Christmas greetings

Wishing all my blog readers a holy Christmas, happy celebrations with friends and family and new beginnings in 2018!

Tips on introducing solids

Introducing solids

A few readers have asked about introducing solids, so I bounced questions off my niece, Roxanne Smith, who has recently passed her degree in Dietetics. Roxanne’s answers were so good, I am sharing them with you as she sent them.

First read the questions through to find out what you know about introducing solids. Then check your answers with Roxanne’s.

Q 1         When is the best age to introduce solids:

                A – 4 months

                B – 6 months

                C – when the baby is ready

Q 2         What is the best food to start solids:

                A – porridge

                B – fruit

                C – vegetable

Q 3         How long should babies drink milk:

                A – 1 year

                B – 2 years

                C – indefinitely.

Here are the answers:

Question 1: The answer is C: When your baby is ready

Reason: You should introduce solids when your baby starts showing signs of readiness but not earlier than 4 months, and not later than 6 months. Some signs of readiness include: the ability to support her head and neck, being able to sit without support, taking interest in what you’re eating, and seeming hungrier than usual.

Why not earlier than 4 months? 

Before four months, your baby’s digestive system is not mature enough to handle solid food. Studies have shown an increased risk of allergies (particularly eczema) with early introduction of solids. Furthermore, when solids are introduced early, infants often gain weight too quickly. This can increase their risk of being overweight/obese and developing diabetes and other chronic diseases as adults.

Why not later than 6 months? 

Around six months your baby’s iron stores are depleted and breast-milk (or formula) does not contain enough iron to support your baby’s growth. After six months, infants also need more energy and nutrients, and milk alone does not meet these needs. Late introduction of solid foods also increases the risk of allergies. 

When solids are introduced very late, babies don’t get used to the bulk of solids, and may gag when the food is lumpy.

**Special Consideration: HIV+ mommies who are exclusively breastfeeding: 

If you are HIV+ and breastfeeding, you should wait until 6 months to introduce solids. The risk of transmitting the HIV virus to your baby can increase if you introduce solids earlier. Remember that if you have been exclusively breastfeeding, you should continue breastfeeding after introducing solids for up to 24 months (and keep taking your ARVs).

Question 2: The answer is A: Iron-fortified porridge / cereal

Reason: Around six months your baby’s iron stores are depleted and breastmilk (or formula) does not contain enough iron to support your baby’s growth. Iron fortified cereal should be given first to supplement iron stores. Make sure the cereal/porridge is gluten free and don’t add any sugar or salt. Give vegetables next (before fruit) as it may be difficult to introduce vegetables after fruit because your baby will be used to sweet tastes.

Question 3: The answer is B: About 2 years (depends on the type of milk)

Breastmilk: Continue breastfeeding to at least 12 months, but try to breastfeed to 24 months or beyond if possible. If you can only breastfeed until 12 months, you can give cow’s milk, or a growing-up formula (formula 3) from 12 months.

Formula feeding: Continue to formula feed (formula 2) until 12 months. After 12 months you can give cow’s milk or a growing-up formula (formula 3).

Cow’s milk: Do not give cow’s milk before 12 months. Cow’s milk can be started at 12 months, and continued indefinitely.

Reason: Even though solids have been introduced, until 12 months, breastmilk (or formula) should provide about half your baby’s nutrition. From one year on, solid food should form the base of your child’s nutrition, with breastmilk (or formula) contributing about 1/3 nutritional needs. Continued breastfeeding to two years or beyond is recommended as it provides continued bonding with the mother, protection from illness, and excellent nutrition. Remember that toddlers will stop breastfeeding as part of their natural development.

Always use full-cream (not fat-free) pasteurised milk.  

Refilling the empty nest

Confessions of a contented grandmother

When our children left home, the local charity shop must have cheered. After nearly two decades of nesting, their bedrooms had become a mayhem of clutter that could fill a departmental store. Shelves were packed with books and bric-a-brac and their cupboards held a stash of sporting equipment that would have kept an Olympic team happy. I understood how Gerald Darrell's mother felt the day he left home with his menagerie of bottled and caged creatures and pets. My son left us with a collection of bird and hamster cages along with a few snakes in glass boxes for good measure.

When our first son was born, we were lured into buying a set of encyclopaedias, children’s reading books and educational games. Acutely aware of the importance of the first few formative years, our son was stimulated at every opportunity with every new Fisher Price toy that came onto the market. By the time our last child came along, the yard was a nursery-school of tip-trucks, tricycles and black plastic motor-bikes, a sand-pit and jungle-gym.

When the children were in primary school, we started collecting soccer, cricket and tennis gear along with gymnastic and dancing bits and bobs. In high-school, we collected roller skates, skate-boards and bicycles, and a drum kit. Our budding band called themselves the ‘Black-Flies’ and the only time the neighbourhood enjoyed some peace and quiet was after I fed them all and sent them home.

Week-ends were filled with tennis tournaments, dancing eisteddfod’s and bicycle rally’s. My son’s first motor-car was a cherry-red beetle and it wasn’t long before the drive-way became collection of petrol-guzzlers that would have kept Top Gear filming for weeks.

And then, one by one, the children left home. An empty place filled my heart. I had to get used to shopping and cooking for two. The day came to box-up all the left-overs and give them away. When the job was done I understood why having children is so sacrificial and extraordinarily expensive. We turned one bedroom into my office, and the other into a guest bedroom. The Kenwood stood idle in the kitchen.

Until the grandchildren came along that is. Now, bit by bit the childish clutter returns. Toys for boys and girls in the spare room and story books are back on the shelf. The demand for pancakes and chocolate cake, flavoured milk, popcorn and gingerbread men has returned. The game of cricket on the front lawn has been recalled and it won’t be long before a rope-ladder and swing-tyre hang from the syringa tree again. 

Grand-children. How can we resist them?