Raw food recipes for my baby

[Kodi'sMommy]

I have a 4 1/2 month old and want to get prepared to feed him solid foods shortly. I have been looking everwhere onthe internet and can not find RAW recipes for baby anywhere..

I really need help on this...

His Daddy and I are not rawist but we really want to be.We try for like a week at a time I've made some yummy recipes, but get brought back to SAD food so easily.

I really don't want to start the baby out on our ugly addiction to SAD foods.

The only cooked foods I was thinking of giving him was yogurt and ezekiel bread. Yogurt though no till he is a toddler.

I thought I would find some threads on here about that but nothing...

I would really love some help on how to feed baby Raw if anyone can help.


Thank You :)

[rawstrength]

I don't know much about infant care, but this is what I recall from a discussion about raw infants that I went to once, combined with knowledge I have from babysitting experience.
Most commercial, bottled baby foods are pureed fruits and vegetables. You can make your own raw baby food by blending fruits/veggies with a bit of water. Once your baby eats solid food with ease, you can introduce cut up fruits and veggies as finger food. Cut them small to avoid choking. Cut grapes and berries in half. Only introduce one food at a time. Apples and pears are very hypoallergenic - it is unlikely that your baby will have an allergy to them. Pureed apples is a good first food. Many babies are allergic to peaches and strawberries. My baby cousin is allergic to peaches, strawberries and raspberries. They give him a rash.
Don't offer cow's milk, citrus or honey before age 1. Cow's milk doesn't meet an infant's nutritional needs. Cow's milk isn't a good source of iron and, for infants, cow's milk can lead to iron deficiency anemia. Citrus can cause a painful diaper rash, and honey may contain spores that can cause a serious illness known as botulism. I recommend that you never introduce your baby to cooked grains (ezekiel bread) or to cow's milk (yogurt). Grains and dairy are the most addictive of all foods. However, it's your baby, and that's your decision to make, not mine.
Best of luck with your baby! I'm sure you will give him lots of love and a great healthy start to life.

[Tiffany]

Are you breastfeeding? I know that alot of mainstream advice encourages introducing solids when babies are around 4 1/2 months, but if you are breastfeeding its probably not neccesary. You can even find this information in many non-raw sources such as attachment parenting websites, even mothering.com discussion boards and articles. My son barely started eating solids until he was about 8 or 9 months, though we did introduce one or two fruits and some avocado before that. I know plenty of mamas who are not even vegetarian that wouldn't consider introducing solids to a breastfed baby that young, more for attachment parenting philosophies as for nutritional philosophies.

"Baby Greens" is a great book. you can order off of amazon. I know Melissa Gilbert is having some difficulty with her site right now, but I was given a copy of her baby food ebook as a gift and I loved it for good ideas.

[Kodi'sMommy]

To Raw strengh;

If I puree though isn't that basically cooking the food and taking away from the whole RAW food intake I want to feed him w/?

I never want to give him cow's milk but w/ the yogurt, but thanks for changing my mind on that.

I didn't know about citrus. Thank You. I was thinking about giving him Fresh O.J. But now I know that isn't good .

Ezekiel bread I heard was cooked below 118 though. Is that not true. My Raw food book from Carol Alt "Eating in the Raw" She says that she eats it and it's cooked below 118.

To Tiffany:

I'm sorry, No I don't want to feed him yet, and yes I am breastfeeding him. I just want to get some recipes and figure how to feed him when time comes. I've been looking around for months on how to feed baby in the RAW and have yet to find anything. I just want to be prepared when time comes.

[smoothiegirl]

You could try making a raw version of the baby food they have in the store. apples, pears, mashed bananas, veggies

[OhJennaveve]

Yes, I agree with the other women's postings. When my daughter was coming on to solids, I didn't worry so much about breads or really complex stuff. Since their digestive systems are still forming, fruit and veggies are the way to go. Afterall, isn't that was Gerber manufactures? And Gerber always knows whats best...lol.

Seriouslly though, some ideas may include
mashed bananas
apple sauce
mashed mangoes
mashed papapya
mashed fill in the blank

for veggies, you can steam lightly and then puree them with a food processor.

But, a word of caution!! Be veryyyy careful about who you tell that you're feeding your baby raw foods. My best friend, my daughter's God mother, went behind my back and took my daughter, Seven, to the hospital one day when she was babysitting her after I told her about me feeding her raw foods. The doctors called child welfare on me and stripped away all of my rights to authorize or refuse treatment for my daughter. Even though there was absolutely nothing wrong with her, they did all these blood tests and made me hold her down while sticking all these needles into her arms. Child welfare stayed on my case for a year. They did home visits and looked inside my fridge and everything. It was very depressing! I don't want to scare you, but just be aware sometimes we have to stretch the truth...and even those you think you can trust end up turning out to be the ones who understand you least.

Just keep posting here--and keep listening out for your intuition. God won't lead you astray. He put all these things on earth for our enjoyment and nourishment. It's sad we think that McDonalds is now the norm.

Anywho,
take care
write me anytime
jenna

[rawstrength]

Kodi's Mom, pureed foods are still raw. Many raw foodists eat blended foods, such as smoothies.
An example of pureed food would be to take some WHOLE, RAW fruit and put it in a blender with a bit of water until it is mushy.
Feeding pureed food will help your baby digest it easier.

[smoothiegirl]

I agree-Dont' tell them your baby eats raw. Too many nosy people.

[Kodi'sMommy]

Yes I agree not telling anyone. I just told the babies Daddy and he agrees also. My mom keep saying "but you have to feed him his cereal". I will just tell her that now to appease her. Thank goodness she lives to far away for constant visits.

People are really weird. I had someone freak out on me a couple of weeks ago cuz I ate 2 pieces of choclate while I'm breastfeeing. People have no idea how healthy I eat when they are not looking. UGH, It just fustrates me how people feel the need to judge me and my life when there the ones who need to look in the mirror and check there own.

Any how I always thought PUREED meant to cook and mash.. haha I'm not to much of a chef anyways. My hubby does most of the cooking around here.. I'm just learning..

I'm 37 years old and this is our first baby. So I'm just starting to learn to prepare foods. That's why I'm here to find out all I can for our baby.


Thankyou everyone for all of your massive help.. I'm learning so much here
Hopefully by the time baby is ready to eat I'll be a pro. : )

[Clare]

If you don't have a food processor, you will love one once your baby really starts eating.

I agree that you can breastfeed exclusively a little longer. You might as well wait until your baby is trying to steal your food :-) For my two that started at 6-7 months. I know I was totally excited/nervous to feed my first but ther's no hurry.

Start simple when it's time. Mash a ripe banana very well with a fork. That can be one meal every day for a young baby. Same with ripe avocado. My younger son LOVES avocado though the older would never eat it until recently at almost 3. With your food processor you can make a raw applesauce and raw carrot purees and endless possibilities. Wait on the nuts until at least one if not two, with seeds being easier to digest. Wait also on raw grains until at least one year. Alissa's buckwheat porridge is excellent, and you can make raw meuslis creamy in the food processor until baby had more teeth. Tahini is a good source of fat and calories and not likely to promote allergy. You can supplement a little coconut and flax and/or hemp oil as baby gets hungrier and nurses less. In the meantime, remember that your milk is providing the best nourishment so eat well yourself.

[Aleesha Sattva]

here's a link to melissa's raw e-book.

http://rawmom.blogspot.com/

if you choose to order the book... you can pay via paypal and then email me and i'll send you your book!

all the instructions and email addys are on her blog (above)

[Mama K]

Are you breastfeeding? I know that alot of mainstream advice encourages introducing solids when babies are around 4 1/2 months, but if you are breastfeeding its probably not neccesary. You can even find this information in many non-raw sources such as attachment parenting websites, even mothering.com discussion boards and articles. My son barely started eating solids until he was about 8 or 9 months, though we did introduce one or two fruits and some avocado before that. I know plenty of mamas who are not even vegetarian that wouldn't consider introducing solids to a breastfed baby that young, more for attachment parenting philosophies as for nutritional philosophies.


Ditto that. I did a lot of reading up on "child led introduction of solids" You don't need to feed your baby pureed anything if you don't want to. :) Much less work too. The AAP now recomends breastmilk (or formula) ONLY until 6 months old. Then you can look for signs of readiness: baby is interested in watching you eat, has doubled their birth weight, has some teeth, can sit unassisted, there are more but that's all I can remember off the top of my head.

My son's first food was a banana. He grabbed it out of my hand when I was eating one so I took that as a sign! LOL. So I just gave him little bits of it. I'd also cut up an avocado into tiny pieces (to prevent choking) and put him in his high chair and let him "feed" himself while we ate dinner. We did mostly plain, soft fruits and veggies cut up small for the first few months of eating solids.

ETA: I just saw someone mention raw applesauce. Genius! We did cooked, organic apple sauce as I didnt' know much about raw foods then. Funny how something so simple never occured to me. haha

Oh and I just remembered that I the homoapathy woman I see told me that babies don't have the enzimes in their stomach to digest grains until they are about a year old. So if you are feeding them baby cereal, etc it just goes through whole and doesn't really get digested. I will probably wait a little longer on the grains for the next kid now that I know that.

[Raw Angel Mom]

I heard it is best to wait at least 8month before solid or when the teeth come up. My baby didn't want to eat any food but my milk. So i nursed mainly with milk until a solid 15 months. I was so tired and was hopping to stop. She didn't want any cook food only raw food. So i started to get back on raw food and the same for her. Once i started to make raw smoothies, she dropped the quantity of my milk. I still nurse her today and she is 2 year 1/2. I only pump in the morning and night.

She has a good weight

She would eat green smoothies then i started to make a hemseeds base smoothies. This is her favorite and has a very good weight and look healthy.

1/4 Cup of hemp seeds
1 Cup 1/4 of water
5 banana
1 cup of fresh fruits (strawberry or blueberry)

Blend everything until smooth.

Hemp seeds contain all essential oil (ommega 3, ommega 6, ommega 9) Rich in many nutriment.

Once you start, start with plain no mix. Such purree of banana alone, etc...
Once he gets use to the taste you can add greens much later on thought. As soon as you start with greens, the teeth will develop in no time and ouch it hurt for them.

Congratulation with your little baby!

[Kodi'sMommy]

Thank you so much to everyone so far. I am learning so much.. This web sight is truly a godsend

[Kodi'sMommy]

RawLina Sue Thank You I loved that website!

[lakoczera]

I fed my kids avocado for their first foods. You can blend it with a little breast milk or just give them small chunks, depending on when you start. My children both teethed early, so we started early. They love food!! One of the tools I've found really useful is the magic bullet. It has two different blades, one that is great for fruits and veggies, and one that works well for seeds or nuts. And it can do wonders even with raw veggies- carrots, broccoli, etc. as long as you add some liquid. It comes with a small and tall cup and a blender. We've had ours for 4 years and it gets daily use! Good luck and have fun with your babe!

[Kodi'sMommy]

I know I said I wasn't going to feed him till he was at least 6 months but, we had a picnic the other day and let him suck on some watermelon that he just couldn't get away from, He wanted more and more and more. Then a few days later I let him suck on half a grape while I was holding it and he wanted more of that also. Plus lately he hasn't been sleeping at all. He would sleep about a hour instead of his 3-5 hours he usully sleeps w/o a feeding. People have been telling me that's a sign he is ready to eat. He needs to keep that belly fuller longer. Is it bad to feed him at 5 months as of Aug 7? Will he sleep longer?

By the way if this helps at all
He was born 9.4 lbs
and he is now 18 lbs
and he sits in a high chair all by himself : )
but he is not teething yet.
We just had the dentist check him out

[Thick]

I know I said I wasn't going to feed him till he was at least 6 months but, we had a picnic the other day and let him suck on some watermelon that he just couldn't get away from, He wanted more and more and more. Then a few days later I let him suck on half a grape while I was holding it and he wanted more of that also. Plus lately he hasn't been sleeping at all. He would sleep about a hour instead of his 3-5 hours he usully sleeps w/o a feeding. People have been telling me that's a sign he is ready to eat. He needs to keep that belly fuller longer. Is it bad to feed him at 5 months as of Aug 7? Will he sleep longer?

By the way if this helps at all
He was born 9.4 lbs
and he is now 18 lbs
and he sits in a high chair all by himself : )
but he is not teething yet.
We just had the dentist check him out

I always wait for these things=
1. sitting up unassisted
2. grabbing for food
3. being able to pick the small soft chunks of food up unassisted
4.losing (maybe not entirely gone) the tongue-thrust reflex (where they push things out of their mouths

The hand eye coordination of picking up bits of avacado or watermelon or banana etc is important to me with my kids. If you want it, kid, go for it=) It is totally natural (for me anyway) to let them taste your melon or other juicy stuff that you are eating if they act interested, its fun to see them experience it , isn't it?=)

[Arijel5]

Hi Kodi's mom :)

I haven't had time to scan other peoples replies........but here is my experience

I'm also not a raw foodist (yet! but I aspire to be) but even thouh I'm not, I've been feeding my now 7 month baby (from her 6th month) besides breastfeeding, I started with puree's and Juices (usually you start with apples, bannanas, nectarines, peaches, carrots), but since I'm from Serbia, and I don't know how doctors in USA advise mothers about when you should even start including other foods besides milk, but there's widespread belief that up to baby's 6th month, she doesn't need other foods than milk, 'cause mother's milk provides all the content (vitamins, minerals) babies need, so I think you can easily wait when Kodi turns 6 months, but that's up to you, every mom knows best

Like I've said I'm from Serbia and only a handful of people here (in my country) has even heard of raw food lifestyle, so I don't know of any direct experience here about momms feeding her baby with raw foods, what's more, I was "attacted" on one of our serbian kids forums by some mommies after saying that I feed and intent to feed my baby only with raw foods and without any meats.


But here's what I've done, and what can you do when you decide to start including other foods (besides brestfeeding)

For the start you probably know this, but not every fruit is good for small babies (because it;s known allergen reactions) so until completing 1st year avoid fruits like strawberries and similar fruits like rasberries etc.)


And for the your Kodi's first purees use (apples, carrots, bannanas, peaches, nectarins, plums........)

and just simply blend it, until they become pureed (smooth) for exhample take one apple, and one bannana (my baby loves this puree, even I like it) and just blend it


Note that it's commonly accepted to introduce one (fruit) by one and then wait for 4-5 days to see if your baby egzibits some allergic reaction to individually introduced fruits or vegetables(for exhample introduce apple, in a form of pureee or juice, and wait for few days to see if she doesn't display allergic reaction if she doesn't then introduce another fruit like peaches, then test it for reaction, and so on, and so on)


It's best to start with purees and juices (fruits and vegetables)

and later when you decide to introduce grains (wheat, rye, oats...etc.) or other seeds it's best to sprout them ('cause like you know sprouts are known as pre-digested foods, and because they're pre-digested foods your baby's digestion is gona be much easier, 'cause when foods (grains and nuts) are sprouted, the proteins, complex carbohydrates are brokedown to simpler forms (proteins break down to its simpler form amonoacids, and complex carbohydrates/sugars breakdown to simple carbs/sugars, so that's why they're called pre-digested foods, and digestion is easier, 'cause the one part of digestion is already done) plus the vitamin and mineral after sprouting content gets multified hundreds of times up to 200%, 500% (depending on vitamin or mineral)


Ofcource besides fruits (like strawberries, citrus fruits and others) there are also some seeds which are known for being allergens

For start avoid walnuts and peanuts, but you can for exhample take almond (I think they're not allergens, but check to be on a safe side, they are good sources of proteins, vitamins and etc) dip them in water and blend them into puree and add some blended fruit.

You can also take wheatgrass juice and juice it (wheatgrass juice is considered a "whole foods" meaning that one glass of wheatgrass juice supplyies and satisfies our body's daily needs)

About benefits of wheatgrass check here:
http://chidiet.com/wheatgrass.htm

Sorry for making this post so looong

[Kodi'sMommy]

Thank You so much to all the help.
I was wondering though why my baby isn't sleeping much but like a hour or two after feedings anymore?
Someone was telling me he is ready to eat, and feed him so he will sleep longer.
Is this true?
Do all of your older babies sleep through the night on just breast milk alone?

[Arijel5]

Thank You so much to all the help.
I was wondering though why my baby isn't sleeping much but like a hour or two after feedings anymore?
Someone was telling me he is ready to eat, and feed him so he will sleep longer.
Is this true?
Do all of your older babies sleep through the night on just breast milk alone?


Well there can be a few reason's why your son's not sleeping much daily, but whatever the reason you don't have to worry 'cause my doctor told me when I complained having the same problem with my son as you (who after completing first month he went from a baby who slept all day, and only woke up every 3 hours for his feeding, like a baby swiss clock :p to a baby who almost didin't sleep at all over daytime) - and my doctor told me that I don't have to worry, it's ok if doesn't sleep at all during daytime, as long as he sleeps well at night - so you have nothing to worry about, and it's ifferent now, he's not a month old baby, he's more active, he likes to play observe and absorb the world around him - and mine now sleeps barely 1-2 hours a day but he sleeps 8-10 hours at night which is excellent ;)


So if Kodi's not sleeping at night then either he's getting ready to be introduced to other foods than milk, or if he cries a lot (during day and night) maybe he's teething (mine started teething from his 4th month - and he cried, was nervous a lot, all day and couldn't sleep at night, and since it was his 4th month I didin't think he was maybe teething, but after a month of crying and poorely sleeping, we went to a doctor for monthly exam at 5 months, and he confirmed he's started teething, he showed me his gums, ofcourse he started teething but 3 months passed from then and teeths still daven't surfaced yet)

The earliest age for first teeth is 4 months, (but that's rare) and teeths usually surface around ten month, but they can start breaking to surface much earlier

[coco]

my daughter wouldn't eat anything purreed, it was whole pieces for her or nothing! i just chopped up soft fruit into manageable bits for her and let her feed herself from about 8 months on or so (she always wanted to do it for herself). before that i had given her tastes of fruit juice from whatever i was eating (a finger dipped in usually) but i don't consider that eating, only tasting.

humans don't develop the digestive enzyme for starches until after one year (pylatin, that spelling might be wrong) so grains of any kind are out, they are so taxing to the body when given too early. that's the reason grain fed babies sleep so much, their bodies need a LOT of energy to deal with the cereal they are being fed too early.
for this reason it's best to avoid heavier fruits like banana and avocado until closer to a year as well. i know they seems so ideal as they are soft but opting for something else like peaches, berries, soft melon etc is better.

be sure to chop any round foods like cherry tomatoes, grapes and blueberries into quarters because round foods or even half circles are easy to choke on. you can also just squash berries so they aren't so round anymore. and remember that foods that don't soften up with gentle pressure are also choking hazzards so don't give pieces of apple or carrot etc.

fresh is always best, frozen foods lose nutrients quickly so i don't recommend making batches and freezing or refrigerating for later. a small hand held baby food mill (about $20) is great for making up small portions and is easy to travel with.

i also chewed up food for both of my littles, apples, carrots and other hard veg and later on nuts and seeds. i fed them like baby birds, it was very cute.

of course avoid any seasoning at all, no salt or sweetner of any kind and no spices. babies have very unperverted taste sensations that it's a great idea to keep that intact for as long as possible. i wish I still had that!

[stephbkr]

I can tell you, feeding your baby will not make him sleep! Even the book Healthy Sleep Habits Healthy Child says this, writen by an MD. Make sure your baby is getting 2-3 good naps a day, or the opportunity to! This helps, sleep begets sleep. Bed time between 6:30 and 8, good tips from the above book. My baby is 10.5 mo and still does not sleep through the night and has been waking often (teething!) and I nurse him to comfort him and get him to sleep. Think of it this way, you know your baby is not going to be needing to be nursed to sleep when he's 10 years or 20 year old. He will sleep through the night one day, and food has nothing to do with it!

Rainbow Green Live Food Cusine, by Gabrielle Cousens has been most helpful for me and finding good recipes for my baby as well as listing appropriate foods and when to introduce them.

I also have Baby Greens, and like it. I love Melissa Gilbert's blogs and have been wanting to get her e book too.

Green Smoothies are great. You can spoon feed them to your baby until he can suck them through a straw like mine does, soooooo cute!!!!!

I plan to keep my baby away from cow milk/yogurt/cheese. I'm researching goat milk/yogurt/cheese, but am not excited about the idea of any dairy besides my own! As for bread, there are plenty of bread recipes in Rainbow Green Live Food Cusine that you can make if you really want to do bread. There is a great teething biscut recipe in there too, made of flax and apricots. So good I eat them too!

I just requested Joel Furhman's book, Disease Proof Your Child, from my local library. It was suggested on another thread. I loved his book Eat to Live. I am sure there are lots of ideas on how to get raw foods into kiddies. And although there is not much help on the raw food diet, I have found Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron to be extremely helpful and full of advice. I like her charts and tips, very good to read and gives you a good understanding of babies and food (texture, variety, introducing, snack ideas, travel tips, meal time set up and clean up tips).

There is a book my sister recommended to me called Sleeping Through the Night by Jody Mindel (I think!). I just got it at a consignment sale and haven't read it. I'm needing a break! And some sleep! You could see if that book is helpful to you.

Good luck!
Stephanie

[sbaker]

my little lady is 6.5 months and if i give her only breast milk she is up every 2 hours all night long, but if i feed her some type of fruit/veggie in the evening she will sleep a solid 6 hours without waking to eat. im sure there are a million books and opinions, but i know what works for her...so just try some things out!

[stephbkr]

Oh, i forgot to mention that I introduced solid foods at 6 months, my son is now 10.5 months and eats 3 meals a day plus a snack. BIG meals. And I do rice, I make my own (Super Baby Food book) in addition to raw food.

So, absoultely... try things out and find what works for your baby and your family. I just wanted to let you know that there is a baby out there who happens to be well fed and does not sleep through the night... yet!

Stephanie