honey in 1st birthday cake

[LiLStar]

I've been looking up recipes for birthday cakes that are grain free, since I'm trying to avoid giving ds any grains until he's closer to 2. most of those recipes call for honey. technically by 12 months it should be safe for baby to eat some honey, but I'm not sure how I feel about plopping a honey-filled treat in front of him on the 1st day that experts say its safe.. maybe I should wait a little longer to have a little safety cushion? I'm looking at this recipe: http://www.ournourishingroots.com/yellow-coconut-cake-with-cocoa-buttercream-frosting/ would subbing coconut sugar (a dry rather than wet sweetener) affect the way it turns out? I'm sure I could change around the frosting recipe no problem. frosting is very forgiving :)

[element2012]

I would probably be comfortable with honey for a 1 year old. I've done some baking with coconut flour, and yes swapping wet ingredients for dry will make a difference.  Maybe try agave or coconut nectar?

[smiles2012]

I'm curious, why are you holding off on grains until 2?

[LiLStar]

well, not necessarily all the way to 2.. closer to 18m is more likely. babies don't have adequate amylase to digest grains. once the 1 year old molars are in, they should be producing enough though. I'm hoping that this will help avoid gut damage and keep his digestive system happy :) I know there are a load of people on this forum who know WAY more about this than I, I'm not 100% on the details, but its one of those things that can't hurt, might help. So I'm going for it. 

[smiles2012]

I'll have to look into that...I had planned to start on whole grain cereal or oatmeal in a few weeks now that excema is cleared up, so not to derail the thread, but are you just doing fats, veggies and fruits until around 18-24 mo?

[LiLStar]

I have an early teether (6 teeth by 8 months!) so it could be earlier than that.. but short answer is i dont know. just watching the teeth. i'm open to the possibility that this is a BS way to choose when to introduce foods ;) but its an observable milestone, so I'm going with it. I'm focusing on fats/proteins for now, but he does get fruits and veggies too. egg yolk is a fave, want to introduce salmon soon! He's 9 months. I do give him little bits of fruits/veggies, but I'm trying to concentrate on what I know gets digested well. I've noticed with my older kids that there are certain things that come out just how they went in, and chewing skills can't be the reason for it. for example, steamed carrots are easy to chew than chicken, but chicken isn't identifiable in diapers, but carrots are. same with apples. there are some things that I think are normal for any person to "come out looking how it went in" (not that adults would be observing such things in themselves under normal circumstances!) like skin on apples, shells around peas. I'm really curious to learn whether the presence of clearly undigested food in diapers is simply "a diaper sprayer problem" or if it could have any negative effects on the digestive system? And eating for nutrition, is there any benefit to eating a food that doesn't appear to be getting digested? Can nutrients be absorbed anyway? I don't know. I still let him eat those things, but not large amounts. he does have very little solids over all. tablespoon or two per week. He's still tasting and playing more than having meals. bananas, I've heard, do contain the enzyme needed to digest them, and I've never seen banana "evidence" in his diaper after he's had them. so I think he does well with those especially.