Nutrition guidelines?

JWSchwarz

I am looking for links or recommendations on where to find good guidelines on infant nutrition.

My baby is breastfed, and eating solids 3x a day (he is 9 mos. old).

His daycare recently started giving some of the other babies in his room some of the school lunch that they give to the pre-k kids. I send purees, but have the option of giving him some of the food from the lunches (fruits and veggies, etc.)

Yesterday they gave my son SAUSAGE. I talked with them this morning and they showed me the food calendar. Today was PIZZA. I asked which foods they feed the babies (if you opt in to receive the lunch), because obviously they wouldn't give a baby pizza, and she said that they give them the same lunch. This seems absurd (and unhealthy) to me. The problem is, one of the other babies mom's encourages this. Her kid is totally obese though and it's kind of sad. 

But, to rationalize my thoughts on this I am looking for a good resource on what foods are nutritious and save for <1 years. I don't think pizza would be on that list.

Thanks! 

janinekrause

Not really sure what is wrong with sausage and pizza BUT I think it needs to be balanced with fruit and veggies. What else is in the lunch?

My 10 month old eats pizza, sausage, pancakes, lasagna, mac and cheese, (even had some cupcake for my birthday), but she also eats fruits, veggies, yogurt etc.

How old is the kid who is obese?

smilelari

DD is currently eating all the foods that they send from the cafeteria, but what they do is they send home the menu and you circle/highlight the things you're ok with baby having.  So, we didn't start with the whole menu but now we're doing the whole menu.  The main concern with pizza and sausage would be sodium.  I definitely wouldn't want both in the same day.  

As an example, today DD will have:
Breakfast - cereal and fresh fruit
Snack - apple slices and soy nut butter
Lunch - Chicken Pot Pie in Biscuits, peaches
Snack - Pretzel sticks

They do have sausage for breakfast in the rotation.  For example, one of the days is:
Breakfast - turkey sausage and biscuits
snack - graham crackers
lunch - tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwich,pears
snack - fresh veggies and ranch

They did have a pizza day on the summer menu (and DD does eat pizza even occasionally at home, she eats everything we eat).  Looks like there isn't one on the winter menu.  I don't like everything on the menu, but I do want for her to have a big variety and they certainly have that at daycare.  With DS, I would go through the menu and send substitutes for some of the things I didn't like.  Might have been technically healthier, but I don't have time to make a different lunch every day of the week so it really cut down on the variety.

JWSchwarz

They are all about the same age - 9 or 10 months. I think healthy habits start now, so teaching a baby that pizza and chicken nuggets are good choices, when they aren't, leads to bad eating habits and obesity down the road. Maybe this is why childhood obesity is such a problem.

It seems like ground meat (if not high in fat content like sausage is), and whole wheat pastas are probably fine. But the white pasta and pancakes just don't have any nutritional value.

They serve fruits and veggies with it, but I would say at least half of it is just empty carbs. I realize school cafeterias aren't the pillar of healthy foods, but the thought of feeding a baby this stuff just floored me!

Also, he only has 3 teeth, so I'm not even sure how he would safely eat pizza? 

smilelari

JWSchwarz:

They are all about the same age - 9 or 10 months. I think healthy habits start now, so teaching a baby that pizza and chicken nuggets are good choices, when they aren't, leads to bad eating habits and obesity down the road. Maybe this is why childhood obesity is such a problem.

It seems like ground meat (if not high in fat content like sausage is), and whole wheat pastas are probably fine. But the white pasta and pancakes just don't have any nutritional value.

They serve fruits and veggies with it, but I would say at least half of it is just empty carbs. I realize school cafeterias aren't the pillar of healthy foods, but the thought of feeding a baby this stuff just floored me!

Also, he only has 3 teeth, so I'm not even sure how he would safely eat pizza? 

I totally hear you.  I can also tell you that sometimes things change!  The menu at our daycare is 100x better now than it was when DS started 3 years ago and I'm sure it's at least partially because of parents expressing concern.  They have brown rice and wheat toast and even quinoa and hummus these days and they just switched to organic milk.

I'd take home the menu and decide what things on the menu you feel ok with.  Then (if it's feasible and allowed) send healthier replacements.  Like if they are serving spaghetti, send your own whole wheat pasta from home. If you are concerned with the menu, talk to the director.  They need to know your concerns!  And, after you see the whole menu, that 1 piece of pizza might not be as bad as it seems.  Our daycare menu has pizza, but it also has chicken teriyaki with brown rice and pineapple.  I'm ok with the overall picture.

And it's totally safe to eat pizza with only 3 teeth.  DD has 4 teeth and has been eating finger foods for about 5 months now and didn't have any teeth when she started.

As an aside, I am positive that whatever's on your daycare menu is healthier than virtually any packaged food made by Gerber  

TheLovingWife

My DD safely eats pizza with NO teeth, the teeth that are really used for chewing are molars and probably none of our babies have them yet. While pizza may be thought of as a junk food, it is bread, tomato sauce, cheese, and maybe some toppings. While a.whole grain crust may be healthier, pizza is really not that awful for you.

I don't know the situation of the baby that you are calling obese, I do think it is unfair that you are judging a 9 month olds weight. My DD is about 25 lbs, maybe a little more and is almost exclusively breastfed, she does eat fruits, veggies, some meat, and some breads, mostly whatever we are eating. Some kids are just naturally bigger than others and as long as they are given a balanced diet there is nothing wrong with it.

JWSchwarz

Those are some good suggestions, thanks. I have the menu and the entire thing isn't terrible, but there are a lot of chicken fingers, hamburgers, nachos, pizza, corn dogs, etc. I'm approaching this cautiously with them as I actually love his daycare and his teachers are amazing. Maybe I will try with the fruits/vegies, and circle some of the healthier looking dishes that he can try. We try different things at home too, so it's not like this is his only chance to have variety.

Response to the PP - There are bigger babies, but his parents and older sibling are pretty heavy too. I guess part of that is probably genetics, but health choices too. I'm not judging them for their health choices, but I want to give my LO the best beginning possible, including healthy eating habits that will stick with him for the rest of his life. My husband grew up with terrible eating habits, and he just honestly does not know how to make healthy food choices sometimes. He exercises every day and gets frustrated that he can't lose weight, but when I ask him what he ate for breakfast and he thinks the giant blueberry muffin (that prob had 1,000 calories) and chocolate milk was a healthy choice. 

janinekrause

JWSchwarz:

They are all about the same age - 9 or 10 months. I think healthy habits start now, so teaching a baby that pizza and chicken nuggets are good choices, when they aren't, leads to bad eating habits and obesity down the road. Maybe this is why childhood obesity is such a problem.

It seems like ground meat (if not high in fat content like sausage is), and whole wheat pastas are probably fine. But the white pasta and pancakes just don't have any nutritional value.

They serve fruits and veggies with it, but I would say at least half of it is just empty carbs. I realize school cafeterias aren't the pillar of healthy foods, but the thought of feeding a baby this stuff just floored me!

Also, he only has 3 teeth, so I'm not even sure how he would safely eat pizza? 

 Don't take this the wrong way but please relax a bit. You are worried about empty carbs for a 9 month old?  If you are seriously concerned, then make your own food and bring it. But you wont be able to control all things with food, and all things in general with your child.

Healthy habits are started early, yes, but being overly strict with foods is also not teaching great habits. My 4 year old eats almost everything. She has been served all types of foods since birth, and nothing is a no no. She was exposed to all types of fruits, veggies, proteins, snacks,etc both at daycare and at home at an early age. She also was eating "empty carbs" at an early age and still is. We teach her what is healthy, what makes her grow strong and balance it all out as best as we can. Sure, there are weekend days where she eats pancakes, pizza and a grilled cheese sandwich because we are out and about and not tons of great choices on the road.

But watching how I eat has helped her and i teach her how to make good choices. One of the most important things a parent can do to teach a kid how to eat is lead by example.  For example, I love salads and eat them all the time- she has been digging into my salads since she was a little over a year. She loves hummus and carrots, broccoli, grapes, fish, etc. She also LOVES sweets- she is limited somewhat on those because she could eat them all day.

So, my advice- make sure there is balance, but not everything your child eats is going to have nutritional benefits.

As for your comment about school cafeterias-totally true- it is changing slowly for the better though.

as for your comment on childhood obesity- yes, it is a problem, but it comes from a parent's lack of education or lack of concern, not from what a daycare serves your child.

I don't mean to sound harsh but I think people need to pay more attention to balance then good, bad, have tos, can and cannots.