The journey continues and I am happy and blessed to say that little baby girl has had a healthy and happy 18 months.
A huge learning curve for me but she and I got used to a lot together; Mainly the daily routine. Now what led me to write again was an article I read from a very popular online family site, which left me puzzled and upset. I know my baby is well fed, from breastmilk at first, for about 15 months and I started introducing one solid food at a time to test for allergies at about 8-9 months old.
But anyway, being the new mom and wondering if I was indeed feeding her well, I went on a search online... and was shocked!
This was under the Pregnancy & Parenting section, then under "Toddler/Preschooler", then under "Eating and Nutrition" and it reads:
"...toddlers need remarkably little food. A typical meal may consist of 1 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 slice toast, a few bites of scrambled egg, and a tablespoon of applesauce. It doesn't look like much. But toddlers are small and they are not growing too quickly."
I thought... "This is ridiculous!" and the reason I thought that, was because I could not imagine the meal described above being adequate! other than the applesauce, which hopefully does not contain sugar, and the grain bread, which hopefully is not white, everything else is major "Mucus Factory"! Read my first article, "Tips From a New Mom", which I resubmitted, and you will understand the mucus comment.
My daughter never had a running nose! Anyway, here is another reason I was shocked.
Baby Girl's Breakfast.
Note: She is no longer being breastfed and her food is never micro waved. Here is an example of today's menu.
Fruit Smoothie or bowl of fruit with Spelt bread and Avocado
1 Chiquita Banana (Less Starchy than regular bananas)
1/2 cup Papaya
1/2 cup Cherries (Frozen, just warm them up)
1/3 pear
Hand full Blanched Almonds or raw pumpkin seeds (Protein)
Filtered water
She will drink 3 to 4 4oz bottles
If I do not make a smoothie, I cut the fruit up, except the cherries, instead add 1/4 avocado and 1 slice of Spelt Bread (low gluten) and give it to her. Once she is done, I give her a cup of 100% apple juice diluted in water. She loves it!
Lunch/Dinner (Meaning, this could be either lunch or dinner. Sometimes I blend it all into a smoothie)
3 tablespoons of cooked Quinoa (Quinoa is rich in protein and Amaranth contains 2x more calcium than cow's milk)
1/2 small Italian Zucchini
1/3 cup butternut squash (a good source of B vitamins as well as Vitamins A and C)
1/3 cup Chayote (very good source of folate, fiber)
1/3 cup Mexican Squash (Calabacitas are rich in potassium, magnesium, vitamins A and C, folate, and fiber)
Some Garbanzo Beans (Folate, Protein, phosphorous and iron)
A few pieces of Avocados (Protein - Makes a great smoothie all by itself and almond milk!)
A little of home made almond milk to make it soupy (Protein)
A little dash of extra virgin olive oil
The child has a healthy appetite and eats all her food most of the time.
Dinner/Lunch (Meaning, this could be dinner or lunch)
If she had the veggie menu for lunch, she will have the fruit menu for dinner. If she had fruit menu for lunch, she gets veggie menu described above for dinner. Of course I vary her diet with other vegetables such as green peas, Kale, collard greens.
I still stay away from gas forming foods still, such as broccoli, cabbage, black beans etc... she loves watermelon, pears, apples, I occasionally give her organic Concord grapes (They are not seedless). Strawberries are very allergenic, so an occasional one, since she loves it too.
She is kept well hydrated during the day with water and natural juices and has never had dairy, eggs or animal protein.
Every other day I give her 1/2 tsp of natural supplement (Dr. Sebi's Tonic) and on a daily basis 1/2 tsp of Dr. Sebi's mineral supplement.
She is alert, observant, learns fast, energetic but not hyper and has not been sick with the exception of a diarrhea when we went on a trip to California.
The article mentioned toddlers being picky eaters, but I guess if you start them with a variety of fruits, non allergenic grains, and vegetables, that is the diet they'll grow accustomed to eating... if you don't.... then...
So... now you know why that article shocked me... anyway, this is just a sample of her diet and I hope this helps you in some way.
To your family's health!
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