Cow’s Milk and Babies: Wait until One Year

Cow’s Milk and Babies: Wait until One Year

October 25th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Although your baby may have been on a cow’s milk based formula since birth and has tried other dairy products such as yogurt, you should still hold off on giving your baby cow’s milk for the first 12 months of life. Cow’s milk can cause a number of problems, and differs from other dairy based products in its safety for babies.

Cow’s Milk and Baby’s Body

Under one year of age, your baby’s digestive system simply isn’t ready for cow’s milk. The proteins can be difficult to digest and can cause gastrointestinal problems. In large amounts, cow’s milk can damage the lining of baby’s stomach, resulting in internal bleeding. This is only one of the ways in which cow’s milk can lead to low iron levels in baby and serious consequences.

Cow’s milk is also known to block the absorption of iron, which is essential to your baby’s blood. Iron helps to create new red blood cells and also hemoglobin. Low iron results in low levels of red blood cells and a reduced ability for oxygen to be carried throughout the body. This is known as iron deficiency anemia, and it is common in babies who do not get enough iron through baby food diet. Cow’s milk can cause iron deficiency anemia through both blocked iron absorption and also by causing stomach bleeding that leaches more iron from the bloodstream.

As your baby grows past one year, the digestive system will be better able to handle the proteins in milk, but the risk of anemia still exists, so cow’s milk intake should always be regulated.

Why Some Dairy Products are Safe

Not all dairy carries the same risks as cow’s milk. In foods like cheese and yogurt the processing methods that are used in manufacturing break down the protein and the lactose, making them easier to digest. This is why many lactose intolerant people are able to eat these foods and yet can’t drink milk. The same applies to cow’s milk based formulas, however there are still some babies who can’t tolerate even the dairy protein in these formulas and need a different option.

The main difference between milk and other dairy products is that yogurt and cheese are unlikely to be eaten in large amounts, and are even less likely to replace formula or breast milk. During the first year, your baby needs all the nutrients that are provided by these sources. Cow’s milk does not provide everything a baby needs nutritionally. After one year old, babies are able to use cow’s milk as a beverage because they are eating larger amounts of solid baby foods that provide a much better nutritional base. A baby who starts drinking cow’s milk too early may skip formula or breast milk feedings and lose important nutrients.

Until your baby is a year old, the only beverage that is really required is breast milk or formula. Along with meeting all of your baby’s nutritional needs, they also offer plenty of fluid intake to keep baby hydrated. Once your baby is a year old, you can start to replace these feedings with cow’s milk and wean from the breast or bottle. At this time you should still be cautious that baby gets less than 24 ounces of cow’s milk every day. This will prevent anemia and also make certain milk isn’t replacing meals.

Starting Baby on Snacks

Starting Baby on Snacks

October 1st, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

When your baby starts to master the art of eating solid foods and increases his intake, you will probably start thinking about adding a snack or two to his diet. The key to giving your baby snacks is to remember that they should be small portions and should be healthy choices. Snack time is also a great time for baby to work on his pincer grasp, so finger foods are a great choice.

When to Add Snacks

Most babies will start on finger foods at around 9 months of age, when they start to develop the pincer grasp. This is a great time to add a snack to your baby’s menu. Remember that during these early days of solid foods, your baby is still getting most of his nutrition from breast milk or formula. Snacks are about developing skills more than about nutrition.

That doesn’t mean that what your baby eats for a snack shouldn’t be nutritious! At this age, everything your baby eats should be basic, healthy foods, and this includes snacks. Start with one small snack a day. You might want to save it for a time when you need a few minutes to accomplish something, especially if you plan to serve a finger food as a snack. As with meals, serve snacks after a breast or bottle feeding to ensure the solid food does not replace the essential nutrition of breast milk or formula.

Good Snack Choices for Babies

Healthy snacks for babies should be fairly similar to the foods they are eating as meals, with the exception of adding some classic finger foods. Remember that a snack should not be a meal, but should be small portions of a food that will help baby hang in until the next scheduled feeding. Before serving any snack, make certain your baby is able to eat the food in question – you should be seeing signs of the ability to mash food with her gums and she should be handling thicker, chunkier foods. Otherwise, you will have to stick to smooth snacks that don’t require chewing.

Fruit, cereals like Cheerios, yogurt and cheese are all great snack choices for babies. Soft fruits like bananas and peaches make great snacks that baby can easily mash with his gums. Be sure to cut them into small enough bites to avoid any risk of choking.

Many babies love cheese, and it makes an excellent snack. It’s a good source of protein as well as calcium. Cut it into small slices, and start with a fairly soft, mild flavored cheese like mozzarella. You can then move on stronger cheeses as baby adjusts. A few pieces of cheese served with a food that provides fiber, such as applesauce or whole grain cereal like Cheerios will make a good balanced snack with both protein and fiber for sustained energy.

As your baby eats larger meals more often, you will probably want to add a second snack. Into the second year of life, when formula or breast milk no longer provides all of baby’s nutrition, baby should be eating three meals a day along with two snacks. At this point, it will become more important to provide nutritious snacks that will keep baby going until her next meal. As baby grows, her snack options will expand along with her skills; she will be better able to chew and will often eat snacks without much assistance, giving mom a much-needed break.

Introducing Baby to Yogurt

Introducing Baby to Yogurt

September 25th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Yogurt is a delicious, healthy snack for all ages, and makes a great early baby food. Learn what to look for in a yogurt to serve to your baby and how to introduce it.

The Benefits of Yogurt

Yogurt is full of vitamins and minerals that are an important part of a healthy diet. On top of being a great source of protein and calcium, among other nutrients, yogurt also provides probiotics. These are the good bacteria that help to keep the digestive system running smoothly and provide immune support to keep your baby healthy. Probiotics have been linked with fewer digestive problems such as gas, constipation and diarrhea in babies. They are also known to help fight yeast infections and shorten the duration of gastrointestinal illness.

Choosing a Yogurt for Your Baby

When selecting a yogurt for your baby, avoid those labeled low fat or fat free. Your baby needs the fat for brain and eye development, so look for a yogurt made with whole milk. You should start your baby with plain, whole milk yogurt, to which you can add fruit purees that you have already served and are sure baby can tolerate.

There are yogurts on the market that are intended for consumption by babies, but they usually carry a hefty price tag. You can get all the same benefits by purchasing a large tub of whole milk yogurt and mixing in your own fruits for flavor while avoiding the added sugar many of these yogurts contain. As your baby progresses, you can also add vanilla yogurt for a different flavor.

When to Introduce Yogurt

Although you may have heard the “no dairy before one year” rule, this doesn’t apply to dairy products such as cheese and yogurt. Doctors recommend against cow’s milk as a beverage before one year old because it can replace breast milk or formula and deprive baby of needed nutrients. Too much can also cause anemia. There is no risk of this with yogurt, however, as it won’t replace breast or bottle feedings.

Yogurt also does not carry the risk of a reaction to lactose, because the process by which it is made breaks down the lactose and makes it easier to digest. The same culturing process makes the protein in yogurt easy on your baby’s stomach. It is safe to introduce yogurt as one of baby’s first foods, although 7-8 months old is usually the recommended age.

Start with small amounts of yogurt, plain at first, and then start adding different combinations of fruits and even vegetables to the mix. You can also blend in some infant cereal along with the fruit for a complete, balanced meal in one. Fruits that go great with plain yogurt include applesauce, peaches, pears, blueberries and bananas. Although it seems strange to an adult palate, babies may enjoy a vegetable mixed with yogurt as well! Try sweet potatoes or pumpkin.

Plain yogurt provides a healthy base for creating all kinds of flavorful combinations for your baby to enjoy. As your baby grows, you can add chunkier fruits and even create smoothies from yogurt and fruit for baby to enjoy from a sippy cup and eventually a straw cup. Yogurt is a versatile baby food full of nutrients and other healthy components, and is a great early addition to baby’s diet.

Which Foods Should be Withheld from Babies?

Which Foods Should be Withheld from Babies?

September 15th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Choosing the right baby foods for your baby can be a little complicated. In addition to choosing foods that are easy to digest, you also need to be on the lookout for potential allergens and some foods that are just downright dangerous. Fortunately, it’s fairly easy to clear up the mystery of which foods baby can have early on, and which you should wait to offer until baby is a little older.

Introduction of Allergenic Foods

Some foods are known to carry a higher risk of an allergic reaction than others. Many of these foods are also more likely to result in a serious allergic reaction, rather than a mild one. Until recently, new parents were advised to delay the introduction of such highly allergenic foods as strawberries, eggs, peanuts and peanut butter in all children to avoid potentially serious allergic reactions. Recently, however, the AAP has changed their stance on this based on the new research. There is no indication that delaying allergenic foods has any impact on allergic reactions. Introducing these foods earlier may in fact be beneficial to babies.

There are exceptions to every rule, including every feeding rule. If there is a history of severe food allergies in your immediate family, especially yourself, your spouse or a sibling of the baby, it’s still a good idea to wait on potential allergens. Talk to your baby’s doctor about when to introduce these foods and how to do it safely.

Unless you have reason to be concerned, however, most children can be safely introduced to allergenic foods right along with other foods.

Cow’s Milk

The AAP recommends that you wait to introduce your baby to cow’s milk until after one year of age. There are a few reasons for this, but they are mostly related to nutrition and your baby’s immature digestive system. The balance of nutrients in cow’s milk does not meet your baby’s needs in some areas, and may exceed them in other areas. The protein in cow’s milk is very difficult for a baby’s digestive system to handle. Cow’s milk also blocks the absorption of iron in the system which can lead to anemia. It can cause widespread problems throughout your baby’s system.

After one year of age, as your baby weans off of breast milk or formula, it is ok to start giving cow’s milk. Stick to whole milk, which provides the fat your baby needs for proper development.

Other dairy products, such as yogurt and cheese, are ok to serve to baby prior to turning one. Because they are processed and broken down, they won’t cause the same problems as drinking milk can.

Avoiding Honey

Although a great natural sweetener that has been proven to have numerous health benefits, honey is unsafe for children under one year of age. It can contain botulism spores, which are generally harmless to older people, but can make a baby very sick and even be lethal.

After one year of age, it’s safe to start giving your baby honey as a sweetener or a very effective cough medicine.

If you are ever in doubt about the safety of a food for your baby, it’s best to check with your pediatrician before you try it. As babies have underdeveloped digestive and immune systems, things that don’t affect adults can make them very sick. Better safe than sorry is always the best rule of thumb.

Is All Cheese Safe During Pregnancy?

Is All Cheese Safe During Pregnancy?

July 1st, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Cheese is a great source of calcium and a healthy snack for pregnant women. However, there are some cheeses that should be approached with caution to avoid potentially harmful bacteria. You may have heard that you should avoid “soft” cheese such as Brie, as well as Feta cheese. Not all of these cheeses are dangerous, you just have to check for one important word: pasteurized.

What Is Pasteurization?

Created by (and named for) chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur in the mid 1800s, the process of pasteurization is intended to kill dangerous bacteria, or pathogens in foods. It is most often used on milk, and involves heating the milk to a temperature high enough to kill the bacteria. The term flash pasteurization simply means the product is heated very quickly and then cooled again. This process is often used on eggs and is believed to improve the taste.

Milk sold in US grocery stores today has been pasteurized. It not only makes the milk safer for consumption, but also extends shelf life. You can also purchase eggs that have been pasteurized, which allows the consumption of them in recipes where they are not cooked to be safe.

Pasteurization And Cheese

The reason that some cheeses have been on the unsafe list for consumption by pregnant women is that they are made with unpasteurized milk. This means that they can contain listeria, a bacteria known to be very harmful or even deadly to a developing fetus. This is the same reason pregnant women are advised against eating deli meats, which can often contain listeria as well.

Soft cheeses like Brie, Camembert, and blue cheeses as well as Feta cheese are often made with unpasteurized milk. The reason for choosing this less-safe option is generally the flavor. These cheeses depend on bacteria for their unique taste, and pasteurized milk can affect the flavor, so many manufacturers continue to make their cheese with raw milk. However, not all of these cheeses are made with unpasteurized milk. Read the label – if it states that pasteurized milk was used, the cheese is safe for consumption during pregnancy.

With more companies producing pasteurized cheeses, Brie, Feta, and the rest of the once-banned soft cheeses can make reappearance in a healthy pregnancy diet.

What About Other Cheeses?

Hard cheeses, such as cheddar and parmesan, are safe to consume during pregnancy. With all cheeses, however, make sure to follow safe handling instructions. Keep the cheese refrigerated, and don’t eat it past the best by date on the package. If you are purchasing your cheese from a deli, try to choose one that is busy and thus has a high turn-around for the cheese on their shelves. Even cheese made with pasteurized milk can be re-contaminated if not handled properly.

Processed cheeses such as American, ricotta, cream cheese and cottage cheese are also considered safe for consumption during pregnancy, but follow the same warnings listed above to ensure food safety. The rule of thumb is to refrigerate and consume promptly.

If you aren’t sure about a cheese, simply don’t eat it. That tantalizing cheese tray at the party may look delicious, but unless you are sure of what is on it and how long it has been sitting out, skip it. It’s not worth your baby’s health.

By taking some precautions, you can make all kinds of cheeses a healthy part of your pregnancy diet, and enjoy some you might have thought were off limits.