New Research Says Baby’s First Food Should Be Finger Food

by , 02/10/12

baby finger food, Baby food, baby munchies, white out rice, white rice cereal, brown rice cereal, first solids, babys first solid food,feeding, finger food for baby, green baby, healthy baby, healthy baby food, organic baby food

Back in the day, as recommended by a bazillion baby rearing books on the planet, most parents chose white rice cereal for their baby’s first solid food. Then the great white out debate began, not to mention arsenic scares in rice, and baby advocates started telling parents to start Baby off with healthier fare, like brown rice cereals, brown rice mash or vegetable purée. Now, it’s a whole new game, as brand new research says you should consider starting your baby off on solids with healthy finger foods. Researchers on the study compared a group of spoon-fed babies to a group of self-led weaning babies. What they found is that babies who are allowed to self-wean and who are then introduced to solids by feeding themselves versus having a parent spoon feed them, were able to better master skills related to self-food regulation. In turn self-food regulation is directly connected to health benefits for life such as a lower BMI and a preference for healthy foods like carbohydrates.

What was - or will be your baby's first solid food?

  • 4 Votes White rice cereal
  • 7 Votes Brown rice cereal or mush
  • 11 Votes Vegetable puree
  • 9 Votes Maybe finger foods now that I've read this
  • 4 Votes Another food
  • 1 Votes I'm not sure what I'll give my baby first

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Book Review: The Organic Family Cookbook by Anni Daulter

by , 01/25/12


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Spice Up Homemade Baby Food for Health and Taste

by , 01/18/12


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HOW TO: Make Homemade Organic Yogurt

by , 01/04/12

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Star Trek Enterprise Feeding System is Out of This World

Star Trek Enterprise Feeding System is Out of This World

Trekkie parents, dinnertime just got out of this world! Get geeky with this Stark Trek Enterprise Feeding system. A space ship spoon with LED lights will get your little explorer interested in Operation: Peas and Carrots! The set is BPA and phthalate free – and a lot of fun.

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7 Healthier and Safe Halloween Treats for Babies and Toddlers

7 Healthier and Safe Halloween Treats for Babies and Toddlers

Babies and toddlers enjoy Halloween as much as the next kid, but as a parent, you do need to take special precautions when it comes to Halloween treats. Most Halloween treats are packed with sugar, artificial colors and flavors and other icky stuff your little one doesn't need. Plus, many Halloween treats pose a very real choking hazard for young children. Your baby or toddler should not have hard candies, gooey chewy taffy-type candy, caramel apples, popcorn, gum, small candies (jelly beans, etc), gummy candy, pumpkin seeds or chocolates or cookies filled with nuts, peanut butter or honey. Also keep in mind that candy wrappers can be a choking hazard as well. Keep your eyes on your older child's loot - it should be kept out of reach of younger kids. Now that we've gotten all Grinchy on you and taken away all the "official" fun treats, what to do? Easy - your little one can still have yummy Halloween treats, just make sure they're safe. Keep reading to see some delicious and safe Halloween treats for babies and toddlers below.

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Growing Up Veggie: Raising Vegan and Vegetarian Kids

Growing Up Veggie: Raising Vegan and Vegetarian Kids

Ethical fashionista Stella McCartney counts four in her veg brood. Bethany Frankel recently announced that her toddler daughter is a vegetarian. And anyone could have guessed that Alicia Silverstone, who blogged throughout her pregnancy on vegan health issues would pass her commitment to vegan living on to her son. Yet these announcements were all met with a combination of curiosity, support, disdain, and outright criticism. Which is something any of us non-celebrities who are raising veg kids can relate to. I’ve been a vegetarian since I was 10, and I have eaten a primarily vegan diet since I was 24. So I never considered that I would raise my children as anything other than vegetarian. My son is in good company: a 2010 Vegetarian Resource Group Poll reported that 3% of kids in the U.S. are vegetarian. But is raising vegetarian or vegan kids a no-brainer? I spoke to several vegan and vegetarian parents, read on to discover their theories and challenges behind how they feed their children.

How are you raising your kids?

  • 56 Votes Vegan
  • 80 Votes Vegetarian
  • 24 Votes Pescatarian
  • 59 Votes We eat everything
  • 24 Votes I'm a vegan or vegetarian, but my kids eat meat.

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Best Eco-friendly Sources of Protein for Vegetarian Tots

Best Eco-friendly Sources of Protein for Vegetarian Tots

In honor of Blog Action Day 2011 we're discussing food. A great way to support a healthy food chain is to eat vegetarian meals, most, or all of the time. However, many families think they can't eat less meat, because they'll lose protein benefits. However, if you're raising a vegetarian child, there's no reason to panic on the protein front. My son was raised as a vegetarian from birth, with full pediatrician approval. In fact our pediatrician said that vegetarian diets can actually be healthier than a diet plan that includes meat. Meat does contain some protein, but it also has plenty of fat, and non-organic meats are notorious for containing toxins, antibiotics and pesticides. Also, conventional meat isn't very eco-friendly. If you do go the meat route, always choose organic lean meats. If however, you're looking for some alternative forms of protein, following are 5 excellent options for your child.

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Man Quits Drinking Wife’s Breast Milk and Donates it to Quadruplets

Man Quits Drinking Wife’s Breast Milk and Donates it to Quadruplets

Last week we reported on a California dad who decided that he was going on a diet consisting strictly of his wife “Katie’s” frozen surplus of breast milk. The couple had accumulated a 22-cubic-foot freezer full of milk that they weren’t able to donate to breast milk banks. But instead of throwing it out, they decided Dad would drink all of it and they’d blog about the experience. The experiment, which kicked off less than a week ago, has (to no one’s surprise) come to an end. But it’s demise is not for reasons you may think. The man, known as “Curtis,” didn’t give up because he couldn’t stomach anymore breast milk, but rather because of all the internet hype, he and Katie were able to connect with a West Coast mom desperately seeking donor milk for her quadruplets.

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Munch 5-a-Day iPhone App Helps Kids Make Smarter Food Choices

Munch 5-a-Day iPhone App Helps Kids Make Smarter Food Choices

There's a new iPhone app in town that can help your child make smarter food choices and get his daily recommended intake of fruits & veggies. The new Munch 5-a-Day iPhone app transforms the challenge of healthy eating into a fun and educational game for kids. Using game play to motivate positive behavior change in your child, Munch 5-a-Day, launched by social well-being company MeYou Health, tracks your kid's daily intake of fruits and vegetables, helps him to set healthy eating goals, and then creates easy to follow graphs to monitor ongoing progress. Best of all, this app is 100% FREE!

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Wean Cubes Glass Storage Containers Now Available in Snack & Sandwich Sizes

Wean Cubes Glass Storage Containers Now Available in Snack & Sandwich Sizes

You’ve bagged the “baggie” and the “brown bag” for the sake of the environment, and we’ve found the ideal containers for packing your hungry monkey’s reusable lunch bag: Wean Cubes! When Wean Cubes first debuted on the scene, they came in small sizes designed to store perfect portions of baby food. Now Wean Green has expanded their collection to include tempered glass storage in larger snack and sandwich sizes for big kids! They’re ideal for keeping sandwiches from squishing, fruit from smashing and crackers from cracking!

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BPA Ban on Baby Bottles and Sippy Cups Approved in California

BPA Ban on Baby Bottles and Sippy Cups Approved in California

If you live in California, then today is an awesome day for your green family. Yesterday, the California State Senate voted to approve a ban on the toxic plastics chemical bisphenol A (BPA). Renee Sharp, head of EWG’s California office, says, “Today’s action by the Senate is further proof that the interests …

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Pura Kiki: A Stainless Steel Eco-Friendly Baby Bottle That Grows With Your Tot

Pura Kiki: A Stainless Steel Eco-Friendly Baby Bottle That Grows With Your Tot

Graduating from a bottle with a nipple to a sippy cup can be a bumpy transition, especially for little ones who are attached to their “Baa, baa.” Pura smoothes the way with their food-grade stainless steel Kiki baby bottles and toddler water bottles, which come in 5 oz and 11 oz sizes  free from BPA, lead, PVC, and phthalates. While the completely plastic-free bottles come with their own nipple or soft sippy spout, the nipples and spouts are interchangeable with each other as well as with most other brands on the market, making it simple to use the same bottle for your child as she grows (or for your next little one to inherit it).

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Homemade Purees Replace Popular Disposable Baby Food Pouches with the Beaba Babypote

Homemade Purees Replace Popular Disposable Baby Food Pouches with the Beaba Babypote

Parents are constantly being bombarded by packaged meal conveniences and easy, on-the-go ways to feed their children by the powers that be in the baby food industry. The past year has seen an absolute boom in baby food being housed in disposable pouches as opposed to glass jars — enabling moms and dads to …

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Bonding With Baby When Breastfeeding Isn’t an Option

Bonding With Baby When Breastfeeding Isn’t an Option

I would have breastfed my son Elijah forever. Okay, maybe not forever, but a looooong time. During the first months of his life, nursing was a wonderful bonding time (and one of the only quiet and peaceful times in our day). Even before our son was born, my husband and I knew we would be adopting a little girl in the future, so I briefly entertained the idea that I would continue nursing and pumping until she arrived and then perhaps I would nurse her as well. That was, until Elijah weaned himself without a backward glance at 15 months. Now I have to wonder, when breastfeeding isn't an option, how can mothers reap the same baby bonding benefits?

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BittyLab BARE Air-Free Baby Bottle Designed to Mimic Mom’s Breast

BittyLab BARE Air-Free Baby Bottle Designed to Mimic Mom’s Breast

If you’re a breastfeeding mom, getting your baby to take a bottle when you can’t be there for a feeding can be tough since most offer experiences far different from breastfeeding. But a new bottle launching in January 2012 aims to make the transition smoother. The BittyLab BARE bottle is an air-free baby bottle designed to emulate a nursing mother’s breast. Priska Diaz came up with the design after she had to start supplementing with a bottle due to inadequate milk supply. She was frustrated by the poor performance of typical bottles that have traditional nipples and air vents. “My breasts don’t have air vents, why should bottles?” says Diaz. Read on to find out why she believes BARE is the next best thing to breastfeeding.

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6 Must Read Books for Parents-to-Be

6 Must Read Books for Parents-to-Be

Parenting is all about on-the-job training on a learning curve -- so it doesn't hurt to have a bevy of books on a wide-range of topics from breastfeeding and temper tantrums to healthy meals for tots and non-toxic guidelines for your home at your fingertips. Here are six must-have books every parent should read cover to cover and keep on the bookshelf for handy reference!

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BPA and 7 More Everyday Chemicals Linked to Breastfeeding Problems

BPA and 7 More Everyday Chemicals Linked to Breastfeeding Problems

Chemicals lurking in products we use everyday like sippy cups and non-stick pans, may affect a woman’s ability to breastfeed, according to a research review published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. The findings were the result of a workshop with a panel of toxicologists, epidemiologists  and public health advocates who met to review existing research about endocrine disruptors and their effect on breast cancer and a breastfeeding. Read on for a list of the eight chemicals in question.

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Argentine Scientists Clone Cow to Produce Nutrient-Rich “Human Breast Milk” Cow Milk

Argentine Scientists Clone Cow to Produce Nutrient-Rich “Human Breast Milk” Cow Milk

China was the first to foray into genetically modified human gene-enhanced cow’s milk, but now scientists in Argentina have claimed to create a superior human-milk-like cow’s milk. The process included the introduction of human genes into a calf, which were then cloned to produce a new embryo. The cloned calf, named Rosa-Isa, was born in April, and can produce a nutrient-rich milk that is high in iron, has anti-bacterial properties and is closer to human breast milk than regular cow’s milk – and of course the closer to human milk than cow’s milk the more nutritious and healthy for little humans to consume. But we have to ask, does all of this fiddling with nature seem safe?

Would you feed your child genetically modified "breast milk" from cows?

  • 149 Votes No way.
  • 17 Votes Only if I was unable to breastfeed.
  • 14 Votes Yes, I would be willing to try it.

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Forest Park Drops Ban on Breastfeeding Two-Year-Olds

Forest Park Drops Ban on Breastfeeding Two-Year-Olds

Two weeks ago, Forest Park, GA city council members issued a new law that made it illegal to breastfeed any child older than two years of age in public. The city compared public breastfeeding to the act of public indecency, but breastfeeding families felt otherwise. Breastfeeding mothers have been telling the council how wrong the decision is, and even held a “nurse-in” to show their opposition. For their efforts, breastfeeding mothers won a nice victory this week when they managed to convinced city council member in Forest …

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