Feeding Baby Green

This book is supposed to be a plan for 36 months - beginning before pregnancy through toddler years. So I suggest picking it up before you're pregnant and reading through to see if you want to incorporate any of the ideas into your style of parenting. As in all cases - it's never too late to read and start trying as well so read away!

The book has steps for each growth period - Taking Charge, Windows of Opportunity, Engage all the Senses, Choose the right amount, Choose the Right Variety, Customize, and Exercise!

Here are some tips that I found interesting:

"Interestingly, babies tend to suck more vigorously when a new flavor is introduced into their mother's diet." Mothers eating a wide variety of foods can influence the taste buds of their children. Studies have shown that breastfed babies, when studied with solely formula-fed babies, tend to like pureed vegetables within a shorter amount of time. The formula-fed babies did like them as well, it just took more exposure to the flavor.

Studies of formula-fed babies have shown that they type of formula also influences their tastes later in life. So switching formula helps develop your baby's tastes for different flavors later on.


The Invisible Bouquet
Brian and I have recently been preparing our yard for a garden - which I need to plant soon! But this book presents a unique idea. Here's a link to what I'm talking about so you can read for yourself. I think it's a great idea to have your children help in the garden. I remember growing up with a garden and even seeing my grandpa's huge garden he did every year and enjoying fresh vegetables. If you don't have your own plot of land, see if someone who does is willing to garden with you. Or most cities have plots of land you can rent to plant a garden, you'll have to do some searching on your own for that. Anyway - the book suggests that introducing your children to growing plants helps "cultivate" their taste and enjoyment of the foods they help grow!

Take Charge
The author explains through each of the baby to toddler years about taking charge of what the baby eats. We are in control of that. It's important to find out about what you're giving the baby to eat. Store bought baby foods have a lot of additives in them that are unnecessary. Start feeding your baby what you eat on a daily basis - just in pureed form. It explains as a baby turns into a toddler that as you start to see resistance to the food that you're giving them to not "give up" and run to get processed toddler foods - aka chicken nuggets or french fries.


Windows of Opportunity
The author talks about this throughout the book - the section that I'm referring to is on page 157-158. The "window of opportunity" at this stage is when they start moving around (crawling/learning to walk) to the time that they are a full blown toddler. There's a window of opportunity where the baby is willing to taste anything - from rocks to lint to basically anything they get their hands on. They are especially willing to try anything that they see their parents eating, so now is the time to really introduce foods. It normally takes between six and sixteen experiences with a flavor before it becomes accepted - so don't loose hope when trying new flavors!

Engage
1. With Flavor
2. With Aroma
3. With Sight
4. With Sounds and Language
5. With touch
Basically let the baby be a part of the food process. Let the baby see what's happening - touch the food - smell it - see you eat it - etc... The baby is learning by leaps and bounds and if you want the baby to eat healthy, let the baby and kids see your preparation of the food and even be a part of it. This is of course referencing the fact that you are making your own baby food. Like a smashed banana, let the baby see you preparing the food.