and yogurt is just fine. I'd try the peppers (though they are one of the food best to feed organic, because of their high pesticide levels)-- they might be too hard to chew raw, but if you cooked them and cut them up, I don't see why not.

It's trial and error at this point. Avoid honey, peanut butter, and shellfish, and pretty much anything else is fair game if she likes it. My son was eating most table foods by 8 or 9 months, but he's a great eater. My next door neighbor's baby was still choking on table food at 16 months. Just depends on your dd.

You can and should introduce meat sooner rather than later. I started by mixing some meat in with a fruit or vegetable that they already liked - with great success. For example, I put some ground lamb in with the ground pears, some ground turkey in with the ground sweet potatoes. I slowly increased the ratio of meat over time, until my kids got used to the flavor of the meat. They are great meat eaters today, and I have to believe that this process helped.

As for dairy, the process of making yogurt and cheese helps to break down the milk - these products are fine for little ones even before they turn one. One of my guys wouldn't eat baby cereals unless they had some yogurt mixed in, and he still loves yogurt.

The only things that I know to avoid before one year are chocolate, seafood, nuts and honey. However, I've read mixed research about whether allergies are better or worse by avoiding foods that cause them. As long as you are careful to intrduce things in a controlled way, you should be fine. Good luck with developing and healthy and varied eater :)

Dear Lauren,
I nursed my son exclusively till he was 6 month old. After he finished his 6 month I started veggies for lunch, after finished 7 month I started fruit as morning snack and veggies plus meat for lunch. I am also making baby food myself. As for meat I am buying organic chicken, turkey and rabbit. I tried breasts and thighs and he likes the thighs better as they are more juicy. As for fruit you should not give your daughter any strawberries, kiwi, citrus. As for veggies no celery, cabbage, lentils. Wait until she is 1 y.o. Good luck!

I tried different foods one at a time. Grind up some meat from your plate and add something like applesauce to it, so it isn't dry. See if she likes it. When you add a new food, it's good to add things one at a time, so you can see if she reacts to it in a negative way.

Definately steer clear of milk until age one, and then use whole milk, not 1 or 2%. There are lots of books about making babyfood. I had one called "Feed me, I'm yours.", and I used some of it. Mostly I just bought a food mill and ground up whatever was on our plates so I didn't have to make separate meals for us and for the baby.

I know you're supposed to avid egg whites and honey and peanut butter until 1 year. Otherwise I'd say anything she can manage is fair game. Give her what you eat, but chopped, minced, etc.

First, kudos to you for making your daughter's baby food! Although it certainly creates extra work for you, it is wonderful that you are feeding her healthy, homemade, nutritious foods! I did the same for my kids. They are now wonderful, healthy eaters, and I'm convinced alot of it is because they ate like that from birth.

If you don't already have it, I highly recommend the book "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. It provides a schedule of which foods you should introduce each month of your child's life. It's a fabulous book, I can't say enough about it! According to the author, sweet peppers can be introduced after 10 months. It is true you should avoid cows milk til one year of age, but yogurt is okay from a very early age. The reason is that it contains much less lactose than milk. However if if people have a milk allergy they should not yogurt made from cows milk. Make sure you purchase natural, plain yogurt. Good luck!

When we did this, our Dr. recommended that we take at look at the store and go by what the baby food companies were attempting in their various stages. I was always told not to give pure milk to my kids before the age of 1. When they were old enough to comprehend the idea of chewing, we started out giving them milk on their cereal, such as rice crispies. When I would eat my yogurt during the day, I would always share a bit, but would never give them too much since there are live cultures in it. I believe I held off on that until the girls were about 9 months old. I waited to do peppers and other "skinned" veggies until they were closer to a year. Fruits to avoid until she's closer to a year are strawberries, oranges, lemons, anything that has alot of acid. Good luck!