MIL say baby isn't taking enough nutritious food

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lyra

Member
I hate it when people make comments like your baby is not looking chubby or his cheeks are not as rosy as before... and it happens that I have an Aunt who likes to give comments, always comment this comment that, always like to say something even if it doesn't concern her... and this Aunt influenced my MIL and MIL started believing I'm not giving baby enough good food. She say I feed baby too much bottled puree and these are no good. I insisted on only giving baby organic puree fruits and vege, and I don't always give baby bottled food. Only gave him when we have no time, need to bring baby out. I fed him baby instant brown rice mixed with organic corn, beetroot, spinach, broccoli, pumpkin etc.

On some says when I'm too busy, I cook the beetroot and corn as soup and gave him the soup mixed with brown rice. When I have some time on hand, I blend the brocolli, corn, beetroot and serve with brown rice. If I really get a lot of extra puree, I will freeze and serve later. Is there anything wrong with what I'm feeding dear baby? Now, they are really making me doubt myself. Sigh. And MIL becomes enthusiastic about helping me prepare "better" food for baby for hearing her comment!
 
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ast0212

Member
Oh yes I got this from my mum. She said I should be feeding my son 3 times a day (because she fed us 3x a day from 4 months old!), with porridge, must be nutritious...blah blah blah...

I wrote her a long but nice email detailing why I feed only 1-2 meals with breastmilk being more important than food in the first year and the composition of breastmilk (with all the % of vitamins, minerals and other goodies). She didn't say any more after that!

You are definitely doing well :)
 
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lyra

Member
I'm feeding him 3 times a day but small portions because he's easily distracted and feeding him a big bowl will be really time consuming. So instead of 2 big meals, it's 3 smaller meals...

Yup and THEY (and parents and hubby's parents) kept urging me to give him more solids because when we were babies, they fed us big bowls of porridge. I hate it when MIL shook her head when helping me feed baby and said when her sons were at Baby's age, they are eating big bowls of porridge and started to blame it on starting solids late, as their generation started feeding solids when babies were 4 months. I kept telling her when they are under a year old, milk is more impt and babies' appetite has got nothing to do with delaying solids. I'm going to educate her more about breastfeeding again! I was starting to doubt myself because of their incessant nagging... Sigh! Lucky I didn't give in and feed him more solids. That will reduce the good stuff he'll get from mummy's milk!
 
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ast0212

Member
Yeah you know what you're doing! Don't doubt yourself :)

Things have changed a lot over time. My mum didn't believe me when I told her that there was a time they used to start babies on solids at 6 weeks!!!

Yep babies get heaps more nutrition from breastmilk than solids in the first year....keep emphasising that :p Even the most nutritious food will not be properly absorbed by the baby's system - in one end, out the other. That's why breastmilk is best. And it is true, too much solids will reduce their milky intake.

I need to read up again on starting solids, my baby will be 6 months in 2 months time...can't believe it!
 
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Alisa

Active Member
the food u prepared are ok, may add some meat in it or is there a reason u are not starting yr son with meat yet?
i believe now our baby are starting to learn how to walk and yours may be standing up already so that is where their energy goes to and by the time they can walk, they will become slimer than now.

i will be giving my son 2 times solid food during weekday cuz morning is by infant care then evening will be by us. weekend if we can will be 3 times solid, if we are going out then maybe only evening solid or milk whole day.

i think that u are doing all fine. those olden days of bringing up children is not like our time. during their time, their doc say breastmilk no good and maybe they are not that rich to kept buying milk powder for their kids so they will feed porriage early. we just do what we think is correct. Don worry, u are not alone.
 
pixie

pixie

Member
We can't get away from comments; be it from relatives or friends. Whatever people said which only you know if these are facts or just plain casual remarks, take it as a pinch of salt!

My girl who is 12 months old now is not a big eater. She drink formula milkonly 3 times daily which I know some parents are feeding their toddler at least 4-5 times per day. Thing is my girl munch in between the main meals (Lunch & Dinner) and I am happy to feed her what she needs than worry if she gets fat/chubby. We can't force our child to eat what they can take - they will end up feeling sick (imagine I keep stuffing you up with lots of food, do you feel good?) and might backfire (the child might resist eating).

Like one of the mummy has pointed out, incorporate more meat/poultry in yur kid's diet if you have not done so already. Continue with what you are giving him/her (reduce on bottled/canned food -I am a firm believer of feeding freshly made food is best for a growing child) and assess how much or when to increase the amount of food intake.

Happy exploring with your child and don't be afraid to let him/her try different things - I give my girl food in her tray and let her feed herself but some of my colleagues feel that I should not let her play with food! But I feel that it is necessary for them to exercise their motor - sense/feel/touch is part of a child's growing stage.
 
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didy

Member
I take care of my baby boy all by myself. Although sometimes I feel really tired out, but most of the time I feel lucky because no one is there to nag at me.

Old folks are like that they think porridge is like miracle food. Baby must eat loads and loads of it. But they don't realize that these are BABIES, not toddlers. Their appetite is not as big as 1 or 2 yr old children. And when baby don't eat as much as the old folk would like them to, they go add all sorts of seasoning (salt, soya sauce, sesame oil etc etc) to make the porridge more appealing to baby.

There was once I was feeding my baby some potato purée and my hubby was on Skype with his mum. My baby was fussing when eating and my MIL said I dunno how to cook. And. She added say I never add soya sauce to potato of course baby don't like. I rolled my eyes but felt lucky that she is not the one taking care of my baby. My baby has now progressed to taking porridge and baby pasta and he enjoys his food -without any seasoning.

Don't be affected by the old folks. Stick with your own method - the baby is yours, not theirs.
 
marshmallows

marshmallows

New Member
Other than meat, can also feed egg yolk. Whole eggs only after 1 yr old. Remember to intro whole eggs before the child's first mmr jab, cos they will ask if the child is allergic to egg whites. If no allergies then can proceed with the jab.
 
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Alisa

Active Member
marshmallows said:
Other than meat, can also feed egg yolk. Whole eggs only after 1 yr old. Remember to intro whole eggs before the child's first mmr jab, cos they will ask if the child is allergic to egg whites. If no allergies then can proceed with the jab.
Click to expand...
thanks for the reminding. hee... i gave my son only a tiny bit of egg yolk to try and so far he is ok bcuz he is now having running nose & cough, we never give him again. will try to give him once he recover.
 
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lyra

Member
Hmm the PD also asked me to give egg yolk. Why is that so impt?
Marshmallows, the 1st MMR jab is when he's one year right? So that means I must intro the whole egg before he's one year? How do u know if he's having allergic reaction? Thanks!
 
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Alisa

Active Member
mild allergy reaction is rashes outside mouth area or whole body. serious allergy reaction, they can be breathless...
i now give him half egg yolk le. The nurse told me to give abit of egg white after his bday cuz his jab is on 5 days after his bday. think if got allergy to egg white than not able to take the jab ba. The jab contain egg.
 
marshmallows

marshmallows

New Member
During my boy's time, his first mmr jab was 15 months old so i had more time on introducing the whole eggs part but MOH revised the vaccination schedule now to be 12 months old. So yes, pls do intro some egg whites just after he turn 1 yo just to ensure baby doesn't have allergy to it before going for the jab.

Think most pd recommend baby taking some egg yolks becos it's very nutrients packed, just like avocados. My boy was eating half an egg yolk daily from 7-9 months old and 1 whole egg yolk from 10-12 months old. After 1yo he gets 1 whole egg daily. The nutritionist we are seeing said its ok to feed 1 egg per day for toddlers below 2yo cos of their high energy needs.
 
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marshmallows

marshmallows

New Member
Nope. Toddlers below 2yrs old can take 1 egg per day cos they are really high energy with all that walking, running and climbing about. That's what our child nutritionist said :)
 
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felicity

Active Member
i've heard over the radio some expert say it is actually ok for us to eat eggs everyday, but because of our diet, the advice is 2-3 times a week. it's like eating an egg for each meal is probably healthier than eating meat at each meal, but nowadays people take so much meat, processed food, seafood etc which can be high cholestrol, so advice is to not take egg everyday as it just adds to the cholestrol lvl. but some friends with low level of good cholestrol, docs will advice them to eat eggs more often, so i believe egg is way better than other animal proteins (besides diary). i've also heard or read that pregnant women can safely eat up to 3 eggs a day, just make sure is fully cooked. i think for younger children, if they are not fed with other cholestrol-rich food, an egg a day is absolutely fine. :)
 
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tpyy

New Member
hi, chanced upon this thread. interestingly just came across the Health Promotion Board tips for preggies.
Pregnancy and diet

due to cholesterol, better keep to less than 4 egg yolks a week for pregnant women.
maybe different for kids lah.. i dont know
wow really seem like egg yolk is chockful of nutrients :)
 
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twiggiez

Member
my mother in law won't directly tell me. she'll tell hubby then hubby will nag me. >_>
i started with bottled purees for my girl. i guess mother in law thought the purees were exp so she made blended porridge when she took care of my girl. when i tasted it, it was so salty. at this point hubby was always telling me how his mom always gave baby home cooked food instead of instant. i should do the same etc...

when daughter was around 1yr, me or my mom occassionaly gave her maggie porridge. mother in law made porridge from scratch. and that's where the comparison starts again. why so lazy to make porridge from scratch. hubby only saw me cooking maggie porridge. but he didn't know that me and my mom would make from scratch as well. and he didn't know that his mom used maggie porridge too. just that she added more veggies.
a few times he ask me what porridge his mom made. i bluntly said maggie chicken flavour. he was like "really meh" ya see the dustbin still have the packet.
he only saw me making porridge from scratch recently. never say anything. :(
and you know that kids will tend to be fussy eaters. run here run there. if they dont't want to eat means dont't want.
hubby says daughter dont't like my cooking, prefer grandma's cooking...
he also mentioned MIL want to teach me how to cook daughter's porridge. i feel so offended. i know how to cook kay...

so upset...
 
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