Spoon-feeding babies pureed food is unnatural and unnecessary, a Unicef childcare expert has warned.

Gill Rapley, deputy director of Unicef's Baby Friendly Initiative said feeding babies in this way could cause health problems later in life.

She said children should be fed only with breast or formula milk for the six months, then weaned onto solids and given control over how much they ate.

This could prevent babies becoming picky about food.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6762795.stm

In India, using preformulated baby food is a fad among the rich; most children are fed soft cooked foods like rice and lentil, or boiled egg, or fruit.

"Gill Rapley, deputy director of Unicef's Baby Friendly Initiative said feeding babies in this way could cause health problems later in life."

One person's opinion doesn't mean a damned thing ..especially without any substantiating evidence or study data.

In India, using preformulated baby food is a fad among the rich; most children are fed soft cooked foods like rice and lentil, or boiled egg, or fruit.

No, Sam, in India, most babies are starving to death and would eat anything that came near their mouth! But India is hardly a place to point out anything good about food. How many Indian babies starved to death today, Sam?

Baron Max

Why did you sticky your threads, out of interest?

Seems like the ultimate bump, a bit of a misuse of power. :D

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6762795.stm

In India, using preformulated baby food is a fad among the rich; most children are fed soft cooked foods like rice and lentil, or boiled egg, or fruit.

we puree home cooked food because we know it is ok for our kids, we are told when we ahve kids to make sure there are no lumps in the food and we trust the midwives and health visitors advice

Why did you sticky your threads, out of interest?

Seems like the ultimate bump, a bit of a misuse of power. :D

I'm trying to put on one new topic a week. Sometimes I keep it a bit longer. I also sticky random other threads, if they look interesting.:)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6762795.stm

In India, using preformulated baby food is a fad among the rich; most children are fed soft cooked foods like rice and lentil, or boiled egg, or fruit.

we are told in UK that kids should not eat eggs until they are at least 2yrs old!

we are told in UK that kids should not eat eggs until they are at least 2yrs old!

Seems rather extreme

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/startingsolids/firstfoods/

The Department of Health recommends that you avoid giving cow's milk or milk products (cheese, yogurt, fromage frais), fish and shellfish, soya beans, citrus fruit (including orange juice) or eggs, until your baby is six months old.

My daughter wouldn't eat jarred foods. So she got mashed taters, mashed carrots, spaghetti'os, cat food (not my fault!!), and those disgusting vienna sausages. (GAK!). And I nursed for 6 mths (HATED it, but it was best for her so I did it)

I gotta say, I agree with the Unicef person. There was no need for it and it was cheaper. But not all women can nurse (especially that long) and to some women saving the time is worth the extra costs.

Does it cause women any lasting damage to breastfeed children?

I understand that raw nipples is a given, but other than that, what happens?

Stretchmarks, sagging, skin damage....?

My daughter wouldn't eat jarred foods. So she got mashed taters, mashed carrots, spaghetti'os, cat food (not my fault!!), and those disgusting vienna sausages. (GAK!). And I nursed for 6 mths (HATED it, but it was best for her so I did it)

I gotta say, I agree with the Unicef person. There was no need for it and it was cheaper. But not all women can nurse (especially that long) and to some women saving the time is worth the extra costs.

Yeah its a pain, but many women nurse for upto two years in Asia.

I thought the milk coming in was as bad as childbirth. With my son, one nipple cracked and bled. I'd fall asleep while nursing and wake up with hickies. Nursed for 6 weeks.
I knew what to expect with my daughter so it went a bit better. Nursed for 6 mths.

Other than that, nothing. Your boobs get big when your pregnant, whether you nurse or not. Stretch marks can happen depending on genetics and how fast you gain the weight. And all boobs droop when you get older.

Anything else you perv?!
lol

I thought the milk coming in was as bad as childbirth. With my son, one nipple cracked and bled. I'd fall asleep while nursing and wake up with hickies. Nursed for 6 weeks.
I knew what to expect with my daughter so it went a bit better. Nursed for 6 mths.

Other than that, nothing. Your boobs get big when your pregnant, whether you nurse or not. Stretch marks can happen depending on genetics and how fast you gain the weight. And all boobs droop when you get older.

Anything else you perv?!
lol

Nope, that's enough to be going on with. Thank you :)

A cracked nipple? That sounds a little nasty. My worst nipple injury was a badly chafed nipple. A little bleeding and a plaster later, and I was good to go.

A cracked nipple, though? Ouch.

Sore, cracked and/or bleeding nipples are a common occurrence with breast feeding.

Sometimes, not being able to feed/express milk or delay in feeding can also lead to accumulation of the milk in the duct and cause blockage, which can be painful and also lead to infection.

Puerperal mastitis

Caused by the blocking of the milk ducts while the mother is lactating (see breastfeeding). It can cause painful areas on the breasts or nipples and may lead to a fever or flu-like symptoms. Except in heavy cases it is not necessary to wean a nursling because of mastitis; in fact, nursing is the most effective way to remove the blockage and alleviate the symptoms, and is not harmful to the baby. Sudden weaning can cause or exacerbate mastitis symptoms.

Mastitis can be discerned from simple blockages by the intensity of pain, heat emanating from the area, redness and fever in the mother. In some cases the fever can become severe, requiring antibiotics; ten percent of cases develop into abscesses that need to be drained surgically.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastitis

My first child did not go on solids until he was 6 months old. And even then he went on the rice mush, mixed with breastmilk. And then within a week or so we gave him mushed up cooked apples and pears, and mashed pumpkin, etc.

In Australia we are advised by the doctors and midwives to not give egg to babies until they are at least 12 months old, due to allegies. By six months of age, babies tend to go through their iron stores, so they need iron rich foods (the rice mush you buy is enriched with iron for that reason since giving them meat at this age is not recommended) since breastmilk and formula does not provide them with enough.

We are also told to wait until 6 months of age before introducing solids because a baby's digestive system is not developed enough before then to be able to deal with solids effectively. Feeding solids before 6 months can also bring on food allegies. That's what the experts here in Australia have found anyway.

Sore, cracked and/or bleeding nipples are a common occurrence with breast feeding.

Sometimes, not being able to feed/express milk or delay in feeding can also lead to accumulation of the milk in the duct and cause blockage, which can be painful and also lead to infection.


"Painful" does not even begin to describe it. I had a bout of mastitis with my second child. When his breastfeeding (which is recommended as they are able to pull out the accumulated milk much more effectively and faster) drew out the blockage, the pain was so bad I passed out cold, scaring the bejesus out of my husband. And you need to keep feeding and expressing and putting hot compresses on the affected area until the pain stops completely and the blocked milk duct clears, because it could lead to an abcess and that requires immediate medical attention. *Shudders*..

A cracked nipple? That sounds a little nasty. My worst nipple injury was a badly chafed nipple. A little bleeding and a plaster later, and I was good to go.

A cracked nipple, though? Ouch.
When I ran cross country in high school, many of us would get nasty nipple chaffing to the point of bleeding from our clothes becoming soaked with sweat, freezing, then rubbing up against our nipples as we ran mile after mile.

As a male, trouble with nipples is especially disconcerting. Some guys would run with pasties over their nipples to avoid chaffing. I did it myself, on occasion.