*Baby Corner*

[Nessa 23]

i've always wondered about spices. my mom said she used to cook for me when i was a baby and put salt just like she'd do cooking for her. i don't add anygthing to ben's food and he eats just fine. maybe later on i'll start adding some spices, but right now i want him to taste everything natural, i dont buy baby food, i buy vegies and fruits, only cereal i buy.

[Team J and B 2]

Sorry guys, my comp is too slow for me to read up on all the pages I missed since I last checked in here.

Sounds like you guys are talking about feeding? My almost one year old boy loves anything sweet. Also, he is loving anything spicy (hot) that I eat. I'm pregnant with our second and since I got pregnant, my tongue tastes bitter. Nothing makes it feel any better, so I've been chewing all different brands of gum to get rid of the bitter gross taste, and whenever I eat, I need to eat something with bite. Lots of hot sauce, sour things, etc. The other day, I opened a jar of jalapenos and mixed it with salsa and just ate it like that. It relieves the gross feeling of my tongue for a while.

So anyway, my son has been dabbling in my spicy foods and he loves it. He eats whatever we eat whenever we go out for breakfast and lunch. His appetite is low during dinner time, though, but I just let him graze if he's hungry. He gets enough during the day, plus he's still breastfeeding.

I think I will bf him till he's two. His sibling will be born when he's 1.5 years old. How is it like bfing two kids? Will my nipples fall off?

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Zaid started solids at 4 months. We started with oatmeal and rice and moved on to veggies and fruit. He was always very "ahead" for his age and showed a ton of interest in food so we offered and he accepted. Zaid was completely off the bottle at 10.5 months and put straight on whole milk (we switched to 2% at 15 months) from a cup (he never had warm formula or milk, loved his formula room temp) and never had a bottle since that day. We used gerber baby food (also never ever heated) and he had no problem with that. He didnt eat it for long though. As soon as he could feed himself (about 9 months) we started giving him small pieces of banana, quaker oatmeal, diced boiled potatoes, etc. Baby food was too expensive for my taste. He did a great job with food and transitioned to "our" meals at about 11 months. The doctor told me a child at 15 months should not have a special meal prepared and that he should be strictly eating what were eating so we stuck to that. I guess its smart bc my brothers kid REFUSES to eat any kind of "adult meal" and he is 4 years old. His diet consists of corn dogs, cereal, popsicles, and bagel bites. Its really sad but I guess bc they let him get away with it when he was young he just adapted to it.

Kavi and Declan are soooo cute! Cant believe how big they are!!!

Vi, your probably on your way now! Have a safe flight and a great time!

[Anna C. 4]

Team JB: Tandem nursing works just fine You'll find good advice in the La Leche Book about parenting your nursing toddler (our library has it) and online in the mothering.com forums, there is one for that and tons of moms who've done it

All the stories here just prove the point that every kid is different! Just in my own family we observed vast differences in food likes and dislikes.... Jona just takes slowly to food, and I'm fine with that My nephews started mooching for bananas at 5 months... My mom believes it happened cause my sisters don't eat meat, I love bloody steak, so she believes Jona gets steak-flavored, full calorie milk from me but my sisters have only veggie-flavored low calorie milk. I doubt that, but grandmas can believe what they want

[Nizzy 1]

Awww Kavi and Declan are too cute!

Eman's cousins are not good eaters so I expected him to be the same but THANK GOD he has a big appetite, despite being so skinny. Their mother is always after them to eat and now that they are older I think they love the attention they get when momma chases them. They will start gagging if their mom manages to get some food in their mouths. I always panic when we go visit because I feel that Eman will learn from them. Eman will eat anything we eat but I have noticed that he doesn't really like meat. He will chew on it until it breaks down and then spits it out. He LOVESSSS tofu. I am a big tofu eater so I do a stir fry with broccoli and he just begs me to make it. I am so happy he is not a picky eater.

[Anna C. 4]

Hmm it's not necessary to chase a picky eater. Toddlers know what they need and what not, so just letting them eat what they want is fine. I just read another book on the topic and a hungry kid will eat. If not hungry, forcing them may lead to food aversion or obesity. Like my grandparents would load a huge plate of food and said we cannot leave the table til it's empty. My parents said no way! We never had to clean our plates. They didn't load them up to begin with. Toddlers have a tummy as big as their fists, hence not a lot fits in there. E.g. Jona will eat when he's hungry. He will refuse when he isn't hungry. He breastfed exclusively for so long because the milk was satisfying enough, he wasn't hungry and had no interest in any solids. Anyways, I am very opposed to forcing foods in kids. My grandparents tried it, the daycare place and I never complied, it is horrible and gladly my parents gave all people an earful who tried to do that to us.

[Susita 175]

Really? The boys aren't allowed to leave the table until they at least eat their vegetables (I make at least one per day with dinner). They can't complain because I don't make them eat the ones they really don't like (i.e. brussel sprouts, asparagus).

Edited January 10, 2010 by Susita

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

I think the chasing toddlers has a lot to do with not introducing them to certain foods when they were little, or offering "junk" food as a quick meal. Why eat vegetables and chicken if you have already had macaroni and cheese and know if u scream enough parents will make it? Kids are smarter than people think. I dont agree with just giving Zaid whatever he wants. Thankfully he isnt a picky eater and will eat any kind of meat, any kind of veggie or fruit, pretty much anything. The only thing he doesnt love yet is bread, which is fine by me bc he eats whole wheat pastas and such so he is getting his fill.

Susita. Im glad Zaid pretty much favors veggies and fruits during his meals, Im sure that will change though when he gets older like the twins! They catch on real quick!

[Susita 175]

My mom used to tell me she wasn't a 'short order cook' and that I had to eat what she made or not eat at all. However, she always made foods that she knew I would eat, she'd never make anything exotic or really different. I had the same rule though, not to leave the table until I ate everything. I don't have the same rule for the boys, just the vegetable part. I usually am ok if they leave a some of the meat & starch. However, if they want to eat dessert they have to finish their dinner. I don't give them that much on their plates anyhow. There's no way they're getting ice cream or something like that when they haven't even finished 1/2 their dinner

The boys were good with fruits & veggies when they were babies Now they ask me "does this have 'veggibles' in it? for everything I make

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Veggibles! Thats adorable! Reminds me of that Chef Boyardee commerical where the little girl wanted to know what the can said and her mom wouldnt tell her bc it said Vegetables! hehe, its so true though.

I remember reading about a study where for 2 days kids eating habits were examined and the first day they put one side of the table happy meals, and the other side turkey sandwiches, fruit and veggies and almost every child chose the happy meal, well, the next day they wrapped turkey sandwiches, fruits and veggies in happy meal wrapping and the kids still chose what they thought was a happy meal but almost all of them ate the sandwich and fruits and veggies. Just goes to show.

Wanted to chime in about the spices. I wish Zaid could eat spiced food. We cant add anything to our meals at home bc he gets Hives from anything peppery or allspice. We also dont give him canned/boxed food. He broke out from spaghettios and ravioli-os so we just make things homemade now so we can control what is put in it.

[Susita 175]

The boys aren't big on McDonalds, they only like to go if I let them play in the big playplace but they do LOVE chicken nuggets. I buy the dinosaur ones and cook them in the toaster oven. Luis really likes them too When I'm not home that's usually what Luis makes for dinner. Nuggets & tater tots or Velveeta macaroni and cheese. It's what his cooking skills will allow him to make.

We don't tend to eat spicy food - I just make a spicy sauce to go with some things. The boys don't like it so they don't eat it.

[Nizzy 1]

I definitely agree that kids will eat when they are hungry. That's why when I would see moms doing this, it would make me cringe and I vowed I would never be like that.

[chri'stina 190]

Kavi's eating goes up and down like a rollercoaster and sometimes that drives me crazy. He never has been a big eater. One day he hardly wants to eat, the next he will eat more. He will eat Indian food most of the time, so he seems ok with spices and even spicy things. He surprised me but since kids in India grow up on spicy food, why not him hehe.

He seems to be ok with veggies but also does not seem to really like chicken or meat. My husband is a vegetarian so I rarely cook meat at home unless I want it, and then it's usually chicken or fish. Of course he loves anything made from potatoes! He won't eat sandwiches with cold cut meats in them. He hardly wants to eat cheese.

Edited January 10, 2010 by chri'stina

[Anna C. 4]

I definitely agree that kids will eat when they are hungry. That's why when I would see moms doing this, it would make me cringe and I vowed I would never be like that.

Agreed. We dont have junkfood in the house. Foods offered to jona are fruits, veggies and healthy breads. He doesnt know what dessert is and licked chocolate once. I think its ok to say u have to eat veggied if u want dessert, but we are years from that!!!! Now its about eating at all, and he prefers to graze and eat small amounts. I wouldnt make him eat three meals a day and eat what we eat... he doesnt want most of what we eat just yet.

Sorry posting via google phone typing is hard

[Revenesque 2]

I joined the forums at BabyCenter.com and it's insane! The threads and posts are very fast-paced so it's hard to get to know anyone--just faceless posts mostly of complaints and vents.