Conference moira::parenting_v3

    I introduced plain yogurt, and added my own unsweetened (canned) fruit
    at 4 months - it was one of Ryan's first foods. The thing to understand
    is that although babies' stomachs can't break down diary products until
    later, they can handle yogurt because of the active cultures and
    enzymes, which essentially self-break down in their stomachs.
    
    regards,
    

We start children on yogurt at about 6-9 months.  It's one of the first things
that breast fed babies get.  We also feed them cream cheese with fruit in it
(called Petit Suisse).  My kids loved these things until they were about
two years of age and then refused to touch them any more.

I actually never bought any special baby food except for trips and the like or
baby cereal that you start with.  I cooked normal food for them without salt
and pureed it.  I had to add a bit of sugar when they started on their first
vegetables but gradually reduced that to nothing after a few days.  By 9-10
months they were eating whatever we were eating, just smaller portions and
smaller pieces.

"Cookies" for my first son were Zwieback or hard dark whole grain pumpernickel
until Oma introduced him to the real thing :-)

ccb

    Store-bought fruit-flavored yogurt has a lot of sugar in it.
    
    You can make your own by mixing pureed fruits with yogurt.  I would use
    fruits that are naturally very sweet such as berries, ripe banana, etc.
    You could also add very sweet juices such as mango or pear.
    
    Laura

    We gave Kaitlin yogurt at 4 months.  The doctor said that it was
    perfectly find to add to her diet as long as we introduced it like any
    other new food.  He suggest mixing plain or vanilla yogurt with canned
    or fresh fruit.  Kaitlin didn't like plain, but really loves vanilla.

    Applesauce mixed with unflavored yogurt or low-fat cottage cheese
    has been a favorite with all my kids.
    
    There's no need to make it very sweet; the kids always seemed to
    like the natural fruit flavors just fine.
    
    --bonnie

    
    
    Once a container of yogurt is opened, how long can it be
    stored in the fridge?
    
    Can yogurt be frozen?
    
    My little guy doesn't eat a lot at one sitting, so I was
    afraid I'd always be throwing away the yogurt before I used
    the whole container.
    
    
    Thanks,

    
    re: .6   How about feeding him what he'll take and you eat the
             rest?
    
    

    This is slightly off the subject - but has anybody experienced problems
    with yogurt CAUSING diaper rash?  

    About a month or two back, my daughter was having severe diaper rashes 
    quite frequently  (two or three a week, one case would barely be healed 
    when the next case would appear)  I had read that yogurt helped prevent 
    yeast rashes (most of her rashes were yeast rashes), so I fed her yogurt 
    for breakfast almost every day.  Then one week I forgot to buy yogurt, 
    she went the entire week without a rash.  Thinking this was a coincidence,
    I gave her yogurt again the next week.  Within 24 hours she had another
    severe case diaper rash.

    I have not fed her yogurt in a month, and she has not had a severe rash
    in that time.

    Is this a food alergy?  Or does yogurt cause diaper rashes in other babies
    as well?

    -Carol

    Is she eating other dairy products, or just yogurt?
    
    Skin rashes can be one symptom of milk allergy, not to be confused
    with lactose intolerance which causes stomach upset.
    
    The yogurt is pretty acid, too, so it might be causing her bowel
    movements to be harsher, irritating her skin more, and providing
    more opportunities for the yeast.
    
    --bonnie 

    Is it plain yoghurt, or the kind with fruit mixed in?  If it has fruit
    (or flavoring), I'd be more suspicious of that than of the yoghurt itself.

    I've noticed my son has trouble if I give him too much...what's too
    much?  I buy the kid-pack, those small 6-pack cartons, and feed him 1/2
    a carton.  He loves it, but if he eats the whole carton, he gets very
    loose.  No rash, unless he fails to tell someone about it : )
    

    
    re .0
    
    Wendy,
    
    I have a dear friend who is a neonatal intensive care nurse. Our
    daughters are both 13 months.  Her daughter(s) - she has 3, have to
    be introduced very slowly to all dairy products.  If your baby is
    on non-dairy formula (i.e. Soy formula) you might want to talk to
    your pedi first.   
    
    My friend (who is half Asian) claims that caucasion babies have an easier 
    time learning to digest dairy products because of some sort
    of digestive enzyme they have more of.  I guess our diet has always had
    more dairy products - so we pass this trait on to our children. This
    is just heresay - I've never read any articles regarding this, please
    let me know if its just an old [Asian] wives tale.
    
    She showed me her daughter's face after just 1 teaspoon of yogurt, it showed
    a bright red rash wherever the stuff had touched her face. She was 
    worried that the same thing was happening in her throat.
    
    Rochelle
    
    

    Alll infants have the enzyme lactase which allow them to digest
    milk sugars. The natural way for a baby to be fed is by breast
    milk. If babies lacked lactase they'd have starved to death in the
    days before alternate formulas.
    
    As children grow up (or kittens or puppies for that matter) the
    amount of lactase they produce declines. In non Caucasian peoples
    the enzyme disappears by adulthood. (Except if the individual continues
    to drink milk all the time, in which case the enzyme will persist.)
    Cauasians are unique in that lactase naturally occurs in many adults.
    
    Cheese, yoghurt etc, are fermented milk products. The milk sugar
    (lactose) is broken down in this process and becomes digestable.
    One of the reasons that fermented milk products are so ubiquitous
    is that this is a way to make milk a food that adults can eat.
    
    Bonnie

re .9

    She drinks 24 - 32 oz of whole milk every day, and LOVES cheeze (of course 
    she LOVES yogurt as well - I just don't let her have it anynmore).  I don't 
    believe either of these foods contribute to the rash.  It may be, as you
    suggested, the highly acidic quality that is causing the problem.  
    Especially since I don't *think* the rash starts out as a yeast rash.
    It seems to start out as extremely irritated skin (bright fire-engine red
    with blisters) and settles down quickly (with bathing and lots of air-time)
    to a more average case of a yeast rash.  so your suggestion that it may
    be the acid sounds vry plausible.  But she has no such reaction to tomatoes
    and citrus fruit.


re .10

    She gets the rashes with plain yogurt as well as the stuff with fruit in it.


re .11

    Her bowel movements are much looser after she has had even a very small
    serving of yogurt.   I am sure this is contributing to the problem. 

    

    From what I have learned in the previous replies, I am going to guess that
    her rashes are caused by two changes, both brought on by the yogurt: her
    bowel movements are both looser, and more acidic.  I'm open to more 
    suggestions, but for now I think I will just refrain from giving her 
    any yogurt.

    
    
    My little guy (7 1/2 months) got his first diaper rash after I gave 
    him plain yogurt with baby fruit mixed in.   I didn't associate it with 
    the yogurt because my sister said to look for teeth, some babies get a 
    diaper rash when teeth are breaking through.  Then I remembered
    reading .8 and she thought yogurt was causing the rash.
    I stopped giving him yogurt immediately.  The rash went away and
    no teeth appeared.  ????   This was last week and there is no sign
    of the rash.  It cleared up within 2 days of stopping the yogurt.
    (I also put diaper rash cream on it).
    
    No more yogurt for Brian !
                                                              

    I was wondering doesn't yogurt have regular milk in it?  I was
    reading a few notes back that people were feeding there 4-5 months old
    yogurt!  I have a 4 1\2 month old and was wondering when she could
    start with yogurt. She just started with Fruits and Vegetables. Could
    I give her yogurt?  
    
    Thanks for any advice!
    Kim
    
    

    re: .16

    My pedi just gave me the go ahead at our 9 month check up to begin
    yogurt, cheese, but no milk. He believes that children should not get
    whole milk until they are 1 year old. My son has been on follow up
    formula since he was 6 months old.

    I don't remember at what point I could introduce yogurt, but my 
    pediatrician used that to tell if my daughter was allergic to milk.
    
    I think the active cultures outweigh the negatives of the whole milk.
    
    judy

    I started my son on yogurt when he had a stomach flu and the doctor
    thought the cultures would help his diarrhea.  It worked well.  I use
    the lemon flavor so he did not have to chew (he had only two bottom
    teach at the time).  He still loves it and it helps if he gets
    irregular or runny.
    
    He was 8 months at the time.
    
    Michelle