What food/s wouldn't you feed you child?

[Jaileth]

What food/s wouldn't you feed you child?

Some one mentioned some where (I think it was on bubhub - fuzzy brain, so not sure) that they cut out the additive 282 for their child and had an amazing turn around in behaviour. It just got me thinking, what food/s wouldn't you feed you child?

I have a friend who will only feed her child organic foods, and another one whos boy seems to survive solely on pop-tops and macca's.

I don't want to turn this into a slinging match - just curious.

I'm hoping to feed bubs healthy stuff - with not too many take aways or canned baby foods. Also curious to see how many people cut out preseratives, etc, and what benifits they have seen from that.

Play nice now, ya'll! :)

[reAllytee]

A lot of people cut preservative 282 from their kids diet due to behavioural problems my sister tried this as my nephew has ADHD unfortunately yet many have a huge success. I guess im not so worried so to speak at this stage as bubs rarely has bread but when & if the time comes if i think it may help then im sure to try it. I just also worry that sometimes we are all looking for a quick fix solution to our kids problems IYKWIM & thats JMO im not trying to start probs.
I wont be giving bubs peanut butter anytime soon & i know they say to start around the 2 or 3yr old age bracket but i wont even then just to be on the safe side im worried about allergic reactions etc the problem nowdays comes from the way they prepare the peanuts apparently shame really, you think it would be stopped then right (?) :rolleyes:
I was all for making bubs foods etc & yes i was doing so but got a little lazy so would do half made half bought but then i got lazier when Christmas was approaching & everything was a mess just made my life a little easier but will be going back to making it especially as it helps with money.
Its funny how some kids can grow up on maccas or the likes & have no dramas but yeah im a little worried about this i even saw one mum recently handing her 6mth old (?) a happy meal & i was like mmmm no bubs will be lucky to get one when he is 2yrs let alone younger but then who knows maybe i will cave hehehe
We all start out with the best of intentions right :rolleyes:

[aardvark]

We're on the organic bandwagon, and I prepare most things from fresh, make my own bread, icecream etc. It can be a hassle when I'm tired, but it's quite rewarding when you see your year's worth of bottled fruit, home made cordial etc lined up in the cupboards, and smell the bread baking.

The benefit is that my eczema and my 5y.o. daughter's eczema is markedly improved to non-existant since we changed our eating habits.

[nemosmum]

Oh Arrdvark can O and I come and live with you? you sound like a wonderful new age organic mummy!!!! :D I wish I had the time, energy and stamina!

O eats what ever we eat, has for a while now. But we wont give him soft drinks, juices, macca's or that kind of junk food. He has on occassion had pizza but the gormet veggie kind :D

He eats pretty well although I do admit to using frozen veggies alot :o me bad!

S

[Jaileth]

aardvark - if you wouldn't mind, could I grab some recipies off you? Especially if you know the 'old fashioned' way to do bread and ice-cream (ie, without the machines that do it for you now) would love to have a go at an easy recipie! :)

[Chickadee]

Chloe doesn't get white bread, only wholewheat (though apparently her childcare centre uses white bread, grrr. I'll be talking to them today about that!). I did used to give her the fahita/burrito wraps as mini pizzas until I looked at the list of preservatives in them!

She doesn't get chocolate, lollies or other sweets. She doesn't really like them anyways.

[annsam]

I try for organics where ever possible such as fruit, vege, meat, yoghurt etc but DS does have a wee bit of junk food (thank you grandparents :rolleyes: ) but Im not too concerned as long as its not a regular occurance.

I dont give DS anything other than water and milk to drink other than occassionally a bit of my drink as he drinks water well and I dont want that to change.

I try to stay away from white breads but if its the only thing going well fine.

I avoide things soaked in food colouring and additives.

All in all, DS has a pretty healthy diet.

[the_queen]

orlandosmum, I wouldn't beat myself up about the frozen veg if I was you. Here in Adelaide there was a story about how the major supermarkets actually store fruit and veg for up to 10 months (yes, 10 months) in cold stores using chemicals to keep them looking "fresh". And frozen vege's are actually picked fresh and snap frozen, so technically that keeps the vitamins etc in there.
I couldn't believe when I read about Coles/Wooly's etc.... SO glad I buy F+V from an organic greengrocer!! And I only do that because: a) it's about a quarter of the price of the supermarket; and b) they actually taste like F+V, instead of like foam and cardboard....

Back to the topic at hand.... I try to encourage Vallerie to make healthy food choices, but we do have junk food (KFC or pizza) once or twice a fortnight (depending on finances!) as a treat. I haven't had any problems with her re: health/behaviour/allergies etc. So I haven't cut anything out for that reason.
I don't really make any foods "forbidden"... I just teach her about nutrition, and how food choices are not only about taste. When she chooses healthy food over junk food, I give her heaps of praise and we talk about how easy it is to choose the healthy food, and how much better it makes you feel afterwards.

[bubbles28]

My son basically only eats fresh produce due to allergies. He is allergic to egg, dairy, tuna and peanuts to it is very hard to buy foods that don't contain these ingredients.
He only has brown rice. He only drinks milk(pepti-junior for allergies) and water.
I'm thinking of starting him on organic foods, this might also help with his eczema.
He does eat organic corn fed chickens though, don't like the hormone thing!

[~MUMMY~]

there isnt anything i wouldnt give my child....

but everything in moderation i dont see a problem he eats brown bread and white and eats maccas when we feel like eats peanuts butter since he was 12 months etc....

but he is 3 now so just getting him to eat is a achievment ! but the same rule has applied all his life... he can have whatever aslong as it is in moderation and not to often.

[Harmony83]

Gosh I feel like a bad bad mummy now!!! My DS (9 1/2mths) eats, vegemite sangas (usually on wholemeal bread), fruit purees and mash, vege purees, soft fruit and vege and mash (homemade mostly), yoghurt... But then we go downhill with arrowroot biccies, custards, fruitgel, and if we are eating fries or chips he has one to munch on and if I am eating icecream he has 'tastes'... He loves his tucker and whatever he sees us eating, he has to eat, so I don't really see anything wrong with giving him little 'tastes'... Although I did get a bit upset with my neighbour!! We had a get together and he gave DS a lolly banana, grrr, and a friend of mine gave him virtually a whole soft serve from maccas, boy did he crack a spit when I tried to take it off him!!!

[Ky]

Gosh I feel like a bad bad mummy now!!! My DS (9 1/2mths) eats, vegemite sangas (usually on wholemeal bread), fruit purees and mash, vege purees, soft fruit and vege and mash (homemade mostly), yoghurt... But then we go downhill with arrowroot biccies, custards, fruitgel, and if we are eating fries or chips he has one to munch on and if I am eating icecream he has 'tastes'... He loves his tucker and whatever he sees us eating, he has to eat, so I don't really see anything wrong with giving him little 'tastes'... Although I did get a bit upset with my neighbour!! We had a get together and he gave DS a lolly banana, grrr, and a friend of mine gave him virtually a whole soft serve from maccas, boy did he crack a spit when I tried to take it off him!!!

I wouldn't worry too much ... if the treats are occasional, then there should be no harm in it! Unless of course, you have a family history of alergies or ill health!

My mil has just been to stay and is shocked by what my kids will and won't eat! She has just been in Sydney with my bil and sil whose children eat junk almost constantly and was surprised when my kids tend to refuse it!

My kids will happily sit down to a plate of salad veges and fruit along with cheese, boiled eggs, gherkins, pickled onions, beetroot and crackers. They are not overly fond of bread, but refuse white ... they will eat a couple of potato chips and then say thankyou and hand the pack back and ask for water to drink. The biggest source of junk is the fact that they are not fussed on meat, so I give in and they have sausages, chicken (sometimes nuggets!) and ham.

We treat them to a happy meal once a month or so ... mainly for the playground than the food - lol! Neither of them are very interested in cakes or biscuits and desert isn't top of their list unless it is fruit. This makes my life hard as if i threaten no desert if they don't behave they just shrug their shoulders and say "OK"!

[jasminesmum]

I try and only buy food that has no artificial colour,flavour or preservatives in it.

My kids still eat junk but i feel that if I can buy them healthy food its not too bad when they have takeaways then.

My dd is fed mainly on organic food although it is hard to buy it out here in the sticks.:D

I can tell when my boys have had junk as they have sooo much energy and there attention span is zip.They also fight alot more.

I don't think food effects every child but it definately effects some and is worth cutting out those things that do.

Now days there are so many chemicals in everything we eat i don't think it hurts if we try and cut out a few.

Aardvark,I would too like some recipes plse.:)

[Peaceangels]

I try not to feed my kids fatty and sugery foods, they are not allowed soft drink - the only liquid that passes their mouths is water or milk (on special occasions they have watered down juice).

I try and balance alot of healthy foods (hard with a fussy eater - DS1), fruit, dairy, vege's, meat once/twice a week, pasta, bread.
They have homecooked hot chips once a week and Macca's maybe 3 times a year (I know I'm a mean mummy!)

[pinkandblue]

there isnt anything i wouldnt give my child....

but everything in moderation i dont see a problem he eats brown bread and white and eats maccas when we feel like eats peanuts butter since he was 12 months etc....

but he is 3 now so just getting him to eat is a achievment ! but the same rule has applied all his life... he can have whatever aslong as it is in moderation and not to often.


I am exactly the same. I dont check labels on foods or drinks. My almost 3 year old has whatever we have. She is a good eater, a bit of junk food here and there is ok as long as it is not the only thing you eat.

[Jaileth]

Don't worry Peaceangles - since dh and I heard the story about Macca's cutting back on Australian produce, dh hasn't eaten there - and its been 8 or so months now. We used to have it almost every second day.

I eat there occasionally - maybe twice a month - but some how, I doubt bubs (when he goes on solids) will be going there either.

Kyra - that's what I want bub to be like!!! Any tips?

[Jaileth]

I think it's beacuse dh and I lived off junk food for so long that we both want to avoid it when it comes to our kid/s. It wasn't unheard of for us to have maccas for lunch and kfc for tea. I can thankfully say that we've changed a lot of that now - we only eat out about once or twice a week, and we're trying to cut that down too.

Hmmm, just saw that I missed a few posts on here...

Can't believe that it's legal for them to keep veges that long!!! And kinda scary too, glad that usually I buy the frozen, pre-packaged ones now :o

I have to agree that moderation is the key. I find it interesting what you said about teaching your dd about nutriton, Queenie. How do you go about explaining it to a little little one? Do you talk about 'good' food and 'bad' food? :confused: Very interested to hear how you do it.

How did you find out about your sons allergies, bubbles? I am a little worried about that - but apparently they can grow out of some food allergies? :confused:

So much to learn! :)

[SassyMummy]

Chanel's only on mushy foods at the moment...but even then there's decisions to make.

Sometimes I make foods for her...sometimes I buy jars of it. I figure it gives her variety...and plus my puree-ing abilities aren't too flash...my blender seems to hate me. She gets veges, fish and fruits...as well as yogurt and oatmeal and rice. She's more interested in the yogurt than anything else...but I try to get her to eat veges...even if she only has 1/2 of what I try to give her.

I don't buy organic, and I don't think I ever will. It's not that I'm against organic (lol...I mean, if somebody was like "I HATE ORGANIC" for whatever reason...lmao), I'm just not interested in paying lots extra for it. A friend has their child on only-organic and bottled water...I think that's a bit OTT.

Chanel won't be allowed junk food...except on special occassions. She can eat cake if she goes to a party. Have maccas if we're in a rush at the shops. Have a choccy if she's a good girl. There's no way she's having soft drink in her bottle though! OMG! I can't believe people willingly rot their kids teeth like that.

[Baby Girl]

DD1 eats whatever we do. Some of the regular meals in our house are...

Stews (meat and fresh vegies - I usually make this with any of the steaks left over after a bbq or the end cut off a roast or whole rump)
BBQ's - steak, chicken, skewers (vegie ones too!!), lamb, with fresh vegies (yep, cooked on the bbq too) or salad (depending on the season)
Vietnamese Pho - kind of like a thinner version of laksa
Viet Spring Rolls - heaps of other viet foods - lots of noodles, green vegies and white meats.
Laksa
Curries
Home made pizza - great because you can put any topping you like on them - satay chicken with honey and snow peas is a fave at our place - steal the topping ideas from the gourmet pizza take away menu!!
Spag Bol - tried and true!!
We eat alot of rice with meals - if we have skewers or marinated meats or asian food.
Seasonal Fruit Salad is big as a dessert or a snack through the day - I always have a bowl of it in the fridge for everyone to pick at all day!! It helps that DP works at the fruit markets!!
Yoghurt
Tuna on cruskits - DD1's fave lunch at the moment!!

DD2 is keen to try all the things that we eat but at the moment she gets fresh mashed or pureed fruit, vegies/meats from a tin, she will try the ones we have in our dinner as a bit of a chew toy!! I give her baby cereal or toast for brekky with a bit of any spread except peanut butter on it (once she is older she can have PB). She is just starting on finger foods so that will bump up the variety - yay!!

We (not DP) mainly drink water or fruit juice. DD1 prefers water through most days and has milk at night. DD2 has mainly formula but she will have water through the day - usually with lunch.

[mumof2girls]

My girls eat pretty healthy although the youngest is a pretty fussy eater. My hubby and girls are asthmatics and found some foods would trigger different behaviours and various degrees of asthma so we now have a list of chemicals that they put in food and what they can cause (cancer, asthma & hyperactivity) and we now look at labels and our girls haven't had any asthma medication for over 5 years. Know this won't work for everyone but if anyone would like a list then pm me or email me at kaytaylor@aapt.net.au:)