BLW - what can you give with pasta for 7 month old?

[olivo]

have heard mention of pesto (always have it in as it's my favourite!) but tis it ok for 7 month old dd? if not, what else could i give with pasta? am i right that you cant give tomato based things or have i made that up?!

pesto has pine nuts in - watch for allergies

how about a simple tom or cheese sauce, or just with olive oil / butter and something like kidney beans / peas / tuna / chicken / cheese?

Pesto is fine as long as you're not avoiding dairy or nuts (are pine nuts actual nuts ).

Tomato based stuff is also fine, though can sometimes cause a contact rash.

I make a tomato + veg sauce by roasting aubergine/courgette/mushrooms/carrots then adding tinned tomatoes and whizzing up. It's nice and thick so coats the pasta well.

We didnt give dairy, gluten and other allergicy type foods like tomatoes until DS was over 1 yr...but he has mild eczema and there are allergies like asthma and hayfever in both our families so wanted to be cautious. He still refuses tomato at 2.5 yrs so I am assuming he is sensitive to it...I think as long as you dont have any allergy worries then most foods are ok barring honey & loads of salt & sugar.

I think pine nuts are seeds actually....but Im not sure if that makes them more or less suitable for babies...

a pine nut is otherwise called a pine kernel because it isn't actually a nut. it's an oily seed. however, people with nut allergies are often allergic to seeds too, especially sesame seeds. so you may want to avoid them if you are an allergy prone family.

the nut thing with babies is more to do with whole nuts being a choking hazard, as well as of course, the few people who have nut allergies can prove fatal on the first taste of a nut.

so what to do??? it's up to you! i gave dd pesto from about 8 months. she loves it on gnocchi. she likes green and red pesto.

there is something about avoiding tomato because of the family of fruits they are from can be allergy inducing. some people also say no red fruits in the early years because of allergies. it's a mine field isn't it?! ultimately, you could go bonkers with it all. some people are more allergy prone, some children grow out of allergies, etc etc. does that help? probably not!

Nuts and seeds (inc pine nuts) are quite allergenic and it's recommended to avoid them until your baby is at least 1, I believe

i have to admit i've been a bit lax regarding the allergy thing. i am allergic to cats and dust and have hayfever, and both me and dh have very mild asthma. i have given dd dairy and wheat (not lots of either) but have avoided nuts while pg and bf.(i have just stopped bf and treated myself to peanut butter on toast - heaven )

i will confess i went for the BLW as i'm so lazy but if i'd cut out dairy and wheat, it wouldnt have been so easy to share our meals with dd.

thanks for your thoughts everyone. i gues i might try making a tomato and veg pasta sauce and trying her with that - we are real pasta/gnocchi fiends so would be great if she likes it too. will maybe leave pseto for a bit

oh, and bizzy, posted on your/aitch's site about nursery -am soooo chuffed!!

A favourite Chez spud when the spudettes were small was popeye pasta - basically a bit of cream cheese and well chopped spinach.

I made a lovely pasta sauce the other day from avocadoes that looked suspect but tasted delicious. Mash ripe avocadoes into a smooth paste, add a little bit of lemon juice and a bit of garlic, stir into just-cooked pasta but don't put back onto the heat. Serve with parmesan. My 2 wolfed it down (aged 5 and 18m). Think this would be very suitable for a 7m old too.

ooh, some nice ideas there. thanks...drool, drool.....

Oooh like the avocado idea! my dd has the contact rash issue with tomato... i have cut it out but it still keeps flaring up on her face boohoo! have cut out citrus too... bloody dr's are useless and just give me cream all the time rather than helping with preventative methods. lol

will make that avocado one though :D

do you have to mush up the pasta as well?

No nally - with blw they pick up and eat real food.

Olivo, Jamie Oliver has a recipe for a fab tomato sauce but it has celery, carrots, peppers and onions in. So its a good thing to throw on pasta as its full of goodness. Plus its a big recipe so you can freeze in batches.

I'll post it in a bit when I come round more

thanks folks. nbg, do you know which JO book, we have several(in fact, there are four propping up dd's cot as we speak -shows how often i cook!)

pasta is my mission this w/e!!

I dont Olivo, sorry.
I cant remember where I got it from now

Could it have been his Italian ones?

Anyway here it is;

3 tbsp oil
3 small onions, peeled and chopped
2 Red peppers, chopped
3 courgettes, grated
3 Carrots, grated
3 Stalks of celery, chopped
1 large pinch of dried oregano
6x 400g of chopped tinned toms
2-3 garlic cloves.

Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a deep pan

Fry onion, celery, pepper, courgette, carrot and garlic for 5-10 mins

Add the oregano and toms then season

Simmer for about 30 mins

Liquidise and when cool freeze the extra sauce.

It really is good and like I said it has lots of veg in so you can use it for a really easy meal just thrown on pasta. I have also used it for pizzas and spag bol.

You could also do a simple cheese sauce. My dd used to love that when she was little.

thanks nbg -sounds delish! will have a bash at the weekend. not very good at cheese sauce - i am the most undomesticated godess....

or even goddess

Just grate some cheese, bit of milk and flour throw it all in a pan and mix.
Dead easy.

My 7 month old watches every spoonful of food I eat (follows spoon from plate to mouth to plate) and will try and eat anything that is put in front of her, but anything lumpy makes her throw up. With blw do they just 'know' how to eat big lumps then???? Sorry, I have always thought they could't have big bits when so young (and I am on baby no 3!)

the thinking is that because they put the food in their mouths themselves (and initially the food goes in and falls straight back out again ) they are less likely to push past their gag reflex point and gag. so no, they don't immediately know what to do but they learn very quickly. there are loads of pics on www.babyledweaning.com and also down on the right hand side there is a link to some clips of babies eating so you can see what you think. the main thing with blw i think is not to cut back on milk, just let the baby do that when they get the hang of eating.