PDA

View Full Version : Advice about baby's meals



retha
03-11-2011, 02:13 PM
Hi everyone

I'm hoping someone can share some advice with me. I recently started caring for a 13 month old girl. Her parents provide meals for her, however I feel a bit concerned about what they are providing. They provided me with loads of Heinz food jars (7+months age range) and Heinz Dinners (4+ months age range) as well as Heinz Creamed Porridge (4+ months). Her mom still breastfeeds her at night and told me that she does not drink any other milk during the day, only water.

Thing is, I'm a bit concerned that the food they are providing is not 'advanced' enough for her age. Especially the Heinz Dinners which is powdered food that you mix with water - it has no bits or texture to it and she simply opens her mouth and swallows it. I just feel at her age she should be moving towards food with more pieces and texture that she can chew or even eat it herself using her fingers.
With regards to liquids, she drinks less than 50ml a day (honestly!). I try and give her water all day but she only takes tiny sips after lunch (if any).

My question is: Do you think I can give mom some advice about moving her on to different types of food and ask to stop sending powdered food? And also suggest to start giving her cow's milk during the day? How important is cow's milk at her age?

I will appreciate anyone's opinions or suggestions, or any nutrition advice you can give with regards to a 13-month old.

Thank you!
(sorry for the long post...)

Helen79
03-11-2011, 02:55 PM
If she's breastfed that she's likely to still be getting a lot of nutrition from that so doesn't 'need' cow's milk so I would just keep offering water.
If she's still bf then mum may not have weaned her until later so she may not be used to having lumps. I would just carry on feeding what mum brings, she 'should' be having more textured food but every child is different. The 13month old I look after still has jars and won't touch finger food but she eats enough so I'm leaving it up to mum to decide when to move her onto the next stage.

QualityCare
03-11-2011, 03:37 PM
If she's happy and contented then l wouldn't want to change any thing yet, if she appears to be hungry perhaps suggest you add some mashed veg to her dinners but otherwise leave it to mum.

Roseolivia
03-11-2011, 03:59 PM
I think you should ask mum if you can try her on different food. At 13mths she should be on 'proper' food. Chewing the food helps strengthen their muscles which in turn can help language development. My ds is 1 on Monday and he eats whatever we eat, it can even be things like chilli, curries, casseroles etc....

Helen79
03-11-2011, 05:45 PM
At 13mths she should be on 'proper' food. Chewing the food helps strengthen their muscles which in turn can help language development. My ds is 1 on Monday and he eats whatever we eat, it can even be things like chilli, curries, casseroles etc....

Just because a child is a certain age doesn't mean they 'should' be doing things. If a mindee wasn't walking at 13 months but my obviously very advanced perfect child was walking at 9months you wouldn't be telling parents to get a move on and getting her walking as it'll strengthen her leg muscles :rolleyes:

mum2two
03-11-2011, 05:54 PM
I've got a mindee that's almost 1, and just getting lumpier food. Mum doesn't give finger food, as she sometimes gags.

I said to mum I just don't think she's used to it. She's started sending her lumpier food, and we have the odd spoonful where she might not swallow it properly - but generally getting better. She's just a bit lazy I think too, as as soon as we get onto the yoghurt, it goes!! Mainly just sucking it straight off the spoon - which she can't do with the lumpy food.

I've started giving her more finger foods as snacks, as HV told mum on Mon that she needs to be having more. Mum's paranoid about choking, so said she'll leave that one to me!!

I think at 13 months, they should def be having more than what she is. She needs to experience the dif textures and flavours of foods, otherwise she may become a fussy eater as she hasn't experienced it.

I always thought BLW was a load of rubbish, until I unintentially did it with DD2. She is a fantastic eater, and there is barely anything that she won't eat.

xx

blue bear
03-11-2011, 06:13 PM
One of mine now 15 months is still on purried meals at home as she won't eat anything else. I have not said to mum she shouldn't be on this etc but have listened to her concerns in conversations and suggested I offered extras to see how she gets on alongside the purried dinner mum sends.
Today she ate a full roast dinner just roughly chopped something she totally refuses at home.

I would continue to give her the meals from home but agree with mum to give her extra snacks etc if still hungry, I started with breadsticks, cheese soft fruit etc.

Maza
03-11-2011, 07:02 PM
My children's Centre always has literature available on the different stages of weaning and I always pick up a relevant one and pop it in with the child's diary (as well as any other relevant literature). I just let the parents know that I will collect anything that they may or may not find useful and they can do whatever they like with it. As long as you are giving them the information there's not a lot more you can do.

Not much you can do about the water as long as you are constantly offering it to her. I'm sure you have liaised with mum on the type of cup she has at home. My DD used to have more water after her gymboree sessions, so if you try lots of physical activity with her she may take more then.

JulieA
03-11-2011, 07:11 PM
Personally I would continue to give the food provided from home. However I would then offer finger food to supplement, such as some fingers of toast, steamed brocolli or cauli florets, steamed carrot fingers and even a malted milk biscuit as these go quite mushy quickly. She will need to 'do' chewing to develop muscles for later speech.

see how she gets on like this for a while and if all seems ok suggest mum adds more textured food, or cook up some small pasta shapes to mix with her meal - these tend to slip down quite easily, so unlikley to cause choking.

mummyMia
03-11-2011, 10:34 PM
And also suggest to start giving her cow's milk during the day? How important is cow's milk at her age?



If the mum is still breastfeeding then your mindee doesn't need any cows milk. Water is enough. I have breastfed two children and used to be a breastfeeding peer supporter for other mums. I am currently breastfeeding my dd (18 months) and have only just started giving her small amounts of cows milk in the last month or so. Before that I only gave her water. As a breastfeeding mum I would be extremely upset and insulted if anybody suggested that my dd needed cows milk as it implies that my breastmilk is somehow inferior to that of a cow:)

Pipsqueak
03-11-2011, 10:43 PM
Just because a child is a certain age doesn't mean they 'should' be doing things. If a mindee wasn't walking at 13 months but my obviously very advanced perfect child was walking at 9months you wouldn't be telling parents to get a move on and getting her walking as it'll strengthen her leg muscles :rolleyes:

Whilst this is sort of true what Rosie is saying is utterly right. It is extremely important for young children to be developing the correct muscles for good speech development from and early age and so much of this comes from chewing and having 'correct' foods. Walking is not something that can be forced - well actually this is debateable and learned something about various tribes in parts of the world who DO force walking and developing leg muscles from birth and generally does happen naturally- eating is a learned behaviour and action.

Lack of muscle development in this area can and does hinder good speech development

Tatjana
03-11-2011, 10:52 PM
When my ds decided he didn't want to bf anymore I tried offering him cows milk which he threw away in disgust, he won't touch any type of milk now. We make sure he has lots of cheese and yoghurts instead. I don't think cows milk is that important.

retha
04-11-2011, 08:10 AM
Thank you everyone for your good advice, I really appreciate it.
I'm going to continue giving her the food mum provides and then agree with mum that I offer some more finger foods and snacks during the day.
Thing is the powdered food mum brings in are all the same flavour, so no variety at all. She eats all her meals with me every day of the week, so basically all her meals are exactly the same. I still just think it is important that she starts experiencing different tastes and textures.

I also like the idea of cooking up small pasta shapes and mixing it in with her food and think mum would be happy to do that as well ( thanks JulieA).

Think I'm going to put some ideas together over the weekend and suggest to mum. I have a very good relationship with her and I think she will actually be very grateful for advice and help to move her on to different food. I just want to make sure I'm giving her the correct advice.

Thank you everyone, your help was very valuable!
Happy Minding! :)

Nature'sKids!
04-11-2011, 09:46 AM
Iould be less concerned about the texture - like you say, that's something you can easily ad to by giving finger foods etc, but what would worry me more is that she gets the same every day, we all need a variety of foods for a balanced diet so we get all the nutrition we need.
I agree that she doesn't need milk if she is still breastfed but I would probably suggest that you could offer a more varied diet - maybe along the lines of she would like to join in with what everyone else is eating too.
Something good to try which comes to mind is avocado, packed with nutrients and essential fats and when ripe it is easy to chew / mash. Banana is an obvious choice. Really ripe mango and pear are good things too.
I would encourage her to be able to join in regular meals. That powdered stuff is vile IMO and so far removed from real food it's unreal... You wouldn't want to eat smash or cup a soups every day of the week either..
Sorry ifnit sounds harsh but I really think that proper food should be introduced, whether puree or mashed or lumpy - as long as it's freshly prepared real veg, meat, carbs...

retha
07-11-2011, 11:28 PM
Hi everyone
I just needed to add another update... really wanted to share this with all of you that gave me advice.

On Friday I once again offered baby the powdered food (same type & flavour she has had for each meal for the last 5 days!). The meal was over in less than 5 minutes... and I just really felt it was not right & she needed more.
So I quickly made some scrambled egg & sausages. Using my fingers I broke it in little pieces and offered it to her.

IT WAS AMAZING!!!
That little girl's eyes lit up, she started chatting to me as she ate, and kicked her feet and waved her arms every time I picked up another piece of food. When the food was in her mouth she moved her tongue around in circles all around her mouth and around the food and even stuck her finger in her mouth to 'feel' where the food and her tongue was going. I have never seen anything like it! :clapping:

SHE ENJOYED HER MEAL... probably more than I have ever seen a child enjoy food! And she finished the whole plate of food (and that is after eating the powdered stuff already). And afterwards she was happy and full of energy!

I am now 100% convinced of the benefits of offering children 'proper' and a bigger variety of food when they are ready for it! I could not believe what I was seeing!

I've put together some basic meal ideas for her and are going to sit down with mom to discuss it and get her to add her own ideas as well and then start offering that instead of the powdered food alone.

Thank you everyone for your good advice and support!
Retha
:jump for joy: