Guest guest Posted November 3, 2000 Report Share Posted November 3, 2000 Hallo all, first of all let me introduce myself: I am a vegan lurker, I am 28, and have been vegan for 13 years. I have a baby who is now 7 months and a half and we are doing great. I wanted to ask you, how and when did you introduce food other than milk. Thanks a lot, Daniela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 4, 2000 Report Share Posted November 4, 2000 Hi Daniela, Good for you and hello from a fellow lurker (at least most of the time). We have a 5 year old daughter who has been vegan all of her life. We started giving her rice cereal and organic baby food at about 8 months, but that was mostly for sensory reasons (as opposed to nutrition). We felt she was ready to " explore " new taste sensations. Other than that, it was mom's milk only. Many recommend only breast milk up to 1 year old, and I agree that is a good idea. We just felt she was ready to explore. Take care, Caroline - " Daniela " <daniela Friday, November 03, 2000 2:17 PM introducing food | Hallo all, | first of all let me introduce myself: I am a vegan lurker, I am 28, | and have been vegan for 13 years. I have a baby who is now 7 months | and a half and we are doing great. I wanted to ask you, how and when | did you introduce food other than milk. | Thanks a lot, Daniela | | | | | For more information about vegetarianism, please visit the VRG website at http://www.vrg.org and for materials especially useful for families go to http://www.vrg.org/family. | | Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 4, 2000 Report Share Posted November 4, 2000 --- Daniela <daniela wrote: > Hallo all, > first of all let me introduce myself: I am a vegan > lurker, I am 28, > and have been vegan for 13 years. I have a baby who > is now 7 months > and a half and we are doing great. I wanted to ask > you, how and when > did you introduce food other than milk. > Thanks a lot, Daniela > > Daniela- At around 4 or 5 months you can start introducing cereals. Start with rice cereal, then oats. At around 6 or 7 you can introduce fruits and veggies. Usually fruits are added first. Only one at a time for about 2 days. If there is not allergic reaction then another fruit can be introduced, until s/he has tried all the fruits. Then the same is done with with veggies. After that, meats are usually introduced. This is when other homemade options will have to be made. If you make your own bean mixture or whatever you try, it should be done without salt, sugar or other additive, although you might like it that way. By about a year of age you can start table food, soft and in small pieces. Do not give them raisins, nuts or grapes becaue they can chock on the small pieces. A baby has iron stores to last for 6 months as long as the mother had enough iron in her diet during pregnancy and breast milk has virtually no iron. Breast milk can be continued for up to 1 1/2-2 years if you like, as long as it is not the only food source. When starting cereals, you can use breast milk in it and make sure they are iron fortified cereals. Also, the American Dietetic Association web page can inform you of when to start what (but it doesn't talk about vegetarian babies), located at www.eatright.com. Hopes this helps. Sharon Stanton de Cuevas > Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All in one Place. / Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 6, 2000 Report Share Posted November 6, 2000 In a message dated 11/6/2000 5:14:45 AM Pacific Standard Time, comebien writes: At around 4 or 5 months you can start introducing cereals. Start with rice cereal, then oats. At around 6 or 7 you can introduce fruits and veggies. Usually fruits are added first. Actually, there are a lot of people, including LLL who believe that babies do not need cereal and that it is actually just a filler and does not have much nutritional content. They said that they are fortified with iron because the way that it is digested leeches iron from their systems. There really is no time table for starting solids, follow your babies cues and not the calendar. The signs for being ready for solids are, the baby can almost sit up unassisted, starts grabbing for your food, shows interest in food, has lost the tongue thrust reflex, and their saliva changes. My son showed all of the signs and was ready at five months, my friend's baby is nine months old and is just now showing the signs. Every baby is different and every baby is ready for solids at different ages, if they are introduced to early then they can trigger food allergies. Sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 7, 2000 Report Share Posted November 7, 2000 After a lot of studying the evidence and differing opinions and arguments, I strongly believe that there is no need for cereals before nine months or more. Robert Shelton went as far as to say that children shouldn't eat what they cannot eat with their own teeth, and if nature didn't put any teeth in their mouths it didn't mean them to chew cereals or pulses or other hard things. In this view, the child can subsist on breast milk and soft fruit and vegetables for a year or so. I didn't take such a radical stance. I only gave breastmilk and nothing else (not even water!) for the first six months. Then I started with banana, apple, pear, orange etc ( we were in the winter). At seven months the first vegetables (two meals, one milk/fruit, one milk/vegetables, the other meals only milk)and ground almonds (for the iron: for the same reason I was also giving raisins). And I waited until one year old to gradually introduce cereals, then slowly pulses, cheese and lastly eggs. Irene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 7, 2000 Report Share Posted November 7, 2000 Hi, I'm new to the list and thought I'd do a quick intro and comment on introducing foods. I'm Crystal, 30, mother of Brennin, ds, 6 yo and Jade Moon, dd, 14 mo. We live in Maine. We are not vegan as we have an organic farm and unofficial animal rescue sanctuary and raise our own organic, free range chickens for their eggs and entertainment value. We also use organic butter instead of margarine. Brennin was exclusively breastfed for the first 14 m of life, (well, he may have gotten water in a sippy cup after 12m) then he slowly started on foods that he could eat himself. No mommy spoon feeding. He weaned himself at 3 y 9 m. Then Jade Moon came along 5 years later and I had intended that she would be exclusively bf until at least 1 year, but she had other plans. As soon as she was crawling around 8 m, she started helping herself to the catfood. I figured, well, if she's going to eat, it may as well be healthy. Still, I haven't spoonfed her. She eats what she is capable of eating and gets the rest through breastmilk. And while Brennin would be happy eating only carrots or only peas or whatever for dinner while we ate our meal, Jade Moon has pooh-poohed that idea. When we have tofu lasagne, she wants tofu lasagne, etc... I would have to add that babies naturally put things into their mouths when they start teething which can be very young. This doesn't necessarily mean that they are ready to eat. My oldest has celiac disease which is an allergy to gluten found in wheat, spelt, rye, etc... and I'm convinced (with much research) that the longer they are breastfed exclusively, the less the effects of food allergies on their little systems. But each family is different and each child is different (as my little Jade Moon showed me). The best thing is that we do what we think/feel is right and not give in to spoon feeding them before we're ready because of pressure from well-meaning relatives, friends, etc... Well, that's my .02 and I lok forward to lots of yummy recipes. ~Crystal in ME Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 7, 2000 Report Share Posted November 7, 2000 --- colinsapmama wrote: > In a message dated 11/6/2000 5:14:45 AM Pacific > Standard Time, > comebien writes: > > > > > > At around 4 or 5 months you can start > introducing > > cereals. Start with rice cereal, then oats. At > > around 6 or 7 you can introduce fruits and > veggies. > > > > > Actually, there are a lot of people, including LLL > who believe that babies do > not need cereal and that it is actually just a > filler and does not have much > nutritional content. They said that they are > fortified with iron because the > way that it is digested leeches iron from their > systems. There really is no > time table for starting solids, follow your babies > cues and not the calendar. > The signs for being ready for solids are, the baby > can almost sit up > unassisted, starts grabbing for your food, shows > interest in food, has lost > the tongue thrust reflex, and their saliva changes. > My son showed all of the > signs and was ready at five months, my friend's baby > is nine months old and > is just now showing the signs. Every baby is > different and every baby is > ready for solids at different ages, if they are > introduced to early then they > can trigger food allergies. > > Sara > To Sara and all: Regarding introducing food- Yes, it is true that each child is different and shows when they are ready to start eating baby foods. Although breast milk is great, and rich in nutrients and healthy for the baby, it should not be the only source of food for the first year. There should be baby foods, cereals AND breast milk, not just breast milk alone. There are some great articles from the nutrition experts- the American Dietetic Association that all might be interested in taking a look at. 1. Go to www.eatright.org/ 2. Clic " knowledge center " 3. Clic on " nutrition resources " 4. Clic on " nutrition fact sheets " 5. Under " kids nutrition needs " there are two articles about feeding infants and toddlers: " Feeding toddlers under two years " and " Breastfeeding Basics- and Beyond " . Hope this helps anyone that just had a child. Good luck. Sincerely, Sharon Stanton de Cuevas Oaxaca, Mexico Lacto-ovo Vegetarian, Dietitian (studied in U.S. ) Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All in one Place. / Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 14, 2000 Report Share Posted November 14, 2000 Yes, but doesn't the ADA also say that milk and eggs are good sources of nutrition?! I would imagine that they are not the best source to turn to for information. Erika " All beings tremble before violence. All fear death. All love life. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do " - Buddha > " To Sara and all: > Regarding introducing food- Yes, it is true that >each child is different and shows when they are ready >to start eating baby foods. Although breast milk is >great, and rich in nutrients and healthy for the baby, >it should not be the only source of food for the first >year. There should be baby foods, cereals AND breast >milk, not just breast milk alone. There are some great >articles from the nutrition experts- the American >Dietetic Association that all might be interested in >taking a look at. 1. Go to www.eatright.org/ 2. Clic > " knowledge center " 3. Clic on " nutrition resources " 4. >Clic on " nutrition fact sheets " 5. Under " kids >nutrition needs " there are two articles about feeding >infants and toddlers: " Feeding toddlers under two >years " and " Breastfeeding Basics- and Beyond " . >Hope this helps anyone that just had a child. Good >luck. Sincerely, Sharon Stanton de Cuevas Oaxaca, Mexico Lacto-ovo Vegetarian, Dietitian (studied in U.S. ) " Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All in one Place. / For more information about vegetarianism, please visit the VRG website at http://www.vrg.org and for materials especially useful for families go to http://www.vrg.org/family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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