protein foods

[littleweed]

hi there
have read that babies at 7m should be established on a protein meal at lunchtimes. does this mean every lunchtime? presumably this means either a fish or chicken based meal? can they have lentils so young? (have read diff things - GF says not till 8m, but Anabel karmel says from 6m) sorry to be so thick but as a veggie i'm pretty clueless about meat (don't plan on bringing DS up as veggie)do they then automatically regulate their milk intake at lunchtime or do you just stop offering the milk? at the mo he will take 7oz (on a good day) then wolf down a big bowl of food straight after. do you just keep feeding them until they refuse?
it seems just as I got the breast and bottle feeding sorted along comes something else to think about!!
any words of wisdom gratefully received!

[Toothache]

Littleweed - I think it really just means a balanced meal?
Cheese and dairy products are full of protein too, so don't worry too much if you can't get your 7mth old to eat meat. My ds hated the texture.

I don't think you should worry about the strict 6, 7 or 8mth rule. It really depends on your own baby. Also, if he takes 7oz of milk and still manages a meal then I'd keep going with the milk too.

At that age I found giving ds some mashed veg (usually potato + carrot or broccoli) then giving him lots of cubed cheese fingerfood was great. He still loves eating chunks of cheese now and he's nearly 3.

Minced beef/pork etc is good for weaning. Puree some mashed potato, minced beef and carrots. My ds LOVED that and it was the only time I could get him to eat meat. Ditto with mashed potato and cod.... just mash it all together with some milk.

HTH. With so many conflicted books around, it's much better and more useful to ask the opinion of Mumsnetters.

[aloha]

Lentils with carrots, sweet potato mashed with cheese, broccoli cheese, mashed beans, cheese & tomato with baby pasta, any jar food with meat or chicken or cheese - lots of options. You choose! I'd be guided by his appetite. It certainly sounds as if he - and you - are doing fine.

[papillon]

Vegetarian society says 6 months..

lentils etc

anyone tried pumpkin oil with their baby.. my dd is 6 months and i think pumpkin is good. And it says fats are good for brain development.

[Caribbeanqueen]

My dd eats very little protein as she doesn;t like the taste or texture. I asked my doctor about it a while ago and he said she was getting plenty of protein from breat milk so didn't need to worry about it for a while. She was 9 months at the time.

[littleweed]

thanks for the advice - guess we'll just carry on in our own sweet way!
littleweed and rapidly growing not-so-litlle weed!

[freewheeler]

I agree with all of the below. My 11month old ds still has 7oz milk at every meal, plus some pureed food such as mince, potato and carrot; sweet potato, cheese and spinach; or brown lentils, onion and mushroom with garlic! etc
I was a little concerned that he was having too much to eat with the milk as well but the health visitor said to offer him as much as he will eat!
Aloha, where do you find baby pasta? I can't get it in any of my local supermarkets.

[aloha]

I think the tiny alphabet pasta by Organix has been discontinued - at least that's what I read on another thread (ds a bit old for it now) but Italian delis often have baby pasta stars etc - really small shapes and incredibly cute.

[littleweed]

I got some really tiny pasta bows from tescos ordinary pasta section (in one of those cellophane packets). they are small enough that they don't need cutting up or anything - at least we haven't had to so far!!
HTH

[MellyP]

Hi Littleweed
You may have already come to a decision yourself, but I think lentils is fine at 7 months, and of course, any meat. In relation to the milk, it is suggested that the lunchtime milk feed be replaced with water or juice from a beaker. This allows your lo to begin practising with beakers but also, combining milk with protein significantly reduces the absorbtion of protein (by 50% I think)so it defeats the purpose of giving protein really. My ds who is 8 months tomorrow has 3 milk feeds per day now. 7am (8fl oz), 2:30pm (5 or 6 fl oz) and 6pm (8 fl oz). They need 1 pint of milk per day at this age (and at 7 months too) and so this provides all the milk requirements that he needs.

hth

Melly