Resources for rice/oatmeal/meat

[jay2yay]

I'm getting a bit overwhelmed/confused about when to introduce certain foods. I'm using one of the solid food books recommended by BWSAYP and she doesn't have meat introduced until 7 months, but sites like Gerber have meat introduced the first week. I have not given DS any meat at all.....is this bad as his diet would be lacking in protein?

And the rice/oatmeal.....anyone have resources on what the difference is? And I keep hearing it's 'not good' for babies to have at all? Is it a good idea to try to give a different carb whenever possible besides the baby rice/oatmeals? I just have the oatmeal, but should I also give DS the rice? The Gerber site gives a menu example and has rice/oatmeal alternating throughout the week....I'm just confused as to why??

[Lemonthyme]

At 6 months you can pretty much introduce anything (or these are the UK guidelines anyway, they do vary) apart from honey (botulism risk), sugar (risk of teeth damage and obesity in later life), salt (don't add any and keep to less than 1g per day), cured meats and blue / mould ripened cheeses like stilton or brie (Listeria risk.)

So oatmeal is fine.  We used to give 'ready brek' at this age which is a really fine 'instant' oatmeal fortified with vitamins.  Just give loads of fruit and veg too and sips of water with meals to help avoid constipation.  Also I think current thinking is to introduce meat earlier rather than later due to the iron stores being depleted.  I used to make something similar to this when he was a smaller baby:

http://www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/babies-6-9-months/easy-one-pot-chicken

I also used to make beef stews in my slow cooker and puree them (I made them with more vegetables than I would for an adult or older child who's accepting other vegetables on the side).  This is kind of an outline of the recipe but it's very easy chuck it all in kind of thing:

http://mamacook.blogspot.com/2011/01/in-stew-slow-cooker-is-your-friend.html

It probably makes sense to introduce things slow(ish) but I wouldn't worry about the whole giving the same food for 3 days etc. at least health visitors in the UK don't seem to recommend it anymore.  

Good luck!

[jay2yay]

Thank you so much for the resources- I will check them out!!

[*Kara*]

Same guidelines in Canada now... nothing is restricted anymore except honey.

The rest is just common sense really... delay things like tomatoes (acidic), citrus (acidity known to cause rashes), strawberries and other berries are the same with the rash risk... you can give blueberries though

I used the food chart on Wholesome Baby Food's website just to keep track

[*Kara*]

Forgot to answer your questions: meat is introduced earlier now because of the iron thing... if you BF, this is important, not really though if you FF as formula has iron in it.

As for cereals - I use the baby ones personally, but DD doesn't take them as readily anymore... she did when we first started with solids, but once she developed more interest in different flavours/textures, cereal became boring   Rice can constipate so look for whole grain rice cereals - None of Gerber's are... here in Canada, we have Heinz Organics cereal - they have a whole grain rice... Oatmeal can also constipate, but not as readily as rice... barley keeps things moving so it's good to have too

[Lemonthyme]

I don't know if you have ready brek but it's fine oatmeal not specifically for babies but fir kids generally, fortified with iron and no salt or sugar so perfect from 6 months plus with full fat milk. He went off it around 11 months but he seemed to love it for ages.

[jay2yay]

Thanks...I'll have to get some barley...I did find an organic brown rice - which I think is whole grain but I've only given him one serving of that so far. We've been doing oatmeal in the morning.

We do BF but I haven't yet introduced meat bc I've just been introducing other things and it takes time (even introducing on consecutive days!). I make a lot of his food with formula so hopefully he's getting some iron from there but I will make sure to introduce meat soon.

Will also look for the ready brek......would it be next to oatmeal in the store?

[*Kara*]

I wouldn't worry too much about meat yet... I'm sure you are fine to hold off until he is closer to 8-9 months   Most baby cereals are highly fortified with iron...

Ready Brek is only available in the UK, unless you can find a Brit store where you are...

[jay2yay]

ah We do have some in South Florida but none around me