It's baby food time baby!

Many of you have requested my thoughts on baby food. Now that the girls are starting to eat baby food I thought this would be the perfect time to share!

As most of you know I have a deep love for healthy eating... so you can imagine I can be a little particular about baby food. {grin}

It should come as no surprise to hear that I swim against the current of common baby food. I exclusively breast feed our babies for most of their 1st year -- only adding small amounts of baby food as their bodies show me they are ready.

How do I know they are ready? Their teeth will tell you!

Teeth usually come in pairs. The bottom front two teeth typically show up first, followed by the top ones -- when the 1st pair have made their grand entrance it is time to start with a fruit or veggie. We like to start with Avocado -- which is a fruit by definition I believe.


Avocados are one of natures perfect foods -- filled with vitamins, minerals and super rich in good fats! They are perfect served right from their peel. Roll your ripe avocado around on the counter -- slice in half -- whack your knife into the pit to remove -- and start mashing!

Once the 2nd pair have worked their way through it's time to add more fruits and veggies. We have started the girls on mango and raspberries so far.



Right now the girls eat 1/2 an avocado during dinner time -- but after I have nursed them. They do not eat baby food everyday yet. A few times a week we will give them the fruit in the mornings. We will be adding sweet potatoes next -- followed by our dinner veggie when they are a bit older.

I try to make sure to only use organic -- if needed -- for babies. Since berries are a must buy organic and they can become quite pricey, I like to buy frozen organic berries and puree them with my stick mixer. I do use berries very sparingly.

You CAN mix in large batches and freeze but I tend to not do this -- why you ask? Since we eat fresh fruits and veggies everyday it is very easy for me to mash or puree whatever fruit or veggies we are eating for our babies.

In a pinch I have been known to slightly chew up a veggie or fruit and then feed it to our babies on my clean finger. Finger feeding can be an excellent way to start feeding your baby -- much easier than the foreign silver spoon sometimes. {grin}

I also tend to not mix up foods -- I like my babies to learn to love and enjoy each unique flavor before mixing and changing. I don't like to eat bananas and squash mixed together so why would I think my babes would?

I couple big no-no's -- no cereal, grains, meats or diary. Their bodies are not ready to process any of these and will only sit in the gut for up to months! NOT good for them. It is a shame that baby cereal is aimed towards such young babies.

::::::there has been a lot of questions regarding grains sitting in the gut -- I will speak with our doctor and clarify shortly. I will also ask her for books/sites that have additional information about this. If this is wrong and I misunderstood I will completely correct this! As for water, that is 100% correct -- young babies do not need and should not have water.::::::::

And no water -- they do not need any other hydration other than moms milk. Letting them have water will lower their electrolytes and dehydrate them.

Back to the teeth leading the way....

So we have 4 teeth through and now the side front teeth (lateral incisors) fill in -- usually around 1 year. These pearly white teeth tell us they are ready for protein -- such as beans or eggs.

Garbanzo beans {chickpeas} are a very easy bean to mash without becoming a puree. By this age I like to start letting them have chunkier foods too. Mashed hard boiled eggs or scrambled eggs are another great 1st protein.

If you have any history of egg sensitivity you should start your baby on the yolk only -- easiest way is to hard boil the eggs and remove the yolk to mash.

Now the molars and then the canines, which are the pointy teeth next to the front teeth. The back molars erupt last. Filling in the rest of these teeth indicate your baby is ready for grains -- around 18-20 months.

By this time our babies are usually eating every fruit, veggie and bean and enjoying most of our meals with us.

I am a firm believer in baby led feeding -- they, along with their teeth, will show you when they are ready and how much they want to eat. Remember that breast milk is their main source of nutrition still.

Fruits and Veggies also make phenomenal teethers. Freeze the pip of a fresh mango, cold carrot and cucumber sticks, unsulfered and unsweetened dried mango, pineapple, apples and peaches. I like to put big chunks of frozen fruit in a safe feeder too -- it can be messy but they LOVE it!

So now you know how we do baby food! Glad you asked!?!

65 comments:

  1. Really? No diary at all? Hmmm. That is quite odd; can't figure that one out.

    And secondly, based on your tweets, I'm assuming that your financial situation has been worked out since you're ordering bows from etsy.

    Great!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What about babies who are super late teethers? Two of my three didn't even get their first tooth until 14 months old!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I follow a pattern pretty similar to yours, except I don't add fruit for a little longer - I stick to many veggies first.

    I also add whole fat plain yogurt, which is a dairy, around 8 months.

    So yummy to have nutritious foods!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey Brittany!!
    I LOVE this post! I dont have kids yet but I am for sure gonna have some one day and I hope I will be such a great mom as you are!!
    Is there a book you got this from or where did you get the idea? I copied this post and saved it to my computer!!
    The other day while babysitting I heard that they arent going to start their baby on fruit so early bc they said once you start with something sweet that will make them more likely to like sweet treats later. Is that true??? I have heard that a coupld of times now but dont know what to think of it!!

    Ohh and I have a book about diary. Humans are basically the only living creatures that drink "breastmilk" of another living creature. The book says that its made for the baby cows and not us. I read parts of it and its really interesting. Everyone thinks the calcium thats in milk is good for your bones, well calcium is but the calcium in the milk takes something away from our bodies and actually can harm our bones. I really have to read that again! I forgot most of it! But I think its great you are feeding your kids so healthy! I LOVE milk and havent been able to stop. I wish I could one day!!

    Have a great day!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very interesting post. We have 3 kids (7, 3, 17 mo), and I learned a lot from what you wrote. With our three, we started veggies about six weeks before we introduced anything sweet. All three kids prefer veggies and fruit over candy, and would rather drink juice than pop.

    ReplyDelete
  6. While I applaud you for feeding your children so healthfully (as do I, just not to the extreme that you do) I am wondering what kind of degree or medical training you have to assert that things are "wrong" or "right" when in fact the majority of the doctors, nurses and health professionals teach otherwise (specifically the dairy and water). I completely understand that this is YOUR blog and you are 100% entitled to your opinion, I just feel a bit bombarded and like you think of others who -gasp- feed their children dairy products as less of a parent. I believe different things work for different people, everyones digestion system is unique. My babies were both given dairy products starting at 8 months old and they are as healthy and perfect as can be, no colds, no ear infections, no rashes, nothing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. i loved this post...i am in highschool and just curious, if you couldn't breastfeed, would you do the same technique but use formula instead of breastmilk, and all the other foods the "teeth" way?? just curious!! but i loved this post...VERY intersting. =)
    -Hannah (MN)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Super late teethers -- never had those so I am not sure. If you want to send me your email I will ask our family doctor what she thinks.

    which leads me to where I have learned most of this -- from our family doctor. I run almost EVERYTHING health/nutrition by our family doctor to get her opinion since she has a degree and all! :)

    I am so sorry that you feel "bombarded" and that you think I think parents that feed their children dairy are less of a parent. That statement could not be further from the truth. We do let our children have limited dairy -- we just don't let them have it early on. I absolutely believe different things work for different people.

    All of this information is just what works for us and what I have learned through years of study!

    please take what you want and leave the rest! :)

    Britt

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love this post. I feed my babies the same way. I just started my 4th baby with avocado as well! Yum yum! Oh, and you are right about not needing to add water to their diets and NO DAIRY!!! Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hannah -- I do believe that you would use the same technique with formula fed babies. Since I have only discussed this way of feeding with our doctor using our lifestyle/situation I am not 100% sure although it would make sense.

    I truly will ask our doctor if any of you would really like to know how this would work if your situation is different.

    Britt

    ReplyDelete
  11. I have never heard to do this with the follow the teeth thing. I think it is great. Thanks for sharing! I love avocado, great first food to start with and I agree I never did feed cereal to my kids.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for sharing Brittany, love this info! We followed a very similar pattern, except Bug was formula fed (I really wish we could have been breastfeeding, but somehow it didn't work out, a mystery I would love to solve as if we ever have another I want to take another crack at it) and we did do the cereal thing. Can you share any resources as to why no grains? It is not that I don't believe you, I just always love to go to a direct source too. ;)

    I love the idea of using the teeth as a guide, wish I'd known that when we were navigating early eating for sure!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love this!!! My first was almost exclusively breast fed for 12 months, my littlest one was only breast fed for 3-4 months as my full time work/travel schedule would not allow for even time to pump...

    I made all of their food and never rushed feeding. The littlest guy actually started eating "late" as he just didn't handle food at all until around 10 months (gag reflex). I've even done the chew it myself method as you've described and I still peel apples for the little guy this way when nothing else is around (he still gags to easily on things like peels).

    As for the teeth method, we have had two late teethers, my oldest didn't even have one tooth until he was 10 months old. For us it didn't make sense to wait for teeth, but instead look for cues that he needed more than just what he was getting from me (constant feeding, waking, not sleeping, etc).

    I love that you share all of these tips, and are so open to all the views we all have. I have to say you have defintely helped inspire me to work on our eating habits. I was so proud when at the store yesterday our 3 year old grabbed a HUGE bunch of fresh organic carrots (with full leaves) and demanded we buy them for him.

    I might just be posting my own foodie post soon - more of a work in progress we are on our way to eating better, rather than a this is how we eat well post (does that make sense)

    ok....I guess this novella needs to end...

    Liz

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have never heard the teeth thing either. That is interesting but I am also curious about really late teethers. We waited quite a while to introduce many foods as well. We did start with rice cereal as directed by our doctor. Of course if you talk to 10 different doctors you will get 10 different opinions and everyone seems to think he or she is right!

    I enjoyed reading this post. Maybe when I have #2 I will follow more of your suggestions, but as you said every baby is different and every family is different so you must do what works for you!

    Oh, and we ended up introducing yogurt at about 10 months. I didn't want to give him dairy but he was on antibiotics which were causing digestive issues and this did seem to help!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh, and I forgot to mention that we avoided berries for quite some time because they were on a list of the most allergenic foods that I was given. I know some people worry a lot more about food allergies than others, but this is something to think about as well!

    Also, how long have you breastfed your kids? My son just gave up the boob at 19 months. I feel like we had a good run at it!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I just can't get past the people that feel Brittany needs to justify her opinions/ways of doing things. She has explained many times that this is what works for her. If you don't agree or don't like it either don't read her blog or just get over it - but don't expect her to justify it... if you think you know better than her, good on you and just move on, maybe start your own blog where you can share your own information.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Bravo to you! I had to email this post to myself and create a 'baby/natural living' folder so that when I have kids, I can use this information!

    thank you! and your kids are SO cute!

    ReplyDelete
  18. What about the super early teethers? Both my boys had the first four teeth by 5 months old, and now my little one has his four top teeth, two front bottom, and has his bottom canines AND ALL FIRST MOLARS coming in (NOT FUN I TELL YOU!) At 11 months old. I have been feeding him anything we eat, in the form we eat it since he was 9 months old. His system, so far, is just fine. I think everyone has to look at their situation and determine things themselves.

    I don't get why people think you are trying to force your opinion on them, like you are the baby food police, seriously.

    I've heard a lot of people talking about skipping purees all together and giving them very soft fruit and veggie pieces when they can grab, what are your thoughts one that?

    We went through a week of homemade purees and then a half week of chunky purees before he wouldn't have anything to do with a spoon and ate only soft foods he could pick up... at about 7 months old.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Brittany, I love your blog! It's made me do a lot of thinking... I no longer have little ones at home but I am concerned about my own eating. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December and have been doing a lot of reading about diet and cancer. I know I need to eat better and just need the motivation to start! If you don't mind me asking, I'm wondering if you were raised eating like this or if you changed at some point. And how about your husband? I'd love to hear more about how you got into it. I think the transition for those of us who want to but never have is probably the hardest part.

    Laurie in Minnesota

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi, I love your blog! I mixed some banana in with the avocado for my kids and they loved that very much! xx

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wow. I've got 9 children and I didn't know a lot of this. Thanks for the info. My youngest is 9 1/2 months and I'm still bfing. Only adding a few things. I'll have to copy your post onto my pc to keep as a reference. Is that okay?

    ReplyDelete
  22. I just recently started eating better due to some knowledge I gained over the semester and I would have to say the movie King Corn or the book Omnivores Dilemma will impact how you feel about meat. Also, if more people knew about the amount of pesticides that are in our grocery store veggies and fruit they probably wouldn't eat them or they would eat them with caution. Once you learn about what is in your food and how it is processed you will think differently about what you put in your body. Listen to your bodies cues. I have been eating better for about 6 months now and if I eat junk my body immediately feels differently. Try eating better and see how it affects you and if you like the affects then change the way your family eats.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I really love this approach, Brittany.

    I wouldn't have been able to follow this regiment of eating with my kids though. Eve stopped nursing cold turkey at 11 months - she was exclusive breast. I fed her yogurt and homemade muesli because I wasn't going to put her on formula at that late of an infant age but she wasn't anywhere ready for adult food. As a first time mom I was panicked. But, she did really, really well.
    Judah started on a supplement of rice cereal and breast milk at 2 months because he was so stinkin' hungry. Nursing exclusively wasn't enough for him. He stopped nursing shortly after his first birthday.
    Eliza stopped nursing at 10 months (I think :) ) and was eating fruits, veggies, and rice cereal with rice milk. She has always wanted whatever we are eating - and handled it very well.

    I did things a lot differently yet I don't feel judged by you. And others shouldn't either. We all are doing the best we know how. Whether we have fed our kids following this regiment or not does not have any bearing on how much we love them. It's just food... :)

    -Andrea

    ReplyDelete
  24. Great info! My son was very uninterested in food, and still continues to be from time to time. He is a pro at trying something though, but is still hesitant to eat most things.

    Re: Dairy: dairy can create a morphine like effect in the brain, which is not only addictive but lowers the pain tolerance of children and can put them in a trance like state from time to time. This is mostly seen in children who are on the spectrum of developmental delays, but we hesitate to give dairy as well.

    RE: water- it is common knowledge that all a baby needs for the first year IS breast milk or formula. Not willing to take my word for it, just ask your pediatrician.

    ReplyDelete
  25. The tooth-led eating is something that my doctor suggested as well and I'm so glad that you featured it here, because I've not encountered many people whose doctors have told them to consider the same thing. When we started shopping around for a pediatrician, one of the top questions was how they felt about tooth-led feeding. I won't know for months whether or not it's the right choice for our baby, but I'm glad that when we pick a doctor, they will at least be open to the idea.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I agree with a lot of what you say about delaying foods but I wouldn't go by their teeth. My oldest had her first 2 teeth at 5 months but we didn't start solids for another month. My youngest didn't get teeth until 8 months. But we gave her chunks of fruit and vegetables. Even without teeth she managed to gum everything down. We hardly gave her any purees besides applesauce. She just turned a year old today and will be breast-fed until she is ready to be done and she is perfectly capable of eating anything we do with only 6 teeth.

    As for cereal. It is totally unnecessary and has very little nutrition. Babies used to be started on cereal because it was iron fortified. But now formula is iron fortified so it's unnecessary. And while breastmilk has a lot of less iron than formula it is absorbed at a much higher rate than the iron in formula. As long as the mom is not anemic then you don't need to worry about their iron levels.

    See kellymom.com for information on that.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hey Britt,
    Great post...I did NOT know about the avocado and I am on my fifth baby(almost 10 mts old),but if there are more(hopefully will be)...I will be mashing that avocado..lol..
    Have to say I could not use the teething rule as my kids are LATE teethers. My 3rd born and only son did not cut his first tooth until 17 months..yep..that late..
    and my sweet LeeLee does not have not one pearly white..
    I agree with the nursing as the primary nutrition and my sweetie can sure marathon nurse...that is OK..it is the most complete form of nutrition for her.
    I actually nurse so much...that it is called ecological nursing and this actually spaces your children..fertility does not return for an extened length of time..can be bad or good..depends on how you look at it...lol..
    I look forward to reading your future posts..
    Annmarie

    ReplyDelete
  28. My babies were exclusively b-fed until 6 mos. and then mainly so until 12 mos. None of them (we have 3) really ate a lot of 'big people food' until they were between 12-18 mos. They also weaned between 2-2.5 yrs. When do you wean your babies?

    ReplyDelete
  29. I like your approach to infant feeding. I nursed my oldest for 14 months and my youngest is still nursing at 17 months. I followed a similar pattern to what you have done.

    I'm curious how you have dealt with weaning with your babes. My oldest pretty much self-weaned at 14 months. My still nursing 17 month old, well I feel like he'll never wean! He eats a ton of food other than breast milk, but he still LOVES his nu-nu!

    Great post!!

    ReplyDelete
  30. I made all my baby food too. Though I did hear from the LLL a few months back that you aren't suppose to give babies Avocado until they are older then 7 months. I believe the reason being that they are a bit harder to digest and the body doesn't have the enzymes to do that until after 7 months. I could be completely wrong, have you heard this before? I also had late teethers so I had to take my cues for the babies differently than the teeth!

    ReplyDelete
  31. I love this post! I never knew about following the teeth, but it makes a lot of sense. Our teeth are what we use to get the food in a consistency that our digestive system wants, so of course when a little body is ready for food, it will also have appropriate teeth! :)

    I love, love, LOVE your decision to start with actual FOOD for your babies. Babies don't need "baby food" or "baby cereal," they need to learn how to eat food, when they are ready for it. Until then, mama's breastmilk is their perfect food.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hey Britt...interesting take on this, waiting for teeth and all. I have to admit, I begged our docs to let us start solids long before Abby had teeth, because she just seemed so ready for solids. She would grab at our plates, stare at food going in our mouths, didn't sleep well. They of course wanted to hold off because of her tummy issues and all, but I finally started her on veggies at 7 months real age (4 months adjusted). Since we started solids, she sleeps better and her reflux is all but gone! And I too, make everything she eats (except the yogurt that we just started). It's interesting to hear how other people do it, but I can say from experience that the solids have really changed our lives because she is no longer fussy from the reflux. We were even able to stop all 3 of the meds she was on within about 2 weeks of her starting solids because she was so much more comfortable. At 9 months real age she just cut her 2nd bottom tooth, and is eating veggies, fruits, yogurt, bread and chicken. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  33. Ok, I am blessing you with my words...again. Is it bad that that mango and avacado looks so yummy?! Is it bad that I am now craving baby food :)

    Your advice makes SO much sense to ME and I know you know what your talking about. Thanks for sharing about baby food...I learned something new :) Oh and by the way, some of your commentors again crack me up!
    ~Elyse

    ReplyDelete
  34. I wanted to add, someone made a comment about common allergy foods. We just spoke with our ped about this and he said the views are changing. Studies have shown that delaying the introduction to these foods actually increases the liklihood of allergies. In countries where foods like peanut butter are introduced before 12 months there are significantly lower incidents of pb allergies....just thought I'd share.

    I'm not sure if you have a blog frog forum/community set up, but this would be some great conversation in that setting!!

    ReplyDelete
  35. The big pics are awesome, you rock!!!

    ReplyDelete
  36. As the mom of a 13yo and almost 15yo, I am so encouraged to see how infant nutrition is changing. I was told to immunize them from birth, feed them formula for the best nutrition, and baby food at only a few months. I did none of these.

    My oldest didn't want or need solid food until she was almost a year old, and then it was just a little bit of Earth's Best Organic baby food. The younger one was a little bit younger when he grabbed at our food, and was able to swallow solids.

    I just watched for the signs that they wanted solid food, and went by that. I had never heard that about the teeth, but that makes total sense.

    Both breast-fed for YEARS, not months. :)

    ReplyDelete
  37. Very interesting..I wish i was as organized as you right now :) Any tips on healthy breakfast other than eggs for babies..allie's turning 1 and i'm looking for some great options.

    ReplyDelete
  38. This was very interesting....thanks Brittany. :)

    ReplyDelete
  39. As a note from the poster above who mentioned feeding allergen foods earlier - I would be extremely cautious. The reason it can be bad is that a child cannot help clue you in to the first signs of a reaction. With foods such as peanuts this can be an analphalatic reaction and time is of the essence. Due to other food allergies my son was tested and while it confirmed his known allergies it also returned a high level of allergy to peanuts. So if we'd feed him some without an epi pen on hand, it likely would not have been a good scenario.

    As for following the teeth for feeding, I find that interesting. With 2 kids mine got teeth at such different ages, that I don't think it would have worked for us. My son got teeth WELL before he needed "real" food and my daughter would have been the opposite.

    ReplyDelete
  40. The PP is right. New studies ARE showing that feeding allergen foods earlier than previously suggested (like waiting until 2-3 years for PB) is actually better in reducing the risk for an allergy rather than waiting.

    It's one of those things you have to look at all the info and decide which you think is best. My son is 17 months and breastfed and used to have a dairy allergy and oatmeal allergy so we were terrified of peanuts. However we let him try a little inside his doctor office and he seems to be fine but we don't give it to him often. Hardly ever.

    About the teething thing I just don't believe that's how you should do it. My daughter got her first teeth at 5 months. My son got his bottom two at 4 months and EVERYONE pushed me to feed him babyfood. I did NOT feed him until 6 months. People looked at me like I was crazy?!

    I do find it hard to believe that giving water is a BAD thing, but hey I don't feel like you're pushing your opinions on us. I like that you share your way of living!!

    Thanks for posting!

    ReplyDelete
  41. Thank you for being willing to share your families philosophy on baby food! I admire your dedication to fulling your families bodies in such a healthy way.

    We don't take as an extreme approach as you, but we do try to make healthy choices & your food post encouraged me to do my research. I always learn something!

    My boys hated avocado at first, but last night after reading your post we tried it again! This time - they LOVED IT!

    I would love to hear what (if any) vitamin supplements you use with your girls. I breastfeed & the doctor insists I need to give iron supplements - what do you think?

    ReplyDelete
  42. I didn't know that about the cereal! I am taking down notes for this next baby... : )

    ReplyDelete
  43. What a great post! This us the first time I've heard about the teeth guidelines also. I like the logic behind it.

    I've always followed my baby's cues when it comes to food. Most of them have gagged on bab cereal so I start with veggies, then add fruit. Meat and dairy (minimal) comes much later.

    My kids have all grown up loving veggies, in fact they still snack on frozen veggies when they are hungry.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Love your food ideas.

    I agree with one of the signs being teeth telling when they're ready to "move up".

    Ethan had his first tooth at late 3 mos. old!

    All had first molars by the time they were 11 mos. Second shortly after.

    So we offered solids a little sooner then the average.

    Except for Ella...

    Ella nursed exclusively until she was late 8 mos. She didn't want anything to do with solids even though she had many, many teeth.: ) We went straight to a food mill, beans, fruit & veggies from there on. She had enough teeth to handle it all right then!

    Depends on the baby and other signs they give but in general I think the "teeth sign" is a great way to tell!

    Thanks for the baby food memories!

    That mango looks sooo good! I want some!

    ReplyDelete
  45. What to do for a mom who has a child that will eat NOTHING...and I mean nothing. He doesn't even eat dinner with us anymore. He's 2and he just pushes everything away. Is it too late you think to introduce a healthy diet or are my kids a lost cause? Just curious.

    ReplyDelete
  46. You say you got the info from your 'family' doctor, but in fact I remember you saying that your family doc is a chiropractor? Is that correct? If so, he/she is NOT a doctor!

    ReplyDelete
  47. I would LOVE to try the Avocado for my girls, what is the secret to getting a good ripe one? everytime I buy one it is not ripe or over ripe?

    ReplyDelete
  48. I assume your "family doctor" is a pediatrician....please tell us you take your children to an actual pediatrician.

    I do think it's great how you feed your children though. Raising children eating healthy is one of the best things you can do for their future to continue that way!

    ReplyDelete
  49. Hi Brittany
    I'm curious to know a little more about the avocado. Our 3rd is the first one to LOVE this..she just turned 12 mo. The reason I tried it again is I found out yes it's fatty but a good fat but I heard it was to reduce cholesterol too. I asked our Dr about it as my children if you can believe it have high cholesterol when we have them checked at 12 mo..total hereditary. He said yes it is good, but to be careful..do you know any more on it?? thanks!
    Anne

    ReplyDelete
  50. I have been a peiatric nurse for over 25yrs and we have always advised parents not to give berries -strawberries, raspberries until they are over 1year. Berry seeds are VERY difficult to digest. I would worry more about that than grain digestion. Your advice is interesting, I hope people dont take it all to be the best advice. Talk to your Pediatrician first.

    ReplyDelete
  51. We do the follow the teeth thing It is a good thing to do and I will do it this time too.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Chiropractors aren't doctors? Hmmm, that's news to me. ;)

    We do something a bit similar. Timing is different but the introduction is about the same. Start on avocado and banana somewhere between 6-8 months of age and slowly begin to introduce healthy options. The twins are still nursing a ton at 12 months. :)

    ReplyDelete
  53. Tooth-led feeding is an interesting idea, but doesn't always translate well into the developmental realities of every child.

    I'm glad you are always quick to say it's what works for YOU and that you have the wisdom to see it simply isn't true for everyone.

    I find my kids are ready to start solids when they begin greedily eyeing my food as I eat, lunging at the sight of a fat dinner roll, drooling over a meatball, suddenly waking more at night to eat. They want more, teeth or not. Their tummies do the talking and their teeth don't always get the memo.

    Of course I don't go from breastmilk to sausages in one day. We do the normal slow introduction of appropriate baby-friendly foods, pureed freshly at home or from a jar in a pinch.

    If I waited for their teeth to tell me what to do, my fifth child wouldn't have been able to eat his own birthday cake. He only had two teeth.

    ReplyDelete
  54. I too love this post and love learning more about this. I wonder too if you have a book about the grain and dairy.

    Thanks for the info! I just want to learn more for myself. My husband doesn't quite believe me when I say I read it on a blog! Although, I've totally cut back on what I was feeding Levi. He wasn't eating the grains that I was feeding him. Loves sweet potato and mango. I need to reintroduce avocado by itself.

    Sorry for the long comment! I feel like I'm sitting, or walking behind you in your house picking your brain! (walking because I doubt you sit much!)

    ReplyDelete
  55. wow... to the anon. comment about not taking your kids to a pediatrician... we don't take our children to a pedi! just a family practice physician- what is wrong with that!? i absolutely HATED the impression i got with one of the pedi groups here in my city and switched before my first son's 2 week appt. i see absolutely NO difference!

    ReplyDelete
  56. I enjoy reading your blog and think your kids are so cute. I just want to correct your statement that certain foods stay in a baby's stomach for months. Nothing remains in our digestive tract for months (this even includes gum). If babies did have food remain inthem for a month they would fill up pretty quickly.
    Josie (3rd year med student)

    ReplyDelete
  57. I just saw a comment about a ped Dr too...we don't either. We do family...LOVE him..found the best Dr ever, he does all my OB visits, delivers all of our children and does all our well childs. SO not sure if that person made the comment to suggest a pediatrician is better. I have a pediatrician on our list of Dr's to never see again at our clinic..I'd take them to the ER over seeing her! haha To each there own..if chiro works for some so be it.

    ReplyDelete
  58. You need to be careful when putting your ideas out there. I would love to see you put links, references, quotes, studies, etc. for these things you are promoting.

    Some babies are very late teethers, and some like my son are very early teethers. He had 2 teeth by 4 months, but was in no way ready for food yet. You can't go by teeth alone. And older babies with no teeth still have chewing/mashing abilities and should be experiencing and exploring pureed foods, etc.

    Also, there are no studies, no nothing, that says grains and other foods stay in babies guts for months. That is simly NOT TRUE. Especially with breastfed babies, their systems are so efficient with breastmilk acting like mild laxatives, that nothing stays in there long at all.

    HOlding off on introducing grains until a child is 18-24 months can actually cause more reactions, than introducign them slowly earlier on. No reason to hold off on meats until they get their canines, which appear at varying ages. at about 8 months, a few sips of water in a cup, is a good way to learn, but not to replace milk, it's not harmful at all.

    Please add in some references, from medical community, natural/holistic sites, etc. to back up your posts.

    ReplyDelete
  59. While I enjoy reading your posts and do understand it is what has worked best for you and your family I'm confused...
    ...are my doctors/pediatricians and all mothers before me wrong? I have never, ever heard that cereal "sits" in a baby's stomach for months. For a first time mother, this is downright scary to read. Do you have factual information to back this up??

    ReplyDelete
  60. Brittany,
    Great post...thanks for sharing this! And congrats for doing your best to feed your babies well!

    I know about no meat, dairy, and water, but the no grains thing is new to me. I could see how it makes sense, but would you mind sharing where I could do some reading on this? Maybe the books or online resources that you recommend on nutrition (esp. for babies). I have 6 month old twins who aren't eating solids yet, and one older daughter who never liked baby cereal, but I didn't realize that it wasn't good to give them. I would like to learn more about this.

    If you want to email me a response, my email is skdorn@gmail.com. Thanks so much!!

    ReplyDelete
  61. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  62. i have since checked with a gastroenterologist at our childrens hospital here in columbus ohio ( I am an ICU nurse and he said that is absolutely FALSE about grains staying in their guts for months and couldnt believe someone would believe that. Breast milk aids the digestion perfectly and babies do need what the grains supply. If it were true, the result would be a whole lot of bowel obstructions requiring surgery. Thats not the case. Your non-evidence based info is dangerous to people if it is not true. babies need grains at a point when the Ped says it is ok. Where did you read that? He said he would love to read your research.

    ReplyDelete
  63. I am in charge of feeding studies for preemies and would love to speak with the family Dr that said this. You said it is a female. She may have some great info that I can use in my presentation that I am working on currently. I live close to where you live, can you tell me her name.I may already know who it is

    ReplyDelete
  64. stumbled across your blog today and enjoyed reading about your beautiful family. really enjoyed this post. was wondering if you knew of a book with this teeth/solids information. very interesting...thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  65. If you like talking about health and food so much, why don't you go to school and learn the right way, as it should be??? You think you know everything.

    People in my family that cannot afford to buy organic food have live long and very healthy lives, and You are always talking about your kids getting sick. That's sad.

    I wish you and your family the best. However, sometimes, I feel that you think you are perfect, and that you know everything. Live your life, and let other people live their lives.

    If you are going to talk about health, and if you are going to be giving advice you should go back to school and get you degree.

    You should have finished school or do something with your life before having kids. I think you are frustrated with your life.

    Become a nutritionist if you like to talk about food. Don't you just open your mouth.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for blessing me with your words!

Brittany