Feeding Chinese food to baby

[babymommy2]

Liek carang we just carried a pair of scissors around and gave them whatever we were eating. You will find that when you expose them to lots of things they won't be picky at all. Now at 3 and 5 they eat pretty much any type of food, western, chinese, japanese, east indian, greek, etc. even spicy foods.

 

[nicolejoy]

How much should we worry about things like MSG etc? Some people seem quite worried - but then other people don't really care. I'm sure my Chinese husband probably grew up on it and it hasn't seemed to harm him. *shrugs* It's hard to know what to worry about and what NOT to worry about...

I also want to know - slightly different topic - but how young can babies eat sashimi? When I was a kid, my family never ate it so it wasn't an issue. But my husband and I eat it at least once a week...

 

[wwong68]

I wouldn't feed any young children sashimi till they are at least 4 or 5. I think cooked sushi is fine. California rolls and those egg rolls but obviously from a reputable rest. I think as long as you don't eat too often from outside rest. It's ok with the MSG. I mean we get artificial additivies to our food everyday. We don't want to start them young but unless you cook everything organic and bring food outside. You can't really worried too much MSG. As long as they are not getting allergies, just let them eat what they want.

 

[babymommy2]

The way that Ithink of it is that we don't eat out every day and we don't eat msg everyday, so once in awhile is okay. Same with eating fish and shell fish in HK, probably contaninated, but we are only there a few weeks at a time. I think of it as benefit vs. risk, never eating chinese food is not really an option when you are a mixed race family. the benfit of chinese food is worth the risk of occasional contamination.

I think our son started eating sashimi and other raw fish around 2 or 3. It is pretty rare to get a parasite, but it could happen. i don't eat any of the raw fish myself, but my husband loves it and our now 5 year old loves it. my 3 year old doesn't like the texture and spits it out.

 

[Konradsmom]

I would be worried about the MSG than the actual type of food itself......

 

[thanka2]

How much should we worry about things like MSG etc? Some people seem quite worried - but then other people don't really care. I'm sure my Chinese husband probably grew up on it and it hasn't seemed to harm him. *shrugs* It's hard to know what to worry about and what NOT to worry about...

My son is sensitive to food additives and I don't think long-range a bit of MSG once a week at yum cha is going to damage him but I know for sure after he's had yum cha he is more irritable and gets more hyperactive--just like he does with any kind of food with food colorings and additives in them. A lot of children are sensitive in this way, I think. MSG is also a salt and all things published on the subject say to limit how much salt your children take in because it can be hard on their internal organs.

For my husband and I, we eat yum cha on a regular basis with his parents and we always feel just worn out, bogged down and exhausted as well as super thirsty after having it. Even if we only have a few pieces of dim sum and not a full meal we nearly have to go home and "sleep it off." My husband also notices this even though he also grew up eating yum cha at least 2-3 times a week with his family and grandparents all of his life. So, it can have an affect on your body. But I agree with the above posters who said that as long as its in moderation and you're using your best judgment (taste it first and if its so salty it makes you pucker or obviously has a litre of syrup in it, probably not a wise idea to give it to baby) then Chinese food once in awhile at a restaurant isn't going to kill your child.

Raw fish, however, I won't be allowing my son to eat for at least another year.

 

[reei]

shenzhennifer,

you must be horrified , i would too. your chinese colleagues are terrible.. !!!
but luckily i have not meet anyone that .. pushy.. normally, when ppl give me advice. that i can start feeding my kids this and that..i'll just keep quiet.. and if i refuse to feed my baby certain food, they'd better respect me for that.. or else , i'll jump at them.. like a lion...

hehe..
have a nice day

 

[lesliefu]

everything in moderation is a good way to go (except for sashimi)...when I go to restaurants and ask if they have MSG in the plain congee - some say yes, others say, no we don't have MSG in our food...but then I taste the food, it's too good to be true....I think they're putting in chicken powder instead...not "MSG" but same kind of thing - what do you do?!? I try bringing my own food, but last minute decisions to stay out kind of screw me up and I end up buying bottled food (organic)...but, I'm not sure which is better "adult" food or bottled food that is "organic" - what do you guys think?

 

[thanka2]

everything in moderation is a good way to go (except for sashimi)...when I go to restaurants and ask if they have MSG in the plain congee - some say yes, others say, no we don't have MSG in our food...but then I taste the food, it's too good to be true....I think they're putting in chicken powder instead...not "MSG" but same kind of thing - what do you do?!? I try bringing my own food, but last minute decisions to stay out kind of screw me up and I end up buying bottled food (organic)...but, I'm not sure which is better "adult" food or bottled food that is "organic" - what do you guys think?

I think that neither is really "better." If it's organic, then there is the advantage that it probably isn't contaminated with pesticides and other yucky substances. There is only so long that you can feed your child organic baby food from a jar, though--it's different if your baby is under 12 months old but once they really start eating and are totally off breastfeeding or the bottle then most are pretty reluctant to go back to mushy, unflavored food (especially if they've had Chinese grandparents sneaking them butter sugar cookies when their parents are looking).

For us, it's a totally different story at home. I'm really picky at home because I have full control over my son's eating habits there. So, it's always honey or stevia instead of sugar and if it happens to be sugar its raw, organic sugar. It's a bit of selenite sea salt here. Virgin olive oil for cooking. Veggie and fruit smoothies. Limited dairy intake (he still gets plenty of calories and calcium). Organic soy milk. Meats I can say that are reasonably safe and toxin free (not quite free-range but...).

When we go out to eat, I've found it's just way too stressful to be having to run off to buy my child a jar of food when he's hungry and wants to eat what everyone else is eating too--he is a part of the family afterall. I used to be really picky at restaurants as well and I'm sure my Chinese in-laws think I'm coo-coo, but I guess what has happened to me is what happens to most new parents--we chill out a bit--pick our battles a little more carefully and do our best to find the middle ground when it comes to food choices.