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?   

  

You are what you eat

Making the most of fruit and vegetables

In a country like South Africa where there’s sunshine all year round, where citrus, Mediterranean and tropical fruits (and seasonal vegetables) grow in abundance the northern, southern and eastern provinces, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be a healthy nation!  What’s more, wholesalers like ‘Fruit ‘n Veg City’, ‘The Apple Tree’ and ‘Fruit and Vegiland’ stock a healthy variety of these at affordable prices.

Prioritising raw fruit and vegetables with every meal has many health benefits. They provide all the minerals (like calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium) and vitamins that we need every day. They’re filling, provide roughage and prevent constipation. They give you a healthy, glowing skin and shining hair, support the immune system and give you energy. When properly prepared they’re delicious. Eaten raw, they’re good for your teeth.

Because the body stores proteins, sugars and fats, we don’t need to eat these every day. But we do need to eat fruit and vegetables because minerals and vitamins are mostly water soluble. This means that they need to be replaced daily. We should eat at least two fruits and vegetables with every meal.

Healthy vegetables:

Children don’t like eating vegetables when they’re overcooked. Then they’re colourless, odourless and tasteless!

Make vegetables appetising by eating them raw – in salads – stir-fried or grilled. Vegetables can also be baked in their skins – this helps to retain the goodness – or slow-cooked in a casserole, soup, stew or curry.

When boiled, cook only till soft but firm. Don’t throw the water away – keep it for gravy, soup or a casserole.

Don’t throw vegetable peels away. Thick potato peels can be grilled with olive oil to make tasty chips. Peels and pips can be added to your composter.

Season vegetables with spices and herbs rather than sauces and salt.

Combine colour and texture, taste and flavours.

Suggestions:

• Don’t be over-ambitious when shopping for fruit and vegetables. You could overspend and buy too much and then it goes bad
• Buy seasonal fruit and vegetables – they’re they cheaper and naturally ripened
• Grow your own fruit and vegetables.
• Vegetables like egg plant, baby marrows, green pepper, mushrooms and pumpkin can be grilled. Sprinkle lightly with olive oil and spices.
• Oven-bake-chips or potato wedges. Soften these for a few minutes in the micro-wave before grilling with olive oil and spices
• Keep cucumber, celery and carrot sticks in a plastic container in the fridge for day-time snacking.

 Healthy fruits:

Don’t add sugar to fruits and eat these raw e.g. fruit-salad or kebab sticks.

Liquidise fruit to make smoothies or ice-lollies – add yogurt or ice-cream for a treat.

Combine fruit with jelly e.g. tinned pineapples / granadilla and coconut milk for dessert.

Add fruit to your baking e.g. bran muffins with mashed banana / grated apple or carrots or even baby marrow / raisons, dates or cranberries.

Put peels and left-over fruit pieces in the garden for the birds. You’ll attract an amazing variety.

Remember:

• Parents set the example.
• You are what you eat.
• Bad eating affects your health e.g. type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and even some types of cancers
• Resist the junk-food revolution!
• Add fruit to the family’s lunch boxes.
• If your child is going to crèche, make sure there’s fruit and vegetables on the menu.
• Resist junk-food advertising.
• When you eat a healthy variety of fruit and vegetables, you don’t crave sweets and junk food.
• Make visits to fast food outlets a treat – not a regular event.
• Plan meals before you go shopping so that you buy only what you need, and use what you buy.
• Include family favourites and variety in these meal plans.
• Use your imagination when it comes to getting resistant toddlers and teens to eat more fruit and vegetables. Cut fruit into small pieces, arrange fruits into funny faces on a plate (for toddlers), make fruit smoothies or a fruit salad (for teenagers).
• For fussy eaters, sneak veggies and lentils into lasagne, soups, stews and pasta/rice dishes.

Teens, sleep and exams

Teens and sleep

Tiredness and tardiness go hand in hand with teenagers, but did you know that a lack of sleep is also linked with carelessness and poor performance – something that teens don’t need this time of the year when it’s at exam time. Not getting enough sleep can affect balance, co-ordination and decision making. If left to become chronic, severe sleep deprivation in teens can make them depressed and lethargic, and according to the US Academy of Sleep Medicine, even suicidal.

Teens and students who are cram-studying, and taking ‘stay-awake’ tablets to work through the night are especially at risk. Little do they realise that getting a good night’s sleep will improve their performance the next day! This happens because neurons in the brain that transmit messages during the day get a chance to re-organise themselves at night. A tired brain is like an overheated computer.

Teenagers aged 13 to 18 should sleep for at least 8 to 10 hours every night, ideally between 10pm and 6am. But besides the stress of exams, teens are also going through puberty and this means hormonal surges and changes, including changes to their diurnal rhythms (sleep/awake patterns). Research has found that the pineal gland that produces melatonin or the sleep hormone when the sun goes down, takes longer to respond in teenagers than in younger children or adults. This means that teenagers take much longer to feel tired after it gets dark and prefer going to bed much later. They also struggle to get up the next morning! When teenage girls don’t get enough sleep, their periods can become irregular because they ovulate either earlier or later than expected.

The US Academy of Sleep Medicine has suggested that teenagers should start school around 10 am when their sleeping pattern (that’s three hours behind that of an adult) has caught up with them.  Of course, all teenagers would agree with this theory and sleep their way through adolescence – whenever, wherever, however! As a parent you have to keep them on track, instill discipline and teach them responsibility. But it does help to understand that what they’re going through is normal – and that in time, when their hormones have settled down, and the frontal lobe of their brain has matured, they will fall into the pattern of what is expected from them by society.

What can you do to help your teen?

• Understand that this is normal and accept that your teenager will sleep whenever he gets the chance. It’s OK to let him snooze in the afternoon after school, and you’ll have to accept for a while that he will prowl the house at night and burn the midnight oil.
• If possible, minimise his caffeine during the day – maximise water instead
• Put him on a multivitamin for teenagers
• Make sure he is not hungry!
• Understand that teenagers are disorderly, and untidy – but they will work through this stage of their lives! Close the bedroom door if you don’t want to look at the mess. They have to live with it – not you!
• Insist on having a copy of the exam schedule on the fridge to make sure that they don’t miss writing any exams!

If sleeping problems persist, there could be an underlying medical, emotional or psychological problem. Have this checked by a medical practitioner. Please don’t resort to sleeping tablets. They only mask the problem and could make things worse.

PS – I have mostly referred to boys in this blog – the same of course applies to girls!