Did you give DC fermented veggies/tubers (eg sweet potato) and if so, when? & when for meat?

[steph117]

Overlapping threads, but...

I've recently started DD (7.5 mos) on solids - just a little, and just veggies so far, was thinking about fruits too, and starting meat sometime soon (I think). (I'm putting off egg yolk for a bit yet - worried about allergies.)

Wondering about fermented sweet potato - I put some up to ferment this afternoon but I'm not sure it's a good idea to give it to DD. I was thinking, ooh, lacto-fermented food, that's gotta be good for her, but now I'm not sure anymore. Is that an appropriate food for a 7-mo-old? Should I just give her plain sweet potato instead? Should I wait til she's older? When did you give your DCs lacto-fermented foods? (I'm concerned about HOW MUCH salt is in it...I know some salt is good, but that's a LOT)

& when did you start DC on meats? I was thinking of starting her on stewed meat soon...

Sometimes I think it would be so much easier if I could just breastfeed her exclusively for all of childhood...

[chambom]

:

[tanyalynn]

Personally I wouldn't worry about the salt since this is likely to be a relatively modest amount of food. If it gets to be, say, 25% of her daily caloric intake, then I'd worry, but before then, when it's just a normal food, I'd be fine with it.

For other fermented veggies, things like kimchi, my only concern would be how chew-able they are, since they're still pretty crunchy and hard to really chew up. But, the bacteria would be mostly (all?) available and there'd be some nutrition, so I'd just expect the potential for recognizeable pieces of veggie.

We didn't realize we had food sensitivities back then, so I just basically let my son share from my plate, presuming the size/crunchiness wasn't a choking hazard. And I don't think our food sensitivities are related to how/when we started solids, so if/when we have more kids, I think I'll do pretty much the same thing next time.

[Attached Mama]

Well, you can't let him have only breastmilk forever, but you can let him have only breastmilk for a long time to come. He doesn't really *need* any solids until after a year old. Breast milk is the most traditional food there is.

Follow his lead. If he wants something off of your plate, then give it to him (within reason - like things that are soft and not choking hazards etc). Don't make him anything special. He doesn't need it. If you are having fermented sweet potato and he wants a bite then let him have it. If you have stewed meat and he wants a bite then let him have it. Personally, I would then take about the next 7 days after having the sweet tater and give him like 2 bits on a plate to play with at dinner time each day. Just to make sure there is no allergy before moving on to the next food. However, that really isn't a traditional idea at all and many people are fine not doing that. Besides if he is only eating like 2 bites of something per day then it's going to be pretty easy to see what he is reacting to (if he has a reaction).

Our 3 yr old didn't eat solids on a daily basis til after a yr old. Even then it was often *very* small amounts and she got most of her nutrients from me til about 18 mos when she finally decided she liked cheese and eggs and we cut back a bit on nursing. Breast milk is the healthiest and most nutrient dense thing for him.

So keep on exclusively nursing if that's what you want!