What do infants eat in other countries?

[Anonymous]

my baby he will turn 1 year old this month. he eats all kinds of veggies, meat, fish chicken (not pork just because I dot want to give to him) he eats rice, beans, pasta,orange juice, soy juice,lots of water, tea,he loves tomatoes, broccolis..chicken soup. he pretty much eat what I eat. I give jar food only when I'm in the car or at the mall. I never gave him peanuts or shirmp

snacks-dried fruit and I never gave him baby CEREAL wich in the USA I think it is primary.ALL BABIES EAT.

I cook everything with onios,garlic and herbs.. not too mcuh salt and no HOT SPICES because I don't eat and where I live in Brazil it is that common.

good luck!

[Anonymous]

My DH's family is from southern India and there the baby food is a rice dish. It's rice cooked until very soft (ie with extra water and for longer), then mashed with a soup like substance with some pureed veggies & lentils and topped with a dollop of melted ghee (clarified butter - melted butter that is then re-formed - makes for a more butter taste and very high in fat). As the baby gets older the soup-like substance gets a bit spicy-er - more pepper and other spices.

All of my 3 sons liked this dish but they also like variety and so tend to get bored of it after a couple of meals of it in a row. My MIL claims this is all babies are fed for many years and resists my suggestions that she try some of the other dishes she makes for me that I think they would like.

In terms of american food, if you are looking for meat/protein options, try poaching a chicken breast - basically just boiling a bonless chicken breast in chicken broth for 30 minutes or so. I just thought of this with my last DC and it makes the meat very tender and easy to mash up. Another option is doing some ground turkey or meat. Oh - and another big hit for us are black beans - I use the dried beans so low sodium and they are very easy to make (just basically boil in a big pot all day on the stove - if you want to you can also add diced opinion and garlic for a bit more flavor).

With my first we stuck mostly to jar foods since I had no idea what to feed him (and as a PP noted, my own eating habits were not what I wanted for my kid). Unfortunately he is a picky eater.

With my second 2, I introduced more finger foods (rice, pasta, chicken, etc etc cut up into little pieces/diced) at a much younger age and they are better eaters - like a lot more variety.

Of course some kids are just picky but I feel a piece of the outcome is due to the fact the 2nd two got a more varied diet earlier on.

When you start introducing "real" food, make sure its diced up well. Also, expect that the first few times the baby will just spit it out - the texture is so new to them it's often not an instant hit. However, don't give up and keep offering and your DC should catch on.

good luck.


Good luck.

[Anonymous]

We adopted my child from Vietnam, but we are American. First solid food he actually liked and would eat was potato curry off of mommy's plate at 10 months. Then we got to adding curry spice to jars of baby food, that is the only way he would eat jars of chicken, pork, turkey puree. Also added heavy cream to increase calories for other reasons, but child likes the taste of cream. We selected jars of baby food that promised more flavor, some brands are better than others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I thought we were being very conservative with introducing foods to our nine-month-old - she has eaten only fruit and vegetable purees and some grains to date. We asked our pediatrician about introducing plain yogurt and egg yolks, which are recommended in several baby books, and she thinks we are moving too fast and to stick to grains, fruits, and veggies for the first year. We've managed to introduce her to about 20 kinds, and luckily she likes most. But I'm curious - what do babies in other countries eat for first foods and as they start to wean?

I think your doctor is very conservative, even for an American doctor. All of the children who I know are exposed to more than puree and cereal at this point.

[Anonymous]

I'm from the UK and have lived in the US for a few years. When I returned home for a holiday with my then 9 month old DS I was really surprised at the range of baby foods available. For example, for 7 months and older you can get beef stew, fish pie, chicken casserole (but nicely spiced, not at all bland), or more exotic sounding dishes such as red cabbage with apple and chicken, spinach with salmon and parsnip, and chickpea and chicken tagine. Of course I tried them before giving them to DS and they were really tasty. DS loved them too.

There also do not seem to be as many recommended restrictions on what you feed to babies, particularly regarding dairy products (though of course feeding infants regular milk as a primary source of nutrition is definitely not recommended). In my local supermarket I can even buy prepared curry sauce for older babies/toddlers.

My pediatrician here did not give advice on food so I basically gave DS a very wide variety of foods, including yogurt from about 7 months. I also introduced small amounts of meat and fish well before 12 months. Now DS is 16 months and his favorite foods are olives, anything with garlic and anything spicy, mushrooms, broccoli, asparagus, kidney beans, chickpeas, meat (any) and fish (any).

[Anonymous]

Not what you asked, but just fyi, your ped seems very conservative even by US standards - we go to a large mainstream practice in No Va and my ped recommends fruits, veg and grains until 9 months (says there's just no need for anything else before then because breastmilk or formula is primary nutrition source), but then introducing meat and dairy after 9 months. By 12 months, both of my kids didn't want to be spoon fed anymore and were eating finger food that was basically the same food we were eating (e.g. chicken, rice, pasta, steamed veg, etc.) , but sort of a more limited version because of concerns about chewing ability with some foods and 12-15/16 months we incorporated more and more of the meals we were eating.

BTW, interesting ? you asked - I've always wondered this myself when the books recommend not feeding babies/toddlers food with any spices.

[Anonymous]

Anyone on this thread do baby led weaning? (Essentially this means skipping the purees in favor of letting baby self feed). There are steps taken for safety (i.e. don't offer child a peanut) but basically the idea is that the baby will not be able to grasp and move to the back of the mouth any food that will choke her. I was planning to make our own baby food based on what we were eating (and I can't think of a better motivator to eat even healthier than we do now) but now I've heard of this baby led weaning and am interested. It seems closer to what we "ought" to be doing than pureed food or weird cereal.

I personally do not eat a ton of meat so I'm not sure how we'd go about introducing that.

Also, anyone delay solds beyond 6 months? I think we'll do solids right at 6 months, but I'm kind of curious if everyone does or if some people wait. (I know some folks start early, but that's not for us).

[Anonymous]

Rice cereal is an arbitrary first food, as are most first foods recs in the US. People in all countries eat the food of their country as their first food:

http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/333/21344/434889.html

I don't know who thought up rice cereal as a first food- not to mention a food product, but I'm thinking their name was Gerber or possibly Kellogg.

Babies should eat whatever their parents are eating, if it's to their taste.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone on this thread do baby led weaning? (Essentially this means skipping the purees in favor of letting baby self feed). There are steps taken for safety (i.e. don't offer child a peanut) but basically the idea is that the baby will not be able to grasp and move to the back of the mouth any food that will choke her. I was planning to make our own baby food based on what we were eating (and I can't think of a better motivator to eat even healthier than we do now) but now I've heard of this baby led weaning and am interested. It seems closer to what we "ought" to be doing than pureed food or weird cereal.

I personally do not eat a ton of meat so I'm not sure how we'd go about introducing that.

Also, anyone delay solds beyond 6 months? I think we'll do solids right at 6 months, but I'm kind of curious if everyone does or if some people wait. (I know some folks start early, but that's not for us).

21:49 here- I did this. DS had very little food before about 10 months- IOW, he mouthed maybe a strawberry or a piece of cantaloupe, he just wasn't very interested, I'd done some research so I didn't push. I waited until he showed all signs of developmental readiness (can sit up independently, no tongue thrust reflex, shows interest in food, etc) then I just offered whatever I was eating, in pieces that he could hold in his hand. I didn't mush anything and I didn't cut anything into little bite sized bits. He didn't routinely eat any measurable amount until about 13 months- and that was about a tablespoon or two, and didn't eat a substantial amount- which is probably much less than most kids that age- until he was closer to 2. He's always been about 75th percentile for height/weight. His dad is 6'4", so in any case, he's not small (apple/tree). He's 4 now and still doesn't like meat too much, which is fine by me, but eats with enthusiasm and has a varied diet.

I'd planned to puree all my own organic baby food, blah blah blah, but after I did some research I decided there was no reason whatsoever to do all that, and in fact, it might be better for DS to wait until his body was ready for solids, so I just followed his signs and didn't worry about it. Kellymom had some good information on starting foods. Of course mdc has lots of good info.

[Anonymous]

I tried cereal with my DD and she hated it and she also hated the jarred food. We lived in the UK and British and American foods were available to us. I was worried about using milk so I made her mashed potatoes using formula. I didn't salt them but used a bit of garlic in them and she just loved them. I also gave her cooked rice as well. By seven months I was giving her cherrios and other things as well. By nine months she ate corned beef and cabbage, pasta, rice, cheese, bananas, yogurt and just about everything else we were eating.

[Anonymous]

Just a quick note on honey, because several posters mentioned that other countries don't advise against it--there are very valid medical reasons for avoiding honey. All kinds of honey (raw, unfiltered, filtered, etc) can contain botulinum spores. Adults who swallow botulinum spores are almost never affected, however, when infants (under one year) swallow the spores, the spores can germinate in their immature gastrointestinal tracts and begin producing botulinum toxin. Botulinum toxin is the most poisonous natural substance known to man. Even though it is still rare for problems to occur, PLEASE do not feed honey to children under one year!

[Anonymous]

I'm living in Northern Africa and my friend told me that her babies ate a grain cereal made from finely ground semolina (she compared it to our rice cereal, only homemade), pureed fruits and vegetables, and lots of soup which she described as basically chicken soup ingredients pureed together. They also add spices like cumin and cinnamon. They seem to give pureed food earlier here at around 3 months. Based on what I'm reading here and through talking to my friends from Western Europe, it sounds like we are very conservative. That said, my French and British friends are generally less conservative in the foods they offer but just as cautious about timing.

[Anonymous]

We started my son on solids when he was a week shy of six months. He was grabbing food from our plates and making lip smacking noises whenever we ate. He was ready. For a two or three weeks, we stuck to brown rice cereal mixed with breastmilk and then added fruit and veggie purees. After that, we just started very slowly feeding him food from our plate. We made lots of soups and stews in those days to make sure that the veggies and meats were tender. I would either mash it up with a fork or give it a quick chop with an immersion blender. By 9 months, he was eating almost everything that we were eating. The only things I actively avoided until after 12 months were peanuts, shellfish, and honey. Everything else was fair game. We don't have a family history of allergies or asthma, and watched him carefully for signs of reaction after he tried a new food. Now at age 4, he eats a pretty varied diet and tries new things pretty easily.

[Anonymous]

this is an interesting discussion...thanks! would love to see some recipes, particularly for some of the Indian baby food dishes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone on this thread do baby led weaning? (Essentially this means skipping the purees in favor of letting baby self feed). There are steps taken for safety (i.e. don't offer child a peanut) but basically the idea is that the baby will not be able to grasp and move to the back of the mouth any food that will choke her. I was planning to make our own baby food based on what we were eating (and I can't think of a better motivator to eat even healthier than we do now) but now I've heard of this baby led weaning and am interested. It seems closer to what we "ought" to be doing than pureed food or weird cereal.

I personally do not eat a ton of meat so I'm not sure how we'd go about introducing that.

Also, anyone delay solds beyond 6 months? I think we'll do solids right at 6 months, but I'm kind of curious if everyone does or if some people wait. (I know some folks start early, but that's not for us).

We did this, but only by accident. I pureed a ton of foods for my daughter, in anticipation of her moving to solids, but then she refused everything Then one day, we were at PF Chang's, and she lunged for the fried rice (she was 10 months old). She had true solids (no purees) after that. I had to throw all the pureed food away.