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Sweet Pea ​Births
Sweet Pea ​Births
...celebrating every swee​t pea their birth
...celebrating every swee​t pea their birth
Blog
Q&A with SPB: What do you feed your baby after breastfeeding?
| Posted on November 15, 2016 at 9:56 AM |
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 Q: What do you feed your baby after breastfeeding? A: Anything healthy!!! Bear in mind that the transition from breastfeeding to solids is a gradual one. Start with the mindset that "Food before one is just for fun!" Your body is wonderfully equipped to nourish your baby and help them grow tremendously through their first birthday. As long as your baby is peeing, pooping, and reaching their developmental milestones, then your breastmilk is doing the job of nourishing your Sweet Pea and helping them thrive. If you are having your doubts, schedule a visit with a local International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) to see if they can help you reach your breastfeeding goals. So how does the transition happen? Typically, we start to replace one feed at a time with solids. Start by offering the breast first, so that you know your baby is getting some nourishment. Then offer them the solid food of the day. Many people start with vegetables first and then move onto fruits. Then offer the breast again after the feeding session to fill up any space that might be left in the tummy. Try not be offended if your Sweet Pea turns away...it just means that your efforts to feed solids were a success!! The transition from exclusively breastfed to eating solids is a gradual one for most families. You alone know when you are ready to night wean, then take away feeds throughout the day until you are left with an occasional nursing session at waking or before bedtime. Rest assured that I do not know anyone who was still breastfeeding their college-bound child! Once your baby is weaned from the breast, they simply need water. You do not have to feel pressured to continue on with another animal's milk for drinking. If you want to avoid other dairy foods altogether, there are many food based sources of calcium. Check out healthaliciousness.com for three different lists of calcium-rich foods: Top 10 Foods, 33 Vegetables, and 17 Fruits. More about solids: One of by-products of Bradley training is that our couples are much more aware (if they weren't already) that our body and our baby are what we eat. A healthy diet is one of the cornerstones of a healthy mom, healthy baby pregnancy. Once you are used to eating a whole food diet, picking up a box of baby cereal and reading the ingredients might be a scary proposition!! Here are some sites that have helpful information about introducing solids that skip over the baby cereal and go straight to whole food:
See our post HERE that answers the question: How do I know my Sweet Pea is ready for solids? It is exciting to see your baby learn to eat other foods! You can read our food chronicle with Otter HERE. Disclaimer: The material included in this video is for informational
purposes only. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for
professional medical advice. The viewer should always consult her or his
healthcare provider to determine the appropriateness of the information for
their own situation. Krystyna and Bruss
Bowman and Bowman House, LLC accept no liability for the content of this site,
or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. This blog and video contain information about
our classes available in Chandler, AZ and Payson, AZ and is not the official
website of The Bradley Method®. The views contained in this video and on our
blog do not necessarily reflect those of The Bradley Method® or the American
Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth®. Birthing From Within and Bradley Method® natural childbirth
classes offered in Arizona: convenient to Chandler, Tempe, Ahwatukee, Gilbert,
Mesa, Scottsdale, Payson |
Q&A with SPB: How do I know my Sweet Pea is ready for solids?
| Posted on November 8, 2016 at 10:50 AM |
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 Q: How do I know if my Sweet Pea is ready for solids? A: There are four things to look for!! First of all, you want to be sure that your baby is interested...they WANT to eat. You will know by their behaviors... they are interested, tracking food with their eyes when you eat, and/or they reaching for the food around them!! It has nothing to do with what your family or friends have to say about it or what the people in your meet-up groups are doing with their Sweet Peas who are in a similar age bracket. You and your baby know best!! If you are concerned about your baby's development, then please reach out to your trusted care provider and see what they have to say on the matter. After you decide that your baby is ready, look for these next three signals of food readiness. We learned these points over the years of attending La Leche League meetings, Our family waited for these to be true before we started offering our sweet peas "table food":
Personally, I am not a fan of commercial baby cereals that are full of ingredients that I cannot pronounce without breaking down every syllable. Rest assured, choosing the alternatives are not as time-consuming as you would imagine... Here are some sites that have helpful information about introducing solids:
I hope this helps answer the question of about knowing if your Sweet Pea is ready for solids. Ready to read more? You can read our food chronicle with Otter HERE. Q&A with SPB: What do I feed my Sweet Pea after breastfeeding? HERE Disclaimer: The material included in this video is for informational
purposes only. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for
professional medical advice. The viewer should always consult her or his
healthcare provider to determine the appropriateness of the information for
their own situation. Krystyna and Bruss
Bowman and Bowman House, LLC accept no liability for the content of this site,
or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. This blog and video contain information about
our classes available in Chandler, AZ and Payson, AZ and is not the official
website of The Bradley Method®. The views contained in this video and on our
blog do not necessarily reflect those of The Bradley Method® or the American
Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth®.
Birthing From Within and Bradley
Method® natural childbirth classes offered in Arizona: convenient to Chandler,
Tempe, Ahwatukee, Gilbert, Mesa, Scottsdale, |
An Inside Look: Blue Russ Holistic Health Coaching
| Posted on June 2, 2013 at 12:22 AM |
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How did you get started in
the field of nutrition? 
I've been fascinated by food
since I was first allowed to cook as a child. The endless flavor combinations!
As a teenager, I was without dairy for a year when my family lived in Africa.
When we returned, I went straight for a glass of milk and immediately my
stomach cramped up. I had considered this sensation normal as a child and it
was then I made the connection between food and health. I went on to experiment
with different foods and learn more about the connection between what I ate and
how I felt. When I was pregnant the first time, I learned even more, reading
every book on pregnancy health I could get my hands on. Equally strong passions
for me are health and social justice. It is a clear calling for me to be a
healer and my aspirations are to change the world one mother at a time.What is your favorite part of what you do?
I have so many favorite
parts! The spark in a client's eye as they articulate exactly what their next
step is, the one they are ready for, the one that will change everything. The
relief in a mother's voice when her children or husband actually enjoy their
green veggies. Helping women connect with each other, sparking lively,
life-changing conversation. The learning and growing I experience with every
single session and class. I could go on and on… How does a family participate in your services? 
My specialty is moms: Fertility,
pregnancy, motherhood and grandmotherhood. I have also worked with couples,
which is wonderful, but I primarily work with moms. Moms tend to be the leaders
of the family and over time everyone follows their healthy example.
My philosophy is that guilt, blame, shame,
calorie counting and strict dieting all lead to needless suffering. It is
through understanding and honoring ourselves that we make quality choices. I
see my role as facilitating and strengthening the connection a mother has with
her inner wisdom.
In practical terms, I offer one-on-one health
coaching, cooking classes, workshops and online programs. All are designed to
help moms reach a higher level of health and joy in their lives. The
transformations I witness are beyond belief - I've supported women through
ending their sugar addiction, taking control of their children's health, losing
weight, changing careers, finally finding true love and much more.
My favorite is working with women one-on-one in
my 6-month program. This gives her the chance to take it step by step, avoid
overwhelm and we have time to explore all areas of her life. I consider primary
foods to be what's going on her life, not what she eats. Primary foods include
relationships, physical activity, career and spirituality. If these areas of
life are not simultaneously addressed, even the most perfect diet will do
nothing to improve her health. How can you help a family when they are
expecting? 
I love working with pregnant
women! They are motivated to be healthy and their choices truly do effect the
next generation. When she feels her best, and her primary foods are in order,
baby gets the best start. I offer a variety of programs from a one week whole
foods cleanse that is safe for pregnancy and nursing to a 6 week group program
to a 6 month one-on-one program.Do you offer any classes for postpartum
health?
Yes! In addition to my other
program options, I have a new offering just for the postpartum period! I call
it "Eat Well for Two" and it involves a day of food prep, recipes,
pantry make-over and health strategy session, all in the comfort of the new
mother’s home. How do you coach a family through first foods
and starting solids?
There are a variety of ways
to introduce solids into a baby’s diet. Each family is different and I work
with their unique situation to discover what is best. In general, breastfeeding
for as long as possible and introducing foods at about 6 months is best. Most
babies experiment with food long before they are ready to eat it. I say let
them at it! I see my role as assisting parents in listening to their intuition
and baby’s cues in order to confidently introduce foods. I offer information
and recommendations but ultimately it has to feel right within the family! How can we get our family to eat healthy
greens that we know we are supposed to eat - the variety and the scope can be
so intimidating! 
So glad you asked about
greens! I am passionately in love with greens. This was not always the case,
but experimenting with recipes to find the ones I enjoy has been the key. I
love to spread the green joy. In fact, I offer an entire week of recipes and
support through my online program, “A Week of Greens.” I worked with a mom who
used to choke down spinach because she knew it was good for her. Now she
actually looks forward to delicious salads and cooked greens every day! The
next Week of Greens will be offered in November.Is there anything else our families
should know about your services, and the classes you offer?
I am passionate about helping moms live a
vibrant life. Being a mother may be the most challenging job in the world, but
it is also the most enjoyable when mom is at her best - not to mention the
ripple effect into the next generation and the planet! It's not about guilt, it's
about power. We have the power to make the world better than we found it!
I encourage all moms to go to my website, check
me out and sign up for my e-newsletter to get tips, recipes and event
invitations. Right now I am offering a
free menu planner to all new subscribers, available immediately when you sign
up!  When a mom feels ready to take steps to improve
her life, I am ready to support her with a free health strategy session that
can be done by phone, Skype or in person at my Phoenix and Chandler offices. Do you have on-line options for clients who
are not able to join a class in person? I offer four different programs online
throughout the year. The next one starts on June 10 and is called “Vegan for a
Week.” Having a menu plan, recipes, shopping list and group support will go a
long way to increase participants’ vegetable intake. I’m not 100% vegan myself
nor am I interested in pushing any single diet, but I do think that there are
several dietary theories that are worth exploring, including the vegan diet.
I also offer webinars from time to time. The
best way to be up to date on my online offerings is to sign up for my
newsletter at
Have you ever considered a health coach? What would you get help with? Please leave us a comment - it will be moderated and
posted. *I think* that the amount of traffic you so generously
generate has led to a lot of spam posting. In an effort to keep the spam
to a minimum, I am taking the time to moderate comments now.  Disclaimer: The material included on this site is for informational purposes only. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. The reader should always consult her or his healthcare provider to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation. Krystyna and Bruss Bowman and Bowman House, LLC accept no liability for the content of this site, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. This blog contains information about our classes available in Chandler, AZ and Payson, AZ and is not the official website of The Bradley Method®. The views contained on this blog do not necessarily reflect those of The Bradley Method® or the American Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth®. |
Food chronicle: Angelika ~ Week 8
| Posted on July 18, 2012 at 11:53 AM |
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This is the eighth and final installment in my Introduction
to Solids series. I am journaling about
our experience with baby feeding since we have the unique opportunity to share
this with our students and readers as we start the process of weaning our
youngest child. This is not medical
advice, nor is it a schedule to be followed.
It is simply our choice for our baby and the first time we have done
what is gaining popularity as “baby-led weaning”. Click here for a link to the stain fighting tips shared by
my facebook friends. Can you add more
the list? Please do so in the comments and I will move them into the body of the post as time allows. This past week we introduced our first “official” protein – pinto
beans. We started out by giving the baby
the broth from the cooked beans. She
gobbled it up! The very first day I gave
her one bean to see how she would eat it – it went straight into the mouth and
she ate it without choking. The next day, I tried to give her some broth and baby shook
her head with an emphatic no! I gave her
some beans from my plate and that is exactly what she wanted. Now we have another pinto bean fan in the
house! We are going to stick with pinto
beans for another week, and then we will introduce black beans. Another new food: I gave the baby lightly toasted
bread. Up to now, I would give her the
hard crust on Italian bread or a hard dinner roll to gnaw on. Since she has done so well with eating and
not choking, I decided to experiment with a piece of toast. After toasting, I sliced it up into
finger-width slices. All four pieces got
eaten – rice bread was a yes this week! I also had another baking day. I used farmer’s market zucchini and replaced
the eggs in the recipe with flax seed.
Baby continues to devour this bread!
Interestingly, she doesn’t like the crust on this and sucks out the soft
center. She spits out the crust when she
has eaten out the center. We also confirmed that baby likes riper bananas. If the skin is still yellow, she will suck on the pieces and then spit them out. When the skin is starting to get brown spots on it, she will actually consume (read: devour) the banana. There are no pieces left on the tray or on the chair when the banana is ripe. One adjustment we made was feeding her slices or pieces of
fruit again, instead of whole fruit. She
seemed to lose interest in eating a half an apple, or the whole peaches and
plums she was eating with supervision.
Since I couldn’t imagine that she lost her sweet tooth, I started
cutting the fruit up into small pieces again – that did the trick! She enjoyed the fruit again. I wish we could understand what was going on
in their little minds that affect their preferences! Our surprise this week was that the baby grabbed a piece of
chicken off of one of our other kiddo’s plate.
We took it away, and she reached for it again! I let her keep it to see what she would do
with it. I don’t know that she ate it,
because there were lots of little chicken pieces to pick up. Her interest seemed to be ripping the food
apart with her two little teeth! I will close out this series of posts with the following thoughts:
Lastly, sometimes a child will reject foods that they used
to like. This can be normal. Consider a look at these factors to decide if
your baby needs to be seen by their care provider: Are they running a fever? How is their energy level? How are they sleeping? Are there any other signs that they are
“off”? If you decide that something is
amiss, then maybe that warrants a little more exploration. In our experience, we found that the foods our son Bruss
was rejecting were the foods that he ended up being allergic to. I was so grateful for trusting my instincts
that he was eating other things so he was okay and we did not need to “force
feed” him. I continue to trust his instincts about what he can and cannot eat, and he continues to grow and thrive so he is definitely eating the foods that are right for him. This does not mean that we are permissive - we have healthy food choices available for them to pick from. Treats are a separate issue and they know they can have them after they have eaten a good meal. I will be continuing our food journal for my own records
since we have a history of interesting food allergies in our family. We will keep introducing other fruits and
vegetables until October since I like to keep our children vegetarian until
they are a year old. After that, we will
start introducing some fish and meats, as well as eggs and dairy. If you are curious about when other foods
are introduced, we can correspond via email: [email protected]
Food Journal Tuesday, July 10 Breakfast: Banana Snack: Apple slices Lunch: Plum, sweet potato, yams Dinner: Patty Pan (squash)
Wednesday, July 11 Breakfast: ½ Banana, 1 strawberry Snack: Veggie straws Lunch: Patty Pan (squash), Pinto Bean broth Dinner: Plum, peas
Thursday, July 12 Breakfast: Banana Snack: Veggie straws Lunch: Steamed carrots, ½ plum Dinner: Peas, bread crust
Friday, July 13 Breakfast: Peach & plum pieces Lunch: Peas, patty pan slices Dinner: Zucchini bread
Saturday, July 14 Breakfast: Banana, Peach pieces Lunch: Peas Dinner: nursed only
Sunday, July 15 Breakfast: Pancake, Banana, 3 bites of oatmeal Lunch: Zucchini bread Dinner: nursed only
Monday, July 16 Breakfast: Banana, Rice bread Lunch: Veggie straws, waffle potato fries, 1 grilled chicken
nugget(!!) Dinner: Avocado
Link List: Appetite regulation: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3170240/ Disclaimer:
It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical
advice. The reader should always consult her or his healthcare provider to
determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation. Krystyna and Bruss Bowman and Bowman House,
LLC accept no liability for the content of this site, or for the consequences
of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. This blog contains
information about our classes available in Chandler, AZ and Payson, AZ and is
not the official website of The Bradley Method®. The views contained on this blog do not necessarily reflect those of The Bradley Method® or
the American Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth®. |
Food chronicle: Angelika ~ Week 7
| Posted on July 10, 2012 at 5:00 PM |
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This is the seventh and penultimate installment in my Introduction to Solids
series. I am not sure how many more "aha" moments I am going to have going forward, so I think that I will keep one more week of notes to post and then move onto something else. I am open to ideas, so let me know! I will also count on our students to keep my ideas fresh :) I am journaling about our
experience with baby feeding since we have the unique opportunity to share this
with our students and readers as we start the process of weaning our youngest
child. This is not medical advice, nor
is it a schedule to be followed. It is
simply our choice for our baby and the first time we have done what is gaining
popularity as “baby-led weaning”. Click on these links for Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5 and Week 6. Thank you to everyone who sent me your stain fighting ideas. I will take some time later this week to compile all the info and include it in next week’s post. I felt kind of dumb – I use one of the most obvious ones (sun drying) for our light colored clothing…I had never thought to apply it to our other clothes! This week I had a little light bulb go off. Angelika really likes plums…so much so that she reaches for them when I am putting them in the grocery cart. I remembered that one of our students had been told to give their baby prune juice for constipation. I made the jump from prune juice being good for the digestive functions…to prunes to plums…and since that little “light bulb moment” we have been giving Angelika a plum to eat on a daily basis. No more days without a bowel movement since that happy “discovery”. I am so happy her body has responded well to this food choice. I am still enjoying how easy it is to feed Baby when you are making whole food choices instead of taking the time to make purees and then mix them with baby cereals. This week we were baking cookies, so I threw the sweet potato and the yam in the oven and used the same heat to cook the tubers. Peas and carrots are easily steamed – it only takes a few minutes to boil water (even faster at altitude – yeah!).
This week, the new foods were strawberries and a squash variety we picked up at the Payson Farmer’s Market. They are called a “Patty Pan”, also known as “Scallop” squash. I was nervous to try the strawberries because although they are not technically a citrus fruit, some children have reactions to them and La Leche League recommends waiting until babies are 12 months to introduce them (see this page). I am not sure what it is about them that causes the reaction – here is the allergy information I found poking around the internet. Ysabella gave her a strawberry the other day when I wasn’t looking and then she told me about it. Thankfully, there was no allergic reaction! I decided to “officially” introduce them since baby is reaching for them when I serve them to our older kiddos. We tried a few more pieces the next day and so far, so good. My plan is to give them at 2-3 day intervals to allow Angelika’s body the time to process all the seeds that are on the outside of the fruit.  The other new food was new for all of us. The farmer we bought them from called them
Patty Pans. Brussito was very interested
in trying them, so we bought some. (As you can see from the picture, another name for them, "Flying Saucers", is appropriate, too! Might be a fun way to get the boys to keep eating them.)The
farmer told us they are extremely versatile: they can be baked, sautéed, fried or
grilled. You can slice them or stuff
them. We opted for a thin slice, a little
olive oil, a touch of salt and then we put them out on the barbeque grill with
the meat we made for the family. The
Patty Pans were delicious! Angelika
enjoyed them, as did the rest of the family. I love introducing foods to Angelika in the summer. There are so many fruits to serve without having to prepare them, other than to peel them. We are feeding her apples, bananas, peaches and plums on a regular basis. Now we have strawberries to work into the mix. I am thinking that we are good for the upcoming week and that we are not going to try anything new. This week will continue serving Angelika the Patty Pans that were left over (we cooked three different varieties: yellow, green and white – they all tasted the same to me!), and we have more sweet potatoes, yams, peas and carrots to prepare. With the variety of foods that she is eating, I find that baking one large yam and one large sweet potato pretty much lasts the week. Next on our fruit list are grapes and cherries, but since those take a little more preparation, we may try another veggie next…maybe eggplant or green beans. What has been your experience with introducing solids? Did you discover any food allergies in the process? Interested in reading more about our introduction to solids? Click on these links for Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5 and Week 6. FOOD JOURNAL Tuesday, July 3rd Breakfast: Snack: Lunch: Peas, Potatoes Snack: Dinner: (No computer day – journaling fail!) Wednesday, July 4th Breakfast: Pancake: Bob’s Red Mill GF Mix, rice milk, flax seed, banana Snack: Peach Lunch: slept through it Snack: Veggie straws Dinner: Sweet Potato, Yam BM – Yes Thursday, July 5th Breakfast: pancake, apple Lunch: Peas, carrots, potatoes Snack: Veggie straws Dinner: Peas, carrots, potatoes, ice cream BM – Yes Friday, July 6 Breakfast: strawberry (½ berry), ½ banana, apple, pancakes Lunch: plum, sweet potato, yam Dinner: Sweet potato, yam, veggie straws, tortilla chips BM – No Saturday, July 7 Breakfast: Banana, pancakes Lunch: Plum Dinner: Sweet potato, Yam, banana BM – 2 Sunday, July 8 Breakfast: Banana, pancakes Lunch: Peas, Veggie straws Dinner: Peas, sweet potato, yams BM – 2 Monday, July 9 Breakfast: Banana, graham crackers Lunch: Strawberries, plum, graham crackers Snack: Veggie straws Dinner: Zucchini, avocado, tortilla chips BM – 2 WEB LINKS First Foods: http://www.llli.org/faq/firstfoods.html Strawberry Allergy: http://strawberryplants.org/2011/03/strawberry-allergy/ Disclaimer: |
Food chronicle: Angelika ~ Week 6
| Posted on July 3, 2012 at 4:33 PM |
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 This is the sixth installment in my Introduction to Solids series. I am journaling about our experience with
baby feeding since we have the unique opportunity to share this with our
students and readers as we start the process of weaning our youngest
child. This is not medical advice, nor
is it a schedule to be followed. It is
simply our choice for our baby and the first time we have done what is gaining
popularity as “baby-led weaning”. Click on these links for Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4 and Week 5. What’s new this week: I went back to nursing before meals – I was much happier with the output from Angelika’s digestive tract. We are about 50/50 with feeding after meals. It depends on the time of day and what we have going on in our schedules. If we leave the house right after eating, I still offer breastmilk once we get to our destination – it’s been a yes every time so far. Angelika’s body is getting better and better at digesting her food! We had a “big” day yesterday – her colon cleared out four times! It was a big confirmation that for Angelika’s system, breastfeeding her before meals is the right thing to do. We also added steamed zucchini this week – they were a big hit!! Angelika tried grabbing them off of my plate instead of waiting for me to pick them out of the tomatoes and onions in the dish! I have noticed that she is more and more interested in food. I don’t know if her appetite is increasing, or maybe she’s more curious about food. Anytime someone around her has food in their hand, she reaches for it. As far as food sizes, the only things that are still “small” are the peas. We have been giving her steamed carrot sticks that she gnaws down herself. When I cube a potato for her, they are probably ¾ inch cubes. The zucchini was sliced into ½ inch slices, and then I gave her half of the round slice. Six weeks into eating true solids, she knows how to mash or bite into her food for her to swallow. When we give her fruit, she prefers to take the whole fruit in her hand and gum it. I give her half of a peeled banana instead of slicing it for her. She does not eat a plum if it is sliced anymore; same goes for a nectarine. I have been peeling half of the fruit so that the juicy part is easier to get to, and leaving the skin on the other half so it is easier to grasp (see picture at the top). She is eating around the centers, and when she gets to the skin-on part of the fruit, she just sucks the fruit until only the skin and the pit are left. I still sit right next to her with a peeled whole fruit. No mishaps yet, I just always want to have the safety net. She is not doing much with her sippy cup other than to chew on it. When she does drink water out of the cup, she promptly spits it out. Her swim teacher would be so proud! Now if she will only do this in the pool…  Does anyone have a way to clean peach and banana stains from clothing? We are down to stripping her before she eats - I am not succeeding at getting the stains out for these fruits...the other fruit she is interested in and that we may try this week once I do a little research is cherries. My biggest concern is the stain factor!Any thoughts on introducing solids? Any stain-fighting tips to share? PostScript: It’s been a crazy couple of days and I am
finishing this blog post as we eat lunch. Not something I usually hold with: having
electronics at the table during family time! I am giving baby tortilla chips and peas for
lunch. As we are sitting here, she did a
little gag and then threw up some peas that must have gotten stuck. Now she’s back to eating. I love watching our kids eat!! I am forever amazed at how the human body
works. Meal &
Output Journal Tuesday, June 26 2 bm’s: one in the morning, one in the afternoon Breakfast: Snack: gnawed on an apple, breastmilk Lunch: slept through it! Snack: Peach Dinner: Sweet potatoes (2 cubes), 2 veggie straws,
breastmilk She refused to eat and fussed until I nursed her – interesting! Wednesday, June 27 1 bm at lunch time Breakfast: Banana, 2 GF Puffins cereal squares Snack: Veggie straws Lunch: Zucchini - steamed Dinner: Cucumber slices (2), veggie straws, broccoli spear (not a favorite yet) Thursday, June 28 1 bm at lunch time Breakfast: Bananas, nectarine Lunch: Plum – sucked the flesh from the skin…she prefers this over having it cut up for her Snack: Tortilla chips Dinner: slept through it! Friday, June 29 Breakfast: banana Lunch: nectarine Dinner: Peas, carrots Saturday, June 30 No bm Breakfast: Banana Lunch: couple of pieces of potato – more interested in nursing Snack: Veggie straws Dinner: Potatoes, peas, carrots Feels like more nursing today – not sure if baby is cutting a tooth or maybe feeling constipated? It might also be that we have been to three group events today and she is craving some mommy-time & reassurance. Sunday, July 1 1 little bm Breakfast: pancakes – gluten-free, egg-free, banana Lunch: Nectarine Dinner: Veggie sticks Monday, July 2 4 bms! 2 regular, 2 minis Breakfast: Pancake Snack: Apple
Lunch: Peas, carrots, potato, apple Dinner: Peas, potato Disclaimer: It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. The reader should always consult her or his healthcare provider to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation. Krystyna and Bruss Bowman and Bowman House, LLC accept no liability for the content of this site, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. This blog contains information about our classes available in Chandler, AZ and Payson, AZ and is not the official website of The Bradley Method®. The views contained on this blog do not necessarily reflect those of The Bradley Method® or the American Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth®. |
Food Chronicle: Angelika ~ Week 5
| Posted on June 26, 2012 at 9:04 AM |
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 This is the fifth installment in my Introduction to Solids series. I am journaling about our experience with baby feeding since we have the unique opportunity to share this with our students and readers as we start the process of weaning our youngest child. This is not medical advice, nor is it a schedule to be followed. It is simply our choice for our baby and the first time we have done what is gaining popularity as “baby-led weaning”. Click on these links for Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 and Week 4. What’s new since last week: Pictured above is Angelika sitting up and gnawing on an apple "teether". It's half of an apple that I have peeled and cored. This week she started taking bites out of it! I used to eat them when she was done sucking and gnawing on them - not much left anymore!
Just when I think Angelika’s body is adjusting to eating solids (see our
journal below), we had another day without a bowel movement yesterday. I am probably obsessing too much about this. I think it’s time for a visit with our
chiropractor. We have had a couple of instances last week where she was thrashing around and being fussy. Out of curiosity: instead of nursing her, I offered her a veggie straw to gnaw on and the fussiness went away. I am not sure if she is hungry or teething – another thing to ask our chiropractor about. I suspect maybe a little bit of both since she has started gumming my breast again…except this time it hurts because her two lower teeth are new and sharp! One of our new foods this week was a plum. She loved it! I was eating one while Angelika was sitting on my lap. I let her suck on some of it. Her first reaction was to make a face – it looked like she had eaten something really sour. Despite that, she reached for it again, and I let her try it again. This time, she took it out of my hands – and would not give it back! I struggled to get it back so I could at least remove the pit. I watched her like a hawk – she took it out of my hands with the peel still on. (Thinking I was going to be eating the plum, it hadn’t been peeled.) She did a great job of sucking off all the flesh and leaving the peel behind. Smart eater! Phew! I still have residual fears about choking from our previous experiences with our older children. Angelika continues to reinforce that our decision to do things differently this time was the right one for our family.  The second food I offered was a gluten-free graham cracker. Not a big hit, but not a no, either. We may try this one again to see what happens. I am not to concerned about the grains since I eat plenty of them and I feel confident she is getting her Vitamin B through my breastmilk ("What's In Breastmilk?" Poster).We revisited the zucchini bread and the avocado. Both were eaten with no fuss – they are definitely into the rotation! The zucchini bread did have eggs in it. We replaced one of the eggs with flax seed. When we make the recipe again this week, I am going to try replacing two eggs with flax and use only one of the three that is called for to see what happens. I am a little concerned to be introducing eggs before her first birthday since two of her siblings react to eggs. Here are the sources I reference for food introductions since we have a history of food allergies in our family
BM (bowel movement) in the afternoon Breakfast Lunch Dinner: Sweet potatoes, crackers (2) Did all breastmilk until we saw a BM…this was going on day 5
without any significant output
Wednesday, June 20 Nursed @ 6:15 am; breakfast @ 6:45
Breakfast: ½ banana – A is squishing it first and then she
puts it into her mouth – messy! Lunch:
Snack: 2 tortilla chips, 4 veggie straws Dinner: Peas, Yams
Thursday June 21 Breakfast: banana – almost a whole one Lunch: slept through Snack: 4 veggie straws Dinner: Yams, peas, veggie straws
Friday, June 22 2 bm’s Breakfast: apples, GF graham crackers Lunch: slept through Snack: Dinner: Peas, Yams
Saturday, June 23 3 bm’s Breakfast: Apple pieces, zucchini bread Lunch: slept thru Snack: Veggie straws, plum Dinner: Peas, Yams
Sunday, June 24 3 bm’s Breakfast: Apple slices Lunch: Banana, carrot teether, veggie straws Snack: Tortilla chips (2) Dinner: Yams, potatoes, peas, avocado
Monday, June 25 Breakfast: Glutino cracker Lunch: Potato, Sweet potato, yam Dinner: Peas, Yams
Disclaimer: It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. The reader should always consult her or his healthcare provider to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation. Krystyna and Bruss Bowman and Bowman House, LLC accept no liability for the content of this site, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. This blog contains information about our classes available in Chandler, AZ and Payson, AZ and is not the official website of The Bradley Method®. The views contained on this blog do not necessarily reflect those of The Bradley Method® or the American Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth®. |
Food Chronicle: Angelika ~ Week 4
| Posted on June 20, 2012 at 3:03 AM |
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Food Chronicle: Week 4
 This is the fourth installment in my Introduction to Solids
series. I am journaling about our
experience with baby feeding since we have the unique opportunity to share this
with our students and readers as we start the process of weaning our youngest
child. This is not medical advice, nor
is it a schedule to be followed. It is
simply our choice for our baby and the first time we have done what is gaining
popularity as “baby-led weaning”.
We added bananas on Wednesday – she loved it! As it happens, our older kiddos like bananas,
too, so that was the only opportunity I had to offer it before we went grocery
shopping again. I didn’t offer more
avocados like I had intended, and we didn’t do baked apples, either. It was too darn hot! Maybe in the fall.
Angelika is doing great with eating her solids, and she is
still nursing like a champ. I have
noticed that during the day, she drains the breast in less than five
minutes. She is much more interested in
seeing what her siblings are doing than she is in nursing. By the same token, she still wants to nurse
before and after we spend time in the high chair. It surprises me, especially when I have seen
her consume what seems to be a lot of food for a baby.
Her new foods were in the grains food group this week. She LOVED my aunt’s zucchini bread – it
disappeared faster than any food to date; and she kept reaching for more. I was a little hesitant to let her eat this
since it is the most ingredients she has had at any one sitting. However, she enjoyed the taste, got some
vegetables into her system, and seemed to have no reactions.
 The second grain we introduced was a round soda cracker. I am still nervous introducing these hard
foods due to our choking incidents with our younger children. However, I am learning to trust the process:
we waited for food readiness to be a developmental step, not a convenience
step. We watched for her to develop the
pincer grip and to sit up by herself before feeding her small pieces of
food. Our baby has learned to chew her
food first since she started straight with solids, as opposed to learning to
swallow food like cereals before learning to chew bigger foods. In other words, her instinct is to chew
what’s in her mouth before she does anything else with the food we feed her.
Notes:  She doesn’t seem to be affected by gluten yet. The bread she ate was a baked using a regular
wheat flour. The cracker I gave her is
made by one of our favorite gluten-free commercial companies: Glutino. I will keep her on a gluten-free diet for the
most part since that is the way our family rolls. Side
note: today was pantry-cleaning day. We
have literally four containers left with wheat products – everything else is
gluten-free! She went one of her longest stretches without having a bowel
movement this past week. I really hope
that she forgives me this part of the chronicle – I wonder if the internet
really is forever – I guess we will find out!!
Anyway, I cut back on the food we were giving her, and stuck
with some tried and true foods once the days stretched into three and
four. We stayed with the apples, that
are high in fiber and purportedly good to keep the digestive tract going in the
right direction. In reading this blurb ,
The blurb reads that a lot of the fiber is in the skin – oops. It may not have been as effective as a “laxative”
for her because I am still peeling the apples when I offer them. I feel there is no need to invite the choking
unnecessarily, so for now, I will keep peeling fruits and veggies before
feeding them to the baby.
This is a less crazy week, so I have already baked the sweet
potato and yam for the next few days, and I have a butternut squash and some
zucchini to cook tomorrow. Check in next
week if you are curious to know how she liked her new vegetables! We are also going to see how her digestive
tract is working the next few days…I bought some bananas and I have more
avocado for this week’s culinary adventures.
I would love to hear from you – what is your experience with
baby-led weaning? How does it compare
with feeding choices you have made for other children?
Food+ Diary Tuesday, June 12 Bm in the morning Breakfast: peaches Lunch: apple teether Dinner: banana pieces – 1/3 banana
Wednesday, June 13 First “solid” poop in the pm Veggie straws in pm
Thursday, June 14 GREEN bm in the am Breakfast: carrot stick teether Lunch: n/a Snack: apple teether; zucchini bread Dinner: peaches, apple slice, gf crackers (2)
Friday, June 15 No bm Lunch: peaches Dinner: Veggie sticks, Glutino crackers (2)
Saturday, June 16 No bm Lunch: Apple, veggie
sticks Not a lot of food today – second day of no “regular” morning
bowel movement, plus we had several events out of the home.
Sunday, June 17 No bm Breakfast: Apple pieces Lunch: Apples slices, veggie straws Dinner: Steamed Carrots Monday, June 18 Tiny, solid bm – quarter size Breakfast: Apple pieces Lunch: Apples slices, veggie straws Dinner: Steamed Carrots Link to apple info: http://www.everydayhealth.com/digestive-health-pictures/10-foods-that-help-relieve-constipation.aspx#/slide-9
Disclaimer: It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. The reader should always consult her or his healthcare provider to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation. Krystyna and Bruss Bowman and Bowman House, LLC accept no liability for the content of this site, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. This blog contains information about our classes available in Chandler, AZ and Payson, AZ and is not the official website of The Bradley Method®. The views contained on this blog do not necessarily reflect those of The Bradley Method® or the American Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth®. |
Food Chronicle: Angelika ~ Week 3
| Posted on June 12, 2012 at 10:22 AM |
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 Photo: The last of our peaches...so happy our baby got our home-grown produce!This is the third installment in my Introduction to Solids
series. I am journaling about our
experience with baby feeding since we have the unique opportunity to share this
with our students and readers as we start the process of weaning our youngest
child. This is not medical advice, nor
is it a schedule to be followed. It is
simply our choice for our baby and the first time we have done what is gaining
popularity as “baby-led weaning”. There are two benefits I have already noticed from our
choice to feed Angelika whole food pieces instead of starting her with cereals
and purees. No choking yet:
Babies that learn to eat whole food pieces learn to chew, as opposed to
children who start with soft, mushy foods that learn to swallow. I cannot find the source where I originally
read this – it makes so much sense! (When I find it, I will post the link.) Knowing that I wanted to start her with “true” solids, I
waited for some developmental markers to start feeding. She did not start getting table food until
she could get into and stay in a seated position on her own, and I watched for
the pincer grip. As it turns out, she
practiced that on me – my bruised breasts and my arms were proof that our baby
could probably pinch to grasp food, among other things. We had scary choking experiences with our
other three children – mostly involving things like tortilla chips, which we
have a lot of in the southwest! She grabbed a tortilla chip out of my hand last Wednesday, and managed to eat it without choking. If your child does choke – click here for some visuals with
instructions. Less time in the kitchen: I would spend two days per month preparing
vegetable purees when we started feeding our boys. Baking, steaming, pureeing, freezing,
storing…it was time consuming! As a
mother to four kiddos, that is just not a reality right now. Now I can bake or steam a few things as we
make our own food and use it as we need it and have a couple of days of food
that can be reheated. I may revisit pureeing as our lifestyle allows for more
kitchen time again. It was well worth it
to know that the food for them was whole and preservative free, and there was
the side benefit of having purees to use in other foods. The rest of us benefited from vegetables in
baked goods and sauces; I even mixed them into the cheese and “melted” veggies into
quesadillas. Weekly update: This week we introduced two new vegetables – carrots and
peas. Although Angelika has been
handling a whole, peeled carrot as a teether, she had not eaten carrot
before. She loved them – pretty much
attacked the food as it was making its way to her plate! She also ate the peas with enthusiasm. Angelika is doing much better getting the food into her
mouth, instead of wearing it or tossing it.
Her diapers are showing us how much she is able to digest – there are
still some pieces coming out whole, so to me it looks like her body is still
learning to process the food. Her bowel movements have been on and off again – some days
they come in the morning as expected, other days none at all. I am still backing off on solids until I see
confirmation that her body is processing; then I go back to offering food at least
twice a day. She also had a diaper rash last week that made me nervous
(she rarely gets rashes). After a KST
check by our chiropractor, he shared that it doesn’t seem to be food
related. Since she is still teething, he
said that the increase in fluid production has changed the ph in her body. I am going to follow his recommendation to
add a dash of baking soda to her drink cup and see if that will clear up the
rash. That is it for our update this week. I plan on introducing bananas and continuing with
peas and carrots this week. We will also
revisit avocados. If all goes well, we
may try some baked apple. I’ll wait and
see how hot it gets in Arizona this week and decide if it’s worth it to turn on
the oven. I would love to hear from you – what is your experience with
baby-led weaning? How does it compare
with feeding choices you have made for other children? Food+ Diary Monday, June 4 Little solid poop – about the size of a U.S. half-dollar Veggie straws Sweet potatoes and yams for lunch Tuesday, June 5 U.S. nickel-sized poop at wake up Lunch – some sweet potato and yam pieces – played more than
ate Epic diaper after lunch Dinner – Avocado Wednesday, June 6 BM in the am Breakfast: peaches Lunch: yam/sweet
potato Dinner: - 1 tortilla chip Thursday, June 7 No BM yet Breakfast: Apple (teether), peaches Lunch: Carrot teether Dinner: 15 pieces of yams/sweet potatoes Friday, June 8 No BM today! Breakfast – peaches Lunch – 4 veggie straws Saturday, June 9 AM – 4 veggie straws Lunch – GF graham cracker pieces Dinner – steamed peas and carrots BM – big one at night Sunday, June 10 BM in the morning and early afternoon Lunch – peas and carrots Dinner – veggie straws Monday, June 11 No BM Breakfast – Apple teether Lunch – 0 Dinner – veggie straws Choking Link: http://www.babyledweaning.com/2012/baby-led-weaning-diary-and-its-goodbye-from-siobhan-and-some-stuff-about-choking/ Disclaimer: The
material included on this site is for informational purposes only. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. The reader should always consult her or his healthcare provider to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation. Krystyna and Bruss Bowman and Bowman House, LLC accept no liability for the content of this site, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. This blog contains information about our classes available in Chandler, AZ and Payson, AZ and is not the official website of The Bradley Method®. The views contained on this blog do not necessarily reflect those of The Bradley Method® or the American Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth®. |
Food Chronicle: Angelika ~ Week 2
| Posted on June 5, 2012 at 12:33 PM |
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 Here is the second installment of introducing solids with
our 8-month old. She is our fourth
child, so we are trying to apply the lessons we have learned with our previous
children. Additionally, I want to remind
our readers that this is a snapshot into our family’s process since I have had
many students ask about how we approach introducing solids. This is not medical advice, nor is it based
on any expert advice – this is purely anecdotal. Here is the first installment on introducing solids (read more). Moving on to what we have done since then… Angelika’s bowel movements stayed along what we would
expect to see (bowel movements in the morning), so we kept feeding her solids
since our previous post. We only had one
day with no bowel movements, and we cut back on the solid food the next day,
but that is about it. All her “plumbing”
seems to be working, so we are continuing to feed her a little food every day. Vegetables: We continued with yams and sweet potatoes, and
added some regular potato to the mix.
She made a face when we gave her regular potatoes…not as sweet, I guess. We are still giving her small, squishy-soft
pieces. They are about the size of a
pinto bean when I cut them up. Fruit: I also tried a little avocado to start working in
some “green” food. She liked that and
lunged at the next pieces I offered her.
I gave it to her during lunch last Thursday – since there were no
adverse effects, I will try a little more this week. We have a peach tree in our backyard and I gave her fresh
peaches on Saturday and Monday. She
LOVES those. She would eat everything I
put on her tray – very little of this food gets played with – the solid parts
all make it into her mouth! The juice is
still everywhere, though. Munchies: We also have a little “snack” food for her. A friend of ours introduced us to gluten-free
Veggie Straws. We buy ours at Costco –
the base is potato starch, and they are flavored with spinach and tomato. They dissolve in her mouth, so she can gnaw
on them without the danger of choking on them. She gets five or six at a
time…and like the other food, she mostly plays with it and some makes it into
her mouth. The veggie straws are technically a “junk food” – there is
no nutritional value, however, I can recognize and pronounce all the
ingredients, which is important to me.
It is also free from sweeteners: no sugar, no corn syrup, and it’s
soy-free. They work for now and I will use them for what they are – a
tool to let me prepare food for the rest of the family. Since I do not babywear around heat (the
stove or the microwave), giving her something interesting buys us some time to
work in the kitchen while she is sitting in her high chair safely away from
heating elements. There are a couple of whole-foods I will give her to gnaw
on while I am preparing food. They are
large in size and since baby cannot bite pieces off yet, and the large size
minimizes them as a choking hazard. One
is a raw, peeled, whole carrot. I also
offer her a halved, peeled apple. While
she can’t “eat” them, she can enjoy sucking the flavor out of both of those
foods. So, in summary, we have introduced four vegetables (sweet
potato, yam, potato, carrot as a teething aid) and three fruits (avocado, peach,
apple as a teething aid). I did
introduce two fruits last week, against the commonplace advice to introduce one
at a time and to allow a week for “reaction time” to check for allergies. I don’t count the spinach and tomato in the
veggie straws since there is no nutritional value, there is not enough content
to count as a “food” in my estimation. My plan is to continue with the same foods for this week,
confirm that the plumbing is still working, and then introduce another fruit
and another vegetable next week. All in all, I like this approach to feeding without using
baby cereal. I like that I can pronounce
all the ingredients in the food we are feeding her, and I know what the
ingredients are without having to look them up on the internet
dictionaries. It is not as fun for her
siblings since they cannot spoon-feed her, however, I am okay with that
trade-off. Before we know it, Angelika
will be a year old and they can start feeding her yogurt if she will let them. What do you think?
What is your strategy for transitioning from liquid food to solid food?
In case you are curious - for now our feeding schedule looks
like this:
As you can see, I am still nursing her between every time
we are serving food to her siblings. She
usually goes 2-3 hours between nursing sessions – it depends on what we are
doing that day. I can also tell that she is nursing more efficiently – she
usually only nurses for about 5-10 minutes, and then she is ready to rock and
roll with her siblings. The only time
she lingers at the breast is at sleep-time.
She is still taking a mini-nap in the morning and in the afternoon. At bedtime, there is no rush off of the
breast since I have changed my sleep times to accommodate her schedule; we both
pass out at the night feed. Angelika is also nursing through the night again. She had been sleeping through the night; I am
not sure when that changed, but I will wake up at night to find her
nursing. I am nursing her around 2:00
am, at 4:00 am, and again for wake-up between 6:00 and 6:30 am. I seem to remember that this is a typical
shift for us – when our older children got more mobile, they had less interest
in nursing during the day and did more feeding through the night.
Disclaimer: The
material included on this site is for informational purposes only. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. The reader should always consult her or his healthcare provider to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation. Krystyna and Bruss Bowman and Bowman House, LLC accept no liability for the content of this site, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. This blog contains information about our classes available in Chandler, AZ and Payson, AZ and is not the official website of The Bradley Method®. The views contained on this blog do not necessarily reflect those of The Bradley Method® or the American Academy of Husband-Coached Childbirth®. |