Dr Jen Recommends
Dr Jen Recommends
E2 Infant Nutrition
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Dr Jen provides the latest updates on infant nutrition including breast feeding, formula, bottles, warmers etc. Know when and what to introduce to your child.
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[inaudible] welcome to the Dr. Jan recommend show. If you want to make healthy decisions for your family, but don't have time to do the necessary research. Well, you're in the right place. Dr. Jennifer Lyles is a pediatrician, mom, aesthetics practitioner, medical acupuncturist , and the best wife ever. She's done the research. So you don't have to sit back and relax while Dr. Jen shares her knowledge with you.
Speaker 2Hi, it's Dr. Jen at Dr. Jen recommends, and I'm here today with Brent. We want to welcome you to the podcast. First of all, and today I thought it would be fun to talk about infant nutrition. Our daughter just had her first birthday a couple of weeks ago, and I thought that infant nutrition could be just a really fun topic. It doesn't matter what stage of life you're in, whether you're just having your first baby or whether this is your fifth baby, or if you're a grandparent that maybe has a new baby in your life. Infant nutrition is a super fun topic. It has actually changed a lot over the past, Oh gosh, even five years. I've been in private practice now for four years, but out in practice for over a decade. And some really fun changes came to be about four to five years ago. And well, let's break down infant nutrition to a , in a few different age categories. And so let's start from that newborn to six months of age, because really, to be honest, that is kind of the most simple , um , zero to six months. We really do try to breastfeed or formula feed that baby that, that entire time , um, solely. Um, and so what that means is, as a mom goes home from the newborn nursery, they've probably already decided, you know, if they want to try to breastfeed, or if they're going to go to formula, a breastfed infant would start some vitamin D supplementation pretty much right after birth. But other than that, all the vitamins and nutrients the baby would need come right from that breast milk. So moms can choose to pump. They can choose to put the baby to the breast. There is so much research out there as to the benefits of breast milk. Um, and so that is everything from preventing pediatric and adult obesity to, it can even improve your child's health and, and help the child , uh , not have as many ear infections, allergy problems, even things like eczema , which is , uh , an allergic skin disorder in infants. And the research just keeps coming as to the benefits of breastfeeding.
Speaker 1So if possible, it's best to breastfeed. That's your first recommendation.
Speaker 2It is. It is. But, you know, I always have the caveat of breastfeeding. It , it's not for everybody. And I do feel like, you know, sometimes when I see those, those new mamas and their babies for their first visit, I have some very defeated moms out there that are just like, you know, I tried and it just didn't work, or I just didn't really want to, and didn't feel like there was another good option because everybody was telling me that I had to. And so, you know, formulas have been out there, formula companies are really doing a wonderful job, trying to, you know , make sure that all the vitamins and nutrients are , are in there. So is it equivalent to breastfeeding? No, it is not, but it is still wonderful. And sometimes I have to give the moms a big hug and I in COVID we kind of elbow hit or high five or something, but I tell them it's okay, really? We just have to feed, feed your baby is what we have to do.
Speaker 3You mentioned formulas. Are there some that are better than others or does it depend upon the babies ?
Speaker 2That's that's a very good question. So basic guidelines of formulas that have been set by the government is you have to have a certain amount of protein, a certain amount of calories, fat , um, certain vitamins and nutrients that are in there, but there are some formulas that are going to be better for, for certain babies than others. So if you go to the store, you look at the formula aisle , and it's a little bit overwhelming because each brand has 15 different formulas. Um, so really I tell parents, get a formula and stay on it for, you know, a couple of weeks, if you can, because it takes a little bit for your baby to adjust to a formula. You know, when babies are first born, I , I kind of laugh, but I tell parents, this is really their fourth trimester. They they're born. They're not happy to be out of the womb. They'd like to be in there. It's nice and warm and quiet and dark, and they're born and it's loud, it's cold, it's bright. People keep bugging them and changing their diaper and things like that. Like there's, and there's a lot that a baby has to learn at the very beginning of life. They have to learn to, to eat. They have to learn to breathe on their own. They have to learn to poop, which is a huge thing. And I think I probably get more questions about poop and infants than anything else, but they just, they have a lot of changes that they go through in that first few weeks. And so pick a formula. Now, if you're having major problems with the formula, say bloody stools or something, that's a medical problem. And definitely let your pediatrician know right away. Cause that is the wrong formula. And that's a likely a milk protein allergy or something like that. For the most part, formulas all have certain basic things to them. And then each formula company has different ones that has just a few different things in it that they might say, Oh, this one's better for colicky babies. Or this one has a little bit more probiotic , so it's easier to digest or this or that. So really most of the formulas are created pretty equal. However, there you do get to some very picky nuances where maybe one formula company uses one oil versus another one uses a different oil. And sometimes those can affect certain things in babies. Sometimes that just general gaseous and fussiness, sometimes even their stooling patterns or even constipation can be affected by that. So yes, most formulas are all created equal, but no, does every baby do well on everyone ? No . And there are specialty formulas out there for specific needs that some babies may require .
Speaker 3One of the things I love about the formulas today are that they come available in the ready to feed bottles, or you just crack the seal and poured in there and maybe heat it up. Are there any differences between the powder and the ready to feed formulas?
Speaker 2Oh, well I agree with you ready. The , the different formulas are great for different needs, but you know, my family and I'll , I'll tell you just a brief aside here for a second, but for all of those moms out there that say, Oh my gosh, I tried so hard and I really wanted to breastfeed and just couldn't please know that. Number one, I'm a pediatrician. Number two, I actually have a nurse that is my right hand woman at the office. She is my, my friend, my nurse, and she's also a lactation consultant has passed all of her international tests. And you're listening to a lady who could not breastfeed. I tried and tried and tried , uh , my daughter had a tongue and lip tie and it was, she literally was born the week of the shutdown with the pandemic. So we weren't able to see the dentist to get that repaired. And so she, she wouldn't latch it all. So I was pumping and pumping and pumping. And literally after pumping all day in between patients as I was still working and seeing sick patients at the office, I would pump my little hearts in my little hearts galore here. And I would only make a three to four ounce bottle per day. And so after doing that for four months, I finally had to have the same talk that I have with my parents. And that is just feed your baby. And it's okay. I was very fortunate that I had some good friends that donated breast milk to me as well, but I was one that very early on, had to supplement with formula and I'll tell you what it's going to be okay. But I was a huge fan of ready to feed formulas. And , um, I chose to do , um, Infamil good or I'm sorry. Infamil Jenelly's and Infamil, Jenelly's came in little two ounce bottles. So that was wonderful for when she was very young. You just shake them up and pour them in the bottle and go , um, she wasn't very picky, so I didn't even have to heat it up. But then as they grow, when they drink more formula, they come in big 24 ounce jugs. And I loved those and I've used those pretty much her entire, her entire first year of life. And so really have loved that. Now the difference , um , there is a difference between powder and the ready to feeds. It's kind of interesting. So a powder formula comes in a can obviously, and it is you reconstitute it with , um, you know, a water that is either nursery, water, or bottled water. You don't want to use tap water. Technically the , the formula in powder form is not sterile. So you are, according to all the manufacturer guidelines, you're supposed to heat your water to then pour over the formula, then let the formula cool to then give your baby. I think a lot of people think you're boiling or heating your water to protect the baby from the water itself. And it's, that's not the fact it's actually, you're protecting the baby from the formula, the ready to feeds. However, you do not mix any water with that. They are literally, like it says, ready to feed you, shake it up and you pour it in the bottle they have gone through. So they are a sterile form .
Speaker 3So whether you use powdered formula or ready to feed, they have beyond use dates once you open the bottle and pour them into the baby's bottle. Right? So we'll put a link to that information in the show notes , uh , which again can be found at Dr. Jan recommends.com. You know, I want to go back for just a second to breast milk. You mentioned donor milk. That's a pretty big deal now, right?
Speaker 2It is a big deal. So if there are babies born that have to go to the neonatal intensive care unit, that's almost a given these days that your baby is , if you're not able to breastfeed for them, they're likely to get human donor milk. And so that's going to come from a specialized donor milk donor bank that the hospital is purchasing donor milk. Um , so it's been pasteurized and it's safe, but it's just so important that those premature babies get their best start. And so it is helpful in preventing some very premature baby problems like necrotizing enterocolitis and some other things. And so let's skip past that stage of life, kind of getting donor milk is sort of all the rage. So if you are a mom who is over-producing milk in a healthy way now, if you are, if you are in gorged all the time and in pain and , and things like that, you need to talk to your lactation consultant and your pediatrician, and kind of find ways to not overproduce like that. But if you are in a safe way and you are, you're looking at your freezer and realizing that you have a ton of milk, there are milk banks that will accept your donation. But what I have seen in our community is that a lot of friends and family just help each other out. And what that means is if you know somebody and you trust that person, you know, they're healthy, just being able to share frozen or fresh breast milk is , is wonderful. Um, you know, it it's, it has great antibodies. Um, so I mean , you know , like I said, I had several friends who I was able to get, get milk from because they were over producing and had plenty for their baby and excess that could help feed hours. So that's something you , you don't ever want to pay for breast milk like that. That's actually not, I'm pretty sure that's against the law actually to do that. So if you ever are having to pay, make sure you're going through a milk bank, but , um, but really to , to share among friends is , is wonderful and a great way to get that baby's best start.
Speaker 3And you store that in the freezer, right. Until it's about time to use it. And then you start slowly thawing. Yeah .
Speaker 2Then you want to thought, yeah , if you store your milk in a deep freeze, you can keep it up to a year from when you first pumped it.
Speaker 3So let's talk a little bit about some of the ancillary equipment that you may need for either , uh , breastfeeding or formula feeding. The first thing that comes to my mind is what kind of bottle are you going to use? I mean, we did a ton of research and looked at every bottle on the market and we ended up buying two that we tried out L loved one and would eat out of the other if she had to, but it was really a completely different experience for him .
Speaker 2It , it was, it's fun as a pediatrician because I definitely get to, I get to pull the audience and I just see what other parents like to use, what they always ask, what I recommend, but that's a very personal decision to every infant. And I know that sounds kind of silly, but I've had parents literally go buy seven different types of bottles and the baby will eat out of one of them or they choose one. And so, you know , you'll definitely hear lots of parents who love Dr. Brown's bottles. They're definitely pricey. They have a few pieces that have to be cleaned. So that does make them a little, a little bit more tedious in the already very busy day with an, with a newborn or an infant. But they're a great bottle, especially if the baby's colicky L didn't want to have anything to do with that one. She ended up loving the man bottles. And I think a lot of that was the smaller nipple that they have. And with her tongue and lip tie at the beginning, she did kind of curl that upper lip in that we were trying to kind of help her not do, but with her lip tie, she just couldn't help it. So she loved that bottle. And even still today, as we're weaning off her bottle at one here, she likes a sippy cup, but she still likes her nighttime bottle, especially from the ma'am. So we used advent or Avon . I'm not sure how, which way is the correct way to say it, but we have those, she didn't like it as well as the man , but she still would drink out of it.
Speaker 3And I think the formula came out a little faster. I think the holes of the nibble were a little bit larger in that that was a part of the problem with that one, but it was definitely a different shape, right. That she didn't ,
Speaker 2And , and all nipples from all bottles, they have, you know, like there's a zero, there's a one, two, three there's there's on up even, you know, they have a recommended month that your baby would maybe like to use those, but every baby is very specific. And if your baby kind of gets flooded or chokes and coughs a lot on those bigger nipples, as long as they're gaining weight well, and their suck is okay, it's okay to stay with one of those smaller ones, but just, you know, make sure that they're getting the proper amount and doing okay with their, with their meals .
Speaker 3Another piece of equipment that we looked at and we ended up not getting was a bottle warmer. Well , we happened to have a microwave in our bedroom. So it just kind of worked out where we could zap the water for a few minutes, not even a few minutes for a few seconds. I think it was maybe 30 seconds. And that worked really well. And we didn't need a bottle of warmer. Any second thoughts on that?
Speaker 2No , not really. I have some parents that love bottle warmers. What you'll find about me is I'm actually kind of a minimalist mom. And I think the more gadgets that I get, the more stressed out I get about using all of them. So Brent is exactly right. We were so fortunate that we , we had a microwave in our bedroom. And so I would just keep a Pyrex of water in the bedroom. And like we said, before, we were using ready to feed formula. So I would heat the water probably for around a minute and a half. I would just set my bottle of my ready to feed formula into the warm water to heat up while I was maybe changing her diaper or getting her in a new outfit or something like that. And then within a couple minutes, the warm water had heated the bottle up enough, but I know that there's all kinds of gadgets out there. There's actually just a bottle warmer, which is basically a little device that you put water in and you can keep it on. You can just turn it on when you need it to, but it heats up and you can set your bottle in it. So sort of what I was doing, but I was kind of doing the, doing it the old school way. There's actually some newer models right now. I know I've had some patients use the baby Breza and that is almost like your cure egg for baby infant formula. So it mixes it and makes the baby's bottle right there. And so that's great for , for people that do want that. Like I said, I'm sort of a minimalist and I didn't mind just heating, heating up the bottle after I'd already poured the ready to feed in it, which was also very easy. So not that big of a deal . So lots of options for what, however, gadgety,
Speaker 3I love it. I love it. So if you have like a particular gadget or gizmo that you think is amazing, that we should share with the listeners, send that information to us at info at Dr. Jen recommends. So maybe getting a little bit older formula is going great, or hopefully breast milk is going great. When is the right time to start introducing other foods? And what can those foods be?
Speaker 2Awesome. So this is when things get fun. So the American Academy of pediatrics does recommend that you try to breastfeed or formula feed solely up until somewhere around six months. So I will be honest. I was so excited and Elle was so ready to start. We started probably about five and a half months of age. And she was at that stage where she's sitting at the kitchen table in her high chair, and she would just watch Brent and myself just eat. And she'd watch it from your plate to your mouth and back and forth, and kind of look at you. And
Speaker 3It was a very
Speaker 2Judgmental look. Yes. And like, why can I not have that? So, so that's where , where things get fun. And so at six months is when we can kind of go wild with fruits, vegetables, hold the phone. We get to start peanuts now. So in a, you know, pureed type form, not an actual peanut, let's not do that. That sounds like an excellent choking hazard. Uh , we can start some meats when they're ready for them pureed. And so basically the one rule that we have is one new food every three to four days. And so there was a wonderful study that came out several years ago, called the leap study. And what it showed was that in America, by us waiting to introduce peanuts , um, which were a very allergenic food by us waiting until age two and three, to introduce that all we really did in America was raised the peanut allergy rate. And so if we introduce it at months of age and just little, little bits here and there throughout their infancy, it basically acts like a peanut allergy shot. And so the rate of peanut allergy went dramatically down in that study. And so it has been so fun to be able to tell parents about that the baby food companies have actually kind of jumped on board with that. And I know , uh , my first peanut, they , um, they have some wonderful products out there will , they will make a pouch that has purees of peanut, M O L loved the peanut blueberry and spinach combo pouch. Um , they also make a tree nut one also. And so , um, really what you want to do at the beginning is one new food every three to four days. But then as they've got a few good foods under your belt, then you can start kind of doing some of those baby foods that maybe have some combinations in them.
Speaker 3You know, back in the day, whole milk was used in certain cases is whole milk, whole milk, a good idea. And the little ones,
Speaker 2Not yet. So whole milk, we do switch over too , but more after they've turned one here at the six month to one year , Mark, we're still on our breast milk or our formula. And we're starting to introduce those fun new foods. Now, speaking of , of foods, you know, a couple of different things I want to bring up because the patients that , uh , that I see, I have quite a large , uh , population that love baby led weaning. So I don't know if anybody out there has loved baby led weaning. I'll tell you in medical school, they do not really teach anything about that. So when that first got brought up to me, Oh, is probably eight to 10 years ago. I was like, Oh my goodness, what are, what are we feeding our babies that we need to wean them from lead ? And I was thinking led the metal. And then I looked into it and I'm like, you're a goofball that is not led . So basically what baby led weaning is, is it's basically the baby is leading you to see what they want to eat. For instance , um, you actually use chunkier foods instead of purees, like, like a lot of parents use and we use, you can use large chunks of food so that they are too big for them to choke on, but it's , it's kind of more for them to be able to hold the food, manipulate it, maybe bite it, lick it, kind of just play with their food. It lets them be creative with the food and see what textures and colors and things that they're drawn to. So as a pediatrician and also in ordinance with the American Academy of pediatrics, they actually support either type. You can do purees, or you can do baby led weaning. I thought that was interesting. Cause I'd looked that up not knowing what the American Academy of pediatric stand on that was. You know, a lot of people fear, Oh, it's a choking hazard. And really anytime we introduce a food to our baby, it's a choking hazard. So number one, we need to be present. We need to be paying attention to them . We need to be active. And part of their trying of foods, whether they're purees or larger pieces of food, because really they're all choking hazard . So as long as you're there present watching , um, you know, it's very safe and I really liked kind of being laid back as I am. I was like, well, I don't see, what's so wrong with doing a bit of both. And so both Brent and I really had a good time doing not only the purees, but also some of the baby led weaning techniques as well, where we'd give her larger chunks of steamed broccoli and cauliflower. For instance, she actually, didn't like, that's the only food she hasn't liked as pureed broccoli. But if you give her a chunk of broccoli that has just been stained, like we're going to eat it, she absolutely loves it. So I found that to be really fun and it kind of encourages the babies to bite more than just kind of taking that spoon and, you know , Downing that that way. So it gives them two different ways to eat
Speaker 3My absolute favorite things that you found through all of your research as El came on board is the baby food subscription service that you found in a previous era of my life. I spent many days going to a big box store and buying different varieties of baby food that may have a picture of a baby. And it may start with a G and Ryan's with Berber, but you know, we really didn't go that route with L
Speaker 2Sure. And, you know, let me, let me back up to , to why I even looked outside the box. So as a pediatrician with, with all of my experiences, even before I had a child, I always encouraged parents to look outside the shelf. And what I mean by that is, is when you go to look at the vegetable aisle for infants, you know, it gets a little monotonous now with pouches. And I do know every , I love that everybody's kind of jumped on the kale and spinach and all that kind of crave they've, they've jumped onto that trend. And it's wonderful. But if you are in those stage ones, especially, you're kind of limited and it's green peas, it's green beans, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, carrots, thank you. But that's like your top five veggies. And, you know, I'm a pretty adventurous eater. And by that, I mean, there's pretty much not a vegetable or fruit that I don't like. And so, you know, there's nothing wrong with one of those new foods you want to introduce is brussel sprouts or asparagus, or I don't know, it was just anything don't be limited by what's on the shelf. And so with that being said, it's kind of creepy. And I know all my mom's out there and probably lots of dads too, but as, as a, as a mom, and especially when you're up later in pregnancy and you can't sleep and you have had to go to the bathroom like three times during the night. So what do you do? You lay there and you kind of scroll on Facebook and stuff. Trust me, they all know we're having babies out there. I don't know how they know exactly and that's kind of creepy, but they do know. And so on my Facebook feed, like nightly, I would have yummy brand or little spoon or something like that. And so I started researching those and the more and more and more that I looked into them, I was like, wow, these that's a pretty awesome company. And so I ended up going with yummy brand and basically it's a small company only does organic ready, made meals that get shipped on ice to your home that were literally growing in the ground just you a week before that. So I have loved that there is a huge variety, meaning El has had fruits , such as dragon fruit. She loves mango. She, she gets strawberry Bazell pie. And by pie, it's not a bad pie it's made with coconut milk and things like that as an older infant here. But just the variety of things that you get is pretty amazing. And you know, some of the, some of the articles that are going on out there are going around out. There are the first thousand days of a child's life, really set up their palette for the rest of their life, on what types of flavors that they will like, and just kind of their adventurous newness in food tasting. And so really a thousand days, that's three and a half years old. And so the more that we can get them accustomed to, and the more flavors they can try, typically the better eaters that they're going to be. I love just having a super colorful varied diet because truly the more colorful an infant or toddler, or really anybody's diet is the more nutritious it is, the more vitamins minerals, other things that are in there. So I've had a ton of fun with them and she, she loves them. So we're moving to the big girl stuff now. So I'm excited for our next shipment, cause we're going to get some more kind of pieces and bites.
Speaker 3We were on the path to start making your own baby food. And we found this alternative and my goodness, it's awful convenient. You have to open the box and refrigerate what comes and I suppose you pick, or they will pick for you, what's going to be delivered and you can choose how many you get, is that correct?
Speaker 2Yeah. They have different package options. I go minimal just because, especially at the beginning, she wasn't a big eater anyways. And the jar , the jars are pretty, pretty good size. So sometimes I could, you know , take half out feeder that and save the next half for the next day. So I went with one of the smaller delivery options. I think we just got eight jars. Um , you can do it weekly. You can skip weeks if you want to. And yes, they have a wonderful website that makes it easy to get on there. And they have lots of options, lots of seasonal options as well. So I know now, like peaches will get ready to come out and she loved their peaches and things like that. So
Speaker 3Yeah, I think there are organic and low sugar and all that kind of stuff. Right ?
Speaker 2Yeah. No added sugar. I think they actually say that their jars will have three times the amount of nutrients as a jar from the shelf or yeah . Another brand, other brands and stuff like that .
Speaker 3There was recently some news about , uh, some contaminants and some of the major manufacturers is that okay .
Speaker 2Um , that, that did come out, that came out a couple of months ago and you know, I've definitely had a lot of patients asking about that. You know, it's very scary, especially because a lot of those brands that were mentioned were actually organic brands. And so I know I have a lot of patients that are, and parents that are like when probably not the patients are asking me as their infants, but the parents are saying, you know, who do you trust? If what they're telling us, meaning that it is organic and supposed to be good for your baby actually has contaminants of higher than acceptable levels of heavy metals. And so that is a shame. And I definitely say going with fresher ingredients is definitely best. And I know that the companies that are the organic ready to feed services, like yummy, that we're talking about, oftentimes they'll even print what's in their soil samples. If you have questions about these, I know they've put out several reports since that study was done to just say, Hey, we know what's grown . We know what is in our soil, where, where our vegetables and fruits are grown. If you have questions, please call and we can give soil sample testings and things like that. So that's a wonderful, just comfort to know that you know, where your baby food is coming from. So if you can't make it yourself and know where your veggies and fruits are coming from, then I think some of these delivery options,
Speaker 3And I don't want to go back too much, but you did make one comment about the baby's first thousand days, developing the palette . Now that goes into the gestational period as well. Right? When I think you told me that whatever mommy eats is transmitted to the child,
Speaker 2That is very, very true. So when number one, when the baby is in the womb, still, if you love Mexican food, let's say, and Mexican food, you're eating three times a week during pregnancy. No , your child is definitely your baby is getting some of that spice down there. And , and things like that. I do love to once a baby is born. If you are breastfeeding, then your baby does get some of everything that you eat. And so, you know, oftentimes we see that on the problematic side at the office, say, if a mom is eating too much cheese milk, or maybe ice cream or something, then the baby can be excessively gassy, things like that. Then sometimes we have to cut the mom's dairy out a little bit. But on the flip side of that, let's say a mom has a pretty, very diet, and she loves a little Indian food here and a little Mexican food here and just uses different spices and herbs. The baby is getting a little bit of all of that. And so it's kind of an interesting theory. They say that once you start your purees, it is okay to use some seasonings. You don't, you do not ever want to use sugar or salt in , um, as a seasoning, just because, you know, we have our whole lives to eat too much sugar and salt. Let's not start that as in our infancy, but to use other herbs and aromatics and things. It's okay because they're actually used to getting a bit of spice through the mom's breast milk. And when you go to completely bland , sometimes they'll look at you like, Whoa, what is this? I don't know about this. So I find that that's very interesting.
Speaker 3You mentioned peanuts and , uh, allergies that some folks have and , and how we may mitigate some of that risk by introducing them a little bit earlier. But what about other highly allergic foods like seafood and that sort of thing?
Speaker 2That's a very interesting question. And those guidelines have changed because of the leap trial and the peanut . So because of that trial, we really are sort of extrapolating that down with the other allergenic foods, for instance, eggs , um , cheeses and other, you know, yogurts, things like that that are made more from whole milk. You can start introducing bits of those. Um, but eggs are a big one. Um, when your baby is ready, you know, you don't want to do this right at six months, but as your baby's ready to take a little bit more texture and your pediatrician can kind of guide you because every baby's a bit different, but around nine months, when a baby is starting to use that pincer grasp, and they're wanting more bites and table foods, you know, you can start introducing those chunkier foods like eggs and things like that in a pinchable size. And so it is okay to add those. Now, of course, if your family has any first degree relatives, so that really means mom or dad of the infant may be a sibling. You know, if you have a second degree, say a cousin, an aunt, an uncle, a grandparent that has a true shellfish allergy or an egg allergy or a peanut allergy, you definitely want to talk to your pediatrician because there may be some other, there may be some other precautions that we want to take to ensure that your baby tries them safely, but still can be done even at that six month Mark. So for instance, on some of those other allergenic foods, when Elle was 10 months of age, we actually went down for a family, little getaway to Florida. And I first introduced her to some shellfish. There there's nobody in my immediate family with shellfish allergy, and that girl could not get enough crab legs. Like I've not seen somebody crab legs that fast. That was pretty impressive, but we just pinched them very, very small. And you know, you just stay there with her, but Nope, she did wonderful. So truly the only food that we do not want to feed an infant is actually honey. And we don't want to give honey until after they turn one year of age. And that's purely for a botulism reason, actually not food allergy. Yeah. If you have questions or concerns or if there is somebody in your family, that's highly allergic to something. And you're nervous about that. Please, you know , speak with your pediatrician about that. Cause I've even had some patients that had some peanut allergy in their family, they were very nervous about it. And so we actually tried the peanut in the office, you know, I coached them on Benadryl dosing and we make sure that they leave with a bottle of Benadryl and the appropriate dose and my cell phone number and all of that. But they've actually had several patients to actually eat the peanut puree in, in our office setting. So that makes it nice and puts the parents kind of mind at ease.
Speaker 3We may have to do an episode on first aid kits and what to keep at home sometime in the future. That would be a great one. And the last few minutes that we've talked about infant nutrition, I haven't heard you once say you should really stop by the fast food place and get some chicken nuggets and French fries because it's , it's awful easy to do that. I mean, life is fast, right? We've all done it. So help us out here. What can we do when we're running in between errands? And we have to pick up one set of kids here and we have to drop off others there and we, Oh yeah. We also have to feed everybody.
Speaker 2That is, that's a great question. And , and I realize our lives are kind of go, go, go. Everybody's being dropped off to this sport lesson and this piano lesson and , and have homework and parents are getting off work late. But especially with us talking right now about the young child nutrition, until you introduce it, the child doesn't really know that it exists. And so I hate to, I mean, that sounds kind of mean, but it's not, it's protecting them. So for instance, our daughter, who is one now, she didn't know there was such thing as cake until her first birthday. I'd never really given her a sweet because she loves her fruits and veggies so much. She would think of blueberry as sweet and wonderful. Um , and so until we, until we introduce that, they're not gonna know. And so try to get them liking their other fruits and vegetables and meats before you introduce those type of things. For instance, the fast food we're going to pick on French for us for a minute. So French for us. Yes, it is a potato. I have had several parents tell me that the only vegetable that they're 10 or 11 month old likes is French fries. And that kind of makes me cringe because number one, I'm like, well, once it's a French fry , it's sort of a dead food anyways, but number two, like why like it's okay, there's so many other fast foods. I'm going to put that in, in parentheses here. Uh, my, my, my fake air quotes over here are invisible air quotes, but it there's so many other fast foods that you can do besides a French fry for an , for a tall , for a toddler or a, an older infant. And what I mean by a fast food is you don't have to stay at home and cook a six course meal for a 10 month old. Like if you cut a blueberry in half or cut a straw, you know, pick three strawberries up and slice them up really quickly, even open a can of Mandarin oranges and maybe drain the juice off of 'em like, that's a pretty fast food that only costs you probably a dollar or less of, I mean, a whole pack of strawberries. They just, they don't eat the amount of foods that we eat. And so picking, you know, cottage cheese, something like that, they can be very quick meals that don't take any thought, but they're still a lot healthier than going through a fast food restaurant. So I, like I said, I kind of cringe, but I totally do get it. Yes. That we're go, go, go. But once they get that taste of that very salty, very delicious food, you can think how addictive that is. Even for an adult. If you take away all the knowledge that we have, Oh, we use the front of our brain to actually do some reasoning and critical thinking. Infants don't have that. And so what do they think, Oh, delicious. This is what I want. This is what I want right now. And I'm going to scream until I get it. And so I see how parents get caught in that just of terribleness for they're gonna , they're going to submit to them just to keep them happy, but it's really one of the worst things we can do because as soon as they've gotten introduced to it, are they gonna want to go back and eat some of their other vegetables? I don't know if we give it to them all the time. No, they're going to want that French fry that we give them more frequently. My biggest recommendation is just really try to limit that type of food and go towards more of your good nutritious fruits and vegetables as the mainstay .
Speaker 3Yeah. And there are a few options in some of the drive-throughs now like , uh , grilled chicken versus fried chicken or sliced apples instead of French fries. Those choices are always better, I guess. And then there's always like a Turkey sandwich at a sub place or something like that. Right.
Speaker 2And , uh , yeah, an Apple sauces and things like that with no sugar added and things like that. So restaurants are trying, but when it comes to infants, especially like they, they just don't need a lot of that stuff, but they may eat a little bit of your, your Turkey or your ham or something like that, deli meat wise, but it also sort of brings up another very good topic that I'd left out earlier. And that was about our beverages. We feed infants. And so I have probably the number one question at a six month visit is when do we start juice? And it's kind of funny and it's not to pick on grandparents because grandparents really are the best, but it comes from the older generation a little bit. They all want to know when do we start juice in our babies? And I kind of laugh and I say, well, never is fine with me really at that six month on milk and water are lovely for our infants toddlers, pre-teens teenagers, you know, just get just kind of keeping it there. If you do introduce any juice to your babies, the American Academy of pediatrics recommends four ounces or less, and that's actually all the way up until you're not a pediatric patient anymore and can make your own decisions, I guess, but really we want to limit juice and there's truly no nutritional value added by juice because we should, we should include fruits and vegetables in all of our kiddos, regular just daily food options are well balanced diet. So always use the example of Apple juice with my patients or with my parents. So it takes 16 apples pressed to make an eight ounce glass of Apple juice. Yes, there's some different vitamins in that, but there is a lot of sugar in that. And I always explain to my parents, you know, there's sugar in our fruits, but the reason that that sugar is okay to do is because the fruit itself has lots. That kind of the meaty part of the Apple is good fiber. There's good nutrients in the skin. There's just all kinds of good stuff. It fills them up. It keeps them from eating other stuff. But when you press the juice out, guess what the good stuff is actually thrown away when you make the juice. And so I'd much rather the child eat the Apple versus drink the juice. If that makes sense. That's sort of always the , the story that I, that I tell in the office. So, so juice boxes
Speaker 3Can be a problem. They're not healthier as a soda or soft drink in terms of the amount of sugar that's in them. So what we thought years ago about very well-marketed get all of your vitamin C pure juice is not a good thing,
Speaker 2Correct ? It's not it because what we're finding is that as especially infants and toddlers, as they like juice, once again, the sugary beverage is sort of addictive. And so then they never do go back to plain water or very rarely do they go back to plain water. So then what we find is then they get to school, age and juice kind of escalates to Kool-Aid that then escalates to pop and really our bodies need plain water. Um, there's just, you know, fewer and fewer kids out there that like plain water, that's all gotta be sweet and flavored. And what we're finding is that is just ramping up pediatric obesity, like crazy, because you're exactly right. There's just, just as many calories in juice as there is in pop, unfortunately, Gatorade also. And I don't mean to pick on Gatorade versus Powerade, but the sports drinks, whichever brand they are out there, unless they're the ones with no sugar added, they actually have as many calories in those bottles as a pop. So yes, they have electrolytes and other good things in them, but the sugar count, you know, for some kids that you just don't, you don't need that. So they really need to be drinking the plain water.
Speaker 3Well, thank you, Dr. Jan , for those recommendations, we'll be back soon with another episode. If you'd like to submit recommendations to us in terms of what we can do better or differently to help your experience, or if you'd like to hear about certain topics, please let us know. You can find this at Dr. Jen recommends.com or email us at info at Dr. Jan recommends. Also, don't forget to hit that subscribe button. We'll see you next time.