Organic Diet for Toddler

[ShellyB]

Is anyone using an organic diet for their babes?  We have been and it seems to be fairly successful to date.  This has been on the advice of a naturopath.  My dd is 14 months old and her diet consists of mainly vegetables, chicken, tofu, and brown rice (all organic).  She hasn't been introduced to beef, pork, breads or cookies/candies yet.

We've kept her on formula (16 oz per day) to keep up her calories.  She seems very happy, has very few mood swings (not very much sugar in her diet) and sleeps about 14 hrs per day (still on 2 naps + 12 hours at night).

I'm interested to know if anyone else has gone down this path and what your experiences have been.

Thank you

[A_C]

My dd has been on organic food or 'all natural' variety since she started on solids.  We have been very happy with this arrangement and just like you I have not introduced sugar into her diet...nor am I in any rush!  To sweeten some of her food we use naturally sweetened organic apple sauce which she seems to like very much. I have made veg. meals consisting of broccoli; cauliflower; spinach; carrots; butternut squash; and org. chicken....which have all met her approval. I have given her a bit of bread and she has had beef jarred org. baby food...but never made an actual beef meal yet.  I in fact intend to get some organic beef today (maybe some ground beef)and make a beef meal for her (wish me luck)!  She is also 14 months like your dd! 

Incidentally, what do you do with the tofu....how do you prepare it for your lo? Thanks 

Ana

[ShellyB]

Hi Ana

Thanks for your reply.  It is so great to meet someone who is also trying the organic thing!  And, our dds are only days apart in their birthdays!

Like you, we have tired a variety of vegetables.  She loves avocado, winter and summer squash, sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, and we started chicken, eggs, and brown rice a couple of months ago.  I was concerned that she wasn't getting enough protein, so I add tofu (silken tofu - which is almost a liquid form of tofu) to her avocado and other mashed vegetables.  I also mix the rice into her vegetoables to give her some grains.  (All organic).

I have recently found some noodles made with brown rice and some organic pasta sauce that I am going to try today.

We haven't introduced fruit yet, but pears and apples will be the first that we do.  I'm starting to see signals that she wants more substance at her meals, so I think adding in the pasta will help to do that.  I also add an iron supplement to her formula as I was also concerned that she's not getting enough iron.
Finally, I add about a teaspoon of fish oil (lemon flavoured) to her avocado (to give her Omega 3 and 6 once per day for brain development).  We've kept her on 16 oz of formula to ensure she gets enough calories, as the vegetables are pretty light in total.  As she is lactose sensitive, if we reduce her formula we will give her soy milk.

I'm by no means an organic fanatic.  However, our naturopath said that if we can get her established on a solid base of vegetables in her first few years of life, that she will love vegetables for the rest of it.  Something I can say I wish I was better at myself.  He also attributes her somewhat mild manner (yet she has TONS of energy) to the limited amounts of sugar in her diet.

Let me know if you have anything to add to the above.  Let me know how giving her beef goes. 

Thanks again for sharing your experiences with me.

Shelly

[Mum-of-Two]

Hi there, I hope you don't mind my poking in on the conversation.  We try to go organic where we can, primarily with milk but I make an effort with thin skinned items where we can afford it trying to avoid pesticides.  At any rate, my LO loves this soup I make her using organic chicken broth, spinach, small noodles and carrots.  Usually I make the broth myself with chicken and a variety of veggies -- it helps get the carrots get really soft otherwise they're a pain to cook alone.  Protein is a big issue for us, LO gags on eggs and spits out anything resembling meat both chicken and red meats -- so the soup at least is in a protein based broth and I feel good about that.

[jumblebox]

Here's a list of the worst & best produce, with regards to pesticides.
http://www.foodnews.org/

We use organic when it's available and within our (rather tight) budget. We especially try to aim for getting the "worst" fruits/vegs on the list, in organic form. (Somehow, most of them also seem to be the highest priced and least available!) I figure that reducing his exposure to treated foods is better than doing nothing... and he's been quite healthy so far!

[A_C]

Hi Shelly!

Well I got some organic ground beef mixed with 2 eggs (kind of like a meat loaf) and baked in the oven.  Pureed the beef with some steamed carrots, butter, milk and some of the broth from the carrots (packed with nutrients) and I also mixed some apricot flavored applesauce (all ingredients are either all natural or organic).  We are gradually increasing texture in her food and was a bit concerned of how she would take it.  She is currently working on her 4th tooth, only.  Would you believe she loved it???  In the future I intend to add some low sodium (or if poss. salt free) beef broth for flavor.  I also got quite inspired by your post and went on ahead and got the silken tofu!    I will mix that with her greens which I will make next (broccoli, spinach, kale)...wish me luck!    I will also try brown rice.  Like you, I haven't exposed dd to too much fruit...except for bananas which she just LOVES ... I bet she would be so pleased if she had bananas all day long!    I will slowly do that as well.  I am however very interested in the fish oil.  I looked at it at the store but figured that I get it the next time...that is an excellent idea about providing the Omega 3. Thanks!  I also completely agree about the sugar and thankfully my dd loves her veggies (particularly greens) ...tried to set a good foundation as much as possible.  Definitely keep us posted with any ideas or how your dd takes to different fruit.

Welcome GvackM and Lisa!    Thanks for the link Lisa...will check it out as well...i think that is very helpful.  You know the problem with organic is indeed cost.  Have you considered also trying the 'All-natural' varieties which I have found to be considerably cheaper than organics.

We use organic when it's available and within our (rather tight) budget. We especially try to aim for getting the "worst" fruits/vegs on the list, in organic form. (Somehow, most of them also seem to be the highest priced and least available!) I figure that reducing his exposure to treated foods is better than doing nothing... and he's been quite healthy so far!

I completely agree!

Thanks ladies!  It is wonderful sharing ideas.

Ana 

[Mum-of-Two]

As a side note Ana, my Elise only has 4 teeth too and she is exactly 15 months today.  We've had some night crying so I'm thinking more teeth are coming... but I've thought that before and so far... only 4 !   

[A_C]

As a side note Ana, my Elise only has 4 teeth too and she is exactly 15 months today.  We've had some night crying so I'm thinking more teeth are coming... but I've thought that before and so far... only 4 !  

It is reassuring to know it is just not us...not that I am really complaining, since we are still nursing 

Ana

[ShellyB]

Hi Ana

Thanks for your post - sorry to take so long to respond.  It's been a busy 6 weeks, but I'm back!

I have introduced bananas, oranges and strawberries to Katie's diet.  She LOVES bananas too!  She asks for them constantly and does sign language - which is quite hilarious.  We've been pretty judicious in her fruit consumption, so we're giving her fruit about every other day.

I had some great success making brown rice pancakes.  I mixed organic brown rice flour with some baking soda and a very small amount of organic sugar.  I then poured the batter into a frying pan and put sliced bananas on the pancakes as they cooked.  It was a real hit.  I'm also exploring making some rice/quinoa flour bread.  We're still off wheat and will be for some time (2 yrs likely), but I'd like to give her a few more carbohydrates just to fill our her diet a bit.

She continues to be a great sleeper and her moods are very steady - she's mostly in a good mood, thankfully!!

How is your daughter's weight doing on this diet?  Katie has been holding at 25 lbs for the past 2 months.  I weigh her again on the 10th (monthly), so we'll see if she's gained much more.

Tks again for your post.

Shelly

[Sylvia.]

hi, i give my girls as much organic as possible

i found the list interesting, especially avocado, i buy heaps of avocado when in season and organic cost heaps more than conventional, i think i will put my $ somewhere else

do you girls eat organics yourselves, we all eat as much organic as possible, we have not moved into organic meats for us, but i am using mostly organics for the baby and did the same for dd1, only now she is eating our food she is being exposed to conventional meat

i found this interesting, what are you girls doing about hair care and skin care?

[ShellyB]

Hi there
We're slowly switching over to organic food - as our dd becomes more mainstream in her eating, it makes it easier to prep food if we're all eating from the same source.  The prices have dropped in Canada, so it is less of a $ issue for us, thankfully.  Meat, poultry and fish are another matter however as they are very expensive, more than double conventional prices.  We're trying to keep her on complete organics until she's at least 2 and then we'll re-evaluate.

We haven't done much on the skin care/hair care front although we use Aveda products for ourselves, and will eventually use an all natural product with dd, but they seem to have a lot of fragrance in them, so until then, we using hypoallergenic products, but minimizing these.  Any suggestions?

Thanks for your post.

[Sylvia.]

we are using al'chemy for shampoo, have not found a bubble bath yet

[A_C]

Hi Ana

Thanks for your post - sorry to take so long to respond.  It's been a busy 6 weeks, but I'm back!

I have introduced bananas, oranges and strawberries to Katie's diet.  She LOVES bananas too!  She asks for them constantly and does sign language - which is quite hilarious.  We've been pretty judicious in her fruit consumption, so we're giving her fruit about every other day.

I had some great success making brown rice pancakes.  I mixed organic brown rice flour with some baking soda and a very small amount of organic sugar.  I then poured the batter into a frying pan and put sliced bananas on the pancakes as they cooked.  It was a real hit.  I'm also exploring making some rice/quinoa flour bread.  We're still off wheat and will be for some time (2 yrs likely), but I'd like to give her a few more carbohydrates just to fill our her diet a bit.

She continues to be a great sleeper and her moods are very steady - she's mostly in a good mood, thankfully!!

How is your daughter's weight doing on this diet?  Katie has been holding at 25 lbs for the past 2 months.  I weigh her again on the 10th (monthly), so we'll see if she's gained much more.

Tks again for your post.

Shelly

Hi Shelly!  So when you make the pancakes for your dd how do you actually serve it to her....is it like finger food where she just bites off pieces or do you grind it up a bit in the food prcessor?  I have to admit that we are verrrry slowly introducing texture more and more to my dd...though in no rush.  I just don't want her to gag so I still grind up her food and just increase the texture with each batch of meals.  I haven't actually weighed her since her 12 months visit (don't have a scale and we don't go back to the doctors until she tunrs 18 months old).  I however do know that she is putting on weight as she is now outgrowing her 18 month clothes and wearing 2T sizes.  She had a bit of a growth spurt about a week and a half ago and her head now is at the same level as our dining room table...after that she began to chunk up pretty fast. I continue to introduce more organic veggies (she loves her greens so much...just don't know where she got that from lol)...this time we intriduced eggplant and zucchini (though she broke out a bit on her face....may havea beena  mild reaction to either one - should have introduced those one at a time).  For dinner she has Kale, spinach, brown rice, carrots and org. tofu for her veggie mix which she just loves; along with 4 tbs. of Yogurt (All natural Brown Cow with cream on top) with apple sauce; and her oatmeal with apple sauce.  For her lunch  I also made a version of chicken noodle soup (except that it is much less soupy and packed with meat and veggies)...this was a bit too chunky for her I suppose as she still gags a bit when I give her this but finishes with no problem once she gets the hang of it.  After this she has a 4.5 ounce bottle of Earth's Best Apple Peach Barley or Pear Apple Oatmeal fro desert.  Her breakfast meal consists of acorn squash, butternut squash, carrots all mixed with milk and lots of butter (all organic as well); then one org. banana; and some cream topped yogurt with apple sauce.  This all changes after the respective batches of meals are finished then it is off to the store to figure out a new menu for about 2 weeks (this is how long each batch lasts ..they are stored in small containers in the freezer).  Oh and DD is also still a very good sleeper..though in the past week or so she has had about 2 night wakings I believe due to teething as this is so out of character for her....she had 4 teeth breaking through including her canines now (I hear those can be pretty painful).

hi, i give my girls as much organic as possible

i found the list interesting, especially avocado, i buy heaps of avocado when in season and organic cost heaps more than conventional, i think i will put my $ somewhere else

do you girls eat organics yourselves, we all eat as much organic as possible, we have not moved into organic meats for us, but i am using mostly organics for the baby and did the same for dd1, only now she is eating our food she is being exposed to conventional meat

i found this interesting, what are you girls doing about hair care and skin care?

Currently we are very slowly moving to organics or all natural stuff.  I think once DD starts eating the same food we eat...the process will be pretty much academic as we would like to maintain keeping her intake to all natural (cheaper) and organic.  For hair and skin care....still conventional stuff. For DD we use Johnson's products pretty much.

[maggie2]

Jumping in here if you dont' mind!  We also do as much organic/whole foods as possible, although I admit there is definately room for improvement!!!

I haven't read through all of the posts in their entirety, but I saw someone asking about bath products - we use "California Baby" - they have body/hair washes and bubble baths - you can get at least the body wash in fragrance free.  We also use Aveda for ourselves, although I'm not really sure how good that is...

As far as food goes, unfortunately I go in waves with my motivation   But we always have organic, grass fed milk, cheese and dairy products fresh from the farm - I love this!  A lady in my neighborhood makes the trip to the farm every two weeks (it's about 45 min away) for everyone and we just give her the order. 

My main concern is to always get organic, grass-fed (for beef) or pasture-raised (for chicken) animal products - milk, meat, eggs, etc. as I think these are the most important to consume good quality products.  We also get organic produce as often as possible - this year, I've joined a farm-share where we get fresh produce and eggs delivered every week - all organic except the fruit, which is very difficult to grow organically in this area - I would rather have fresh, local non-organic fruit (esp. when I can get to know the farmer) than organic fruit that has travelled long and far   I can't wait for the deliveries to start - it will be the first week of June!!!  Yum!!!

Right now, ds loves milk and yogurt, sometimes loves eggs and will eat lots of cucumbers, broccoli and fruit..  Unfortunately, the in-laws don't share the same thoughts on diet that we do, so they stuff him full of white bread and ice cream whenever they can   We're usually over there at least once a week for dinner, but I figure he can handle it   I try to compensate with a good diet for the rest of the week (and bring over at least his healthy milk or healthy snacks to the in-laws).

On of his favorite things is a smoothie that I make for him - with just the plain yogurt, I add about an ounce or two of juice (to about 6 oz of yogurt) or I'll make a super special smoothie in the blender with frozen berries.  It's amazing how much sugar is in the little yogurts you buy at the store!!!  So I prefer to give him only plain yogurt or a yogurt smoothie

Anyway, I've just about written a book by now - sorry!