Advice pls: Starting on Solids

Hi..may know where u get the gina ford books? Including the cookbook and the weaning book?

Btw i myself hv 2 weaning book. I got these two from TTSH bookshop. One is titled "Nourish" By Sophie Blackmore. It tell u wat kind of food exactly is suitable for infant to toddler... then for each food it explains when is the best time to buy, which kind is best, the benefits of the food, how to store the food whether in freezer or refrigerator, and how u can cook it.

Anyother one is one Baby's First Food. Forgotten the author but it does provide some recipe too. Tot of getting more ideas from Gina Ford. Where can i purchase?

Btw Enya, How do i steam vegetable? As in spinach cos it comes in big bulk...
 


arielene,
you can find gina ford books at times, mph, borders, kinokuniya. but sometimes they are out of stock, so you may have to order.

you steam the leaves of the spinach (discard the stalks), maybe for around 5 mins only. just cut off all the stalks, wash the leaves thoroughly then steam the leaves.
 
arielene,
you can leave the leaves whole or cut smaller. it's up to you. if you plan to puree then it won't really make a difference, because after all you will be blending it all in the blender. if you plan to feed your baby non-pureed, then maybe cut a little bit, then once cooked chop-chop into smaller pieces.

for me, i use the classic test of doneness - i taste it and if it tastes cooked to me, can liao! haha!!
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it should be soft but not soggy yet. you know when you eat those stir fried spinach at those nasi padang or cze zha stalls? the consistency/texture should be like that lah.
 
Enya,
the Baby Whisperer book is quite good with some excellent cases for parents to refer to but the author was criticised for some of her thoughts on breastfeeding. It is not just for parents with NB, though these parents may find it most useful as it has a substantial section on sleep issues which most new parents find hard to cope with. It is not big on weaning or potty training though and for such topics you are better off with books like The Super Baby Food (which is very comprehensive and some forum mummies swear by them) and another my of personal favourite is Annabel Karmel for weaning and feeding and recipes. AK has tons of books on recipes, whereas SBF is more on weaning process and explanation on food itself. The What To Expect Series is a good investment if you want a book that covers everything. You can have a look at Kinokuniya for all these books.
 
hi there

thanks for advising. i will go and check out these books. weaning process sounds so terrifying to me, i better read up on it ...

anyone knows whether is it safe to add dried scallop while cooking porridge for the bb?
 
DG,

Thanks for the book recommendations. I have one of her recipe books, and am thinking of buying more! Have added 2 more of her titles to my Amazon Wish List!
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hi mummies,
i chanced upon tis thread n had a gd read from everyone's posts.


lani & DG,
fancy mtg u2 here.


lani,
i followed ur advice & gave gabe heinz white rice cereal+pork+carrots 2day. he finished 1/2bowl.
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thks a lot!

my son hated porridge so had 2 tik of ways 2 feed him some form of carbo. when i mix the white rice cereal wif the soup, it was rather fragrant.


enya,
i've come across friens/relatives who used dried scallops & ikan billis 2 cook porridge for their bbs. i used 2 put in dried scallops into my son's porridge for a brief moment then i stopped. i not comfortable wif the salt content of such stuff cos after all salt is used 2 preserve these stuff.

i merely cooked porridge wif rice+water, using fish/pork and fresh veg or frozen veg cubes. porridge was usually sweet enuff. on days when i can manage my timing betta, i cook chicken/pork stock & use it 2 cook the porridge.

now i dun hv 2 do so anymore cos my son dun fancy porridge at all.
 
Lani, which one of AK do you own? I love her books, but after browsing through some at the bookstores, I realise that she sort of copied most of her recipes into her newer books, so may not be worth while to buy more than 1 of hers.

I find the SBF recipes not very interesting, but the sections on types of food is useful.

Kelly, what type of bowl do you use? Does Gabe usually eat 1/2 bowl or more? Have you started giving Gabe rolled oats and millet yet? They are good source of carbo and protein.
 
kelly,
you're most welcome! glad to be of help, and really great to hear that gabe is now eating well!
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DG,
I have the "Feeding Your Baby and Toddler" book by AK - it was given to me as a gift when I gave birth.

Yes, I also agree that the recipes in SBF are not that interesting, but the sections on types of foods (eg, what to introduce at diff stages, how much to feed, how to cook, store, etc) are very useful.
 
Lani, we have the same book! LOL!! Have you tried all the recipes in the 6 to 9 months section?

Why are you still awake at 1.20am? Addicted to the forum, yeah?? :D
 
DG,
actually i have not tried ANY of the recipes! haha!!

i just came back around 12am from watching harry potter, so just logged on for a while before turning in for the night...
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DG,
gabe eats abt 1/2bowl of solids every meal. i'm using a ikea rice bowl. i bought rolled oats n got another mummy 2 grind it smaller for me. i havent got it back yet so havent feed gabe it yet. as for millet, u mean rice or pasta?

thks to ur recommendation, i bought a AK book titled "the healthy bb meal planner". very useful info & lotsa interesting receipes.
 
Everafter, i have the same problem too. My son is just abt 4 mths, and lately has not been able to increase his intake of milk.

I always prepare about 4.5 oz milk for him, and he doesnt seem to finsh it all even at 3 hr interval (and similar to you, i had to struggle to stretch the interval to 3 hrs...he used to want milk after 1.5hrs...!)

He doesnt seem as chubby as other babies...worry abt his weight..he is only about 6.1kg...about 25th percentile ...sigh

Folks, which rice cereal is good ? Nestle, Gerber, Hienz ? I suppose for a start, baby shld be getting rice cereal plain ?

Also, when can i give baby apple? My father is keen to give him a pared apple to gnaw at and play with...he said i used to do that when i was a baby
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Everafter - have you started bb on soldis yet ?
 
liliput,
i fed my baby Heinz rice cereal when i started weaning. it doesn't contain any salt or sugar. i'm not sure about the other brands though.

and yes, when you first start weaning, just feed the rice cereal plain (start off w/ 1 tsp then increase amt by half tsp every 3 days or so). after about 2 weeks then you can slowly start to add in a vege into the rice cereal (eg sweet potato or carrot, etc).

as for feeding apples - before 6 mths old the fruits you feed your baby (usually apple and pear) need to be cooked first, then pureed, before feeding it to them. it's not recommended to feed raw fruits at such a young age, even if it's just to gnaw at it! after 6 mths then you can feed raw fruits (of course skin still needs to be peeled first).
 
Hi Lilipit,

I hv not started on solid food for my bb. In fact, he juz 3 mths old. I'm a ks mum so decided to seek advice fr other mummies 1st...

Hv also consulted pd & she was telling me if I can delay, it's best to start on solid food at 6 mths especially for bb with allergies. My bb has sensitive nose like me...

My bb also not very chubby...pd says he can't be very chubby like other bb cos he's fussy & don't sleep alot too!

Juz realised I hv actually pm u yesterday on one of ur sale item...u staying at SK? Me too! I'm staying at Fernvale.
 
thanks Lani.
actually i think i will delay till 5mth+. was reading a couple of baby books last night, and all advised to delay solids till 6mths. my bb has eczema....so starting earlier may not be good. but thks for your tips on the fruits and cereal :p ...didnt know there's so much science to it.

everafter - lemme check my mail. will revert to u soon
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sigh...yah...my bb also very fussy and dont sleep alot...mayb tat's why he so 'slim'.
 
Kelly, I see. That is relatively good appetite. Millet - I mean the grain. I remember you said you tried the rice n millet pasta before but Gabe didn't like it.

Great you like the AK book! I love it to bits! Now I am starting to relook at my other recipes books on adult food for inspiration and substituting ingredients to make them more tots friendly for Marcus! You can try that too since Gabe is over 1. You will have tons more variety too.

Lilipit, it is very advisable to wait till 6 months to introduce solids since your bb has eczema and be aware of the types of food to introduce at the different age. You can get a list from your PD/GP on this or call up Nestle and they will send you a list. Is it atopic eczema? Food containing omega 3 and 6 (the essential fatty acids) will help your bb's eczema condition. If you are BF still, you need to eat food rich in EFA or just take a supplement to increase the levels of EFA in your BM. If you are giving FM now, there is usually EFAs in the infant FM. My son had mild atopic eczema too and I found his condition improved tremendously when I gave him EFA supplement and/or food rich in EFA. Some experts advised against excessive use of the steriod cream prescribed, and I also find them quite useless.
 
lilipit,
i agree with DG too. if your baby has eczema then its best to wait till 6mths to introduce solids, and even then you need to introdue one food item at a time to watch out for allergies!

use the 3-4day wait-rule. ie introduce only 1 type of food for 3-4 consectutive days to look out for signs of allergy, before introducing another food.

also, just as a precaution, introduce the new food item at lunchtime, as opposed to dinnertime, so that you have the whole day/afternoon to watch out for signs of allergy. if you feed a new food at dinnertime, the allerge may set in at night when baby is sleeping, and you may not be able to notice it till next morning.
 
i just started bb on heinz rice cereal. he is coming to 5 mths old. when shld i start him on earth;s best brown rice cereal, oatmeal or multigrain?

and when shld we add in other things like jar food? how about porridge?
 
enya,
brown rice cereal you can start anytime now. oatmeal wait until ard 6mths old, and the multigrain one maybe 6-7mths old (as it contains wheat so need to wait a little longer in case of allergies). oatmeal and multigrain i normally feed for b'fast only, whereas rice cereal and brown rice cereal can give for lunch and dinner.

once you baby is well-established on the rice cereal, you can start adding in the jarred vege into the rice cereal - usually around after 3 weeks from the time you first started the rice cereal. remember to introduce only 1 vege at a time, and use the 3-4 day wait rule, ie. introduce only 1 type of food for 3-4 consecutive days (to look out for signs of allergy), before introducing another food.

as for porridge, usually can feed around 7mths old, but because they can't chew yet and cannot take coarse textures, you normally need to blend/puree the porridge, maybe until 9mths old.
 
hi, i read somewhere in this thread abt EARRTH brown rice cereal,.WHere to get from ? Dont thinl i saw it at the supermarket when i went today.

Is it ok to start with brown rice powder (those tat come with herb & ikan billis) or just plain rice powder (am thinking of getting Heinz) ?

Some ppls say that it is better to feed the brown rice cereal/poweder cos more nutirtious. ?? but is it "instant" ? ie. just stir make with hot water?

Is the EARTH brown rice cereal plain or comes with ikan billis etc ?
Thanks.
 
Hi, just spend some time reading through the posts. My gal is 6mth+, started her solids. On my PD's advice, giving her meat/veg rich in iron with porridge everyday, as her white blood cells is quite high. So she is also on iron supplement too.

domesticgoddess,
Hope u r still following this thread. My gal has eczema too, pls advice me on the type of food that are rich in EFA, thanks
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Lilipit, you can get Earthbest or Healthy Times brown rice cereal from organic shops as these are organic varieties, hence double the price of Heinz and Nestle. They are instant cereals still, just need to add milk or water to the cereal, stir and feed. You can go to Brown Rice Paradise at Tanglin Mall or Forum and united Square also have organic shops that sell same thing. I would advise you start your bb with plain rice cereal, then progress to plain brown rice cereal, before introducing those that with added ingredients like herbs or ikan bilis.


weiwei, i don't visit this thread often. You can PM me.
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How old is your gal and what kind of food have you given her so far? Is she taking medicine prescribed by doctor? What kind of eczema?
 
<font color="0000ff">domesticgoddess</font>,
thanks! so many choices!
I just bot a pack of heinz rice cereal today. I was doing a comparison at the supermkt, realise that the rest are with sucrose, or with trace gluten, so didnt buy the 'other' brands. I realise Gerber's was made in Thailand. Heinze is made in Australia.
my BB also has ezcema, tho i dunno wat kind. can share wat are the EFA rich foods ? thx !

<font color="0000ff">weiwei</font>, like you, i have been reading this thread...'digesting' this thread to bits! this thread is so long, i had to save as html file to really read at leisure.

my bb is now 4 mths++, near to 5 mths, and i intend to start him on solids next saturday. I think the info provided by Lani is quite good and useful
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lilipit,

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I also keep coming back to this thread for info, so i finally spend a night to really read from the beginning to end, hee.
 
liliput,
I buy the Healthy Times brown rice cereal from Tanglin Mall. I agree w/ DG too, to start off w/ plain rice cereal 1st before moving on to plain brown rice cereal and then any kind of rice cereal mixed w/ other ingredients. Plain rice cereal is easily digestible and therefore the best 1st weaning food for baby's immature digestive system. You also wanna avoid those rice cereal mixed w/ other ingredients at the beginning because it would be difficult for you to pinpoint the culprit in case of an allergic reaction.

I also started Sarah off w/ Heinz rice cereal, then slowly added pureed veggies to the rice cereal. Then in the 2nd mth i introduced oat cereal for b'fast. I've also fed Sarah the multigrain cereal (red box) for b'fast (when she turned 7mths) and she really likes it too. Now Sarah still takes the Heinz rice cereal for lunch (4 scoops) and dinner (6 scoops), mixed w/ 4 cubes of assorted veggies and 1 cube chicken.
 
enya,
if you're reading this, i bought the Gina Ford recipe book about 2 weeks back. So far have only had time to skim thru it, and i think it's really good. would def recommend it.
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Weiwei, Pol and Everafter, sigh i had problems attaching the doc in my yahoo emails just now......so cant email u the doc.

For the booklet "Baby's First Foods",
Here's the S'pore health promo board website to download the pdf doc. there's a whole list of articles. to find it do a "ctl -f" to find "My Baby's First Foods"
http://www.hpb.gov.sg/hpb/default.asp?pg_id=935
 
lani: hi there! so u got the book?? good to hear that its informative. i haven't had the chance to go down and get it, will do so one of these days!

i think my bb prefers the brown rice cereal leh. i gave him the heinz one,and he din seem to like it. so i switched him to the earth's best one, and he likes it. nowadays, my mum adds fish or pears into the cereal and he likes it leh ...
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haven't tried the healthy times one. is that good?

anyome tried giving bb juices?
 
I have a problem. My girl recently started refusing to drink milk. Every time she will protest before drinking. Today, she had cereal at 1:30pm, after that, refused milk at 3:30-4:30pm (i tried for a whole hr, giving her at 15min interval, but keep struggling so i don't want to force her). then fell asleep at 5pm. she did drink some water. but effectively, no food after the cereal. anybody encounter this?? any advice? quite worrying.

Hi pol, starting solids at 4 mths is just to get baby to be used to eating solids. their main nutrition is still milk. from 6 mths can introduce fish &amp; other protein things like tofu.

Hi enya, my girl likes the healthy times brown rice cereal. but she doesn't really like the oatmeal one. need to mix the oatmeal one with normal rice cereal before she will eat.
 
hi orchid

thought of giving my bb oats too. May i know where to get the healthy times one? or any other brand to recommend. Been looking under Heinz, but can't find. Thanks
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enya,
yah i happened to see it at MPH Parkway about 2 weeks back, and it was the very last copy there, so i bought it! hehe! recipes all look very good!!

if your baby likes brown rice cereal, then by all means feed him that. i've never fed my daughter any of the brown rice cereal before, so cant comment on any of the brands. but she does eat the healthy times oatmeal cereal, but can tell she prefers heinz multigrain cereal!

why don't you try adding pureed veggies to the brown rice, instead of just fish or pear? i'm sure he'll love it!
 
hi enya, can add carrots, peas, apples, brocoli, cauliflower ... just some ideas.
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yesterday tried silken tofu with brown rice cereal. my girl likes. just microwave 1 tbsp tofu for 1 min on high. mash &amp; mix with the brown rice cereal. quite tasty (i always try the food before giving it to her).
 
enya,
yes you can add avocado too.

lilipit,
i think any cheapo brand is good enough,. cause you will probably only be blending your baby's food within the 1st yr. from ard 9 mths onwards you normally start feeding them mashed or chopped foods already...i bought mine at those robinson's warehouse sale @ s'pore expo for $25 only...my daughter is turning 9 mths soon and i wanna start training her to eat mashed foods already...
 
thanks lani, will look-see-look-see for blenders. i just started bb on heinz rice cereal on sunday. he likes it and finished it all (1 tsp)
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hi ladies,
I gave heinz rice cereal to my gal and I mix it with ebm - it turns watery so fast... what type of proportion of cereal to ebm to you all give so that the rice cereal remains thick?
 
tuffy,
if you read the back of the box, it does say that when you mix w/ EBM it will be quite watery as compared to FM. maybe you add in less EBM so that it is thicker and can stick to the spoon?

lilipit,
you're welcome. my dd also liked the heinz rice cereal alot. if your bb likes it too and can finish all 1tsp, then after 3 days you can increase the amount by another half tsp. some babies may experience constipation once they start to eat solids, so to combat this you can feed bb some pureed cooked pears. you can either add to the rice cereal or feed seperately after the rice cereal (just 1 tsp or so is enuf for now).
 


Hi mummies
pardon me if this qn has been asked b4.

To make baby food, is it better to get a mini blender or a baby food maker set (e.g. pigeon)?
 

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