Is there a financially easy way to cut out meat but still meet the nutritional requirements for breastfeeding?? Also, I recently started Ivy on rice cereal (about 1 tblspn) in addition to nursing, but suddenly she's not sleeping well through the night. I think it's due to stomach aches caused by constipation from the stinkin' rice cereal. Any ideas?? :&
Get rid of the cereal, her body doesn't make the enzyme for digesting it yet (It is called Amalaze and most babies don't make it until between 6 months and a year of age.) How old is your baby? Most babies don't need any solids until after 6 months. some go months after that. My dd Moon was 8 months, and never ate baby food, she went right to cut up and well cooked fruit and vegetables. The rice is probably sitting in her tummy, or intestines, undigested and giving her a tummy ache. If she really needs some solids, try some well cooked carrot, or sweet potato, or mashed white potato (with no butter or cow milk, of course) or nice mashed up, well cooked apple or pear or VERY ripe banana. I made the same mistake with my first baby. Every one kept telling me it would make her "sleep through the night" and all it did was give her a belly ache and constipate her. My second child didn't eat solids until SHE was ready at 8 months, and it was "real food." There is SO much advice around, and a lot of time our own moms want us to do what they did. Don't worry about it too much. Just cut out the cereal. (The artificial iron isn't good for her either, it can circumvent the iron in your breastmilk with is all she really needs!) I can get you an article on starting solids that may help. Do you have a copy of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding? It has some good advice on solids. I know when my dh and I had new babies money was really tight, and although the babies were on my milk, we needed food. We ate a lot of rice and beans and pasta and beans ect. Look into the Vegetarian Forums and the Recipie Forums for good ideas on h how to feed you and your dh without going broke. Wecome to the Parenting Forum, Ivy'sMama!!!!
The Munchies Recipe forum http://hipforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=61 The Vegetarian Forum: http://hipforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=66 Good articles on starting solids from LLL. http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBsolids.html Good luck.
