Baby Food Recipes, News and Information

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We get lots of e mails from parents whose babies are eating the same thing at virtually every meal because they are reluctant to try anything else! In fact, one Mum last week was serving bananas to her 7 month old every day because she was anxious that - if she didn't - he would not be receiving adequate nutrition.

Fortunately, bananas are a great food, packed with goodness. Nevertheless, babies do ultimately need a varied diet, which offers them a broader range of tastes, textures and nutrients.

When trying to widen the range of foods that your baby will accept, remember that there is no hurry and that patience is key. For the best part of his first year, your baby will be receiving most of his nutrients from his milk, whether breast milk or formula.

Top Tips For Getting Baby To Try New Foods

• Eat the new food along with your baby. Smile and show enjoyment... and he may be inclined to follow suit!

• Don't assume that, because your baby has rejected a particular food once, he will do so again. You may need to offer a particular food many, many times to your baby before he will accept it - his taste buds are changing and developing all the time. To avoid frustration on your part, the trick is to only prepare a small amount of the new food - don't make up a whole batch of pureed sweet potato, for example, if you're not sure whether or not your baby will like it.

• Introduce a new food at the beginning of the meal rather than at the end. This is when your baby will be most hungry and more likely to try something new. If you feel that your baby is extra hungry, though, then take the edge off his appetite first with a few tastes of a more familiar food.

• Don't try introducing new flavours when your baby is teething, tired or just plain grumpy! He will not be receptive to changes in his diet and may become even more irritable.

• Try mixing new foods into familiar ones. A good tip is to combine a veggie puree that your baby enjoys along with a new one that he is rejecting. At first, make sure that the predominant flavour is the familiar one... but slowly reduce the amount of the familiar food until - hopefully - your baby is enjoying the new food by itself.

• Don't assume that - if your baby refuses carrot puree - he will refuse ALL carrot dishes. Our third daughter detested pureed carrots but loved to eat soft, cooked carrots as a finger food. This applies, of course, to all different types of food.

• Don't force your baby to eat a food that he clearly doesn't enjoy - imagine how you would feel if that was being done to you! There is no ONE food that all babies need to eat - if your little one doesn't like something, then simply try an alternative food with similar nutritional properties!

For more information about dealing with common feeding problems during baby's first year, why not check out our helpful links below?

How much should my baby be eating?
Gagging problems and introducing lumpy foods
My baby won't eat from a spoon
My baby won't eat vegetables
Baby feeding tips

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March 27, 2007 07:24 - Great Deals And Coupons From Sony ImageStation (US)

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March 27, 2007 13:35 - Travelling With Breast Milk

Mothering magazine has published an excellent article about travelling with frozen breast milk. The article is aimed primarily at working, breastfeeding mothers, travelling for business purposes without their children. It contains some really useful information about the rules and regulations that apply to flying with frozen breast milk but without your child (yes, different rules apply if you travel without your baby). It also gives some great advice about how you can send frozen breast milk home for your baby if you are working away. You can read the full article here.

A particularly interesting section of this article reveals the findings of research published in the journal "Breastfeeding Medicine", which was basically designed to test the "travel-ability" of breast milk. The report revealed

"...checking breastmilk (at the airport) is actually a fine option. The researchers took frozen breastmilk and thawed it, refroze it, refrigerated it and left it out at room temperature. Essentially, they beat it up. What did they find? Breastmilk is fairly robust and does not grow bacteria easily nor lose vitamins A and C or free fatty acids (FFA) to any degree that would harm a full term baby. Breastmilk fresh from the breast or thawed in a clean container can be left at room temperature for less than 8 hours.

...Thawed breastmilk can stay in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Fresh breastmilk in a clean container can stay in a refrigerator for less than eight days. Fresh breastmilk can stay in an insulated bag with frozen gel packs for 24 hours. Refrigerator temperatures are 38 - 45° F. An insulated pack with frozen gel packs is 60° F. Your pumped milk in the hotel refrigerator is fine for a week business trip. The milk coming home in your checked luggage in an insulated pack with frozen gel packs for 24 hours will work also.

What do you do with frozen milk you pumped on your trip? Don't mess with ice. Ice is warmer than frozen milk and will actually hasten to thaw your milk - who knew? This is because water freezes at 32° F and milk freezes at around 0° F. Use frozen gel packs to keep your frozen milk frozen longer in your insulated cooler in your checked luggage. Crumple paper all around the milk and gel packs to further insulate it. The study in Breastfeeding Medicine found that even if the milk thaws, it is good to use provided it was not at room temperature for more than eight hours. If it is cool when you unpack it, it is good to go. It is also safe to be refrozen. This is important because moms think they have to use it right away if thawed and may feed it to the baby instead of actually breastfeeding as soon as they get home. Better to get baby on the breast as soon as you return home, and refreeze or refrigerate the pumped milk for the next mother-baby separation."

Useful information indeed - some of which goes against the traditional advice given to mothers.

For more information about breastfeeding and travel, the CDC also offers some good advice on its Travel Recommendations For The Nursing Mother page.

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March 27, 2007 14:53 - Dimmeys Stores Recall Various Toys (Australia)

Dimmeys Stores in Australia are recalling various toys which contain small parts and present a choking hazard to children under 3 years of age. The areas affected by this recall include Queensland, Victoria, Mt Gambier, Goulburn and Gosford.

All the toys involved in the recall were sold in Dimmeys Stores between September 2006 and March 2007.

The recalled toys are

• Intelligence Funny Toys
• Musical Choo Choo Train
• Baby Toys Rattle
• Battery Operated Animals Train

If you have any of these toys, please take them away from your child and return them to any Dimmeys Store for a full refund.

Source: http://www.recalls.gov.au

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March 27, 2007 21:51 - Recall of Baby Trend Back Pack Carriers (US)

Baby Trend Back Pack Carriers are being recalled in the US as they pose a fall hazard. It has been found that the stitching on the carrier's strap can loosen or detach. This causes the carrier to shift, meaning that a young child could fall. One child has already fallen from the carrier, receiving a bruised forehead and 17 reports have been made by parents who have discovered the shoulder straps loosening from the carrier's body.

The carrier (pictured below) is a green/silver infant back pack carrier, made from heavy duty nylon and with a lightweight steel frame. The carriers included in this recall have style numbers 2512 and 2592LX - you can find the style number printed on the carrier's metal frame. The carrier has a 5-point safety harness, padded shoulder and hip straps, padded leg openings and head support, plus a top canopy and large diaper bag which attaches to the frame.

The carriers were sold at discount department and juvenile products stores nationwide from March 2002 through November 2006 for about $50.

If you have one of these products, please stop using it at once and contact Baby Trend at (800) 328-7363 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday for return instructions and a free replacement carrier. Alternatively, you can visit Baby Trend's web site at www.babytrend.com.

Source: http://www.cpsc.gov

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March 28, 2007 13:47 - Serving Your Baby's Food Cold Rather Than Warm

You're out and about with your baby and have a portion of chilled homemade food in your cooler. Suddenly, your baby is crying for his lunch... but there are no facilities nearby to heat it for him. Is it safe to feed it to him straight from the cooler?

If your baby is happy to eat some of his meals cold, then there is no harm in serving them to him that way. Depending on how long your baby spends playing with his food at a typical mealtime, he's probably eating many of his meals cold anyway!

The important consideration is that the food is properly refrigerated - eating cold food is not unsafe for your baby, but eating food that has been kept at room temperature for longer than necessary is very hazardous and could lead to food poisoning.

Allowing your baby to eat some of his meals cold is actually quite a good idea - although not all foods, of course, will taste good cold! Many purees, however, can taste delicious either way.

As we mentioned, it can be good to know that your baby will accept an unheated meal if you're travelling - but it can also be useful in a crisis situation. A few years ago, we went through two hurricanes - almost back to back. Our daughter was 6 months old at the time. On both occasions, we lost all power and had no access to a gas cooker for heating food - fortunately, our little one was happy to eat hers cold (happier than us, actually!).

So don't feel that you HAVE to warm all your baby's meals - experiment a little to find if there are some dishes that your baby will enjoy cold, too!

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March 28, 2007 15:20 - Recall of Stuffed Ball Toys (US)

Stuffed Ball Toys are being recalled because they contain lead paint, which is hazardous and can cause adverse health affects in young children.

The toy (pictured below) is an orange stuffed ball. It measures 4in in diameter and looks like a basketball. It is printed with coloured numbers and letters and Reg. #PA-10623(HK).

The balls were sold nationwide at Dollar stores and other discount stores from June, 2006 through March, 2007 for about $1.

If you have one of these toys, please take it away from your child and return it to the store you bought it from for a full refund. If you need more information, please contact Regent Products at (800) 940-4869 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit their website. Alternatively, you can e-mail the firm at recall@regentproducts.com.

Source: http://www.cpsc.gov.

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March 29, 2007 07:57 - The Definition Of Solids

There is sometimes confusion about the use of the word "solids" in relation to the introduction of baby foods. And the term IS confusing - because the word "solid" tends to make you think of actual pieces of food. We received an e-mail recently from a mum who had introduced rice cereal to her baby at 5 months and wanted to know when she should introduce "solid" food.

When it comes to feeding babies, the term "solids" generally refers to ANYTHING other than breast milk or formula. So rice cereal, however thinly mixed, is a "solid", as are fruit or vegetable purees or any other traditional "first foods".

Advice from UNICEF, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization to delay the introduction of solids until 6 months of age means that you should give your baby nothing other than breast milk or formula for the first 6 months - not even rice cereal.

If YOUR baby is showing signs of readiness for a more solid diet, visit our step-by-step guide to getting started... Read more...

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March 30, 2007 13:43 - Recall Of M&S Children's Ready Meals (UK)

If you ever give your little one ready made meals, please be aware that Marks & Spencer in the UK is recalling a batch of its own label "Nice Rice Chicken" children's meals because they inadvertently contain cheese. The fact that the meal contains cheese is not declared on the label - so if the meal is given to a child with lactose intolerance or milk allergy, it could trigger a reaction.

The affected product is Marks & Spencer Nice Rice Chicken, with a "Use By" date of 3 April. The unique product code is 0300278. No other M&S products are involved.

If you have one of these meals, please return it to your local M&S for a full refund.

Source: http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk

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March 30, 2007 14:31 - Bargain Shoes For All The Family

Our sponsors, Shoes.com, have a very special offer available from now until April 3rd.

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March 30, 2007 14:44 - Useful Food Safety Tip

Imagine this scenario. You cook up a month's supply of food for your baby and store it in your freezer. You leave with your family on a week's vacation. On your return, one look at the blinking lights on your electrical appliances alerts you to the fact that there was a power outage whilst you were away. You check the freezer - and there sits all your baby food, frozen as it should be. But how do you tell how long the power was out? What if the food in your freezer defrosted, then refroze when the power was restored?

One way of ascertaining how long your home was without power is to check foods such as meat - generally, bloody liquid leaks from the pack as it defrosts and refreezes around the pack when the power comes back on.

A more reliable method, however, is to use a penny! Before you leave for your trip, place a penny on top of an ice cube in your freezer. If the power is out for any significant length of time, the ice cube will melt. The penny will sink to the bottom of the tray - so even if the power is restored and everything freezes again, you will be able to tell from the position of the penny whether or not the contents of your freezer were likely to have defrosted.

If the penny remains on top of the ice cube, then you will know that your baby's food is still safe to eat!

Click here for more baby food preparation and storage tips...

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March 31, 2007 14:37 - Your Baby Can Read! (US)

Well, maybe not yet - but according to Dr. Robert Titzer, a child development expert with a PhD in human performance from Indiana University, it's entirely possible that he can learn! He has developed a range of learning materials aimed at teaching infants to read and his system is now sold in doctors' offices throughout the US.

But is there any NEED for babies to learn to read at such a young age?

As Dr. Titzer explains, the main purpose of his system is to enable children to read better and more quickly, in the same way that learning a second language increases language skills. He points out that babies and toddlers learn to understand language and to speak just by listening to language. And if babies hear a second language often enough, they will learn to understand and speak the language with very little effort. He believes that, if babies are allowed to SEE the language, they can learn written language just as easily...

"We would never imagine waiting until age 5 or 6 to speak to children and I believe if we looked at the written form of language in the same way as we do the spoken form, we would not wait until age 5 or 6 to allow children to see our language."

Many happy parents are reporting that their children are reading at advanced levels as a result of using Dr Titzer's system.

The "Your Baby Can Read" kits consist of videos that allow babies to actually see and hear the words simultaneously. Babies are encouraged to take part by saying words and doing movements - clapping, waving, pointing etc - to help them understand what the word means. Dr Titzer says that this type of interactive and multi-sensory learning has been shown to be more effective than just looking at words or hearing them.

Not all parents will be happy about implementing this system because it does rely heavily on the use of DVDs or videos, which many parents prefer to avoid at this stage. Dr Titzer does, however, recommend using the videos/DVDs in the car, or during housework, so that you are not taking your baby away from another important activity to sit him in front of the TV!

What do YOU think about teaching your baby to read? Are we encouraging our babies to become "academic geniuses" too early... or are we simply giving them the best start possible? We'd love to know what your thoughts are - please leave your comments below!

The Your Baby Can Read!: Early Language Development System with Cards and Other is available from Buy.com.

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April 1, 2007 10:11 - April's Baby of the Month

Well, it's the 1st of April - and that means we have a new Baby of the Month!

A big thank you to everyone who sent in photographs - it has been wonderful to see your babies and read about how well they are progressing with solid foods!

It has been very difficult to choose just one baby to appear on our site - so, as we did last month, we have included 3 runners up.

So please come and meet them all on April's new "Baby of the Month" page... Read more...

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