Baby tried egg yolks for first time!

Baby PP hit the lucky Chinese number 8 over the weekend! She is now 8 months old! How fast she has grown up...already I am thinking about kindergarten enrollment and..... her wedding. I know. Sad.

Considering she is now 8 months old, Baby PP is ready for something new in her diet. Something all parents introduce with caution and dread of the "what ifs". Baby PP tried egg yolks!

(Image from Photobucket)

And she loved it!

Why is it important?

The egg yolk contains the following:

• all of an egg’s vitamin A, D, and E;
• almost all the vitamin B12, choline, folic acid and vitamin B3;
• 76% of the biotin,
• 73% of the inositol,
• 50% of the niacin,
• 93% of the vitamin B6,
• 42% of the riboflavin,
• 90% of the thiamin
• 44% of the protein
  and substantial portions of the egg’s mineral content
  Source: The American Egg Board

Plus do not forget the all important Omega-3 impact!

"Research from Australia, published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,shows that omega-3 enriched egg yolks are suitable weaning foods for young children and make a useful contribution to their omega-3 and iron intakes.

Iron-rich weaning foods are important to avoid iron deficiency in young children. Iron stores in breast-fed infants become depleted after 6 months because breast milk is not a good source of iron.

Long chain omega-3s are vital components of the cells in the brain and nervous system. A regular supply in early life is important for the healthy development of a baby's brain, nervous system and retina. Although breast-fed babies are likely to get some omega-3s from breast milk, very few infant formulae are fortified with long chain omega-3s. Very few weaning foods contain omega-3s and experts are concerned that babies are not getting enough omega-3s for optimal brain development and function." 

-PRNewsLine, Fortified egg yolks boost omega-3 and iron intakes in infants during weaning

P.s: "There is no nutritional difference between eggs with brown shells and eggs with white shells. The nutrients come from the hen’s feed." MOMformation, BabyCenter

Experts advises parents to only introduce egg yolks at 8 months and egg whites at 1 year old mark. Eggs whites are never to be served before 1. Any early could result in an adverse reaction. Some other advise that baby can be introduced to egg yolks as early as 6 months old. But with eggs, i took my precautions. Even if Baby PP is fully breastfeeding baby, she have shown some skin reaction around her mouth to certain food. So i took my time.

A recent interview with Dr. Greer in Medscape Pediatrics notes that " "Now we can tell mothers: If you have exclusively breastfed for 4 months and your child is not at risk for allergy, you can introduce any food at 6 or 8 months or whatever." 

And as any introduction of new food, wait 3 days before introducing another new food to safely determine cause of allergy (if any occurs).

I was initially not sure how exactly to serve the egg yolks to her, other than...NOT RAW. I then contemplated aloud in the kitchen while preparing baby PP apple puree and rice porridge dinner and freezer stock. My maid answered, "bubuh butter, goreng telur, tambah nasik aja, pasti suka!" (add butter, add egg yolks and add rice! she (baby PP) will definitely love it). 

Hmmm not a bad idea. simple enough right? but since I was already making rice porridge with anchovies, carrots, peas and potatoes, i could just mix it in! Sure enough, i googled "egg yolk baby" and one of the search, Wholesome Baby Food (link below) have a recipe that basically said what my maid said. 

Veggie Eggs & Rice

1 or 2 hard boiled egg yolks
1 cup of cooked brown rice
1/4 cup of pureed or diced soft cooked veggies such as carrots, broccoli or even sweet potatoes

Combine all ingredients and mix well. If needed, puree or mash to your baby's preferred textures.

Variation: Warm a frying pan with a bit of olive oil, crack an egg and separate the white from the yolk. Scramble the yolk in a bowl with formula, breast milk, juice or whole milk and transfer to frying pan. Add the veggies and rice and scramble the mixture; cooking until the yolks are done.

My variation:

Since Baby PP hates brown rice. I never used that again. And it was scrambled eggs instead of hard boiled. and once egg yolks are truly scrambled and cooked, mixed with Baby PP's ready to be eaten and frozen rice porridge (half blended and half mashed). She loved it, finished the whole bowl ( a rare event for new recipes) and so far, no allergy signs! yay!

Then i had to research, how often do I feed Baby PP this all important egg yolks? Have you ever heard from your parents, not to eat eggs every day as it can be bad for your cholesterol level? Well I have. It is good to eat eggs but not everyday. So how about for babies? I found this website as a guide..simpy said "Egg Yolk: Every second day or 3-4 times per week" from Super Baby Food.

Tips for egg yolks/white separator challenged :

Place your eggs in the refrigerator before breaking them. The yolks will not break that easily this, easier to divide.

Use egg whites separator. I never used them before, i think it works but me knows how to separate eggs without them. Try them anyway, and if it works, let me know!

Useful links

Wholesome baby food "Eggs in baby food recipe" <--with useful recipes using egg yolks and more! Definitely going into my link sidebar.

BabyCenter "Age by age guide to feeding your baby"

MOMformation, BabyCenter "Eggs"
Super Baby Food "Feeding your super baby at 7 months (Sample chapter)"

Baby milestone : Importance of Pincer Grip

The smallest details attracts Baby PP at this stage. Like Miss Bunny's butt. Nice.

Baby's pincer grip in action.

Last post it was about Baby PP's development and one of it was the pincer grip. I never realised how important this one is until i read about it. I mean, what could be so important about my baby learning how to pinch her mummy's delicate skin until i have red marks all over my face and chest?

Apparently, a lot.

And it hurt a lot too! Jeez, this little gal really knows how to pinch (friends, i know, karma of the pinching mummylicious)

Little did i know that mastering this skill is one of the most important milestone for your baby. It basically means your baby have mastered coordinating her thumb and forefinger which means picking up tinytiny random things on the floor to eat, buttoning herself up, write "i love mummy" without daddy's help, stealing a cookie...that sort of thing your hands do on a daily basis you dont even compute them anymore.

"For early childhood experts, the pincer grasp marks a momentous developmental milestone, showing that a baby's brain, muscles, and nervous system are becoming highly synchronized and capable of increasingly sophisticated coordination." said an article by Wondertime.

Yay baby PP! you are capable of increasingly sophisticated coorinations that will make Mummylicious goes extra paranoid whenever you sit still with mouth in munching motion!

If based on certain articles that list what to expect from Baby PP at this stage, she fits nicely around average marks. some she have mastered by 5 months. some, just at the 'normal' stage, some...not there yet but getting there. I'm not worried because after reading so much about baby's development, you know that all babies develop at their own rate...these articles are merely guidelines and average development rate. (See development guides below) 

So what does my favourite reference, BabyCenter have to say about pincer grip?

"Once your baby perfects grasping, throwing isn't far behind, so watch out — many babies enjoy hurling their toys. By the time he's a year old, he'll enjoy playing ball, stacking towers, and banging things together."

Thanks BabyCenter. Duly noted. already happened. Baby PP is one of those baby that enjoy hurling toys..food...bibs...sippy cup...

But how else to encourage baby to use their pincer grip if yours havent? Easily by play. Secondly, by food. Or combine both!

1. Baby is hungry. baby sees food...or something resembling food. Baby will try all their might to pick up food to put in mouth.

2. If baby is bored. baby will play with food. at least it is safe if it ends in the mouth.

Therefore, finger food = play = developing motor development

BabyCenter noted "To stimulate your baby's grasping reflex, try putting a toy or colorful object slightly out of his reach and encouraging him to grab it. (Don't frustrate him by putting it so far away that he can't get it, though.) Give him lots of objects he can easily grasp, too, such as soft blocks, plastic rings, and board books. Later, when he's working on his pincer grasp, encourage him to pick up soft finger foods such as peas and cooked carrots — perfectly good manners until he masters that spoon. To guard against choking, it's a good idea to keep foods like nuts or raw carrots, and other foods that don't dissolve in water, away from him."

I say giving baby finger food is one of the best way to stimulate pincer grip to a baby. This definitely worked with Baby PP especially with her wholemeal bread breakfasts and something soft steamed cube of apples or carrots since she was 6 and half months old.

And toys with different textures and shapes intrigues Baby PP too. She loves her G-Na's meticulously small beaded pillow. She would try to pick the beads out one by one. Must observe this exploration obviously. I will end up paying the bald pillow.

So i shall leave you with Baby PP's favourite things to test her little fingers by pointing, touching, going through the chain etc of..jewellery. She is holding strong to her Kelantanese root this baby is. (and no, that is NOT Mummylicious side. Biaq pi la dia.

Baby PP testing if the sapphires and diamonds on G-Na's bracelet are real.

Useful links:

Wondertime "Get a grip"

The New Parents Guide "Baby Development from 7 to 9 months"

Baby Medical Question and Answers "Baby Development from 6-12 months"

Baby Center "Development Milestones: Grasping"

Baby loved bread, even hard crackers

Last 2 weeks when we stayed over at the in-laws, we had a family dinner at Jusco. and these photos are too adorable not to be put up!

First Baby PP had a look at cars. She was not impressed. Mummylicious and Daddylicious were but not baby PP. She had her standard look.

 My car model was not impressed by the cars she was selling

"Not impressed mummy. Mr Butterfly is better looking"

Happy on the baby high-chair. This was her 3rd time on a high chair and she was loving it with combination of seeing her reflection on the table.Maybe we ought to buy a highchair too? 

The cheeky grin has been going on for awhile. Why do babies do this? So adorable!

Laugh, laugh, smile, smile, grin!

And then she got hungry and gave her mummy this look.

"Feed me?"

And guess what Daddylicious gave her? BREAD! yay! Except it wasn't bread. It's keropok udang (hard prawn crackers). Did she liked it? Yes. She likes any crackers or bread offered to her. No matter how hard it is, she will love it and munch on it. 

"Nom nom nom"

My little P-P-dom

Mummylicious birthday recap: Baby first time in highchair!

Being sick does not help in blogging. Let me say that! So one must backtrack as best as one could. 

On every family member birthday, we would choose a place to eat and dine to be with the whole family (if possible). So this year, i wanted to go to the Japanese restaurant i took Daddylicious on his birthday, and since it was near Pavillion, the rest of the family was happy enough to go to Pavillion before meeting us at the restaurant. Unfortunately, we found out that the Japanese restaurant closes on Sunday! aiyaah. there goes free Japanese dinner. Since everyone was at Pavillion already, I decided Star Hill's Shook! was the place for my birthday dinner.

First time in a high chair!

So this post will be full of photos of the dinner. And also Baby PP's first time in a highchair! Gosh, so fast time flies and now she can sit straight by her own and deserving her own chair to eat at the dinner table like a grown up.

Only last year, baby PP was still in my tummy. I was 18 weeks pregnant then and yes, i wore heels :P

BEFORE - During pregnancy @ 18 weeks.

Wearing the same heels as I did at last year dinner but in my favourite jeans that i can now fit again!

 AFTER- post-pregnancy 7 months

 Mummylicious and Daddylicious

The ladies of the house. The smallest has the most power.

"I shall have....ermm..i shall have....ermm a thin hard bread thank you." 

Nom nom nom

 "Where's my order?" 

"Oh there it is. I dropped it. Its very high from where I am. Let me drop more bread and see what happens"

 "My grandpa wanted to pose with me but I am busy muching my bread"

 "Mummy just gave me a taste of Virgin Lychee Margharita! Yucks"

"I like my homemade food better! Yum yum"

So how did you like your first time on a high chair Baby PP?

"Loved it! Can't stop swinging my feet!"

Baby first finger food at 6 months

When I first started baby PP on solid food, i stuck with the basic pureed, soft textured, baby food. And of course my reading material and subjects extended to feeding the baby. "What to feed, what not to feed, when to feed, how often, how much" etc etc. Amongst my reading i found a suggestion by Dr Spock, who wrote in his book

"by the time babies are up to 6 or 7 months old, they want to and can pick foods up in their hands and suck and munch on them. This is good training for them as preparation for spoon feeding themselves at about a year...The traditional first finger food is a crust of stale wholewheat bread or toast at 6 or 7 months. Babies suck at it and chew at it with their bare gum (they might be tingling with teething, and in that case, they will enjoy the biting). As it softens gradually with their saliva, some of it rubs or dissolves off into their mouths, enough to make them feel they're getting somewhere. Most of it goes on their hands, faces, hair and the furniture."

BabyCenter said to start "When your baby's between 7 and 9 months old, he'll probably let you know that he's ready to start feeding himself — by grabbing the spoon you're feeding him with or snatching food off your plate." 

Baby PP has begun doing that at around 5 months 3 weeks, hence my research on finger foods. Was Baby PP ready? My intend was for her to learn, and not to "feed" her. Dr spock's last line...was true to its words.

At 6 months old after she had her her fill of breakfast cereal, Baby PP had her first finger food. Not just the crust, but the whole bread.

Steps on how to teach your infant to grasp and eat finger food.

1. Take wholemeal bread from container.

2. Tear in half 

3. Put in plastic plate (optional)

4. Serve

Easy right? Baby PP reaction was ....very....hmm...nonchalant. She just looked  at it like she look at every other objects and subjects she looks at everyday, touched it, grab it and shoved it into her mouth. All in a couple of seconds.

"UUhh bread on the table! Lets grab it!"

The first couple of time, the crusts were left on the bread. Baby PP had no problems other than she doesn't like them. She just spit them out if it ended up in her mouth. But out of concern, we took out the crusts at later feedings. Baby PP also likes croissant. Not sure if its good for her, but she eats it as passionately as her wholemeal bread.

"OOOOMMMMM"

 "Munch munch munch in my toothless mouth"

"Nom Nom Nom, there's a piece of bread that won't be munched away in my mouth!"

The damage

This was actually her second time. The first time was such an sudden impulse to try Dr Spock's advise that not even my mobile camera was ready. 

If you're like me, too lazy to go out to buy those teething finger food, try this.  Just don't use white bread, it is not advised. Maybe because it is too processed and little nutritional value as according to Kids Health article.

However, do note that you shouldn't leave your baby unattended when she does this the first time or the 40th time. Just yesterday, Baby PP was having her wholemeal bread for after breakfast munching when she tore a long strip of bread. Like this photo, but less width more length.

She sucked, munched, sucked and munched until only half an inch was left from her mouth. I pulled it out, she sucked it in again. And the she started to gag on that piece of bread. So because she refused to let it go, i pull and tug the bread until only a small piece was left in her mouth. Then.....she did it again.

I can't find the reference on baby east wholemeal bread on his website. So these others will have to do.

Useful links

BabyCenter "Finger Food"

DrSpock.com "Finger foods for babies"

DrSpock.com "Starting solid food"

Kidshealth "Finger food for babies"

AskDrSears.com "Starting solid food for infants and toodlers"

BabyCorner "Finger foods for your baby"

Issue of the day: Baby and honey