Is it ok to give a 7 month old fruit puree everyday?

[idoll]

Hi,
I give my 7month old daughter mix fruits puree with mix grain or semolina cereal everyday. Is it ok to give her fruits everyday? Or should I stop?

I started her on solids at 6 months with 1 and then 2 meals a day gradually. I am giving her cereal with fruits(cherries,blueberries,apple,prunes,banana and pear puree) for lunch and cereal with veggies(pumpkin, French beans, less peas and broccoli puree ) carrot sometimes for dinner and top up with BM..
Now im thinking of increasing to 3 meals a day.
Please advise..
Thanks

 

[Gracey]

Why not?
My daughter's been eating some form of fruit every day since about five or six months, and she's over a year now.
So long as it's all natural and not sugary.
Soon you can give baby a piece of banana and let her try to hold and bite it herself!
This is what she eats now
* Breakfast - oatmeal with pureed or fresh fruit. Milk. Sometimes a piece of bread
* Lunch - congee with chicken and vegetable
* Afternoon snack -- some diary (usually yogurt) with pureed or fresh fruit
* Dinner -- Meat, veg, starch
* Bedtime -- bottle of milk

 

[Liquorice]

I have given my son fruit around 3 times a day since he started eating really. What is your concern?

 

[idoll]

Gracey, thank you very much, that really helped

Liquorice, i asked because I been told fruits have a cooling tendency and can cause colds etc and also read one mother had mentioned in one of the baby forums that she will not give her baby fruit everyday.. Also many a times my daughter wakes up in the night with a blocked nose but she is fine in the day. Didn't understand that, So I thought its better to confirm before I continue
Also the mothers Ive spoken to give 1-2 fruits a day and I was giving 5-6. Should I reduce the number of fruits or its ok?

 

[Gracey]

Hi iDoll -- Are you Chinese? Because the "cooling" belief is Chinese. (I'm Chinese, too).
I probably wouldn't give her fruit 5 or 6 times a day. Like I said, she gets a little with breakfast, and a little with her snack, so twice a day.
The Chinese would stay away from mangoes, loong-an (sorry, don't know how to spell in English) and pineapples for small babies.
But other than that, I think you're OK with neutral fruits like bananas, pears, plums, applesauce, melon, blueberries -- basically the fruits you mentioned in your email.

 

[thanka2]

Gracey, thank you very much, that really helped

Liquorice, i asked because I been told fruits have a cooling tendency and can cause colds etc and also read one mother had mentioned in one of the baby forums that she will not give her baby fruit everyday.. Also many a times my daughter wakes up in the night with a blocked nose but she is fine in the day. Didn't understand that, So I thought its better to confirm before I continue
Also the mothers Ive spoken to give 1-2 fruits a day and I was giving 5-6. Should I reduce the number of fruits or its ok?

Maybe try checking with the Mother and Child Health Clinic nearby you because they will give you booklets that explain what kinds of servings of different foods children should have at certain ages. That is probably a better and more balanced guide for "what your child should eat" than TCM at this point.

And also, the truth is that even according to TCM, not ALL fruits having cooling properties. Fruits like apples actually have WARMING properties. Also, the belief that if you "get cold" you'll "catch a cold" doesn't really hold true.

My own daughter (who is 1/2 Chinese) ate berries and a few other types of fruits several times/day (with at least 3 meals) from the time she started having solids at 7-months-old until now and she's 18-months-old. She's only had about two colds her entire life and they were both brief. I doubt her fruit consumption habits have anything to do with her catching a slight illness once in awhile.

Why does your child get a stuffy nose at night? I even get a stuffy nose at night if I sleep under an air conditioner. How about the air quality in your house? Do you have an air purifier? Hong Kong's air quality is off the charts on the pollution index so her stuffy nose could very well be just breathing polluted air during the day and then it settling into her nasal passage while she sleeps at night. There are multiple causes for stuffy noses including other allergies (pet air, dust, mites etc.).

Feeding your child fruit is a great way to make sure he or she gets the micronurients he/she needs to grow healthy and have a good immune system to fight disease. If anything, try to avoid processed snacks (like crackers, bread).

 

[idoll]

Gracey, I don't give her fruits 5 times a day but 5-6 fruits mixed once a day. And no, im not Chinese im Indian.. And this is Indian belief too!!

Thanka2, thanks for your advice and for reminding me about the mch booklets, will surely check those. And her nose isn't very stuffy but it seems like its slightly blocked, she goes back to sleep pretty easily. I yet havent figured what is causing it though.. But it seems to be getting better by the day..

Another quick question, inspite of giving her prunes and pear puree everyday she is constipated most of the time.. I have also started giving her water twice or thrice a day and little after her meals too, since a month maybe. But nothing seems to be helping!!
I feel its because she is holding it in anticipating the pain and that in turn is making it worse, im not sure though. Is it ok to use glycerin suppository twice or thrice a week?

 

[carang]

i would not be giving such a young one anything to aid except prune juice/water (unless advised by a dr). the bowels need to be exercised and if you are helping them along 2-3 times per week, she could very well have problems for the rest of her life.

 

[Gracey]

Sorry iDoll! How interesting that "cooling" is also an Indian belief.
And sorry I misunderstood you. I thought "Wow. Five servings of fruit a day. Crazy!"
I think mixing different fruits is fine. A Chinese mom friend of mine gives her baby a big bowl of fruit salad every morning with many different kinds of fruits.
For constipation, have you tried more green veg? Like very finely chopped cooked baby spinach? Boil broccoli put through a blender with some rice / potato? More whole grains? More water?
Like Carang, I wouldn't give suppositories so young. The bowels have to be trained to work for themselves.

 

[idoll]

Gracey, no problem and my elders also advise against giving babies fruits in evening and night to avoid the 'cooling' caused by fruits. And I'm already giving her broccoli in the veggies and homemade whole grains cereal for dinner..
And yea I know I shouldn't be using suppositories so often but I feel so bad seeing her trying so hard that I was hoping someone would say its ok..

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