Hi everyone - I'm trying to get a handle on a good diet plan for my newly adopted 1 year old daughter from Russia. She's a pretty good eater, but has no teeth yet (a combination of vitamin d deficiency and - she's just a slow teether). She's good with puffs and loves her bottle (formula). But, my real question is how do I know she's getting enough nutrition? We've got her first doctor's appointment soon, but any advice you might have would be a great blessing. Thanks!
You could look into donated breastmilk as an alternate for the formula. Breastmilk is more nutritionally complete, not to mention provides many other benefits. If you'd like more information, check out http://milkshare.birthingforlife.com/
Congratulations!
It is amazing how little kids really need to eat. My suggestion is whole milk yogurt-- the yo baby organic is great! Applesauce...bananas, mandarin orange. Pasta ( I use whole wheat)-- just over cook a bit to help her...and veggies.. I would cook until a little mussy...and they can pretty much gum it. I still don't give my 17 mos old a lot of meat...she doesn't need it.
Good luck...how fun and exicting for you!
Since the little girl is nutrient deficient, you will want to feed her nutrient dense foods. My son's first foods were: egg yolk, egg yolk with raw liver, and butter. You can make an egg "sunny side up" and just give the child the yolk (make sure it's liquid and runny). The yolk is super easy to digest and it is a powerhouse in terms of nutrients. I would freeze liver, then use a grater to grate some frozen raw liver into the runny egg yolk - my kid loved it! It has tons of nutrients. I would also let me son eat huge chunks of organic butter. Sometimes he would eat a little, sometimes he would eat a lot. I figure his body is smarter than me... it knows how much fat he needed at the time. I also continue to give my son cod liver oil for Vitamin A and D.
For more info:
http://westonaprice.org/children/nourish-baby.html
PS - You might try to avoid juice or other sugary foods. They don't need it, plus they don't know what they are missing (so you aren't "depriving" them).
Pasta and cheese is a good idea. Ice cream; yogurt and cottage cheese and soft fruit like applesauce. Soft mean may be hard to come by. Vienna sausages and the toddler meals may work out. Give her some pedia sure and whole milk in a sippy cup. You want to break her of the frequent bottles. I assumed that she is on the thin side. If not, then lots of extra calories would not be adviseable. Vegetables can be steamed to be real soft; ie. green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. Congratulations!
I used to puree whatever we were having for dinner. For example, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, peas, peaches, bananas, etc. I'm sure she'll love it. You can also mix in a little cereal.
don't give her jar baby food give her what you and your husband eats at meals. She can also have like oatmeal theres a variety of those. Does she have any teeth? Apple sauce. be crative you can mush anything.
Also, beans are a great soft source of protein! Lots of fruits and veggies. Cottage cheese and yogurt. Whole wheat bread, pasta etc. Lots of water, limit juice to once a day if at all and water it down. Good luck!!!
Pureed fruits and vegetables (a variety, just check to be sure they're in the safe zone for her age) are great. Cottage cheese or tofu (you can season tofu if she doesn't like the bland flavor, but many young kids do). Cooked and mashed beans, potatoes, cauliflower etc... Cooked cereal like cream of wheat. Try mixing some formula with the foods too, so she gets used to their flavors.
Best wishes!
The teeth are not a big issue - just cut or mash things up. She may have nutritional deficiencies so I'm sure the doctor would recommend vitamins to go with whatever you're doing. I'd get her out in the sun when you can do so safely for more vitamin D. One thing to be concerned about at this age (and younger) is food allergies, so introduce new foods one by one. Obviously she's used to dairy so yogurt, cottage cheese, little bites of regular cheese sound fine. The yellow vegatables can be made soft and are tasty. Don't add sugar or salt to things and be light with butter if you use it at all. The doctor can help you decide when to take her off formula and go to milk. Some kids this age are weaning off the bottle, but yours may be more "babyish" still so I'd see what the doc thinks about her health and development before changing anything there. Formula fills them up so they won't eat as much for most older babies.
Have fun and enjoy her! How exciting!
Formula is a complete food it will give her all the nutrition that she needs. Until seh starts eating a good amount of solid foods she will need formula..
will she eat baby food? you might have to get her used to food with baby food. I had friends that adopted a Chinese baby and it took a couple of months to transition her to table food.. so she ate a lot fo babyfoods.
At her age.. seh can really eat anything.. canned fruit cut up small., (dry them with a paper towel so they ar not too slippery) canned veggies (or fresh just cook them welll done)
she can have cheerioes, goldfish crackers, teddie grahams... try pieces of toast
pasta some rice dishes that stick together are easy for babies to eat..
just try things. you will quickly figure out what she likes..
One of the things I do at my house is make smoothies. I blend organic spinack or organic kale in some water, when thats smooth I add 1 c frozen blueberries blend smooth and add a banana add more water if needed. My 6 yo has a texture thing and wont eat veggies, so she gets green smoothies. I get more veggies in my husband that way too :) The green veg are so good for us and most of us don't eat enough of them. And the great benifit of them bring raw, live enzimes means your body dosen't have to work as hard to break them down.
:) A. H
My daughter, who is now 2 1/2, had a HUGE appetite before her 1st bday & teethed late as well. My mom-in-law bought us one of those small, nothing special food grinders. I decided to give it a try one evening & she did AWESOME with it. I'd grind our brocolli, chix & rice casserole, or lasagna-ANYTHING and she'd chow down. It has made her a terrific eater (in terms of trying different things) and she barely ever ate baby food. It helped her transition to finger foods well too-she could eat just about anything without those teeth-it was amazing.
I suggest you buying a grinder & give it a try!!! They grind the food to such SMALL bits, like baby food, and you'll be amazed at what she'll eat.
Good Luck & God Bless your new one!!
We adopted our son from Russia just 10 years ago! How wonderful!
My son takes an amazing dietary supplement that is isotonic (he drinks it and it is formulated to by-pass digestion and be 90-95% absorbed in 5-10 minutes!). It contains all of his nutrients and probiotics. Let me know if you want to know more. I am a distributor now!
S.
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