feeding baby right out of your mouth

[GerryB]

Hello -  our baby son is 9 months old, apparently very healthy and growing well, never any colic, nor trouble eating after starting to get some food after 6 months.  My wife has breast-fed him and he still nurses regularly and also eats baby foods we prepare, along with his baby rice powder mixed with breastmilk or purified water.   

My wife routinely chews some of her food and passes it to the baby right from her mouth;  my mother-in-law does the same thing when we are visiting.

Is this a problem I wonder?  My thinking is that there is a chance for viruses or bacteria that my wife or her mother are immune to, but baby Will is not.  She says its natural and that it provides enzymes.  I don't want to make a big deal out of it, and when his teeth come in, it will be a thing of the past anyway.  any ideas?

thanks!

[Mum to Ella Rose]

Hi, it's interesting because my father was visiting recently and he said that's how his mum used to feed him and his brothers and sisters when they were babies. Of course this was in the 40's and they were Polish farmers... no blenders or jarred food ! I don't have any idea if it's considered "good" or "bad" anymore    but my personal feeling is it's fine. I suppose I've done/do a variation of it with my daughter too. I don't chew up food for her per se, but I certainley bite things off for her if it's too much before I give it to her as opposed to cutting something up. Like when we're at the park or something, I will bite an orange into smaller pieces for her... I'm curious if anyone else has heard of this nowadays or does it!

Sharon

[Mum to Ella Rose]

Oh and I just wanted to add, enzymes in our saliva break begin to break down food, yes? Makes sense to me then that it could help a baby digest it...

[tylersmommy]

That's how people in many parts of the world still feed their babies. Like you said, Sharon, that's what they did before blenders, and that's still what they do where folks don't have blenders. We've done some variations of this as well, usually we'll put something that's too hot in our mouth to cool it down quickly, then we'll give it to Tyler. Now that he's older, we don't do it much anymore. I always reasoned that if DH or I were sick with something, it was just a matter of time before Tyler caught it as well.

[GG]

I haven't necessarily heard anything about this (either positive or negative) but I think that some of the bad bacteria from the mom's mouth isn't good for the baby - heck, many of the bacteria in the mouth isn't even good for the mom (I've heard that humans have one of the dirtiest mouths in nature, no pun intended).  However, as I said, I've never heard about the bacteria issue before so I can't say.

As for the enzymes, I do know that the baby already has the enzymes that it needs to digest his own food.  There are certain foods that babies shouldn't have before 1 year old because their bodies can't digest it properly but those enzymes are found in the stomach and intestines, not the mouth/saliva, so chewing the food beforehand won't do any good for the baby.

Also, I say good for your wife for continuing to breastfeed your baby since she's able to!  :-)  That is very good for him.

[GerryB]

Thanks for the quick replies;   My wife is Chinese, and we are currently visiiting her folks here in China.  I figure there may be some slight risk, but so far its not aparently been a problem since Will is never sick.  They do take extremely good care of their babies here, but i had never seen food passed right from the mouth like that...

Sometimes if I am feeding him, while I am eating too, he gets close and then stares at my mouth, and then looks at me.... I say 'sorry!', spoon only!   ; )

Gerry

[Mom2katiebug]

A dentist friend advised us to avoid mixing our saliva with DDs once she gets teeth as the bacteria that attack teeth (sorry, brain is completely worthless right now; can't think of the proper words) don't develop in babies until they are something like 2 years old.  So, if the LO gets teeth beforehand, there is a natural immunity for them - as long as adult saliva doesn't get in there and start breeding the bacteria.  So, no pre-tasting by mom or dad and then using the same spoon for baby.  But, I didn't ask how much is too much and don't know anything about if they don't have teeth.