porridge recipee

ingredients:
1 tbsp of rice
1 tbsp of chopped potato
1 tbsp of chopped carrot
1 tbsp of chopped tomato
2-3tbsp homemade chicken stock

put all ingredients in slow cooker, add 1 cup of water, cook for about 3 hours. Puree/blend til smooth.

remember to wash all vegetables/fruits with edible baby soap/cleanser.
You may buy organics vege/fruits for your baby.

the ingredients may be varied/replaced with peas, spinach, corn, broccoli.

I have not given any meat/beef/ fish to caleb.
According to 'super baby food' book..beef/meat/pork can be given at 7-8months; fish (cod) 8 months; salmon 9 months.

for chicken stock:
you can use anything...from chicken bone only or cook with the meat. you can buy the chicken bone at NTUC for about $1+. just boil with water (you may add celery, carrot,etc to get a sweeter taste, but I just use the chicken bone and water only) OR use slow cooker. remember to remove the skins and fats before you boil/cook.
after cooking, put in small plastic bags..divide for some stocks (for a week,maybe..), let it cool and freeze. you may use it for 2 weeks stock when frozen.

out of the book (wk 5 on solid)

previously I had a schedule set for caleb's feed...this is according to tracy hogg's schedule sample:

7AM : Milk
8AM: breakfast
11AM: Milk
1PM: lunch
3PM: Milk
5PM: dinner
6.30PM: Milk
10.30PM: Milk

but there are many this and that..and I know I have to be flexible in order to get the right schedule for caleb. I decided to make some changes.

My reason is..

because caleb was only eating 2tbsp of cereal..I feel this is not considered eating alot.
I gave him 150ml before his cereal.
a friend said that if the time difference between milk feeding and his meal is too close, baby won't take the meal so much because he will be too full.
I did try to reduce more of the ml, but caleb still wouldn't eat so much.
I suspect that he must be bored with cereals, or actually he's never been a fan of it from beginning??

and then on sunday..I heard from jordan's nanny that jordan also started refusing to eat his cereals. and so she started making homemade porridge and jordan loved it.
I decided to give it a try the next day.

and Ta..da...caleb loves...loves it!! he finished the whole meal..
at first I thought I made the porridge too much (it was 1/2 big bowl of porridge - my (adult) bowl)..and I thought this could make 2 portions..but to my surprise, he finished it all!
and it's been 6 days..he still loves the porridge I make for him.

Oh the new schedule now is:
6.45AM/7AM : 180ml milk
10.30/10.45AM: lunch (porridge)
11.45AM: 90ml milk
3PM: 135ml milk
4.30PM: cereal&puree
6.30PM: 180-210ml milk

for the porride..I decided to follow 4 day rule for 1 recipee..since I also start using homemade chicken stock..I"d like to check if caleb is okay to take it and will not cause any allergic reaction.

As you see that I only feed 2 meals to caleb. I'm thinking to continue this until he's 8 months old..then he will be having breakfast, lunch and dinner. and I might stop giving cereal for dinner once he's 7 months..I will give 2x porridge in a day.

and for the milk..I reduced the 150ml to 90 ml and 135ml. Caleb always finished it well.
remember that once your baby starts solids, milk is still his primary food. and although milk intake will reduce at the time he's taking solids, please maintain that milk intake is not below 500ml/day.

I decided to stop dream feed (11pm) but caleb was still waking up for a habit..and yesterday he woke up crying, I gave him 45ml but he was still crying. He must be on growth spurt. so hubby and I decided to start giving him the dream feed again tonight..at least, until caleb has started 2x meals of porridge..then we know for sure that he has enough calories to go through the night.

summary on solid wk 3

schedule remains the same.
this week I introduce: Nestle rice cereal apple & cranberries, carrot, avocado, Heinz rusk, baby bites biscuit chicken flavour, and butternut squash

caleb loves avocado, butternut squash, apple and cranberry cereal, heinz rusk and baby bites biscuit.

but here's the thing about his eating pattern..
he prefers to have different meals every day..the first day i tried on avocado, he liked it so much but the next day I gave him again, he didn't eat so well..
so is all his cereals..he like it all..but when I give him 2 days in a row, he refused to finish it..

and I notice that he likes food that is not so much different taste from his milk hahaha...
he can take avocado, pumpkin etc..but he doesn't take banana or carrot well..maybe because of the very sweet flavor.

Oh..i tried the sweet potato again..he just doesn't like it!

and I got a feeling he has indo taste...i think he will like bubur tim ayam, etc.. ^^
will try to give him while we're in indo later..(sekalian mommy-nya belajar cara masaknya dari suster di indo!)

Last friday, when the 1st time i gave him avocado..was actually the day he made me so happy..because he was eating well and drink his milk well..he finished the whole meal and also his milk! after that I swear he was heavier than 3 days ago when we weighed him at the clinic..
I bet he is at least 8.5kg now!

Caleb's 2nd week weaning schedule

Week 2
day 8: 1/2 aloha banana
(don't buy this kind of banana for baby because it's more heaty. kalo di indo beli pisang kepok/raja. di sgp katanya beli di pasar buah merk ang bak chio)

day 9: 1/2 aloha banana + milna biscuit
(he loves eating biscuit! he will hold it with his lil hand and chew it..til it becomes small then it fell because he couldn't really hold it anymore..he cried when the biscuit dropped!)

day 10: 8AM 1/2 aloha banana + 10AM milna biscuit + 1.30PM 1 tbsp Heinz rice cereal + 60ml water
(I don't know why I just had a sudden urge to go back to Heinz. Maybe because I read that if baby refused one food, try again a few days/weeks later..because he might change his mind! and to my surprise...he took it well! he even finished it...with minor mess!!)
(around midnight, caleb got phlegm. I asked around and did some research..whether it was caused by the biscuit or the banana..and it turned out to be banana!)

day 11: 8AM 1/2 Oz apple (did not like it) + 10AM biscuit + 1.30PM Heinz rice cereal + 40ml water
(I give a thicker consistency to the cereal..he took it well too..again with minor mess!)

day 12: 1.30PM 1 tbsp barley cereal (healthy times) + 30ml milk
(caleb loves it! he's getting better and better at eating his solids. oh btw, I stopped the biscuit and fruit today..see if the phlegm got better without eating fruits and biscuit)

day 13: 10AM 1oz pear + 1PM 1tbsp Barley cereal + 30ml milk
(he loves my homemade pear puree..I decided to give pear coz I think it's cooling and shouldn't cause any worse to the phlegm)

day 14: 8AM 1tbsp heinz rice cereal + pear puree + water + 1PM 1tbsp Heinz Rice Cereal + 5PM 1/2 pz sweet potato (didn't like it).

I know my schedule is a bit messy. But as Caleb now gets the hang of eating solids with thicker consistency..I decided to set a schedule:

7AM : Milk
8AM: breakfast
11AM: Milk
1PM: lunch
3PM: Milk
5PM: dinner
6.30PM: Milk
10.30PM: Milk

Once caleb started eating 3x a day very well..I plan to drop the dream feed at 10.30PM and see how whether he can make it til morning without demanding for milk.
now he still takes a dream feed and he still wakes up at night...not for milk, but for playing!!! I guess this is just a phase..which I hope to be over soon..

4 day rule

when you start on solids, you may follow this 4 day rule (or at least 3 days).
what I mean is... introduce one new food for 4 days in a row to detect if a baby has any allergy reaction towards the food.
If within this period, he develops any rashes, vomitting, diarrhea, runny nose, etc..most likely he is allergic to the food.
this rules takes alot of a mother's patience. Because we, mothers, will want to try as many kind as food to the baby..we are just too excited..that I, myself, don't really follow strictly haha..at least for the food that I think has a low risk allergy.

My friend has a new theory. sometimes, too much of something is not good either. If we give one kind of food too often, this will create a problem too. Just like adults..for example, we may not allergic to durians..but when we eat too often and too many..we'll get heaty/sorethroat.
I have to agree on her theory too. Caleb had eaten bananas 3 days in a row..and on the 3rd night, he had phlegm! I'm not sure it means that he's allergic to banana. It's more that this is a minor effect of eating the wrong banana (I bought aloha banana, which should not be given to baby hee...how should I know..??) but I'm also curious..maybe if i dont follow 3-4 day rule, he wouldn't even have any phlegm now :(

what's happening this week..

Hi readers..
you may have read my monday incident posting..about caleb's ear infection..
some friends have asked me how he's doing now..
Oh after the antibiotics given..he is well til today he's never cried like that anymore.
and in fact, he has been a very wonderful baby this whole week.
he behaves very well..he's happy and cheerful..he let me do my household chores while he's playing alone on his mat/bed..

This week..he likes to giggle and smile alot...

This week..he seems to want to play and play and play..he refused to take his nap longer.
on wednesday he only took 30 mins nap!!!
I'm confused whether to let him wake or try to put him to sleep again.
Tracy Hogg said babies at his age still need to take a nap 3x a day..2 hours on the first and second nap and 30 mins of catnap in late afternoon..
But other mummy advised me that as babies grow up, they don't need as much sleep as when they were younger..
this is difficult to decide.
because caleb is always having transition issues in his sleep. during his sleep cycle, he always need us to pat him back to sleep. Before we will always able to help him back to sleep..but this week is super difficult..because he seems to want to play..so his drive to wake is stronger than his drive to sleep! during the transition it is important for a child to win his drive to sleep..
We did let him sleep for 30 mins only and let him play..on that day he took 4x naps (usual is 3x only) and still ended exhausted at bedtime...
so i haven't really decided on this nap issues.

milk intake
since taking solids, his milk intake dropped so much.
I knew it was going to happen. It is normal. But I didn't expect it to be this much.
he never finished his 180ml milk on feed 1, 2 and 3. but luckily he still finished his feed before sleep and his dream feed. there were days he only took 50-60ml only!!!

Night sleep
since solids too..he doesn't ask for milk at night. but he still woke up around 3 or 4 AM..i think this is just waking up for a habit. But Last night he didn't wake up anymore til morning. I guess solids really help to full his little tummy..

Caleb's 1st week weaning schedule

week 1
day 1: 1/2 tsp Heinz rice cereal organic + 30ml water @ 1PM
day 2: 1/2 tsp Heinz R.C. organic + 30ml water @ 1PM
1/2 tsp Nestle Rice cereal + 30ml water @ 5.30PM
day 3: 1/2 tsp Nestle R.C. + 30 ml water @1PM
1 tsp Nestle R.C. + 40 ml water @5.30PM
day 4: 2tsp Nestle R.C. + 40ml water @1PM
30ml apple juice @5.30PM (refused)
day 5: 1tbsp Nestle R.C. + 30ml water @ 1PM
1/2 Oz sweet potato + water @5.30PM
day 6: 1tbsp Nestle R.C + 30 ml water @1PM
1/2 Oz sweet potato + 30ml milk @5.30PM (refused)
day 7: 1tbsp Nestle R.C. + 30ml water
1/2 oz sweet potato + water (refused)
both feed at 5.30PM

and milk feeding stays at the same time:
6.30 AM milk
11 AM Milk
1PM cereal
3PM milk
5.30PM puree/cereal
6.30PM milk
11PM milk

Notes:

as you see I start with Heinz and then switch to Nestle.
I personally love Heinz because it's organic and no additional sugar. But too bad caleb didn't like it when it mixed with milk. So I switched to Nestle. I love nestle because it smells good :) and the cereal powder already contains milk powder so I only need to add some water which saves my time too. What I didn't like is because it contains additional sugar. It does taste sweet.

At day 6 Caleb started to fuss when eating his cereals. I'm not sure whether he's bored with the taste..or because I made the cereal with less water and it tasted weird on his tounge, or maybe it tasted sweeter because less water.

He also refused to eat anything mixed with milk. he took his sweet potato well when mixed with water but the next day he refused it when mixed with milk.

some mummies suggested me to change the cereal flavour. Maybe caleb is bored with just plain rice cereal.
and a friend gave a good advice on weaning. Never get stressed.
when mummy is stressed, baby can feel the tension and resulting in his being fussy over his meal or even refuses to eat.
I do admit that I was so excited and also nervous when feeding caleb. Also, when he didn't take it as well as what I expected..I did get disappointed...which is wrong. I shouldn't pressurize on him.
as you see my schedule..on day 2 I already feed him twice because I think the more I feed him, the more he gets used to eating and chewing.
But I think that was wrong...so starting today I go back to 1x feeding and try to be more relax. If he refused, I won't force. I tried banana today..I did give him cereal too..but he locked his lips tight tight so I didn't force and throw away everything. Never mind. I won't force this time.
he will be a good eater! I know it..!!!

starting solid

I have decided to try on solids with caleb this monday.
We started with Heinz rice cereal organic. Well, He didn't take it well. He shut his lips tightly and after I managed to put the cereal on his tounge, he cried. But I figured that the cereal was too thick. It should be as diluted as milk. So I decided I will try again the next day.

So today I tried again with more water. Well, now mommy is happy because caleb finished it all!! yippeee..I know he's a good eater!

Oh btw, when I was at market place yesterday.. I was unexpectedly happy to see some varieties of Heinz cereals and biscuits there (which I did not find at other supermarkets). Decided to buy healthy times barley cereal, Heinz banana cereal, Heinz banana biscuit and healty times butternut squash jars. Really excited to feed caleb with all these yummy food..they look yummy to me that I also want to taste it hihihi..

apple puree

choose the red color ones..not the green sour apples!

Recipee:
I use 2 red apples (taste it first to make sure it's not sour), and this makes into 150ml (2 big cubes and 1 small cube)

1. wash, peel the skin, chop/dice and throw the seeds
2. boil in water (the water just enough to cover the apples) until tender
3. set aside the apples (but don't throw away the water)
4. blend the apples together with 2tbsp of water (taken from the previous boiled water)
5. put in ice cube

Sweet potato puree

orange colored sweet potato are better to choose than the white ones, because they are more dry not as soft as the orange ones.
japan potatoes are more purple skin but they are not as soft as the orange color
the purple ones also turn black easily once you peel off the skin (I've tried cooking it before and didn't like the color so i threw it away ^^)

baby ice cube tray, ready to be frozen

recipee:
250g sweet potato (for 8-9portions)
1. wash the sweet potato skin, peel and chop
2. steam the sweet potato for about 20-25mins or until tender
3. let it cool for a while and then puree using blender (or whatever utensil u have), adding a few tbsp of water (use the water that you use for steaming)
4. strain the puree for a smoother texture (optional)
5. put in ice cubes..and ready to be frozen

notes:
I dont add milk when making the puree because I'm not sure if formula milk can be frozen..but if you're using breastmilk, it definetely can be frozen. ANyway, we dont know how much milk we shoud add..as the thickness of the puree will vary..depends on the baby...let's say day1 baby will have to eat a very smooth texture but as he gets used to solids, we may not need to add so much milk.

reflux and solid food

Oh i just remember one thing..dr.kumar mentioned that actually once I start solid on caleb, the reflux will reduce because solids are thicker than milk. he actually told me it's okay to start now (thought he told ci jeanny to wait til 6 months) because of the reflux. But because hubby used to have seafood allergy, he advised me to delay first.

Oh well...