NT Mamas - First Food thread

[yitlan]

I know we've touched on this in other threads, but I'd like to have a thread dedicated to first foods. I used Super Baby Food for my oldest and now my baby is ready for solids. I'm not sure what to do and want some more opinions!

Sounds like raw yogurt would be OK for a baby? Hold off on grains, even soaked, says Fallon, until one year. What else would be good for VERY FIRST foods?

[cathe]

My favorite first food for babies is avocado. It has lots of good fats and is easy to digest. You can just mash up a ripe avo, add a little breast milk or water to thin if you want, and serve.

With my girls, I just fed whatever was in season - dd1 started with green beans and zucchini, dd2 started with winter squash. (but both had avocados)

[nym]

What about after a year? DS is now a year old, and I am thinking that I can start to introduce more foods to him, but I don't know what. He does eat any fruit, except citrus, although he sucked a lemon for a good 4 hours yesterday. He eats most veggies except tomatoes, a little bread, noodles, grains, yogurt, and he had a piece of organic goat cheese the other day. I just don't know what to make him for lunches and dinners etc. He is also mostly BF still

[xenabyte]

I agree with Cathe. (BTW, I ordered your book, Cathe ...should come anyday now!)

I will start DS2 on avacado, egg yolks, bananas and then whatever veges are in season. I also will start him on yogurt whenever he'll eat it.

I will for sure give him mushy baked sweet potatoes, and I will be holding off on grains until after 1 year old. Then start with rice, and then oatmeal, and then wheat and other grains.

No juices until after one year, and then only watered down grape to start. I think after 1 year, I might try Kefir d'Aqua with some fresh squeezed grape juice. Kefir cream cheese and maybe straight up Kefir or juice sweetened.

I'm not sure if Kombucha is ok for little kids to drink, or at what age. Anyone read anything re this?

[cathe]

Nym - you could give some yogurt, eggs, fish and poultry if you're not vegetarian, beans and legumes - thick soups like pea, lentil, and minestrone are good ones. Basically at a year, he can eat pretty much what you eat - except peanuts. At meals, just place bits of what you are having on his plate and let me try things (of course you will want to have lighter seasonings for him - when I want spicy foods, I usually just leave it out and place the hot sauce on the table for whoever wants it).

[Kana's Mama]

Surprised!

I am surprised...maybe I got this impression from the pediatrician, or maybe from watching other parents, but I thought rice cereal was the first food of choice! Kana is 5 months and we're going to start trying solids in the next few weeks. I am excited to hear we can start off with a veggie like avocado (which grows abundantly in the back yard)! What do you mean "egg whites?" How do you prepare those as a first food? Is there any reason to delay grains? Allergies?

Michelle

[cathe]

Kana's Mama - Rice cereal and grains are usually recommended by pediatricians and most books, however Nourishing Traditions and those who follow Westin/Fallon philosophies, discourage grains until child is one year as they say that they don't have the necessary enzymes to digest these foods. NT also recommends egg yolks (NOT WHITES - very allergenic) as one of the first foods for infants because of the cholesterol which is good for brain development.

Keep in mind that this is a thread for those following the Nourishing Traditions way of eating.

[yitlan]

Thanks, all! OK. I'm thinking avocado, bananas and, because they are abundant for us right now, peaches. Egg yolks soon after (we get fresh ones from the in laws) and maybe start on some raw goat yogurt once all that's been incorporated (will take a few weeks, at least, b/c we'll intro foods slowly.

[cathe]

I would caution you to make sure your goat milk/yogurt is from a very clean source. My dh and I got very sick from a neighbors goat milk . . .