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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookHi to everyone especially raw moms and dads
I could really, really use your experience on this so here’s my question
How do you balance or how did you balance your baby’s diet, so that she get’s all the nutrition, or all the calories, proteins, carbs, fats she needs on a daily basis? (‘cause baby’s nutritional needs differ from adults.)
My son has just turned 7 months (but he looks like 1 year old, amazing baby), I’m breastfeeding him, and I’ve just started introducing apples, peachea, bamnansa, and carrots for his first non-milk foods
But what I’m especially interested in: is what are the nutritional needs for 7 month and older babies:
-how many calories per day they need? -how much what is the percentage of proteins that should be incorporated in daily diet – and what foods are rich with proteins?
-how much carbs – and what foods are richest with complex carbs?
-how much fats, amino acids etc – and what foods are richest with all this?
What are your favourite (due to its nutritional richness) daily fruits, vegetables, seeds, grains etc?
What foods are best to ensure that baby is getting all the nutrition she needs on a daily basis, and doesn’t suffer deficits in nutrition?
So basically I what I wanna know is: what kind of foods I have to incorporate in his daily diet to ensure that my son is getting enough of nutrition (enough of calories, proteins, complex carbs, fats etc, etc)?
Well you get the point, what I’m asking – and sorry for making this question so looong!
Thanks in advance
Comments
I know Shazzie has been breastfeeding for 3 years, I think she just stopped now that her daughter turned three. But I do not know if it was purely breastfeeding or a mix with foods. http://www.shazzie.com/raw/articles/extraordina… and here : http://www.shazzie.com/raw/articles/breastfeedi…
But it’ anyway an interesting question in a sick western society, when a lot of tribes breastfeed for at least two years. Moreover babies draw prana through the fontanel a lot easier than we do. I don’t know if the question of calories etc… is really relevant or if it is just some kind of fear inseminated by health organizations who do not have the slightest clue what they’re talking about. I think it would be interesting to know if they’re would be any problem in breastfeeding for three years. I don’t think there would.
Hi arijel5! my daughter is 14 months old and is still pretty much on a mono-diet of breastmilk. i let her play with food in it natural form (when i open the fridge she’ll sneak a yellow pepper out and nosh on it – not really swallowing much). she’ll take a whole peeled banana and play with it until to her delight she gets it open, squatting on the floor and eats maybe one bite. she sucks on plums and watermelon. it’s lovely and primal. basically, i’m letting her experience beautiful foods without requiring her to eat them!
she doesn’t consume enough food to be considered anything other than exclusively breastfed at this point. As an exclusively breastfed toddler, she is extremely healthy, smart – so smart, and very very active… So, to answer your questions:
keep in mind, that as your little one enters toddlerhood, being more mobile, he will stretch out and get a little leaner – don’t be alarmed – this is supposed to happen!! breastfed babies tend to be leaner and with more muscle than their counterparts. its also dependent genetically as well.
- dont worry too much about counting calories or protein at this point. breastfeed on demand and offer foods (fresh fruits and veggies youre eating when you feel like it) there is plenty of protien in veggies and fruits. when you wean you can incorporate nutmilks as well. Then around 2.5 or 3 you can try small amounts of pumpkin, sesame, sunflower seeds, hemp, and pine nuts
- when you do incorporate more carb foods – offer seasonal veggies and fruits, and i don’t know if you’re going to be part cooked or not, but if you are, you can incorporate quinoa (which you can actually sprout and eat raw), oats, buckwheat, amaranth, etc.
- fats – avocado is a favorite first food. breastmilk provides plenty!
- nutrition packed foods that are easy for a young one to eat – avo’s, mango, banana, plums, nectarines, melon, berries, pears, zucchini, let him chew spinach like cud…. in the fall and winter, go for the seasonal stuff – squashes, blended apples, whatever else is bright yummy and in season to where you live.
- water – my kids drink water and a little nut milks.
our society is really brainwashed when it comes to what a kid needs!! I feed my kids those things as they wean off of breastmilk. we feed on demand as needed. in the second year i also feed my kids sprouted grain breads, organic free range eggs (cooked). Everyone has their niche on how raw and how vegan.
my kids are thriving and all are super healthy and have maintained so!
take care of yourself, eat well and nurse your baby contentedly. i have heard of people in even our society breastfeeding their baby exclusively for almost 2 years.
Yep, I agree with breastfeeding as long as possible. And then when your child is ready to eat solid foods they will tell you what they want to eat and when they are hungry. There is no need to count calories, etc.
If you still feel that you want some concrete information on the subject, Gabriel Cousens addresses it in a chapter of his book Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine (I was able to check it out from the library). He goes in-depth into appropriate foods to feed a baby depending on their age.
Good luck! Trust in yourself and your mama wisdom within! :)
I breastfed until my daughter was 2, then she just kinds…stopped! Anyway, Avocado was one of her first foods. I just let her eat whatever I ate, mostly cooked veggies, (wasn’t trying raw then ) raw veggies, fruit, cooked grains like quinoa…just keep the time period between each new introduction a week or even two. no need to rush things if he is still nursing plenty.
If you are interested in the scientific nutritional stuff then check out Super Baby Food by Ruth yaron. lots of great advice and ideas, although not raw, she’ll tell you what babies need, how much and when. But I agree with most others in this discussion. Just let him explore food…YOUR food while still nursing. Introduce him to fresh veggies (sometimes cooked is better for young tunnies, when it comes to broccoli and the like..corn, they can be hard to digest.)
Anyway, My little girl is very open to new foods and I think it is because she knew most of them from a young age. Spices, too. Don’t know if you use them, but if so, do not be afraid to start the introductions from an early age! Just be careful of allergies by going slowly.
Lucy ate today: 1 mango for breakfast with avocado and lettuce. berries (blue and raspberries) Bunny’s “fried” okra recipe marinated portabella mushroom RAW chocolate cherry malt (with added kale) pinto beans (cooked) 2 bananas strawberries, apples, black berries, grapes and potatoes (potatoes cooked) more mango (her fav) 1 apple cashew milk and water And yes, check out Shazzie.
I am trying to ween her of most cooked foods as well as my husband. I think it’ll take more time for him than her…but I would like my little girl to drink more greens. For some reason, she has lost interest in the green smoothies, but I won’t worry too much…yet!
have fun!
wow, Kevyn, that article you posted, the second link, said she had been breastfeeding for 7 years !!! Does anyone not see something wrong with that??? That seems a little excessive to me and creepy.
I have a 12month old and am still breastfeeding. I am guessing he is at 32lbs now. We do not give him anything else. At present I nurse on demand. Somedays he will nurse 5times others just 3. With my older son I introduced avocados at 16months then lightly steamed greens and veggies which I would puree.
I would add.that as far as the protein thing goes, breastmilk is only 5%,protein, and look how well it grows little humans, faster than at any time in their lives, so I wouldn’t worry about that. You’re going to get more than that in raw greens! Yup! Keep ‘em suckling.
I totally agree with Sueko’s comment. As long as they are thriving and happy thats what’s important, I wouldnt worry about protein etc. Nature knows best and provided you are nourishing yourself adequately baby will be just fine. I recall with my 1st son I had similar feelings and anxieties, becos my son started teething early (4teeth by 4 months) his ped kept telling me to start solids at 5months!!!! Becos of the constant pressure and me being a first time mum I caved in at 16months (still pumped for another few months). This time around I will be nursing for at least 2years. Then I plan on expressing and putting in a cup for as long as I can stand it :-)
mmmorgans The author of the second link is Magic Kate and she has three sons I am guessing that as they are quite close in age (10,8,5) the seven year thing corresponds to more than one child! Her website is http://www.rawliving.eu/?location_id=1
Thanks everyone for your replies. I was on another parental forum, and when I answered the topic “What foods you avoid giving to your baby?” and said that I’m gona avoid giving cooked foods and meat ‘cause we weren’t designed for eating meat, and that I intend to feed my son only with raw foods and no meat at all, I was “attacked” by some moms, how I’m condemning my son on a strict diet, how I’m overburdening his digestive organs with raw foods, ‘cause babies digest cooked better(digest better?! with no enzymes left?!) and that humans are carnivores, and how babies live without protein from meat,and that I’m gona kill my baby with that kind of diet…...the wierdest was their logic or should I say ilogic, ‘cause they all agknowledge that raw foods are richest in nutrients, and that cooked foods suffer loses and have deficits in nutrients, but even though they admit that raw is richer in nutrient, they still stick with “cooked is healthier” philosophy and ask me “Why can’t you admit that you have to cook some percentage of foods”- well at the end I stoped answering to sarcastic and ironic remarks made by some moms and said that I’m gona start feeding my son with cooked foods the same day someone convinces me and proves to me that vitamins, minerals and enzymes aren’t good in rich amounts for babies, and that we should cook the foods to get rid off the “extra” (nutrients).
And the saddest is that I was told by my pediatrician the same nonsense about how cooked digest easier than raw (easier?! with no enzymes left?!) I mean I get that people stick to what they have been taught, and don’t question the “logic” or their “lack of” – I get that – but what I don’t get is, how blinded people can be, that when their stands on diets are subjected to a simple logic and even after admiting that the raw is richest in what body needs, they still advocate “cooked as healthier”