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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

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Original poster

8mo BLW, nursery food & salt. Am I being a bit PFB about it?

15 replies

KampaKat · 08/03/2012 21:02

Our DD has just started nursery. She goes 4 mornings a week so gets breakfast, a mid morning snack and lunch while she is there.

We are really really happy with the nursery, the staff are all lovely and they have put up with us being a bit lentil weavery about the reusable nappies/wipes and the BLW.

We have explained that we would rather DD does not have food which contains salt/sugar until she is 1 (at least).

They ask a lot of questions about what she is and isn't allowed - which is brilliant and through this have established that we would rather she didn't have biscuits, cake, jelly, custard, crisps.

At nursery she generally has toast or porridge for brekkie, fruit for mid morning snack and then at lunch they have a warm meal.

Today, the meal was corned beef hash which whilst I could eat platefuls of it I probably wouldn't have given to a 8mo who isn't allowed salt.

So, I have two questions.

Firstly - are we really that unusual about the no salt/sugar before 1yo thing as they really seem to be struggling with it.

Secondly - should we say something about the corned beef hash and if so what/how should we say it. Or should we just see how it goes over the next week or so...

I don't want to actually complain as they really are fabulous with her and she seems perfectly happy It's just her bloody parents being difficult

Thanks!

OP posts:

lemniscate · 08/03/2012 21:08

To a certain extent, I think when you hand the care of your DC over to somebody else you have to accept that you'll need to compromise on some things. The nursery is going to be catering for many more DCs than just your child and they may not always get it right. It sounds like they've been pretty responsive to your needs so far (eg nappies and establishing specific foods you don't want your DC to have) so I'd let the corn beef hash go and see how things go over a few weeks before you question them.

BrianButterfield · 08/03/2012 21:17

I'm not sure what you mean by "No salt" as bread, cheese etc all have salt in - a surprising amount, in some cases. Kingsmill medium sliced white bread has .4g of salt in per slice, for example. So you really, really can't avoid it altogether.

RitaMorgan · 08/03/2012 21:33

How much salt do you think there is in an 8 month old's portion of corned beef hash? I would guess less than 0.5g.

abrakebabra · 08/03/2012 21:35

Yep, tons of salt in bread, as everyon else has already said.

Eglu · 08/03/2012 21:37

If they are making it themselves for all children, then surely they aren't adding salt to it when making it.

A lot of nurseries where I live do not provide food for under ones, from an allergy worry point of view. Is it an option to send your own food for her.

BillyBollyBandy · 08/03/2012 21:43

DD2 had corned beef and mash today, she is 8 months, and DD1 had the same. However she had less corned beef due to the salt but I was being rather overcautious I think.

Also I was FAR more concerned about what DD1 ate than I am about dd2. Your dc will be eating sugar and salt in the food she is having, but the nursery will be sensible be would hope and know far more about childhood nutrition than the average parent.

Rosebud05 · 08/03/2012 21:51

I don't think it will do her any harm, but I don't think you're being pfb.

I was more relaxed with dc2, but I wouldn't have particularly wanted him to eat anything as salty as corned beef hash at 8 months.

Having said that, letting others have influence over part of your babies life is part of the deal of letting someone else look after them. It's a bit of a shock and takes some time to adjust to!

Original poster

KampaKat · 08/03/2012 21:51

Thank you all for your replies.
FWIW she only has shop bought bread at nursery, as we make it at home without salt (which is probably why she doesn't eat it here ), and as yet she hasn't had cheese at all, we really have avoided giving her anything with salt in.
However, I think you are probably right Lemniscate especially. We are handing her over to someone else and they are doing a fantastic job so we will just hold off and see what she eats over the next few weeks.
Thank you once again...I knew the MN Jury would set me straight

OP posts:

FredFredGeorge · 08/03/2012 22:04

KampaKat How many calories is your DD getting from sources other than formula or breastmilk (which have lots of salt in) as from what you've said I'd be more worried about your DD getting sufficient salt!

The recommended limit is 1g, the RNI is 0.7g (that's not actually a huge difference, and if you're avoiding bread (and dairy?) as sources, then it's a little worrying. Very low sodium diets are not good at all.

Original poster

KampaKat · 08/03/2012 22:28

FredFred Plenty of calories as we're not avoiding dairy. She has yoghurt & also milk in her porridge and in her yorkshire pud!! We just haven't given her cheese yet.
Guidelines recommend less than 1g a day and for no salt to be added to food when it is cooked - my concern about the corned beef hash was because corned beef contains a huge amount of salt.
She is still BF four times a day so would assume she is getting enough sodium through me although as my DH has just pointed out we are eating the same diet as her...so probably should be more concerned about our lack of salt than her excesses!!!
Thanks for the RNI info though as I hadn't thought of it from that point of view.

OP posts:

lemniscate · 09/03/2012 08:36

I think the other thing to bear in mind is that nobody is going to get ill from one salty meal - it would need a build up of too much salt, day in day out, for a child to suffer adverse consequences. So one salty meal in the middle of a week of generally not too salty very healthy food is unlikely to cause any problems. Certainly with my DCs because we watched the salt at home, we didn't bother on the odd occasion we were in a restaurant or nana had made a meal with loads of salt etc. And if I knew they had eaten lots of salty stuff then I'd just be a bit more vigilant at home for a few days.

RitaMorgan · 09/03/2012 08:47

Corned beef is about 1.7g of salt per 100g. A baby portion of corned beef hash is going to contain no more than about 30g of corned beef, so 0.5g of salt. I really wouldn't worry about that.

WipsGlitter · 09/03/2012 08:59

In response to your earlier question, i think it is is unusual to be that concerned about salt and sugar levels in your childs diet. I think most parents wouldn't add salt to their childs food but wouldn't get so stressed about one meal at nursery. They go for the broadest definition of a balanced diet as possible and take it from there.

Maybe you need to think about how long and in what otherways this policing and controlling of your childs life will go on. You will see lots of threads on here where parents are wringing themselves out because their child has been given a biscuit.

YankNCock · 09/03/2012 09:07

I also had to put DS in nursery at 8 months (full time) and trust that they would do the BLW thing as I asked (I even brought the Gill Rapley book in for them!), and I also asked for no sugary puddings, biscuits, chocolate, etc. I do think you're going a bit overboard on the restrictions, but it sounds like you realise that now.

Count yourself lucky to have found a nursery you are happy with!

LittleAlbert · 09/03/2012 09:15

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