In the previous entry titled “Yassy’s note: Liam in NICU;day 8- day 14“, I wrote Liam came to our family about 3 weeks early (36 weeks and 2 days) and he has spent next 3 weeks in NICU.
He was tiny little baby; 18″ tall, weighing 5 lb 6 oz…
Day 302..
Today, he tried English muffin (plain one cut up into dice and soaked in breast milk and cooked in the pan).He liked it.
I did not want to start with cereal but since he now can enjoy wider variety of carbohydrate,mineral/vitamin source, protein source, I decided to introduce western food a bit.
He tried corn flakes last week and he can have it.However, finding the corn flakes without preservative such as BHT or coloring, corn syrup, sugar was the hardest part.
I wanted to get corn flakes which is corn and salt are the only ingredient but our grocery store and other stores that we looked at did not carry it so, I settled with While Foods Market’s 365 corn flakes that had less ingredients without preservatives, coloring,corn syrup or sugar (365 corn flakes used cane sugar so I compromised on that).
Anyway, his breakfast menu include….
Creamy Kabocha soup (Japanese pumpkin soup)
How to make: Mix 2 tsp mashed kabocha pumpkin (or you could use acorn squash) and 2 tsp breast milk (or formula) and add 1/4 tsp corn starch and microwave about 23-25 seconds mixing the soup at about 12 seconds time
Sea bass cucumber salad
English muffin
Corn flakes with yogurt (this was served with breast milk mixed in right before he eats it 🙂
I got a lot of excitement gesture from Liam today.Especially the soup.He loved pumpkin soup!He leaned forward with mouth open very very wide while he is buckled up in the high chair.
Day 307..
Here are today’s meal.
#1; Somen noodle with red pepper in Dashi soup, Strawberry salmon, and orange #2 English muffin with kinako (roasted soy flour), Tomato-spinach-carrot vegetable soup
#3 Corn flakes, Cottage cheese with Ahi tuna, ,Acorn squash with onion, and strawberry
Today, he was playing with English muffin a bit.I saw him playing with it a bit then hold his arm to the side and dropped the bread.
Of course, who else would be happy for the unexpected treats on the floor? Yes, Palette came and cleaned the area up very good.I think she loved his food too!Her nose was very wet.
In the previous entry titled “Yassy’s note: Liam in NICU;day 8- day 14“, I wrote Liam came to our family about 3 weeks early (36 weeks and 2 days) and he has spent next 3 weeks in NICU.
He was tiny little baby; 18″ tall, weighing 5 lb 6 oz…
Day 296..
Today, I weighed him and he weighed 17.5 lb. He sits steady if he is having his hands on the floor but he has not sat without support yet.
As for solid food adventure, he had green beans. He had it this morning and he liked it:-) So far, cantaloupe is the only food he is bit iffy about to eat on its own (probably not the texture he can smash with his gum yet. He will eat it if mixed with cottage cheese or yogurt, but not on its own) .
Day 298..
I needed to make Liam’s broccoli and he cannot have stem part just yet, I ate the stem part (steamed) from his broccoli making.
Nothing shall be wasted,lol.
It was busy morning.. I made…. edamame new batch, onion new batch, broccoli new batch, and new fish for him tomorrow. When I look at the clock.it was close to noon already…
Liam just had his lunch after batch cooking and, he was so funny.It was oatmeal dish served with side veg dish; pinto bean, kabocha pumpkin, carrot, and flounder and every time he finishes chewing and swallow, he opened his mouth real big and lean forward while straps on the high chair is keeping him so he would not lean forward too much.
His legs were kicking and arms were looking like riding on the motorcycle and he made sound too!
Solid food time is very interesting and fun time!
Liam’s breakfast today.He had Mickey mouse,lol.
Menu include: Potato, creamy tomato soup, 5 bai gayu (porridge made with ratio water 5 rice 1) ,and green bean-tofu-flounder.
Tomorrow, he will be trying out Ahi Tuna. Since he cannot eat it raw, I have cooked up all the way with konbu. Hope he likes it:-)
Day 299…
Day 300…
Liam’s breakfast today. The meal from today will be a bit more fancier than a week before.He gets to explore more flavor and number of dishes:-)
Since he does good on yogurt and cottage cheese, he is now can try out butter. So, I have whipped up the white sauce in small amount and made Macaroni with white sauce:-)
Macaroni pasta’s chunk gets bigger from today from 2-3mm to 5mm.He did ok on that.He loved his new macaroni dish.The dish was topped off with corn.
Another side dish you see here is Ahi tuna and Asparagus in one, and Spinach soup in the other. The spinach soup was with Konbu dashi plus water from long simmered onion making.Liam loves the soup base combo too.
His lunch is based around Oatmeal, and dinner is based around bread gayu (rough torn bread without crust soaked in breast milk and cooked).
I am currently making 5 bai gayu (porridge made with water 5 rice 1 ratio) for Liam tomorrow.I made Potato for Liam in the morning. I am his personal chef,lol.
In the previous entry titled “Yassy’s note: Liam in NICU;day 8- day 14“, I wrote Liam came to our family about 3 weeks early (36 weeks and 2 days) and he has spent next 3 weeks in NICU.
He was tiny little baby; 18″ tall, weighing 5 lb 6 oz…
Day 283..
Liam tried salmon for the first time….The food is #35.
Day 285…
Liam had macaroni chicken soup with nappa cabbage along with orange salmon.He had macaroni soup with konbu dashi base.
He really like macaroni soup and opens up his mouth enough to make me think that his jaw might break,lol
He loves his food very much as much as fruits coated fish like orange salmon;simply mix orange with salmon.
Day 287..
Liam’s solid food today was both hit!
He opened his mouth enough to make me think his jaw would drop to the floor and he was moving his legs up and down restlessly with clapping hands.
Yes,he really loved these meals.
3 dish picture was breakfast and it include sweet potato pangayu with cantalope ( pangayu is bread tore into small bits without crust cooked in breast milk) , chicken soup with onion carrot edamame, and his dessert was Kinako Fuji apple (kinako is roasted soybean flour often used to coat Japanese sweets)
2 dish meal was his dinner and it is 7bai gayu with nappa cabbage (7 bai gayu is the porridge made with ratio water 7 rice 1.Rice itself is not mashed at all) served with Orange salmon salad (Salmon,cucumber,orange is mixed together). I find that he likes fish mixed with fruits like orange.
In the previous entry titled “Yassy’s note: Liam in NICU;day 8- day 14“, I wrote Liam came to our family about 3 weeks early (36 weeks and 2 days) and he has spent next 3 weeks in NICU.
He was tiny little baby; 18″ tall, weighing 5 lb 6 oz…
Day 244..
Liam tried one level up big boy solid food meal;meal ingredients are now graduating from smooth paste to fine chop in size of 2 mm – 3 mm
Some of his food are still from frozen stock so those are still in paste state but, once stock are out, he would be eating fine chop size one. I made one level up size; fine chop. Today was with rough mashed porridge with less liquid called 7 bai gayu (porridge is made with 1 rice vs 7 water ratio and rough mashed) and finely chopped cooked sweet onion in 2 of his solid food meal. He did ok with both.
He will be on this size for next 2 months:-)
Day 245..
Liam’s breakfast today.
Menu; Pangayu (mashed breast milk soaked and cooked bread) with strawberry, and strawberry-acorn squash-cod side dish.
He liked both but he really really loved the pan gayu. My husband saw me plating his meal and said “Liam is not a dog”,lol.
Well, dog bone shape is not for doggies, but cute for everyone’s meal,don’t you think?Lol.
Pangayu with strawberry, and strawberry-acorn squash-cod side dish
Day 246.. We have introduced Liam’s solid food #19.
Shanghai Bok choy
Day 248.
Little prince Liam had quite active morning today;watched me cook his food;stage 2 broccoli and 7 bau gayu (porridge) besides washing dishes and my husband’s lunch box etc.. After that, he pivoted on the floor playing with toy (he started pivoting more and smoothly) and then,I read him a couple of books (the books were written in English but I translated those into Japanese for him to read). After that, some more play time together.
At this point, he did not get tired or sleepy at all even if his usual nap time came. So, I pretended I was closing my eyes laying next to him and what he did? He played with my face and when I made face to him, he was giggling and no sign of nappy nap. So… I decided to have lunch and fed him and do my things in the kitchen. After that, I put him in his bed and he wanted to be hold so he cried. But then, as soon as I pick him up, he smiled and no tears. Well, in the end.. he decided mom is the best bed to sleep on. He decided to snore on my laps..
Our little prince Liam had today;Day 248….. AM: 7 bai gayu (porridge made with 1 rice 7 water ratio, rough mashed), shanghai bok choy, and carrot soup with onion before breakfast milk to finish his meal up.Liam loved his solid food.
PM; Somen noodle and cod with Konbu dashi, Acorn squash soup with corn Liam ate everything (somen noodle and cod with konbu dashi served with corn soup with acorn squash) with so much excitement and went to food coma;snoozing before bath time:-) He eats well.
We believe that taste buds are created while baby being introduced to solid food, most parents in Japan do not start with cereal or fruits juice or banana or avocado etc.. but rather, start with bland food like mashed porridge and then start adding vitamin mineral group food;fruits and veg without any seasoning so the babies can explore pure taste of food (fruits yes but not the one with bold strong taste fruits like banana right from the start), then start adding protein source ;white meat fish and then tofu, then white meat poultry like tender and then last is red meat.
We try aiming at letting babies to explore variety of tastes in early age and each meals are nutrition based. Our son now just turned 8 months can eat rice, bread,somen noodle, udon,sweet potato, cod,sea bass, flounder,onion,apple,carrot,shanghai bok choy,broccoli,acorn squash, cabbage, strawberries, corn, spinach,tomato, and more. He eats lots of veg and fruits. I hope he stays being a good eater.
Our pediatrician loved my solid food plan and encouraging me to keep doing what I am doing for our son:-)
In the previous entry titled “Yassy’s note: Liam in NICU;day 8- day 14“, I wrote Liam came to our family about 3 weeks early (36 weeks and 2 days) and he has spent next 3 weeks in NICU.
He was tiny little baby; 18″ tall, weighing 5 lb 6 oz…
Day 186..
Yesterday was Liam’s very first mug training day with the baby mug that can turn into sprout,straw and a cup as the baby grows.My parents got him for the Christmas and tried it for the first time yesterday.
He needed time to figures it out how to hold but he could hold the mug for a few seconds with bit of my support for the bottle angle.
The handle is not straight down but rather set toward a bit so the baby does not need to angle the bottle high as he/she drinks up the milk or juice.I liked the handle but the nipple part was raher softer than the nipple that I use (Chicco’s) and on and off,nipple got sucked strong and shrunk and folded over and Liam could not get milk out some,which made him a bit cranky for a bit.
Maybe with the cup my parents got us, using from sprout stage might be a good because of the nipple issue.
I tried bottle holder from Chicco today with Chicco bottle and it was better for nipple but the handle is not set toward and no secure mechanism that stops the handle gets turn around the bottle,I liked using the chicco bottle for the mug training for sturdier nipple but I would have preferred the handle came with the mug bottle my parents gave us and the mug mechanism my parents’ baby mug which has mechanism, that stops the handle turning around.
Just running around the house holding Liam (cradle style) with made up sound.I pretended like a car and he is a driver and moved him like so.He laughed a lot and giggles and had so much fun but.. I am tired….
Day 187..
He is 6 months old then.He is practicing sitting up.He can hold his body for about maybe 10 or so second when I release my hands from supporting his body (my hand under his arm) and he does not get baby yoga anymore.His neck is stable,can hold head long time.He just roll over crazy now.
We will be getting high chair/booster seat soon and then, we are thinking about starting him on solid Japanese way.Since my mother told me through my father’s e-mail that I should not put breast milk in the bottle to train him for the hold,I took off the handle from chicco bottle last night and I tried feeding him as I used to.Liam already got the concept of self feeding/handle holding and his both hands came to the center to support the bottle…even though there were no handles to hold onto..
Day 190..
The bottom 2 gum is somewhat rumpy with slight white-ish gum top.Teeth coming in?? We do know that Liam is very drooly..
He has been grumpy more than before and I offer cold teether but he does not like cold one…a few bites and toss to the side…
I find he likes to chew on bibs,my shoulder (clothe) when being burped, and edge of pacifier and edge of his jacket..
Liam day 190.. Teeth coming in??
Liam has been practicing pivoting but not being able to yet.He can roll over to be on his tummy (he is pro for this) but once on the tummy,he puts his elbow on the floor and sometimes put his arms sides as if airplane while he is rubbing his face on the floor towel and he backs head up with his leg kicking up and down below his knee.
He is so far wearing footie.I wonder if he needs to be in jump suit type of clothe;one suit with foot not covered so he can get a good traction on the floor??Would that give good practice for pivoting-army crawling etc..?
Since he is also practice sitting, I also toying the idea of if I should put him in 2 separate clothe piece;top and bottom.
Day 191..
Just back from eye doctor.. I had outpatient surgery done on one of my eyes and one eye is swollen shut;hard to see things well…
When Liam was at NICU,he did not know how to suck,and struggled with breastfeeding him but he is a pro now.He found the nipple on his own and started sucking;-)
At the eye doc place,he was awake whole time and he was talking,smiling to the doc and our doc talked back to him.
We had some errands to do after the surgery but I got pain in my eye and came straight back to the house.Decided to take it easy.I still got paperwork needs to be done but I will take a break today.
Liam is on his tummy in the gym.Trying to figures out how to pivot .I think he is getting better at mini push up;raising the chest off the floor as days go by but not quite success for the pivoting.
Day 194..
Liam says “Feel like a king in the chair”,lol.
We are thinking about starting him on solid food maybe next week (tomorrow and beyond).
So, I did skype with my parents and my sister just now.My sister gave us a cup which we can make 10 times porridge (rice and water ratio is 1:10) while making our own in the rice cooker so, I had to ask what the number on the cup indicated etc..
I understood it fine and that cup comes with the own plastic spoon and while I was showing to my family to make sure I understood “how to” correctly, Liam stole the spoon and started licking,lol.
He says he is very ready for the step up food:-)
Also, my father said to me that he is thinking about coming over in end of April or so;sometime in April.
I cannot wait to see him and see him holding Liam and interact with him face to face!
My sister’s kids were on the skype too and they were like “so cute!” and they told me they are waiting for us to come over to Japan too.
We will see when we can go back to Japan;-)
Day 195..
Liam has started solid food adventure. Only one bite of Jyu bai gayu ( it is a porridge, much looser than risotto. It is made with ratio water 10 x rice 1) and it is perfect as a starter food for 5-6 moth old babies. Many kids in Japan starts with this 10 bai gayu as their first solid food.
Liam had his very first solid food;mashed porridge called 10 bai gayu:-)He seemed to find it ok to eat it. He is eating only 1 tsp of porridge.Most nutrition comes from breast milk at this stage.
With my way, after making such loose risotto like porridge, I mashed to small bits of rice so I would not see bigger bits of rice.
This porridge is NOT seasoned.Japanese babies tastes seasoned food much later.
Liam with very first solid food..
On the play mat.He pivoted 180 degree this morning for the very very first time!
Day 196..
Day 2 solid food.. I gave Liam the same stuff to yesterday (Jyu bai gayu;mashed porridge”) but today, he was more interested in the milk in the bottle and kept staring at it and did not open his mouth as wide as he was yesterday.
Maybe tomorrow, I am going to bring the bottle after he had his share of solid food.
On the skype, mother said that mashing through the kitchen sieve so the rice would not have bits is good idea, but at first, try giving him more liquid part than bits (itty bitty bits that is smaller than kitchen sieve can catch).
Day 197..
Talked to my parents over skype last night.Mainly, my mother wanted to talk to me on feeding Liam solid food and she gave me a couple of tips and it was helpful.
I sent them his very first solid meal video and she said he seems to be taking the food well for the first day so, I am hoping he will be like that tonight too.
He was quite talkative and talked to my father,and my mother both and my parents talked back to him over the skype.
It was nice moment.
My father also gave me the specific week in April he is thinking of coming and I cannot wait!Finally, my side of family can get to hold their grandson!My mother probably cannot come because she probably has her own issue still,and needs to care for my grandmother.It is a shame but we can come over there later.
Anyway, this morning, Liam pivoted 90 degree:-) Pivoting milestone seems the most difficult milestone for him to achieve so far,but he is trying. I will cheer for his effort and hope he gets better at it.
Palette was right next to me staring at Liam trying to reach for the toy. Seems like she spends more time around me and Liam on the play mat;-)
Palette rolled on his back and making sound to nudge me to pet her belly and ..you know, Corgi has long ears. Liam was looking like thinking “Can I suck her ear?”.I saw his mouth getting a little moving closer to Palette’s ear so,I told Palette to move and she did move all right but ended up taking space right on my lap;right in front of Liam on his tummy.
It snowed last night and we got about 1″ snow so far.First snow for Liam to look at.
By the way,we went to pediatrician today.
He was 14lb 2.5 oz and 66cm tall! Doc said he is catching up with the growth chart finally:-)
Day 200..
Liam in teething bib.Right before lunch;changed that bib to the regular one.He likes to munch on Mr Monkey Pacifier.
Today was the experiment day with Liam;to see if the separate clothe is better for him to move around or one piece footie.
It seemed like sitting better,moving better,but minor problem is what my sister pointed out;the top goes up when you want to pick him up and he gets exposed belly sometimes.
Other than that, it is fine.The bottom is soft denim and 9 months old clothe but he can wear that one with no problem.
After getting the high chair,I started putting him in the chair everyday when I make dinner and put him on the sideline in between kitchen and living room so he can see me cook.I talk to him and showing and explaining the ingredients and he actually listen and stare at the veg etc..
He wanted to hold lemon and red pepper today.
It takes more time for me to finish cooking but,it is fun thing to do with him.
Our son “Liam” is a very good eater and so far, he has no dislikes. He has started to showing a little preference in cooking method but so far, that is about it.
He eats really well, and his pediatrician is very happy about that too.
As you know, diet is the base of overall health.
I try to feed him variety of food,variety of texture and tastes at this moment and, I am making his food nutrition in mind.
I enjoy to be his personal chef for months;-) It is fun to create solid food recipes for babies;-)
I am hoping that he will continue to be a good eater even if he gets older.
I was originally planning to share about solid food stories much later as he grown in my blog series. However, I have noticed that there is growing interests in how I feed Liam, what to feed, and when and more, I have decided to share about solid food story, baby food recipes etc.. a little earlier than planned.
I hope that this solid food story series would encourage more moms to cook baby food using fresh ingredients and review what they are feeding to their babies/kids to provide a better meals for better health.
I would like to help the babies to become a healthy good eater. I hope this series would help them achieve that.
Liam’s very first solid food time Jan 25 2015..
Before you begin….
Before you begin introducing solid food to your baby, there are a few things to note.
You would want to know about babies and food allergy.
What is food allergy?
Food allergy is the reaction people get after eating food that is normally nontoxic food for human body. When a person with food allergy eats the specific food, the body take it as something toxic to own body and start reacting to it.
According to my Japanese e-magazine, allergy rate is about 10% in babies, less than 5% in 3 year old and over.
They say that typical symptom for the food allergy include nettle rash (hives), eczema, diarrhea, vomiting,runny nose, and cough.
Many time, symptom would appear within 15 minutes after eating and almost all times, the symptom would appear within 1 hour from eating the food.
There are severe allergy reaction such as anaphylactic shock, breathing difficulty, continuous coughing or runny nose.When you experience these, the babies needs to go to hospital right away.
When you start introducing something new in the babies solid food meal, make sure the following points.
always make sure to give only about 1 tsp worth to start with just to see he/she is not allergy to the new food and watch out how they do after eating the new food especially next one hour from eating it in the menu.
It is always good idea to introduce only 1 new food a day so you know what caused the reaction if any.
Also, it is the good idea to introduce the new food when pediatrician clinic is open.
Know the food that has potential to trigger the allergy in babies..
Food that tends to trigger allergy in babies are Eggs, Milk, and wheat.
Among babies that were diagnosed as food allergy, 90% in less than a year old babies, 70% of babies aged between 1 to 3 are allergic to these 3 food items according to Japanese e-magazine.
Not just when feeding those as individual item but also feeding food that contains those 3 allergy triggers, feed fresh and heat them thoroughly,and feed those from very tiny amount until you are sure your babies are not allergic to those.
Back home in Japan, it seems when babies are diagnosed food allergy, pediatricians would ask the mom to feed menu that does not have any allergen they are allergic to.
Then, as babies grow, the offended food will be re-introduced to the babies from tiny tiny amount.
When you exclude everything anything that could contain offended allergen in menu, it is important to understand that the babies need to eat something that could be substituted nutritionally.
When mothers removes everything that contains allergen and would not feed something in place to provide the nutrient that would be missing out, Japanese e-magazine says that it could trigger the developmental disorder.
When your babies are diagnosed as food allergy, ask your pediatrician what you could use in place of offending food allergen nutritionally.
When to start introducing solid food..
Back home in Japan, many moms start introducing solid food at about 5 months old age. Some may say that starting late from fear of allergy but, it has not been shown to prevent asthma, hay fever, eczema or food allergies.
When you start solid food too late, you could encounter problems such as growth problems from nutrition deficiency such as iron deficiency because breast milk does not contains as much iron as cow milk does.
When the babies is born, the first 6 months or so, breast milk would have good amount of iron in it; enough for babies to grow. However, iron amount would decrease gradually after the period.
Not only that, practice of chewing,biting and swallowing the food gets delayed as well.
When solid food is started too early, it would be hard for the babies’ stomach.
Therefore, good age to start introducing the solid food is about 5-6 months old. It is about the time to practice to swallow while mouth is closed.
Start the solid food adventure as you watch your babies development.
Signs to look for to start the solid food adventure..
babies start staring at you when you eat food (start showing interests in food)
start drooling more
moving mouth as if eating
babies can hold head upright (neck is stable) and can sit with support
daily rhythm is regulated (daily number of feeding of breast milk / formula or feeding time are regulated)
does to try to push spoon out with tongue and can accept the spoon well
** Before babies are ready to start solid food adventure, babies use tongue to push food out and that movement changes when they are ready to start
I have started Liam on solid food at about 6 months. It was simply because I wanted to know what I would be doing before jumping in the solid food adventure.
He graduated from breast milk to cow milk at about a little over 1 year old.
When you have fear for food allergy..
When you have fear of food allergy for babies, and if you feed the babies same thing, you will be feeding nutritionally unbalanced menu.
It is a good idea to let the babies to explore variety of foods in texture, color, shape,and taste from the food list babies at the specific age could try.
Exploration is the key to help the babies to develop taste buds to be a good eater.
If you were not sure if you can feed the food in mind, ask your pediatrician and they would tell you if the food in the question is the appropriate food for the babies age.
Rules you should know when starting solid food adventure…
Pick the fresh ingredients (it is great idea to use seasonal food items when in season)
Babies does not have strong immune system against bacteria when starting out the solid food adventure. Digestive system (stomach) is not fully developed either.
Therefore, you need to make sure the food is fresh, and it should be thoroughly heated.
When heated, allergen that could trigger the food allergy changes, and it could make the food allergy hard to get triggered.
2. Pick the new food from list of food babies at the age can eat, and keep introducing the new food one a day so the babies get to explore variety of texture,taste, shape, color and learn to enjoy eating food.
Also, it would naturally help you plan nutritionally balanced menu.
With Liam’s case, personally, I give him new food 5 grams (about 1 tsp) for the very first time and usually I will feed him about 2 tsp worth for next 2 days.Then, on the 3rd day, I usually introduce another new food.
I tend to introduce new carbohydrate (rice,noodle, potatoes,sweet potato etc), then new vitamin/mineral group food (vegetables), then new protein (fish,meat, egg, beans) and rotate.
That way, I would not be introducing vegetables after vegetables.I rather wanted to widen the variety group by group.
This is my own personal choice.
3. When you feed your baby something new, feed it when babies are healthy and not sick or not in good mood.Feed the new food when babies are happy mood.They will be more willing to try the food.
Tips on starting solid food for babies..
Start from food that are bland and have low trigger for allergy
For the new food to try, feed the new food single about 1 tsp and do not mix. Feeding single food would let the babies to learn the pure taste of the new food.
Since Liam is older now, I can use seasoning and flavoring but even then, I feed the new food “as is” when introduced for the first time that include next 2 times that I feed.
I would like him to learn the pure taste of the food first and then start enjoying weaker seasoning etc.. and enjoy variety of flavor from spices etc..later.
Also, separating the new food to try is a good way for you to know if the new food causes babies any reaction to it.
3. Feed the new food when pediatrician clinic is open
4. Do not remove food with your own personal judgement but rather, if you have fear of allergy with the food in the question, ask the doctor if they can recommend any other food that could be substituted in placed of the food in the question nutritionally.
Stay tuned for more on solid food adventure Japanese way..
🙂
