Help with 8 mo. old diet

[mom2lucy]

Hi all,
This is my first post to this section and I've been doing lots of researching lately on Westin A. Price and Nourishing Traditions, and believe it's the way to go. My DD is almost 8 mo. old and is breastfed and eats a little solid food each day, only fruits and veggies so far. I plan to breastfeed her well into her second year, and probably as long as she wants to. My question is this-what should she be eating (solid food) for the next couple of months? I plan to give her egg yolks and I'm thinking about supplementing with cod liver oil. Also-if she is still breastfed after a year, does she need raw milk? I've also heard a lot about making raw milk smoothies-what is in these and when do you start those? Sorry for so many questions, I'm trying to learn as much as I can! Thanks in advance!

[spughy]

Breast milk is the most nutritious milk you can give her. It is also WAY cheaper than raw milk Stick with it as long as you can.

Soft fatty meats are great for young babies. Liver, if you can get pastured stuff - you can cook it and blend it up easily, even mash it with a fork. Stewing meat too, if it's cooked really well and soft. Don't be afraid to season it a little even for a baby, they might be young but mine *hated* bland food.

If you have any concerns about her weight, remember than there is very little you can give her, except meat, egg yolks, and avocado (and straight oil/fat) that has MORE calories per oz than breastmilk. Cereals do come close, technically, but babies are unable to digest much of it so it comes out worse in the end. OTOH, if you don't have weight concerns, give her all the fruits and veg she wants. She doesn't need the vitamins - the breastmilk has everything she needs - it's just for fun and flavour.

[newcastlemama]

I have an 8 month old who's diet is 99% breastmilk. She doesn't really like food that much (unless she finds it on the floor!). I would just focus on keeping yourself well nourished so your milk has the maximum nutrients

Jen

[dogmom327]

DS didn't eat any measurable quantity of solid food until he was almost 10 mo. If possible, I'd stick with the fattiest foods for what solids she does eat and then just keep BF

[Attached Mama]

Our daughter didn't eat solids on a daily basis til after 12 mos old. Breast milk is the most "traditional" food for babies. Just let her have tastes of whatever she wants that you are having (stuff that she can have) such as fruit, soft mashed meats, egg, etc. Of course you may want to start off with only one thing a week til you make sure she is ok with it. But really, there is no need to prepare anything special for her.

[Periwinkle]

I'd say no other milk than breastmilk. Any milk you give her (cow's, goat's, rice, soy, raw vs. pasteurized) is going to be taken out of the amount she takes from you. So for a very long time (at least until she's 2+) I'd say nix the milk. Water in a sippy cup if she's thirsty but only as a toddler really or as an occasional learning thing (she can still nurse for thirst at 8 months old pretty easily).

As for foods, I would look at sources of iron, vitamin A & D, and healthy fats:

* Organic liverwurst (cut into small dices - all of my kids loved this stuff!)
* Scrambled egg or egg yolk (I gave whole egg after around 9-10 mos. but I know some want to adhere to that 1 year rule)
* Wild salmon (mash it up into potatoes )
* Real oatmeal (made from steel cut oats soaked overnight with some whey (clear runoff from &/or 1-2 tbs. plain yogurt is also fine)
* Avocado is wonderful for little ones
* 100% grassfed/pastured AND FERMENTED (for ease of digestion) dairy.... full fat plain yogurt, full fat real cheddar cheese dices
* When you feed vegetables, include a little real grassfed butter for better nutrient absorbtion and again to up the fats
* Bone broth or real gravy mixed into potatoes
* Root vegetables (sweet potatoes, carrots, etc.)
* If you don't eat much Vitamin C, then some berries or a little kiwi... which I think is easier to digest than oranges, which tended at least in my kids to produce rashy bottoms from their acidic poops)

I woud personally avoid wheat and soy like the plague, but again that's me. A crust of a real sourdough is probably fine.

Overall I woud seek to avoid feeding your baby special baby foods or purees - I like the rule of thumb that if she is not old enough to eat it in its natural state, she shouldn't be eating it at all. For example, if she can't hold a ripe pear and go to town gnawing it and sucking it, then she shouldn't be fed pear puree either. Likewise, if she can't pick up and feed herself dices of soft cheddar cheese or liverwurst, then she shouldn't eat things like that. Actually I would say that if a baby can't pick up and feed themselves yet at all, then they are too young for solids period. A good litmus test is to ask yourself what you would have fed your baby and how you would have fed your baby 500 years ago, before baby strainers, ice cube trays, Earth's Best baby food, baby feeding spoons, those stupid mesh baby feeder things for feeding fruit through, etc. (Answer: she would have eaten small bits of whatever you were eating )

[Wildecat]

My dd is 1 year old and still does not eat much solids. She nurses on demand and only sits down and has solids maybe twice a day. She eats bananas, apples, grapes, coconut butter, hemp seeds, tahini, sourdough bread and butter, oats, brown rice, egg yolks, yogart, soft cheeses, sweet potato......
all the good stuff. She does not ever eat enough to replace a nursing session and I am just following her cues. I agree with the others who said the breast milk is the most TF available

[pampered_mom]

Originally Posted by newcastlemama

I have an 8 month old who's diet is 99% breastmilk. She doesn't really like food that much (unless she finds it on the floor!).

I thought only my dd did that!

Dd's had more food recently, but she's about 9 1/2 mos old. We've mostly focused on iron rich animal foods, but she's also had a fair number of veggies. None of this was in pureed food, though. We had her iron levels tested and she was very normal...ironic since the family practice doc had just finished telling us how "all" bf babies need supplemental iron sources after 6mos. If that was the case, it would seem that she would have been low (she had had only tiny, sporadic amounts of food up to that pt (8mos)).

[Ruthla]

If she's breastfed after a year old, then she IS getting raw milk- raw human milk!

I'd focus on making your diet as nutrient dense as possible, as well as what you feed other members of your household. Then you just nurse the baby on demand, and let her taste whatever she sees you and other people eating. As she's ready for more solid food, she'll start eating more of it.

IMO, there's no need for special "baby foods" or supplements for her. Nor does she really NEED the CLO as long as you're getting plenty of nutrition and she's nursing lots. However, it might be worth giving her CLO in toddlerhood so she gets into the habit/aquires a taste for it, and is willing to keep taking it when she's older and truly does need the nutrition.

[steph117]

Originally Posted by Periwinkle

Overall I woud seek to avoid feeding your baby special baby foods or purees - I like the rule of thumb that if she is not old enough to eat it in its natural state, she shouldn't be eating it at all. For example, if she can't hold a ripe pear and go to town gnawing it and sucking it, then she shouldn't be fed pear puree either. Likewise, if she can't pick up and feed herself dices of soft cheddar cheese or liverwurst, then she shouldn't eat things like that. Actually I would say that if a baby can't pick up and feed themselves yet at all, then they are too young for solids period. A good litmus test is to ask yourself what you would have fed your baby and how you would have fed your baby 500 years ago, before baby strainers, ice cube trays, Earth's Best baby food, baby feeding spoons, those stupid mesh baby feeder things for feeding fruit through, etc. (Answer: she would have eaten small bits of whatever you were eating )

That's interesting - I hadn't ever thought about that - but it's a great point. Great, more to think obout...

I'm actually glad to have found this thread; I've just started giving DD solids about 2 weeks ago (a tiny bit - she's interested, which is why I started, but she's still mostly just on breastmilk, she doesn't eat much) - just veggies, so far, carrots, mashed beets (just once - I'll wait on those) and now mashed winter squash. Even though I thought about egg yolks, I haven't been able to bring myself to give them to her - even though I've been TFing for a while & hope my gut flora (& hers) are in good shape, there are food allergies in my family (I used to have some too), and I am worried about giving her egg yolk too early. She's 7.5 mos now though - I probably will give them to her fairly soon.

I haven't been able to bring myself to use butter in the veggies I give her either - I just add breastmilk - somehow the idea of giving her butter doesn't feel right to me - how many of you out there do that?

And I was thinking about going to soft fruits next - banana, avocado - but I'm torn because I want to stick local and seasonal, and boy, those sure aren't.

How many of you have tried fermented sweet potato? I have one fermenting on the counter right now - I was thinking of giving her that tomorrow. But it seems like SO much salt. I guess I'll taste it and then decide. Maybe I'll start a separate thread about that...

But really, I want to start meat. At what age did you all start with the stewed meats (those who gave meats early)?

[MadameXCupcake]

double post.

[MadameXCupcake]

Originally Posted by steph117

I haven't been able to bring myself to use butter in the veggies I give her either - I just add breastmilk - somehow the idea of giving her butter doesn't feel right to me - how many of you out there do that?

My daughter gets butter, she LOVES butter. She'll lick butter off of my toast. We put butter on everything, we go through a pound about every three days.
We do Organic Pasture butter. Yumm

Is there a reason you don't want to do butter?

[steph117]

Originally Posted by MadameXCupcake

My daughter gets butter, she LOVES butter. She'll lick butter off of my toast. We put butter on everything, we go through a pound about every three days.
We do Organic Pasture butter. Yumm

Is there a reason you don't want to do butter?

I think even though I know raw milk is good for me, and in theory for her too, I still feel strange giving her the milk of another animal when she's still drinking mine...it's an instinctive thing. But I guess I will get past it...especially because I plan to BF her for a long time yet!

[Ruthla]

I think I started meats around 8mo or 9mo, whenever they were big enough to eat the chicken from homemade chicken soup, cooled off and placed on the high chair tray in small pieces. I never did the pureed meat thing (well, actually I did for DS, because he enjoyed being spoon fed, but this was after he was already eating chunks of boiled chicken on his own.)

[MadameXCupcake]

Originally Posted by steph117

I think even though I know raw milk is good for me, and in theory for her too, I still feel strange giving her the milk of another animal when she's still drinking mine...it's an instinctive thing. But I guess I will get past it...especially because I plan to BF her for a long time yet!

You could probably make butter from your milk then, after all milk is milk. You can make yogurt and all sorts of things from mama milk.

[steph117]

Originally Posted by MadameXCupcake

You could probably make butter from your milk then, after all milk is milk. You can make yogurt and all sorts of things from mama milk.

This is so funny...DH and I were just joking last night about how much mama milk it would take to make butter!!

[blueridgewoman]

DD is a year old and only eats one meal every couple days. She breastfeeds a LOT, and when I give her some food, it's generally so DP and I can sit down and enjoy dinner ourselves. Generally, I focus on giving her meat, and her favorites are chicken, beef, and lamb especially.

She also gets bits of egg yolk, fruit (berries and melon in the summer, homemade applesauce lately), veggies, and she's a big fan of mashed potatoes (made with raw milk) and sauerkraut too, actually!

I've noticed that I see bits of veggies still in her poop, but I've never seen the slightest trace of meat or egg (or sauerkraut, come to think of it), so that's why I focus on those foods. I won't do grains until she's two years old at least.