Choosing organic:
I choose to feed Ash organic food because it’s healthier for him. He’s growing so much, and you really are comprised so much of what you eat, that I believe this is a very important time to feed him pure foods.
Choosing wooden and cloth toys over plastic:
Plastic scares me. A chemical called BPA is in a lot of plastics (soothers, bottles, the lining in formula cans etc) is in the process of being banned in Canada and stores have already taken those baby products containing BPA off the shelves. BPA is also used in the lining of most cans (Eden Organics is a company that tries not to use it- it’s still used in their tinned tomatoes, but not in their tinned beans, for example). The amount of BPA is still under the “legal” limit, but it’s everywhere. Straight from wikipedia, “bisphenol A is an endocrine disruptor: it is an estrogen receptor agonist, and such agonists can act like the body’s own hormones, leading to similar physiological effects on the body. There is thus concern that long term low dose exposure to bisphenol A may induce chronic toxicity in humans.”
Some of the effects of Bisphenol A include:
-Permanent changes to genital tract
-Changes in breast tissue that predispose cells to hormones and carcinogens
-increased prostate weight 30%
-Reversed the normal sex differences in brain structure and behavior
etc etc
Here’s a great link about companies that don’t use BPA in their plastics.
I also feel that a lot of plastic toys are butt ugly. And also important: they do not decompose, therefore filling our landfills with millions of tons of old plastic.
Avoiding Melamine:
Melamine scares me. Dishes are often made from it, specifically children’s dishes because it’s difficult to break. A few years ago there was a huge pet food scare linked to food coming from China that resulted in animal’s deaths. Turns out, it was melamine that was the cause of it, it had been used as a filler.
Sure, we do not directly eat melamine, so we’re probably safe. However, that’s not good enough for me. There are lots of things that can harm us in a powdered form, but would we make dishes out of it? Take cyanide, for example. Totally fatal. But if we harden it enough, would you use it to eat off of? Doubtful. Again, right from wikipedia: “Ingestion of melamine may lead to reproductive damage, or bladder or kidney stones, which can lead to bladder cancer.”
I’d rather keep away from that stuff.
Delaying solids:
Under no circumstances do I believe that parents should give food to a baby that is under the age of six months. I believe parents are far, far, far too anxious for their babies to start eating solids and THEY are the ones who “seem ready,” rather than the babies. For some reason if parents notice their baby reaching for their food they think it’s because they want to eat when they’re forgetting that babies grab at EVERYTHING. It’s no different, they’re not ready for food- they’re just curious about what’s in the parent’s hands. From kellymom.com:
Health experts and breastfeeding experts agree that it’s best to wait until your baby is around six months old before offering solid foods. There has been a large amount of research on this in the recent past, and most health organizations have updated their recommendations to agree with current research. Unfortunately, many health care providers are not up to date in what they’re telling parents, and many, many books are not up to date.
The following organizations recommend that all babies be exclusively breastfed (no cereal, juice or any other foods) for the first 6 months of life (not the first 4-6 months):
-World Health Organization
-UNICEF
-US Department of Health & Human Services
-American Academy of Pediatrics
-American Academy of Family Physicians
-American Dietetic Association
-Australian National Health and Medical Research Council
-Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
-Health CanadaMost babies will become developmentally and physiologically ready to eat solids by 6-9 months of age. For some babies, delaying solids longer than six months can be a good thing; for example, some doctors may recommend delaying solids for 12 months if there is a family history of allergies.
Further,
-Delaying solids gives baby greater protection from illness.
-Delaying solids gives baby’s digestive system time to mature.
-Delaying solids decreases the risk of food allergies.
-Delaying solids helps to protect baby from iron-deficiency anemia.
-Delaying solids helps to protect baby from future obesity.
-Delaying solids helps mom to maintain her milk supply.
-Delaying solids helps to space babies.
-Delaying solids makes starting solids easier.
I chose to delay solids (just a little bit) because Ash had a very obvious allergy to cashmere. It doesn’t matter if people have allergies to food or pets or pollen- allergies are allergies, and it’s better for the baby to be exclusively breastfed for longer- it decreases the risk of food allergies.
I also believe that people should avoid IDIOT companies like Nestle when they do start solids. IF they start with a cereal, I recommend a company called Healthy Times, which offers organic and whole grain cereals instead of Nestle’s food which offers “rice flour” and a mixture of other stuff that I can’t pronounce and FRUIT JUICES. GARRRRRH.
I believe baby’s first foods should be vegetables like sweet potatoes, avocado or banana. (Note: avocado and banana are also common allergens- linked to latex allergies, so parents should be aware of any allergy symptoms like rash, stuffy nose, diarrhea etc when introducing those foods.)
Ash cannot have oats (gives him diarrhea) (I can’t even eat oats) or banana (gives him a stuffy nose within a couple of hours). We’re following the Joneja food scale pretty closely, so his diet is still very limited. He eats a lot of organic rice and rice noodles, broccoli, melon, carrots, squash and sweet potato. Not much else.
Cereals can be completely skipped. Breast milk is FAR superior of an iron supply than cereals (additionally, a baby would have to eat TEN tablespoons of cereal in order to get the daily recommended intake, and frankly, Ash- at nearly 10 months- still wouldn’t be able to eat that much). More information here at kellymom.
Baby-led introduction to solids:
I found this theory quite interesting. The best link I had to it no longer works (;(), so I’ll use this one to better explain it. Basically- the parent takes a backseat roll to their eating, and allows the baby to choose what to eat and how much. This means minimal spoon feeding. I gave Ash pureed foods for about a month, and then moved on to giving him bite sized foods on his high chair table and allowing him to eat them if he wants to. I have moved up and allowed him to take bites of trees of broccoli instead of chopping it up for him and give him big pieces of melon which he bites bits off and chews it up before swallowing it.
