too much cheese?

[ionesmum]

My 7 mo dd adores cheese, and it's her main source of protein. Even when I give her fish or pulses she still eats more if I put cheese in, too. I give her different types of hard cheeses, but am wondering if she's having too much? I know that cheese is salty, and also that adults are told not to eat too much. Can anyone advise me? Also, what is the best way to store cheese?

Ionesmum, my dd is the same, however, I have found that she will settle for home-made hummus/houmous with just about everything as an alternative, as it is an equally yummy flavour and I don't mind, as the chickpeas in it will be really good for her. You can get shop-bought, but if you make it yourself you can leave the salt out. DD has houmous with all the things that you would normally put cheese with: eggs, pitta, ratatouille, potatoes, etc etc.

Thanks, ellaroo. Do you put garlic in?

Yes, lots of it! Can give you the recipe if you want. Let me know.

My DS2 loves home made hummus too - from the Baby Organix "Planet Organic" cookbook. He absolutely reeks of garlic afterwards. Think I might go and make it for his lunch actually...

I think with adults they're advised not to eat too much cheese because of its fat content, not so much the salt. and babies need fats to grow!

thanks for the further advice! Ellaroo, I'd love that recipe, thank you so much. I'm full of cold so dd's bound to get it, so garlic should help her to shift it quickly!

I find the best way to store cheese is either in cling film or in one of those zip up freezer bags. This stops the edges going hard.
My mum always stored cheese in a tupperware box to stop other smells in the fridge getting to it and vice-versa.
My dd also has a small amount of grated cheese on most of her meals as she seems to lap it up. I wouldn't worry that you are giving too much as it sounds like you're giving it to complement other food types and as long as your dd is getting a varied diet then thats ok.
According to Annabel Karmel's book babies need more fat in their diet than adults because of rapid growth so you shouldn't be worried about adding extra fat at all.

Don't you find that the cheese sometimes goes 'sweaty' in clingfilm? I find greaseproof paper the best for hard oily cheeses.

Thanks, muffles and wmf. I will try the freezer bag and tupperware - I never buy clingfilm tbh!

I'd like the recipe for houmous too if don't mind sharing it. I've found grating then freezing cheese a handy way to store it.

ooh, good idea.