BLW and spices

elampl

This question is for those of you doing BLW.  I know the general concept is: baby eats a version of what you eat.  How do you determine whether what you are eating has too many spices, etc.?  For example, last night we had beef stew.  We're doing a hybrid of purees and BLW so I was going to give LO some of the carrots and potatoes from the stew.  But I slowcooked the stew using some wine, broth, garlic and italian seasoning so I was afraid to give it to her. 

mben1119

I either pull out some before seasoning it and cook it separately, or I let DS try it. I would have fed him the stew you described-sounds good!

jennyelf

If you're worried about the sauce being too high in sodium, you can rinse the food before serving.

Else, what are you worried about spice wise? I could understand if you were worried about it being to spicy in the peppery-burning sense, but I don't think babies are required to eat bland food. My LO seems to prefer more flavorful food anyway. Also, food is flavorful, and if they reject more flavorful food, no real harm in BLW. It's not like the food is going to waste or anything, you're eating the same food so if LO doesn't like it, then you'll eat it. I don't see why babies can't eat flavorful food. They might not like it at first, but they might just need more exposure to it. 

elampl

I think my concern is mostly an upset belly...although she's never shown to be too sensitive or anything. 

jennyelf

elampl:

I think my concern is mostly an upset belly...although she's never shown to be too sensitive or anything. 

Ah, that makes sense. Hadn't thought of that one. For me, I just give LO anything that I don't think is too high in sodium and watch for reactions. I probably wouldn't give them anything that would burn his mouth, but other than that, I don't see any reason to avoid flavorful food. So far no signs of a problem. 

patriciahomol

From what I understood once past the 6 month mark babies can have basically everything adults eat. Spicy wise and other things?
I'm also doing a hybrid.
I don't eat many spicy foods myself so I don't really have to worry about it.
Would love to know if someone knows the real answer

giraffe54

We feed baby everything spice wise except cinnamon, which she reacted too. She loves curry. She's had a touch of spice, but very mild. For things high in sodium (e.g., stir fry with soy sauce), I've sucked the sauce off first. Occasionally I'll cook things separate if I'm worried about salt and sugar, but otherwise she's been exposed to a wide variety of foods and spices. 

sam19

Spices are fine and I think it's better to give them now as they are developing their tastes for things. As long as it's not too spicy. I made some sweet and sour porkchops yesterday and used WAY too much pepper so I didn't let my daughter have the seasoned part of the chops because I knew it would be too much for her. But a little spice never hurts anybody!

jennyelf

sam19:

Spices are fine and I think it's better to give them now as they are developing their tastes for things. As long as it's not too spicy. I made some sweet and sour porkchops yesterday and used WAY too much pepper so I didn't let my daughter have the seasoned part of the chops because I knew it would be too much for her. But a little spice never hurts anybody!

 

That's what I figure as Thai babies and Indian babies eat what their parents eat too!

bfstacy

I'm just finishing up the BLW book and it actually encourages to use spices in cooking rather than the default in most kitchens----salt.

 

henrytviii

I've been cooking everything without salt but not worrying about spices. My son seems to eat more when the foods have a little more flavor/spice.  Doesn't seem to affect his stomach or anything.

purplesnapdragons21

Seasoning is no big deal.  Just say no to added salt though!  Some broths can be very high in salt so watch out.  If your baby had breast milk then they would already have been exposed to some flavors (like garlic) through the milk.  My LO's favorite foods at 8 months are banana, yogurt, lentil curry and very garlicky hummus!