Day 328 - Ten Super-Nutritious Foods for Your Baby

Today's first time parenting tip - Feed your baby these ten foods and you'll be giving them some great nutrition

Kiwi - More vitamin C than an orange, it also comes with a good amount of fiber and potassium. Plus, according to a study by Thorax, it helps prevent asthma.

Apricots - Vitamin A and dietary fiber. These were my son's favorite flavor of baby food

Raisins - Packed with the all important mineral, iron. There's a reason all baby formula and food is iron-fortified.

Bok-Choy (Chinese Cabbage) - This veggie has calcium for your child's growing bones

Wheat Germ - Bread, bagels and cereals made with wheat have even more vitamins and minerals for your baby, especially vitamin E. Serve them exclusively.

Yogurt - Lots of calcium and the active bacteria in yogurt helps prevent yeast infections in a dark, wet diaper.

Raspberries - Another great source of vitamin C

Mango - Filled with vitamin A and vitamin C

Pinto Beans - A little Mexican flare is a good source of protein for your baby

Breastmilk - Hands down, the best source of nutrition for your baby

Always, always make sure these foods are small enough to not be a choking hazard, and watch for food allergies.


Parenting, Nutritious, Food, Nutrition, Healthy

Day 274 - Say No to Soda

Today's first time parenting tip - Don't give your infant soda for the first two years of their life

This tip seems pretty obvious to me, and hopefully to a lot of other parents. But I saw someone driving with their infant, couldn't have been more than a year old, and they were sucking down a bottle of Faygo orange pop in the rear-facing baby seat of their old Toyota Camry.

Call me a stickler, but I think you should teach a child how to eat right before they learn to eat wrong. And sugary, caffeinated and carbonated drinks don't figure into that mix.

The nutritional value is nil. The effects of being addicted to caffeine are real. And the weight gain throughout their childhood years can be real too.

The best way to make it easy to say no to soda? Lead by example. Don't drink it in front of your kids, and don't keep it in the house. The less access they have to it and the less they see you, the number one person they learn from drinking it, the better.

Providing lots of healthy alternatives like juice, water, milk, etc. is key too. A cold soda every now and again is fine, you don't have to be a warden, but be reasonable. And if their too young to remember kicking back a cold coke with their dad on a hot summer's day, then there's really not point in giving it to them.

Parenting, Soda, Pop, OK, Nutrition, Health

Day 272 - Fruit and Vegetable Juice

Today's first time parenting tip - Only give your child 100% fruit or vegetable juice, but don't give it as a substitute for the real thing.

Hopefully you've introduced a cup to your baby already, and he's well on his way to drinking out of it on his own. Now the question is, can you or can you not give your baby juice?

The debate of should or should not is as volatile as the debate between formula and breastfeeding. It seems to change with whatever society's prevailing winds are.

What does that mean? It's more or less up to you and what you think is right for your baby, under a few conditions.

• Only give 100% fruit or vegetable juice


• Dilute juice at least 1:1 with water


• Don't use juice as a substitute for the denser nutrients of real fruit and veggies


• Limit diluted juice consumption to less than 8 oz per day, more can cause diarrhea

Sometimes when you've got a fussy eater, they'll be more apt to drink juice. The way I see it, now my son is still getting a taste of the fruits and veggies he needs and some of the nutrients if he's being picky and not touching his carrots or apples.

Again, juice shouldn't replace real fruits, veggies, breastmilk or formula you feed your infant.

Parenting, Vegetable, Fruit, Juice, Drink, Nutrition