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Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2012-05-02 15:15.

Looking for advice!!!

I was so grateful to find this website.... as a new mother it's very helpful information! Our bundle of joy is 5 months old, when I took her for her four mo. Dr. visit they suggested I start feeding her 1 meal as cereal so she can learn texture and how to change the thrusting of her tongue for solids vs. liquids? So much info. is on the internet about when a baby should start eating solids and as new parent it can be very confusing! Any advice on when a baby should start eating and should whole grain cereals be avoided until they reach a year old only giving them mashed veggies & fruits! Love to hear thoughts on this!

Reply

MsGreene

Dr. Greene wrote a great

Dr. Greene wrote a great article about this subject. It's called Timing for Starting Solids. This take is not like most pediatricians. I think you'll find it to be very helpful!

Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 2012-04-05 17:14.

I have a 2 and a 4 year old

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I have a 2 and a 4 year old and even though they're both on WIC I gave them brown rice cereal and made all their foods myself... I know that the low income people should be grateful they're getting food for their kids, but they should maybe get an option to get checks for fresh fruits and veggies instead of 30 jars of "crap" and they should be able to get brown rice cereal instead of white. (not sure how it is in other states of course) My kids have NEVER had candy or processed foods or even white sugar or flour. The 4 year old has been helping me cook and bake since he was 2 and the 2 year old is just starting to help. My son will even tell people that offer him candy that he'd rather have fruit, candy isn't good for you. It's a challenge to afford eating as healthy as we do, but one that's well worth it to my husband and I!
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 2012-04-05 15:22.

I think it's every parents

4
I think it's every parents job to do some research, but it's fairly black and white when you think about it. The more natural something is the better it is for you. Way back when, before all the bleaching and processing. Obesity was unheard of, the people lived of the land and ate things as simple as they came. They wheat came out of the field and after a simple grind was made into bread. Raw fruits were a treat and veritable were a staple. I'm not saying go all covered wagon style, but the mom man makes it or processes it or refines it to sit on your shelf longer....the worse it's going to be for everyone.
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2012-01-13 04:32.

good work guys

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good work guys...
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2011-12-28 23:52.

Raw greens, Avo, Gluten free grains, NO dairy!!!

Raw greens!!! pureed raw spinach, NO dairy whatsoever (there is more protein and calcium in broccolli and other greens) pureed avocado (raw and great!) and quinoa is a GREAT gluten free grain. Gluten is too hard on lil baby tummies and digestive tract. fresh juices are a great way to introduce food straying from Mother's milk. Organic produce ONLY. Never compromise that. Otherwise you are directly feeding your baby toxic chemicals and hormones. It's easy. Yes, it may be slightly more expensive, but shouldn't this be what we spend most of our money on... our and our lil babie's health?
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2011-11-30 11:48.

Baby Led Weaning

Baby led weaning really supports this concept. It's been great for my son to eat whole table foods starting at 6 mos!
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 2011-10-15 18:36.

White Out

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As a pediatric physician assistant I could not agree more with Dr. Greene.....GREAT ADVISE. It is shocking to me how many parents and grandparents want to give there little 4 and 6 week babies rice cereal thinking they will sleep through the night.... I have a 5year old, and 5 months old who I exclusively breast feed. Working FT is tuff but your web site motivates me and reinforces how healthy mothers milk is for babies... I will spread the word!!!!!
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 2011-10-09 12:47.

white rice cereal

Everything I heard and read said that I should give my kids rice cereal as their first food. So I did. :(
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2011-09-27 10:06.

Whole grains for bread and baked goods

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Thanks for bringing this to everyone's attention. While bread gets a bad rap, it is necessary to stress that all breads are not alike. I have a business baking and selling breads, cookies and anything that is made with flour. My products are all made with Organic Whole Grain flour. Some of the grain is wheat, some is quinoa, teff, millet, sorghum etc. Thanks again for your good work. Jacqueline Vasan, owner of Bread from the Heart.
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 2011-09-18 05:23.

THank you Dr. Greene. You

THank you Dr. Greene. You showed me I could make my own food for my daughter. She never ate any processed food and/or baby food her first year.

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Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 2012-02-25 08:35.

I was a better mom before I had kids ...

That sayig "I was a better mom before I had kids" totaly applies to me. I knew what I was going to do it how I was going to do it and how I was going to do it better, then I had my son and my world turned upside down, he didn't sleep through the night (more than 7 hrs until 6 months old, and just a handful, then I got my bearings and my confidence and by the time my daughter was born, I thought I knew it all, wrong again. I didn't I just had more confidence in my choices. So you are absolutely right, make a decision you think its right for your family. Only you get to deal with the consequences or rewards anyways :)Good post.
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2011-09-12 08:01.

Mashed avocado makes a great

Mashed avocado makes a great first food. Very nutritious with lots of healthy fat for brain development and one of the most non-allergenic foods. Steamed and pureed butternut squash is great and really tasty. Making your own food is really easy. I just steamed everything and pureed in a magic bullet. Froze enough for the week. I'm out of the house 10 hours a day and believe me I'm not overachiever. You can do this easily give it a try. The foods taste so much better than the packaged stuff. You can do some cereal yourself my milling brown rice or oatmeal (old fashioned slow cook kind) into a fine powder (again in my magic bullet) before cooking it's dirt cheap and more wholesome. If your on a tight budget making your own foods is much cheaper and trasitioning the baby to table food is much more natural and doesn't require anything more than just slowly thickening the food you cook until finally your just mashing it with a fork.... then on to bite size pieces when your baby is ready...... you don't need any of those fancy devices the baby stores are selling... a magic bullet type grinder or a food processor and a steaming basket(they go in the bottom of the pot).
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 2011-09-01 20:35.

Not even whole grains

I havent even fed my baby anything that comes from grains i.e. rice, cereal, bread, pasta. Not even if its whole grain. Humans started off as hunters, not farmers. We eventually adapted agriculture 11,500 years ago ( i cant remember exactly but compare that to 1.5 million years of hunt-gathering and it's a blink of an eye). As yummy as they are, 10,000 years is debatable on our organism adaptation of grains. Here are some links to support this: http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/07/grains-and-human-evolution.html http://nourishedkitchen.com/against-the-grain-10-reasons-to-give-up-grains/ http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2010/09/20/amber-waves-of-pain/ I know Dr Greene means well. However, if he was to say to not eat grains im sure a lot of companies would come crashing down on him, something he doesnt want. Still, it's a step in the right direction
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2011-08-22 17:17.

My sons first food was brown

My sons first food was brown rice cereal. Yay mommy! My thought is, if its made by Gerber, my son is NOT EATING it. I also wouldn't feed myself processed foods everyday. My son doesn't either, all homemade for him :) he likes it better the way.
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2011-07-18 13:14.

As a 45 years of practice

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As a 45 years of practice pediatrician, I appreciate this article very much. Cereals are not frequently introduced in practice here and most non liquid feeding starts with yoghurt and or vegg´s with cream cheese.and fruit. But I think that the main reason for obesity is overeating, and that this might start, including if breast fed. If all crying or fretting is supposed to be stopped by putting something sweet in baby´s mouth, this might condition a reflex leading to overeating when stressed at later ages. Trying to explain why an infant cries, and that sometimes it is simply "letting off steam", and that expression is necessary sometimes in the day , sometimes is rewarding. Not all parents will buy this though. But it is worth while trying
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2011-01-31 12:42.

No Rice cereal

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Hello Dr Alan I just want to tell u that I agree with u about NOT giving kids that 'DEMON FOOD". I am a mother of 2 boys, Shaqcal who's 14 and ryon who's 8. I have NEVER giving them white rice baby food. I started shaqcal on whole grain and veg's mixed and to every 5 jars of veggy baby food i gave him i would give him 1 jar of fruit. He is now 14 and A very healthy young man, He chooses healthy food over junk food 9 out of 10 times and water and milk over jucie and soda. With ryon i did it a lil different, I still did NOT ever give him white rice baby food, but for ever 5 jars of veggy i gave him 3 jars of fruit. Today he is an active young boy and has always maintened a healthy weight. He does like sugar WAYYYYY more then shaqcal, but still eats healthy. So again i totally %100 agree with u about NOT starting babies on white rice is the BEST thing anybody can do for there kids. Thank u for bringing this to the worlds attention. Hopefully people open there eyes and see that just because something had been around for MANY MANY years and has been told to us by countless doctors that maybe just maybe those doctors are WRONG and mother follow there gut feeling instead of what's THE NORM". Thank u From a greatful mother of 2 healthy boys Elexcyus Kramble. :)
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2010-12-07 21:41.

To the comment below

My son was on wic and they started handing out fresh fruit and veggie vouchers, whole wheat bread,brown rice, juice and such more. Granted they did give me a large amount of baby food, a majority of my sons food were fresh puree food, being on wic formlow income family to feed there kids can work for them, breast is best, there is a good way to fight obesity,fight a lot of disease, feed them from the breast from the start. It's so easy and so much better and could be in the budget if people would just think in advance that being heathlynand cooking health is not that much more expensive. That just my thought.

Reply

DrGreene

Thanks for your response!

Breast milk is the ultimate bargain: incredible nutrition, always changing, tailored to specific needs -- and all it costs is the mother's burning an extra 300 calories a day or so. And it lowers the odds that in the first year the baby will need antibiotics, surgery, or to spend the night in the hospital. And it lowers lifetime cancer risk for the mother and for the baby. Great for Mom; great for Baby. I'm a fan of shared food as babies get older as well: a few bites of healthy food the mom is eating, mashed or pureed or as finger food. Costs little if anything extra, teaches good habits, and again, great for the whole family.
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2010-12-03 06:04.

WIC

What do you suggest that low-income parents do who are receiving WIC as the bulk of their baby food? The only way they will change the food items is if the parents have a doctor's prescription. As a 25 year second grade teacher, I have noticed in my area, the majority of obese children fit into the low-income category and recieve government supplement for their food.

Reply

DrGreene

I'm glad you asked!

Virtually 100% of WIC babies have been started on processed white flour cereal, according to a 2002 report. It's time to change that! One of the goals of the WhiteOut campaign is that these babies be given healthy, whole foods from the start. It's a big deal: about two millions babies in the US are fed through the WIC program each year. These are often the ones most in need of obesity prevention and healthy food. In the short run, many WIC offices will give parents whole grain baby cereals instead of white flour -- if they ask for it (parents shouldn't have to ask). Just asking for oatmeal instead of rice could accomplish the switch to whole grain. I'd be happy to talk with someone at your WIC program if they won't help (WIC is different from region to region). Or parents can skip cereals for babies altogether -- babies can get the nutrients they need from what they drink (breast milk or formula) and vegetables, fruits, egg yolks, etc.

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Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2011-07-13 11:07.

So are we!

As a WIC Nutritionist, let me be the first to say "We know!". We would love to give nothing but fresh, healthy foods. More consumers need to write the USDA and demand changes, because we can not do it alone. FYI, most WIC baby cereal vouchers offer rice, oatmeal, barley or whole grain cereals, and parents can choose any of those options. I never recommend rice as a first food, but many pediatricians still tell our moms to give rice at four months. It takes all of us to change a nation's habits.

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Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2011-08-30 02:08.

WIC

I have used WIC since 1st found I was pregnant. There are a lot of healthy options to choose when using the vouchers. Parents need to be aware of what is out there. My baby is 3 months old and I have already started looking at the baby food options on the shelves so that I know what to talk to the nutritionist about on my next visit. Blaming WIC for parents unhealthy choices is not the solution. I havnt eaten a bite a white bread since I started on WIC and my plan is to share my food with my lil guy when he gets older, the fruits and veggie vouchers are so helpful! Bottom line is, if the parents dont make healthy choices for themselves, how can we expect them to make healthy choices for their kids?