What do I feed my baby?
Babies and children are sometimes viewed as creatures from another world, when it comes to nutrition. They usually get "special" food, like jars of baby food, chicken nuggets and practically nutrient-free grilled cheese sandwiches. Why do we deprive our next generation of quality food, when they are the ones that are still growing and needing more nutrients than we do?
"But my kids won't eat anything healthy," - I must have heard this phrase a thousand times. If you leave your kids to make their own choices in life before they are ready to do so intelligently, not only they will have a chocolate bar for every meal, they will probably not go to school and do all kinds of other unhealthy things. We are responsible for our children's choices and that includes the choice of what they put in their mouths. Yes, they do need some degree of freedom, but they also need boundaries. When it comes to food, healthy boundaries for children sound like: " Would you like your carrots in a salad or would you prefer roasted carrots for dinner?" They do not include "carrots, like everyone else" or "chicken nuggets just for you."
Back in the day, meals used to be family time. Everyone ate the same thing, lovingly prepared by a family member. Nobody made anything special for children, unless it was their birthday. Today, we have commercially prepared baby purees, frozen dinners, and teenagers, getting take out and eating it in their room in front of their TV for dinner.
Food is nourishment, but it's also a ritual of love and union. When my family gathers for a meal every night, it is very special: we share stories about our day's happenings and we all eat the same food. I believe one of the first ways to teach your child healthy eating habits is to start with a similar ritual. Healthy food is food you share with others. Healthy food is food prepared at home with love.
"But I have a baby," - I hear this phrase often, too. Baby is not an alien, requiring specially jarred food. Take some of the healthy food from your family's table and mash it up with fork or in the food processor. There is always a vegetable or a grain you can feed your baby, if you eat grains and veggies yourselves. Trying to give your baby a kale puree, while the baby is trying to escape can become the story you later tell your grandchildren. Leaving some squash for the baby before the squash goes into the dinner casserole makes your baby part of the family from his or her first bites of solid food a lot more than a jar of baby food ever would.
Finally, don't neglect to do everything possible to breastfeed. And eat a balanced diet while you do so. The baby will get introduced to all kinds of flavors through your breast milk, so these flavors better be of something other than soda and potato chips. This early introduction to family foods would prove very beneficial later at the family table, with Junior wearing a bib and proudly digging into a dish of guacamole with everyone else.
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