The Healthy Baby Meal Planner?

[jojo2324]

This is a book by Annabel Karmel. Any opinions on it? I got it as a shower gift. I've thumbed through the first thirty or so pages and I'm a little overwhelmed. First, she starts suggesting foods for babies at four months, but it's the range of 4-6 months, so I guess that covers the bases. But then she recommends red peppers, which I thought had nitrates in them. Don't all peppers? And don't carrots have nitrates too? And then she has a recipe for cinnamon applesauce to be used when the baby is 4-5 months...Is cinnamon okay at that age? Just when I think I might have this baby thing down, I'm thrown another curve!

[Rachels]

Well, I'm opening my big mouth without having seen this book, but I'd be wary of anybody who thinks that all babies should start solids at 4-6 months of age. Some babies are clearly not ready, and breastmilk supplies all the nutrients they need in the first year, so solids are more about tastes and textures and practice. I don't know about peppers, but I wouldn't give them to my baby. And carrots DO have nitrates. The organic baby food carrots are safe-- the nitrates are removed commercially. But you shouldn't give fresh carrots to a baby under seven months.

Try the book Super Baby Food, by Ruth Yaron. She makes a lot of suggestions about tofu and wheat germ and brewer's yeast which make me feel like I might as well turn my daughter out to graze, but she clearly knows her stuff about nutrition and what is in various foods. And there are a zillion recipes, too.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[MinnieMouse]

I'll have to second my doubts about this advice. Everything I've read says no cinnamon until at least a year. And the 4-6mo thing...uh uh. AAP recommends 6mo I believe. I too liked Super Baby Food...yes is was way to earthy crunchy for my tastes, but she has a great resource for what to give when...and why. I learned a lot from reading it.

HTH

Christine

[egoldber]

The 4-6 month age for starting solids WAS the AAP guidelines for starting solids until 2-3 years ago. Then new studies came out saying that the enzymes needed to digest solids weren't "typically" present until 6 months, so the AAP moved their guidelines back to 6 months. But if the book has a publication date of say, 2000 or 2001 (or older), then it may still have the older guidelines. That being said, I have never heard of or read this book, so can't comment on that.

And welcome to the world of solids, where everyone has an opinion and no two opinions are the same. :) For what it's worth, my ped says that spices are just fine, just not hot spicy food until they are older. But in the early stages, you want to introduce foods slowly and one at a time, so that any food allergies can be identified early.

HTH,

[spu]

I just posted this under another question, but I thought it was so interesting. It's from LLL's Womanly Art of Breastfeeding:

"A trend toward feeding solids earlier and earlier in infancy developed and took hold in the United States. A spirit of rivalry and competition arose among mothers (and sometimes doctors) to have the biggest baby who ate the most foods in the largest quantities at the earliest possible age. The baby food industry promoted and encouraged this trend. Mothers were led to believe that there was an advantage in giving early solids."

susan

twin girls 7.20.02
charlotte & else

[nohomama]

Joanne,

I have browsed through this book and actually just ordered it recently and am waiting for it to arrive. To be honest, I didn't really look at her recommendations for younger babies since Lola is 16 months old, but I DO like the book. I'd encourage others to look at the book if only for it's ideas and recipes for toddlers.

Here's what I would tell you... Start Gannon on solids when he seems ready (if he shows an interest in your food, etc). If that's not until 7 or 8 or 12 months, so be it. Breastfed babies under a year get most of what they need from Mom. When you do begin introducing foods, do it slowly, introducing a new food every 4-7 days. If Gannon seems to have a bad response to a food, stop feeding it to him. At the start, foods should be plain, just the fruit, vegetable or cereal with water or breastmilk.

Those are some basic guidlines that I think most people, parent or health care professional, agree on. Take every other peice of advice with a grain of salt. If you're uncomfortable with something, don't do it. If it sounds interesting, give it a try. Ultimately your Gannon's Mama and you'll make the decision you feel is best for the both of you, regardless of what an author or another parents advises.

[egoldber]

Am I the only person in the world who didn't like the LLL book? I just remember when I was having all my troubles breastfeeding and paging through that book and trying to find SOME piece of info to help and all I could find was more pro-breastfeeding info. So maybe my perception of that book is somewhat colored by my post-partum hormones. (Hello! I AM breastfeeding, stop trying to convince me and HELP ME!!!!!)

[nohomama]

Beth, I wholeheartedly agree. Unfortunately a lot of the literature on breastfeeding is largely propoganda and not very useful to anyone encountering problems. I really liked "The Nursing Mother's Problem Solver" by Claire Martin. It was organized in an A-Z format which made it really easy to find an answer to a question at two in the morning. She did encourage breastfeeding as being beneficial no matter how long one was able to do it, but it was largely a book with advise on how to nurse.

[egoldber]

Thanks! I'll definitely look at that book for #2!

[jubilee]

I just got a piece of mail from Gerber Formula/Baby Food and it said to not start solids until the baby had doubled his birth weight and could hold up his head. I don't know what age that typically happens, it's been too long ago for me!

[egoldber]

In general, a baby "should" double it's birth weight by 6 months.

HTH,

[daisymommy]

Unless your baby is Gannon or Joshua and this happens by 4 months! LOL :7