6 mth mark and iron, solids and BLW... and other stuff!

[*Julie*]

  Hi all.
Here goes.
DS is a good feeder and is BFd. Has been having pureed food 1-2 times a day (fruit,veg, occasionally cereals, yogurt) not religiously, more like an exersise really to just give him a taste ( They do say that if they experience different tastes early they tend to be less fussy later but I suspect nature has as much to do with this as nurture if not more.)
DS has not had meat yet. At 6 months iron levels start depleting  - what should I give him?
  I was tempted to do BLW but how do they get iron then if they don`t EAT properly til they bite/chew/swallow ?
  And lastly, do you worry about pesticides and additives etc.? I do not have an awful lot of processed food but we never buy Organic so I worry that the toxins in the stuff i eat go to DS through my B-milk?
   Thank you x

[besjoux]

I buy organic with the dirty dozen list. Other than that I really don't worry.

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-06-01/health/dirty.dozen.produce.pesticide_1_pesticide-residue-pesticide-tests-fruits-and-vegetables?_s=PM:HEALTH

I LOVE the below website for all of my baby foods. I make my own and find it very easy, thanks to this website. Below is info on iron. They also have a section on BLW
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/Iron.htm

[~ Vik ~]

I'm just going to pop this over to feeding solid food for you  Lots of moms have BTDT with baby led weaning, so you're sure to get lots of great advice!

ETA - forgot to mention that in Canada meat is one of the recommended first foods (ie, pureed beef or chicken with broth) so you could offer that to see what he thinks.  TBH though, Dylan was never one for those pureed meats they weren't very appetizing.  There are other foods that you can offer that are high in iron, like beans, lentils, spinach, broccoli, tofu, etc. and the iron fortified baby cereals.

I'm not one to spend a ton of money on organic, but like pp I try to go organic with the dirty dozen list when I can, and I buy organic soy milk for Dylan.

[~inbalance~]

Hi Julie

Don't stress too much about DS's iron dropping right away at 6mos.  A baby's iron stores start depleting between 6-12mos, but it's not like they altogether disappear at 6mos on the dot.  So that gives you plenty of time to start introducing a wide variety of foods, including ones that are iron rich.  And he will still be getting iron from your breastmilk, which is better absorbed by him than anything you will feed him anyway.

Some iron rich foods include:  green leafy vegetables, beets (T LOVED these!), asparagus, carrots, grapes, bananas, dried fruits, beans (another favorite), meats, fish, poultry, lentils, and blackstrap molasses (you can add this to all kinds of stuff).

So with that point, you could try BLW with little worry about whether or not he is getting enough iron.  Solids is more for exploration, and as he works up to eating more and more foods, he will get everything he needs.  Remember that your milk has absolutely everything he needs up until a year. 

I'm actually just reading the BLW book and it makes a lot of sense.  He will actually learn to chew/swallow faster if given the opportunity to try with finger foods, and he will probably be more adventurous with texture if he starts with finger foods rather than just purees.  Have you checked out the BLW support thread?  There are lots of mamas there who have BTDT and could put your mind at ease.  Here it is:  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=175926.0

I'm not too familiar on organic foods, additives, pesticides etc., either, but it is something I'd like to look more into as well so will be checking out the links the other Julie posted.