Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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Nowhere is all the misinformation about health and nutrition scarier than when raising a child. I love my boy (now 7 months old) so much and want to spare him the health problems I had/have. Gut dysbiosis, autoimmune issues, unexplained aches n pains, dental cavities, food allergies. What are y'all feeding your babes?

flag	asked Sep 29 2011 at 15:15 Nala Walla 479●3●8

Hey lady! Welcome to the forum!!! – Dragonfly Sep 29 2011 at 16:31

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Though it's not food, I know once upon a time, we pre chewed out babies' food before giving it to them. I would think this has many benefits for baby. – vdh1979 Sep 29 2011 at 17:59

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And of course, congrats to you! – vdh1979 Sep 29 2011 at 18:01

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Yes yes. I've been chewing up meats and fish with a chunk of butter, making a tasty mush with all those yummy mama-saliva enzymes and cultures to boot. I also like giving him "meatsicles" to gum on---he loves sucking out the juices and poke a string thru one end so he can eat while on the go, and I'm not constantly picking it up. (When he was real little, it also doubled as insurance against choking). We live offgrid, so we don't have a blender option anyways, though good ol' fashioned mortar and pestle works great--methinks those were around in the Paleolithic, but blenders weren't! – Nala Walla Sep 30 2011 at 4:43

gilliebean · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-29 15:32:02Z UTC

I plan to follow the guidelines (although I will paleo-ize them) from Nina Planck's book:

"Real Food for Mother and Baby"

Esentially, she says that after 6 months, you can just start feeding your baby whatever 'real food' that you've prepared for yourself (which should be easy for paleo folks), assuming that you're also still breastfeeding. No need to pulverize or process anything.

There's an amazing study she references about how babies, when presented with all sorts of real food, will naturally eat a varied diet and eat what they need in terms of nutrition first. For example, one baby with rickets, voluntarily gravitated towards having a drink of cod liver oil every day during the study until one day he stopped. They tested him and his rickets was gone. Amazing!

I recommend the book. It's my favourite book on pregnancy and infant nutrition.

P.S. Here is my official PaleoHacks announcement: I'm almost 13 weeks pregnant!!

Dragonfly · Answer 2 · 2011-09-29 16:39:42Z UTC

While moms are breastfeeding, I highly recommend making sure they are getting exceptional nutrition so their milk will be super high quality and they won't get their nutrient reserves depleted.

Vitamin D3 status tested & maintained at 50 ng/ml or higher (otherwise no D is going to get into your breastmilk.)

Organ meat & gelatin weekly.

Plenty of fat.

Magnesium & Zinc supplemented, if insufficient from food sources.

Also good to get your babes D3 level tested too. OK to supplement (if needed) 400 IUs at first and then 1000 IUs per 25 lbs body weight.

majkinetor · Answer 3 · 2011-09-29 22:49:05Z UTC

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Mothers milk.

Kefir, coconut oil, butter, creme, rice, potato, corn, yogurt, eggs

Vitamin C, D, Iodine, Zinc, w-3, Fish oil, Probiotics.

No wheat, no gluten, no BPA, filtered water for both bath and consumption.

No vaccines first year, especially if boy.

Be easy on fats, babies can't digest them very well (xcept coconut oil), especially egg yolks.

Those are main things I use.

answered Sep 29 2011 at 22:49

majkinetor

Thanks! I'm staying away from all grains and nightshades for the time being, but he loves yogurt, and cod liver oil, too, despite the fishy flavor. Is there a reason you recommend fish oil aot cod liver oil? – Nala Walla Sep 30 2011 at 4:52

I don't think staying away from all grains is such a good idea really. Wheat should be out, but most other grains provide good source of carbs with a lower amount of toxins which may promote protective genetic expression. Nightshades are rich in various phytochemicals and are rarely allergenic. My baby doesn't like meat very much so far, but if I put tomato sauce in the mix, there is no problem. – majkinetor Sep 30 2011 at 7:04

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Banana and yogurt are perfect. – majkinetor Oct 1 2011 at 5:47

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Perhaps its geographically distributed. Entire mediterranean eats tones of tomato. I know people living on potatoes, tomatoes and cheese only. – majkinetor Oct 4 2011 at 6:57

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Mhm... only by looking at the picture my saliva increased - waynesword.palomar.edu/images/lycesc1b.jpg - I can't imagine better salad - tomatoes, olives, cheese, cucumber and old village style olive oil (using millstones) – majkinetor Oct 4 2011 at 7:06

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Karen P. · Answer 4 · 2011-09-29 22:00:16Z UTC

Honestly, I wish I could go back and re-do my daughter's first year. Thank goodness she never had any colic symptoms or intestinal distress.

I would be throwing all kinds of fun stuff in the blender: lamb, liver, bison. Use bone broth to thin it out. I imagine some flaky fishes, like cod, could be given in small pieces without breaking them down first. And of course, egg! It's great finger food. Full-fat Greek yogurt is great if you're okay with dairy, and you can stir all sorts of good purees in there too. And, again, if you're okay with dairy, you can douse any veggies you're pureeing with pastured butter. Helps with vitamin and mineral absorption too.

Have fun! Enjoy this amazing opportunity to feed your baby so well. :)

staceychev · Answer 5 · 2011-09-30 11:09:23Z UTC

One of the best things I bought was one of those little food mills. By the time my daughters were about 8 or 9 months, we were grinding up most of our meals to feed to them. They are both really good eaters, and I think it's because of exposing them to lots of flavors. (Dr. Greene has a lot to say about developing tastes.) Of course, the 6 year old has hit the picky stage, but the 18 month old is doing well.

What to feed babies?

5 Answers