Health Food Versions of Baby Cereal

First Food, Fruits and Vegetables

Baby Cereals

The easiest thing for children to digest are simple grains in the form of baby cereals comes premixed or in "flakes" and you add water of formula to it. Three different kinds are available; rice,oatmeal and barley. Rice cereal is one of the easiest foods to digest. You can also find "health food" versions of baby cereal that are made with brown rice or whole oats. As long as these are intended for feeding babies, youcan choose this option.

Follow directions on the cereal package and make sure you don't underconstitute; That means if the instructions tell you to put 1/4 of a cup of water in, don'put 1/8 of a cup of water,thinking that if it's thicker, it'll be better. (On the other hand, you can put in more water if your child is not yet used to the consistency, and her tongue is sticking a little on the food). To repeat; Never add less water than the manufacturer"s instructions suggest.

Occasionally you will find cereal in jarred form. Use it if you like, but you are probably going to throw away a lot of the leftovers.

Introduce wheat  cereals last. There are good reasons to delay adding wheat to children's diets, even until age two, for children with family histories of specific wheat allergies or strong tendencies toward asthma and eczema. Wheat warning; many commercial baby cereals that are labeled  "mixed cereal" contain weat. Instead of saying "wheat" righ on the box, however as they would for "rice cereal", oatmeal cerealand barley cereal, the box that wheat in it says "mixed cereal" It doesn't  mention wheat at all. Introduce wheat only after you've introduced the other three grains. Once you get arround to introducing wheat into your child's diet, which should happen at eigh month, you can also give her tiny pieces of pasta that she can scoop up to feed herself.

Fruits and Vegetables

Once baby has tried cereal successfully, you may add fruits and vegetables. Because texture is important for your child to learn about, offer a real banana when your baby is about eight months old. Instead of pureeing it in a blender or buying a jarred version, mash aripe one with a fork and let your baby scoop it up with her hands to eat. Avocado is another good choice for this technique, and its vegetable to boot.

It is easier for baby (anybody) to digest yellow vegetables than green ones. With that fact in maind, introduce your baby to carrots, squashes, and sweet potatoes first. Don't include corn, which is one of the hardest foods to digest. Don't worry if your child turns a little yellow on the tip of her nose and cheeks after eating lots of yellow veggies. It's not jaundice. It's from carotene, a naturally yellow, Vitamin-rich substance in the vegetables, and it's good for baby. The color eventually fades. Wait to introduce citrus fruits and berries until after ten months, because these too can be hard for baby to digest and may trigger allergies in some children.

Protein ; Egg whites are pure protein

You can start to add protein foods at seven or eight months. That includes soft cheeses, tofu, yogurts, beans, and poultry. Go very slowly with each new protein because they are hard for baby to digest and often require some chewing besides. If you are choosing a vegetarian lifestyle, be aware of special considerations for providing B12 and iron.

Do not start red meat or fish yet. Early introduction of red meat has been linked to development of colon disorders in adult life. Fish-and, in particular, shellfish-allergies are common. These problems are less likely to occur if you wait until baby is lmost age two to introduce him to fish and red meats. Peanut butter should also be avoided until age two.

Egg whites are pure protein, but don't introduce them tp your baby until after the first birtday. However, you may add egg yolk to the diet at six months-but only in hard-boiled form. Before children reach age two, cholesterol from eggs is good for them, with rare exceptions in cases of families with inherited cholesterol disorders. Ask your doctor to guide you. The majority of six-month-old children can eat as much egg yolk as they like.

The Body Allergic

An allergy us the response of your body to something it doesn't want in your body. The body creates antibodies to "foreign" thing in the system, and that antibody stays in the memory of your immune system to fight off future attacks by the same kinds of organisms. In some cases, we keep that memory forever; in other, only for a few years The body's allergic response can be violent, causing air passages to swell so that breathing is very difficult. It can even lead to death if left untreated. Fortunately, the majority of allergic reactions are limited to itchy, runny eyes and nose and maybe a scratchy feeling in the throat

Most food allergies start in the first year of life. In fac, the earlier you introduce foods, the more likely and the more severe allergies can be. That is whay you are advised to wait until your child is a bit older-closer to one year old-before offering such foods as egg white, berries, and citrus fruits. Many kind have " skin allergies" ; that is, they break out in eczema when exposed to certain triggers Some of those kind are also likely to be asthmatic. Often children with asthma and eczema are also allergic to foods including milk protein, peanut, egg whites, wheat, citrus fruits, and berries

These are the usual culprits, but the suspect list may be even longer. your child may benefit from a full allergy evaluation if he fits the classic picture of asthma, eczema and allergies. Some time a blood test can be done to decide whether a child is allergic to a food. Other times the descriptions of symptoms is sufficient to conclude that there is an allergy. The younger the child, the less accurate blood testing is for allergies, however.Allergies are often overdiagnosed.

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