Preparing Meat as a Baby Food

[Mawood]

Hi -

My daughter is 9 1/2 months old and isn't eating a lot of solids yet. Her iron levels are low though and I was recommended to give her some meat with sweet potato as an iron booster. I hadn't planned on giving her meat that early but just read today that babies are actually well equipped to digest meats - better than grains. So I am giving it second thoughts. She doesn't eat much and is not really enjoying eating so it really is just offering tastes but who knows maybe I just haven't found her favorite food yet.

Where do you get the meat for your babies? Do you trust Whole Foods on their organic meats? After all it is just a supermarket chain. How do you find local farmers and how prepared is the meat that you buy off the farmer? I couldn't ground it myself and would need to blend, wouldn't I? And most important: How do you cook it? We don't eat so much meats and I am really not familiar in cooking meats. Does someone have a "recipe"?

Thanks so much!!

[lunarlady]

I started my DD on meat at 10 months. I cooked either chicken or beef, organic, usually from Whole Foods. Here's what I did: one chicken breast (or 1/4 lb ground beef) one sweet potato or yam, one apple. Core and peel apple, peel sweet potato. Chunk up all ingredients. Put in a casserole dish. Drizzle with sodium free chicken broth, sugar free apple juice, or water(about 1/4 cup). Cover with foil. Roast at 350 until done (about 30 min). Blend in food processor, using breast milk to thin to desired consistency. Freeze in an ice cube tray, then put in a baggie for storage in freezer. Warm before serving.

As she got older, I took to adding lentils and spinach to her food in addition to the above. Sounds gross, I know, but it actually comes out pleasently sweet and mellow.

I peeled because the fiber gave my little one gas, but some babies will tolerate the peels. I usually did chicken because the fat in the beef grossed me out. If you don't want to use breastmilk to thin, chicken broth also works well. My little one loved it and one recipe made about 18 servings, so the price was right too!

Hope this helps!

[PatioGardener]

I like adding sweet potato to meat for the vitamin C.  Do you have any other vitamin C rich suggestions that will 'go' with meats and are non-allergenic for babies under 1 yr?  Thanks!

[ann_of_loxley]

Babies that young don't have the enzymes in their tummies to digest meat - so I would suggest giving her organic free range well cooked meat that you chew yourself before giving her if you are insisting on giving her meat.  Chewing it yourself helps to add the enzymes (yours) needed to digest this. 

Are you breastfeeding?  How are your iron levels?  The iron in breastmilk is far more bioavailable (fully and easily digested) than in anything else you could give your baby.  Exclusively breastfeeding for seven months can give your baby iron stores for life. 

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron.html 

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron.html#lowiron 

[HonkyTonka]

Where did you learn this?

Originally Posted by ann_of_loxley 

Babies that young don't have the enzymes in their tummies to digest meat - so I would suggest giving her organic free range well cooked meat that you chew yourself before giving her if you are insisting on giving her meat.  Chewing it yourself helps to add the enzymes (yours) needed to digest this. 

[lach]

We just cooked them like we would a normal adult meal and stuck the whole dish in the cuisinart.  You can us basically any recipe, so long as it has enough moisture rom fruits and veggies.  So, say your favorite recipe for pork chops sauteed with apples, onions, and potatoes.  Or lamb roasted with veggies.  Whatever, really.  I liked using at least 3-4 other veggies (and occasionally fruits), just for variety.

To get as much iron as possible, I'd also throw some pureed kale, a hardboiled egg, and blackstrap molasses into their breakfast oatmeal.  Both my kids had low iron.  I got the idea from the book Super Baby Food.

[ann_of_loxley]

Originally Posted by HonkyTonka 

Where did you learn this?

Originally Posted by ann_of_loxley 

Babies that young don't have the enzymes in their tummies to digest meat - so I would suggest giving her organic free range well cooked meat that you chew yourself before giving her if you are insisting on giving her meat.  Chewing it yourself helps to add the enzymes (yours) needed to digest this. 

I have read this in a few breastfeeding books.  I want to say one of them was Breastfeeding Politics - but I don't have it on hand so I can't say that for sure.  I have also read it in 'The Mother' magazine.  And it is also on a few online sources - such as this one for example:  http://www.allsands.com/kids/health/babysolidfoo_xrl_gn.htm 

[Peace+Hope]

mawood, are you interested in letting your baby feed meat to herself?  if you are comfortable with it, you can give her a large piece of chicken or beef and let her gnaw and suck on it.  another recommendation along these lines (baby-led weening, a method for introducing whole solids), is giving baby a chicken leg bone with gristle, etc cleaned off but some meat left on, and letting them gnaw on it.  i haven't done the latter, but have given my baby finger-sized pieces of beef and chicken since he was a little over 6 months.  my book on baby-led weening specifically addresses that the iron is in the juices of the meat (blood) and that they get quite a bit of iron even if they aren't injesting pieces, but sucking it.

another method i've read about, if you only do purees, is scraping the raw meat with a sharp knife, to get the tissue away from the tough fibers, then cooking what you get with lentils.  blended greens like spinach are high in iron too.  sesame seeds are really high in iron too, and can be blended in with other purees.

i'm curious how you found out your baby has low iron?  i was a little concerned about this and asked my dr. about doing a blood test, but she said it's SO rare, i should relax and make sure i'm offering high-iron foods...

[tzs]

we started meats right away. it seems like different sources tell you different things about starting meat so the one i went with was one that focused on solids as a supplement to nursing...they said meats were great starting at 6 months.

anyway, cooked up ground meat was the easiest for us. if you do meatloaf of meatballs they can grab it and gnaw easily off of it. chopped liver is great or a liver pate.

beans also have iron and babes seem to love them, plus it's great for self-feeding. i would also coat them in a little olive oil and some seasoning for the healthy fats and tastiness.

[GuavaGirl]

I started meat around 6 months. (1/4 of each meal consists of meat)  I get grass fed ground meat (beef, lamb, pork) from local farmers at the Saturday market.  You might have one nearby.  You can also check eatwild.com  or just google "grass fed meat (or the type of meat) and your town" and see what comes up.  I also buy naturally raised ground turkey and whole chicken.  For the whole chicken, I put it in the crockpot for about 4 hours, take the meat off, and then puree in my blender with the meat juices or a little water.  For the ground meat I cook it in a skillet on the stove or in the oven covered....with some water.  After I make a puree, I put it in ice cube trays, freeze, and pop them out and store in freezer bags in the freezer.  Then I reheat in microwave.  That's how I do most of my baby's food right now.  

[Mawood]

Originally Posted by ann_of_loxley 

Originally Posted by HonkyTonka 

Where did you learn this?

Originally Posted by ann_of_loxley 

Babies that young don't have the enzymes in their tummies to digest meat - so I would suggest giving her organic free range well cooked meat that you chew yourself before giving her if you are insisting on giving her meat.  Chewing it yourself helps to add the enzymes (yours) needed to digest this. 

I have read this in a few breastfeeding books.  I want to say one of them was Breastfeeding Politics - but I don't have it on hand so I can't say that for sure.  I have also read it in 'The Mother' magazine.  And it is also on a few online sources - such as this one for example:  http://www.allsands.com/kids/health/babysolidfoo_xrl_gn.htm 

That is what I had thought myself but then read in Nina Planck's book about Real Food for Mothers and Babies that baby's digest meat better and earlier than grains. I don't know I guess there is a lot of information out there. I also read on kellymom that iron does not transfer through breastmilk. Yes, what you have is absorbed better but you can't take more iron to have more transferred through the milk. That's how I understood the literature and what the LLL people say too. I have the feeling that she won't eat it anyways but want to at least give it a try. I haven't been tested but do take iron (Floradix plus pre natal vitamin and minerals) myself. I did that while I was pregnant too and never tested low. 

@ Peace & Hope Our pediatrician tested her for the iron levels at the 9 months visit 9with a finger prick). She is not alarmingly low but below the "normal" level (10.5 instead of 11) and he suggested to give meats.

Thanks so much for all the recipes so far!!!

[Sorin]

If iron is a problem and you don't want to give your baby meat, you could also give her rice, oatmeal, or barley cereal that is fortified (all three come in organic brands if that is what you are interested in).  My DD loves the cereal mixed with fruit and has it every morning for breakfast.  Also, you could get jarred baby food that contains meat.  My DD loves the Earth's Best  brand.  There are all kinds of varieties that contain chicken, beef, or turkey.

[Adaline'sMama]

What about some of these foods:

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/iron-rich-foods-list-of-foods-high-in-iron.html

[AislinCarys]

Iron does transfer through breastmilk, as in there IS iron in brreastmilk, just at low levels, but with much higher bioavailability than any other iron given to the baby. However, if the mother is anaemic (and the baby as well, which isn't a given), it doesn't help the baby for the mother to take a supplement. 

We gave DD large pieces of meat from around 8 1/2 months, and she loved it!

Another high-iron food is sesame seeds (it is really very high). I put lots of sesame seed in bread when I bake, you can put it in crackers or biscuits or muffins too. If you want to you can grind it first. Ground up you can put it in smoothies as well.

[Youngfrankenstein]

Originally Posted by tzs 

we started meats right away. it seems like different sources tell you different things about starting meat so the one i went with was one that focused on solids as a supplement to nursing...they said meats were great starting at 6 months.

anyway, cooked up ground meat was the easiest for us. if you do meatloaf of meatballs they can grab it and gnaw easily off of it. chopped liver is great or a liver pate.

beans also have iron and babes seem to love them, plus it's great for self-feeding. i would also coat them in a little olive oil and some seasoning for the healthy fats and tastiness.

We did meats right away too.  I think 9.5 months is plenty ready if they are eating other solids.  Chicken shreds quite nicely as does pot roast. 
 

[octobermom]

We did meats pretty soon after starting solids as well. Overall I just give her a big chunk of what ever meat we are having and shes jsut sucks on it she is 8.5 months and toothless but she scan still gum through more thna one would imangine. She loves like chicken legs and steak I also give her large pieces of bone to suck on. and stew meats are excellent and just at her speed.

[JudiAU]

We only feed the kids high quality meat and fish and they both love it. I never do them as a puree which strikes me as gross. Both kids have always liked stronger flavored foods so don't limit it to things like boring boneless chicken breast.

Favorites include anyting based around ground meat because it is easy to chew like meatballs, lamb or beef burgers, meat in sauce with small whole wheat pasta, kofte kabob, small pieces of chopped chicken/beef/lamb, all types of fish with low mercury content including salmon,sole, halibut, char, and smoked mackarel from the can (baby's favorite). Also things like shepard's pie filling or pot pie filling are great.

We buy meat at Whole Foods, the farmer's market, or in animal shares. I am comfortable about the quality be buy.

[RiverandJulie]

Try  www.localharvest.com  for local meat.  If you have a freezer, you can usually buy in bulk directly from the farm and it is much cheaper.

[RiverandJulie]

oops, sorry-thats www.localharvest.org

[Mawood]

Thanks so much for all these great resources and recipes!!!! I