Wednesday, January 28, 2009

So confused on what to feed Ash!

Ashtyn has been acting super hungry lately and not sleeping well at night at all. I'm pretty sure my breastmilk supply is dwindling so I have been supplementing a little bit of formula and giving her rice cereal every now and then. Well lately it has seemed like I have needed to supplement even more and I just don't like where this is leading. I really want my supply to pick back up and not have to supplement. 

So I went to my chiropractor/naturopathic doctor yesterday and told him about my less than optimal breastmilk supply. He gave me some supplements and suggestions on feeding her some solids. Well now I am so confused because he basically told me exactly the opposite of what our allopathic pediatrician says. So Dr. G, the pediatrician, along with the rest of the American Medical Association, suggests starting babies on single grain cereals between 4-6 months, then introducing vegetables and fruits at six months (in that order) and then adding meat and protein foods last around 8 months. And they say NO egg until after 1 year (well some say egg yolk is ok at 8 months). 

Then yesterday Dr. Brown, my naturopath, tells me he suggests introducing egg yolk as the first food around 4-6 months. He gave me a brochure and a website address with all the research and stuff. It is www.westonaprice.org. So I have been obsessing about it all day and researching like crazy. This website says that babies don't produce hardly any amylase (enzyme needed to break down grains) until they are 2 years old! And that cereal is the worst food you could start your baby on. Then it goes on to suggest that RAW egg yolk is a great first food, then it says fruit at 6 months, followed by vegetables, and then cereal! So it is exactly the opposite! I looked at some other websites for further research and found one that says it is good to introduce cooked egg yolk at 5 months. That one is www.healthychild.com/feeding-babies/introducing-solid-foods/. Then several websites said that cooked egg yolk is ok from 6 months on and others say wait until 8 months.  So basically now I am just as confused as ever and still have a hungry baby. What the heck do I do?!?! 

Oh and by the way that first website and my naturopath also suggest adding "shaved frozen raw organic liver" to the egg yolk at 6 months. I just don't know if I can actually do that!!! It seems so disgusting but I know that liver is packed full of vitamins. So I can understand why it is so good for them. 

So confused.

3 comments:

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  2. Its amazing we turned out half-way decent! Our parents knew nothing! :) But LIVER...sick.

    PS...I added you to my page :) love you girl

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  3. I have heard that bananas are one of the best foods to feed a baby before they go to bed b/c they have melatonin, serotonin, and magnesium that acts as a muscle relaxant. If he is having a hard time staying asleep instead of getting to sleep then he probably needs more exercise during the day.

    -Calvin

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