Feeding Chinese food to baby

[nicolejoy]

I have a nearly 9 month old mixed baby girl - and she eats anything I put in front of her. I've mainly been feeding her "western style" foods - and at the moment, she eats chicken, vegetables, pasta, toast, crackers, yoghurt, cheese - things like that... When we go to a western restaurant I ALWAYS can find a million things to order that she can eat too, however I have no idea what she can or should eat at a Chinese restaurant!! So far, her Chinese cuisine has been limited to congee.

So my question is, what kinds of Chinese food are appropriate for a 9 month old baby? What do Chinese people feed their 9 month olds? What things are definite no-nos? It seems to me like everything is really saucy, or oily, or has bones etc... and the fish is generally garoupa which is really high in methyl-mercury... What things are appropriate for say, a one year old?

I'd love some tips because I'm at a bit of a loss in that area at the moment!!

 

[carang]

i usually got stuff that had a sauce as it made the rice easier to go down.

we took scissors with us to cut up the food into tiny pieces for such a young one. we pretty much gave them from whatever we were ordering. sometimes noodles, sometimes rice. my kids both love fish, chicken (again, just took the breast portion, removed the skin and cut into manageable pieces, pork). we didn't give seafood until 1 year, but both of my kids love prawns, lobster, crab & squid.

both of my kids have always loved dim sum, too. my son loves cha siu bao, cheung fan, spring rolls, ha gow, ham soy gok... almost everything that i love myself. i have always HATED congee. i never gave it to my kids, but my m-i-l did when she took my son for lunch.

by 1 year a baby should be able to eat most things that an adult eats, just cut smaller. honestly, i think my kids prefer chinese food sometimes.

 

[lesliefu]

my daughter is 10mths and I have started giving her congee...fish congee actually and she loves it. when we go for dimsum, she gets some of the bread from the cha siu bao, and noodles when we have that. since she doesn't eat large portions, i'm not too concerned (at this point) with the mercury level of fish...chicken she eats too (of course in small pieces), steamed fish, and of course plain rice! i try to give her a variety of food....at least the ones that she can chew (with her 4 teeth) so she will not become a picky eater (hopefully)...

 

[thanka2]

Our son prefers cha siu bao and a lot of the dim sum foods--most of those don't have bones in them and very few (except for fish balls) are made with fish--there is a lot of pork and a bit of seafood. The only thing I ever am concerned about with dim sum is the high level of salt and MSG. But because my son is half Chinese and has Chinese grandparents who love to go "yum cha" and take him along, I can't really say that he isn't allowed to eat dim sum--as long as it's not too often, I'm okay with it. His favorite, though is cha siu bao.

 

[thanka2]

Oh, and I forgot...our son LOVES noodles...more than rice. He especially loves Shou Xi Gai Mai Xin (shredded chicken with rice noodles). Noodles are always a hit with him--and have been since he was around your daughter's age.

 

[Shenzhennifer]

Just tonight I was out with my husband`s Chinese colleague and his wife. WITHOUT ASKING, they tried to feed my 6 month old this stewed fatty pork and only stopped bc I looked horrified at what was about to happen. I explained that he was only on a few fruit and veg until now, but they maintained that their daughter and ALL CHINESE from 4 months eat everything, like what was on our table. Which were dishes full of fat, oil, starch, msg, sugar, salt, soy, egg, seafood. When I was like NO, everytime my son cried (bc he was stuck in the colleagues arms and was getting tired) they just said `poor thing, he wants to eat`. Even at the end of the meal they tried again to get me to feed him watermelon. I couldn`t believe it.
So, anyway, apparently you can feed them ANYTHING. Hey, why not just put oil and msg in the newborn`s bottle?

Signed,
Horrified in Hong Kong

 

[thanka2]

I was just wondering if other people have had a similar experience to Shenzheniffer--but only with a people from a different culture--not just Chinese people?

I know my extended relatives in the States have their own opinions about what my son should be eating and how he should be eating and I always had to watch them to make sure they weren't feeding him something I didn't want him having.

Back here in Hong Kong, my son's Chinese grandfather tried to feed him a piece of chocolate cake when he was about 5 months old and I also watched in horror until my husband stepped in and put a kabosh to that.

Surely it can't be that only Chinese people are that pushy with other peoples' kids?

 

[Shenzhennifer]

Well, I will be finding out soon when I see the Japanese in laws next week, surely ready to shove rice crackers down my son`s throat the minute I turn my back!

 

[B4ME]

To Nicolejoy

How about some soft steamed tofu? I'm sure tofu is on the menu of most Chinese restaurant. Steamed is ideal coz' it shdn't be too oily compared to the fried food. You can ask for less oil or soya sauce. Tell them it's for baby.

Or the sweet bean curd (tau foo fa) especially if you go yum cha. Tell them to give the syrup separately.

My son loves congee, cha siu pau, tofu, noodles and an occasional crunchy springroll skin(just a little) now that he's 19 mths old.

 

[thanka2]

Maybe on the food side, Japanese in laws will have the advantage because Japanese food generally is more healthy? I guess except for the raw fish--but then again, the Japanese kids are eating it and not dying so it must not be that bad. Rice crackers shouldn't be too bad as long as they're softened with a bit of sake, I guess. Lol!