Food in the news
Speaking of BPA, Health Canada just did a huge study on Bisphenol A in glass baby food jars. And found lots of the estrogen-mimicking chemical.
From the Globe and Mail this weekend:
“Some scientists have expressed concern over BPA because it is a chemical never found in nature and is able to act like estrogen in living things, leading to worries that its presence in food means people are getting an extra dollop of the female hormone. Experimentals with test animals have linked it to breast cancer and other hormonally induced medical conditions, some at doses to which humans are exposed.
But Health Canada said there are no grounds for concern.”
(I’m glad I make all of Alice’s food. But we do eat canned goods, too.)
And all the yummies so many of us are canning right now? Turns out canning lids — similar in design to baby jar lids — also contain BPA (story @ Tree Hugger).
Apparently we can’t win.
The Toronto Star this weekend had an interesting story on Baby Led Weaning. It basically says that once babies are ready for solid foods, we’re supposed to just hand them full-sized pieces of food and not cut them up small or puree them. Apparently they choke less often doing this, and it allows them to self-feed (eating at their own pace, making them less fussy/picky eaters later on).
My thoughts? Great concept, but what if baby — like both my girls at 6 months — have teeth? I’d never give them a whole piece of food. They’d be choking in seconds.
(Left to their own devices, some babies I know will attempt to eat tampons and paper. Last I checked, THAT’S NOT A GOOD IDEA. What parent allows this? Pssh.)
Thoughts?
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There are currently 14 responses
I would love to make my own baby food. Do you make the recipes yourself or do you have a book that you use?
We tried BLW for a bit but V didn’t really eat any of the whole foods we gave her. So purees it was, which was fine by me.
I worry about the canned foods we use in our cooking as well. Mostly beans and tomato sauces. Using dried beans means planning meals way ahead and I just don’t seem able to do that.. .maybe I could cook and then freeze portions? (that idea just occurred to me right now.)
wholesomebabyfood.com was a great resource for me.
I remember reading about BHA being found in cans and the lids of baby jarred food back when the uproar re: baby bottles was happening. But I thought the controversy was more about the heating of the vessel? Which is why the baby bottles were recalled etc etc.
Don’t get me wrong – I don’t want BHA in my canned goods (although we eat very little from cans, save for some beans and pasta sauce), and I certainly don’t like the idea of BHA being in the lids of baby food or in the canning jars we all use. But I think the risk of leaching is greatly reduced when there is no heating, yes?
Re: the baby-led-weaning. Very interesting article – thanks for the link. We used purees as well – but there were certain things that Maddie didn’t like pureed (like broccoli and green beans) that we just ended up giving to her on it’s own. Good to know we did something right!
I can’t really see how teeth makes a difference. Imagine very soft broccoli – if they mash it with their gums or teeth it’s mashed all the same. I’ve read that babies with teeth still use their gums to mash. We opted for a combination of pureed foods and soft cooked things as she’s gotten past 8 months or so. My pediatrician still wants her to get baby cereal twice a day which doesn’t leave much room for other things. We give pureed meat which is a good source of iron and high in fat and protein. Be careful of one-upsmanship Carly, using store-bought baby food is really no big parental failing. We’re all busy and need to be supportive of each other.
I would think that having teeth would help, not hinder, with whole foods exploration, no?
I’m not sure, as my girls are past this point, but I imagine that giving a baby whole foods would start out fine, with baby taking bites small enough to manage, but then when they get to the end of whatever it is they are eating, they would just shove the rest in their mouth, resulting in a choke hazard.
Avery is one now, so I don’t puree anything anymore and she doesn’t eat jarred food (her preference, not mine). What I do give her, I break up into bite size pieces so she can practice using her fingers and chewing, but not choke.
Diana, I have a post coming on making baby food for child #2! I’m using the Magic Bullet this time around and LOVE IT.
I also wrote one when I made it for Lucy. You can see it here: http://durhamregionbaby.com/2006/10/adventures-in-baby-food/
I didn’t use any recipes, but mostly just pureed everything and froze it into little portions. As Lucy got older (10 months or so), I stopped doing that as much and just gave her soft pieces of fruit, cooked veggies, meat etc., and portions of whatever we ate. I’m more cautious with Alice, however, because of the milk allergy issues we’ve had.
Thanks for this article…Maddie is approaching the 6 month mark and I’m definetly going to explore the idea of ‘baby-led weaning’.
Thanks Carly and 1001petals for the ideas.
Believe it or not, my sister’s GYN just told her that her 8 year old daughter SHOULD NOT be drinking bottled water!! Girls in today’s society are maturing faster and growing breasts sooner because of all of these false hormones. He also mentioned that young girls shouldn’t eat any chicken that is not organic because of all of the additives and hormones. The average age of puberty and getting a period in young girls is extremely lower than it was when we were young. All due to these ‘extras’, especially the estrogen-mimicking chemical!!
We are all doomed. Chemicals in tap water, chemicals in bottled water, estrogen mimicking BPA in everything, hormones in meats, pesticides in vegetables, phytoestrogen in soy. We can’t raise our kids in bubbles, and even if we could, according to Health Canada it seems we shouldn’t feed them anything.
We’ll go crazy if we worry too much about how we raise our beautiful babies. My advice, do what feels right to you and do the best you can.
I have done Baby Led Weaning (BLW) since my son was 5 1/2 months. The idea behind it is to provide your child with the food that you are eating at your meals in ‘finger food’ size pieces (like a french fry shape) if possible, or pieces that he/she can pick up and put in his/her mouth. Before anybody gets too critical about this way of feeding, I highly recommend you get the book by Gill Rapley and read it, much like any topic. The only way to be critical about an issue and for your criticism to be respected by your audience, you have to be educated about it first. Meal time for our family is enjoyable and I am not spending the time feeding my son. He eats as we eat (and though it can be messy at times) he will eat anything put in front of him. Now at 8 months I know he will not be a picky eater.
Hi Jessica,
My comments were based on the article in the Star, which says to NOT cut up food into small pieces, but to hand them, say, an orange — thus my comment in my blog post. I wasn’t being critical of BLW at all. Just the potential choking side of things based on the piece.
Alice has been feeding herself cut-up pieces of food since 6 months. It’s perfect.
I guess that’s newspapers for you, not getting all of their facts. The book recommends cutting it to make shapes like french fries so that it is easy to pick up and hold. Some things however, like a cob of corn you can’t and you just hand it to them.
I feared the choking myself but the book discusses the gag reflex and that babies have their gag reflex further up on their tongue so that they don’t choke, their body will have them gag before the food can get far enough back to actually have them choke. Choking is also not the wretching face they make. If they are choking there is no sound or much movement. It’s gagging and choking that people get confused about.
Thanks for clarifying, Jessica! I’ve never heard of the gag vs. choke thing. Very interesting…