Sonia Ulan

Hi Melanie!

Looks like you have the right idea for entertaining Mook at mealtime.
My 17 month old only just started eating some table food with us about 3
months ago. He may have had the odd bite of bread or potato or other
tidbit around 12 months. Prior to his steady interest and readiness for
table food, (no pablum or baby jars for us either!) he was always very
insistent to have a utensil of some sort to at least feel he was doing
what we were doing. The chopsticks are great. A plastic cup or spoon
or even a cloth napkin might also entertain the baby at family meal
time.

Sonia in Canada

Shimokawa Family wrote:
>
> From: Shimokawa Family <sfamily@...>
>
> OK, so maybe I didn't make myself very clear. I'm not worried that
> Rachel isn't getting enough to eat. I know I have enough milk for her.
> She's not particularly hungry at the dinner table, she just wants to
> participate in something the rest of the family is obviously enjoying.
> I was also wondering if maybe her body requirements - since she is so
> big - are not satisfied by breastmilk alone. Like, I've heard (T or F?)
> that a one year old needs different nutrients than a newborn, so I was
> wondreing if that's because of size. With Mook, we used a blender, and
> never bought baby food. He's so healthy.
>
> The special toy at dinnertime was a good idea. I let her chew on the
> tips (I was holding them) of some clean chopsticks. She LOVED that.
>
> I'm also VERY interested in herbs, essential oils, and making soap,
> candles, etc. Somebody (sorry - I forgot who) posted a vegetarian soap
> making site (sunsoap.com), so I visited it, and got really interested.
> When we settle down (we'll be moving three times in three months!), I'm
> going to start making soaps and growing herbs, etc.
>
> Melanie in Japan
>
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Shannon CC

Shimokawa Family wrote:
> OK, so maybe I didn't make myself very clear. I'm not worried that
> Rachel isn't getting enough to eat. I know I have enough milk for her.
> She's not particularly hungry at the dinner table, she just wants to
> participate in something the rest of the family is obviously enjoying.

The idea to give her a spoon is a good one. Give her her own spoon,
bowl, cup whatever and let her play with it.

> I was also wondering if maybe her body requirements - since she is so
> big - are not satisfied by breastmilk alone.

Big babies, little babies, medium babies, whatever. As long as they are
thriving then yes, breastmilk alone is all they need. I have met mothers
of big babies who said their children were "too" big and must need
solids. I've met mothers of small babies who said their babies were
"too" small and must need solids. Then the mothers of medium babies
start them on solids because everyone else is, so it must be necessary,
lol! Seriously, if your child is thriving, healthy, meeting milestones,
bright and active and gaining weight then she is fine. I would not start
a child on solids this early simply because they are big and they watch
you eat. But this is totally your decision! That's just my fanatical
breastfeeding mom opinion :-)

Like, I've heard (T or F?)
> that a one year old needs different nutrients than a newborn, so I was
> wondreing if that's because of size.

I'm not sure what you mean? Your breastmilk at one year post partum has
less fat in it (not NO fat, just LESS fat then in the beginning). Some
solid and formula pushers will tell you that this is because it is
inferior and you should supplement, but really it's because a one year
old does not need to grow as quickly as a newborn and nature knows what
it's doing. But otherwise, breastmilk has the same vitamins and minerals
it always did (and antibodies). It does not change due to the size of
the baby, but due to the length of time post partum.

Here are some LLL links if you are interested. This one
http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NB6.4.90.1.html talks about all the
aspects of extended nursing but has these two quotes which may be of
interest to you

"Research has shown that second-year milk is very similar to the
first-year milk nutritionally (Victora, 1984). Even after two years or
more it continues to be a valuable source of protein, fat, calcium, and
vitamins (Jelliffe and Jelliffe, 1978). "

and

"A third health benefit is avoidance of allergies. It is well documented
that the later that cow's milk and other common allergens are introduced
into the diet of a baby, the less likelihood there is of allergic
reactions (Savilahti, 1987). "

Like someone else (?) said starting a young baby on solids is a crap
shoot. If you start your child early there may indeed be no
repercussions. But you won't know that until you do. And many food
allergies do not get diagnosed as such. Often moms start the young baby
on solids and then do not connect this to certain problems that crop up
(fussiness, asthma, etc.). However, there are many babies who start
solids as early as a few weeks old with no side effects! I would
definitely NOT recommend this tho. But starting the child when she is
truely ready is the best bet.

This one http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBMayJun99p86.html talks about
readiness for solids. Different children are ready for solids at
different times so yes, your child may indeed be ready. Obviously, we
can't see her in action, but from what you've written, it sounds to me
like she is not ready (JMO of course!). You can always try if you really
believe she is ready and if she spits it out, back off and stop giving
her the solids. It's not like once you try solids you HAVE to continue.
Anyway, good luck with this decision.

Shannon, Mom to Bridget (Oct.8.98)

K WORTHEN

Shannon,
Well said! Are you an LLL leader? You should be. Just curious.
Amy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Shannon CC" <shannoncc@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, March 12, 2000 4:51 PM
Subject: Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Re:baby's first solids


> From: Shannon CC <shannoncc@...>
>
> Shimokawa Family wrote:
> > OK, so maybe I didn't make myself very clear. I'm not worried that
> > Rachel isn't getting enough to eat. I know I have enough milk for her.
> > She's not particularly hungry at the dinner table, she just wants to
> > participate in something the rest of the family is obviously enjoying.
>
> The idea to give her a spoon is a good one. Give her her own spoon,
> bowl, cup whatever and let her play with it.
>
> > I was also wondering if maybe her body requirements - since she is so
> > big - are not satisfied by breastmilk alone.
>
> Big babies, little babies, medium babies, whatever. As long as they are
> thriving then yes, breastmilk alone is all they need. I have met mothers
> of big babies who said their children were "too" big and must need
> solids. I've met mothers of small babies who said their babies were
> "too" small and must need solids. Then the mothers of medium babies
> start them on solids because everyone else is, so it must be necessary,
> lol! Seriously, if your child is thriving, healthy, meeting milestones,
> bright and active and gaining weight then she is fine. I would not start
> a child on solids this early simply because they are big and they watch
> you eat. But this is totally your decision! That's just my fanatical
> breastfeeding mom opinion :-)
>
> Like, I've heard (T or F?)
> > that a one year old needs different nutrients than a newborn, so I was
> > wondreing if that's because of size.
>
> I'm not sure what you mean? Your breastmilk at one year post partum has
> less fat in it (not NO fat, just LESS fat then in the beginning). Some
> solid and formula pushers will tell you that this is because it is
> inferior and you should supplement, but really it's because a one year
> old does not need to grow as quickly as a newborn and nature knows what
> it's doing. But otherwise, breastmilk has the same vitamins and minerals
> it always did (and antibodies). It does not change due to the size of
> the baby, but due to the length of time post partum.
>
> Here are some LLL links if you are interested. This one
> http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NB6.4.90.1.html talks about all the
> aspects of extended nursing but has these two quotes which may be of
> interest to you
>
> "Research has shown that second-year milk is very similar to the
> first-year milk nutritionally (Victora, 1984). Even after two years or
> more it continues to be a valuable source of protein, fat, calcium, and
> vitamins (Jelliffe and Jelliffe, 1978). "
>
> and
>
> "A third health benefit is avoidance of allergies. It is well documented
> that the later that cow's milk and other common allergens are introduced
> into the diet of a baby, the less likelihood there is of allergic
> reactions (Savilahti, 1987). "
>
> Like someone else (?) said starting a young baby on solids is a crap
> shoot. If you start your child early there may indeed be no
> repercussions. But you won't know that until you do. And many food
> allergies do not get diagnosed as such. Often moms start the young baby
> on solids and then do not connect this to certain problems that crop up
> (fussiness, asthma, etc.). However, there are many babies who start
> solids as early as a few weeks old with no side effects! I would
> definitely NOT recommend this tho. But starting the child when she is
> truely ready is the best bet.
>
> This one http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBMayJun99p86.html talks about
> readiness for solids. Different children are ready for solids at
> different times so yes, your child may indeed be ready. Obviously, we
> can't see her in action, but from what you've written, it sounds to me
> like she is not ready (JMO of course!). You can always try if you really
> believe she is ready and if she spits it out, back off and stop giving
> her the solids. It's not like once you try solids you HAVE to continue.
> Anyway, good luck with this decision.
>
> Shannon, Mom to Bridget (Oct.8.98)
>
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