“What if my baby is looking fragile but doctors find nothing wrong?” A mother asked. I had a little 12 months-old patient who was otherwise well but not gaining enough weight. We went through the Family Sensitivity History and used it to help with the process of diet investigation so removed all the usual suspect foods. It seemed strange to the family to exclude some foods where the aim was to have the child eat more. But they were encouraged to eat as much as he wanted of the safe foods. It was … [Read more...]
Babies are food gourmets who can’t talk
Imagine you had to feed a friend who was a food gourmet but who for some reason, could not talk. You would try to imagine all the aspects of food that may make a difference to his enjoyment so you could get it right. You would think how discriminating your friend would be about the quality of the food, its taste, appearance, aroma, presentation, and so on. Now imagine this person is your baby. When we watch chefs describe the importance of getting the flavour, crispness, blending of textures, … [Read more...]
Milk intolerance 100 years ago
When milk was 'humanised' by my mother's generation it had to be diluted, as cow’s milk contains three times the protein of human milk, and then have lactose added to bring the lactose level up to the same as human milk. When it became available powered milk was used. It should also have been diluted and have lactose added until the baby was 9 months. It had the advantage that the milk had been heated to be powered so the protein was altered and this benefited those allergic to milk, to some … [Read more...]
Breastfeeding and food sensitivity: a useful new book
If you know anyone who is breastfeeding you should know about Joy Anderson’s new book “Food-Sensitive Babies: Dietary Investigation for Breastfed Babies”. Many issues that breastfeeding mothers want to understand are covered in this book. Joy covers low milk supply and oversupply, the new thinking about tongue-tie, and all aspects of lactose intolerance. She looks at allergies, tests, management, and if allergies can be prevented. Much of the book provides a good overview of food chemical … [Read more...]
Children eating well is not easy
There are many achievements expected with introduction of solids. These include that the child will thrive nutritionally, that different aspects of food (tastes, scratchiness, lumpiness, temperatures) will be managed, that the child will not be a fussy eater, that the child will not fail to thrive nor will be obese, that allergic symptoms will be prevented, or managed if present, that the child will manage to eat in different social situations, that the child will be able to “get his tongue … [Read more...]
I know about speech and coordination development. Is there eating development?
It is sheer delight to notice baby’s responses to our talk to them, and very special the day they say “mum or “dad”. Usually everything goes well with eating too, but not always. We all enjoy noticing a baby’s development towards learning to walk. If a baby has problems swallowing food or managing sounds we can get help from speech therapists. If there is coordination delay we can obtain the help of a physiotherapist. If there is general developmental delay we see an occupational therapist. … [Read more...]
Baby-Led Weaning – helping your baby love good food
A review of Baby-led Weaning By Gill Rapley & Tracey Murkett 2008 Vermilion London The idea of baby-led weaning includes two important ideas: 1 The baby leads decisions on what food it is interested in. The author recommends providing a variety of foods to the baby at family meals so the baby chooses what it will experience, play with, and taste, proposing that with this method the baby will enjoy food, obtain adequate nutrition, and not have any eating problems; 2 … [Read more...]