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The Debate About Milk

Photo Credit: mary mackinnon via Compfight cc

My friend asked a simple question “I don’t personally like cow’s milk so do I have to give it to my baby when she turns 1?”.  The question slowly turn into a conversation with other moms about organic vs. non-organic, grass-fed vs. non grass-fed cows, and why other milk options are or aren’t as beneficial to babies.  Every mom involved had a strong opinion!  Who knew a simple question could spark a debate?

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children delay receiving cow’s milk until after they are 12 months old.  The organization recommends pasteurized, whole cow’s milk for most babies because of the high fat content helping to absorb vitamins and minerals and for brain development.  If there is a history of childhood obesity, 2% milk may be recommended but families should talk to their pediatrician.  (Source: www.aap.org)

But what to do if you’re not a fan of cow’s milk?  Or worse, what if your baby has a milk allergy or intolerance?  Cow’s milk is important for calcium, vitamin D, protein, fat, and hydration. There are so many milk options out there: soy milk, almond milk, hemp milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, and more coming to a store near you! Their nutrient compositions are similar to cow’s milk but nothing is exactly the same.  It’s a very personal decision how to feed your child, and one that you should talk about with your pediatrician and Registered Dietitian Nutritionist.  If you decide to switch to an alternative milk, make sure you supplement with other foods that contain the important nutrients your baby needs.

I was shocked that some moms would argue against cow’s milk, but why not try to see where they are coming from?  There are a lot of nutrition myths out there about food and I heard a lot of them that day, ranging from hormones in milk to absorbable calcium. Nutrition information is everywhere, but moms should really look to pediatricians and Registered Dietitian Nutritionists for advice.  I took the opportunity to educate my friends about dairy products and nutrition, and also stressed the importance that all foods fit into a healthy diet.  Moms and dads shouldn’t feel ashamed about any nutrition decision they make for their family.  After all, it’s a very personal decision as to how to feed your children.  So what is this dietitian going to do?  I will give my baby whole cow’s milk when he turns one year old.  I will also let him try different kinds of milk with an attitude that all foods fit into a healthy lifestyle.

 

 

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Mom Asks, MDIO Answers: Are your children hiding bites of food?

Are your children hiding bites of food?
By Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE, CEDRD, CDN and Mom of Two

 

A real mom asks:

MDIO recently received a question about how to handle a young child who hides her food. The mom explained that her daughter regularly showed her empty dinner plates. Her regular response would be: “What a great job!” Later, she would find her child’s food hidden somewhere. When this mom asked her daughter why she was hiding her food rather than eating it, the child responded: “I don’t know.” I’m sure many parents can relate to this in one way or another.

 

A real mom/RD answers:

There always seem to be so many challenges when feeding our little ones! Here are some suggestions to explore…and hopefully help to resolve your “missing” food dilemmas.

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1. Eat meals with your children or at least sit down at the table during their meal times. Not only will this prevent your children from having easy opportunities to get up to hide their food but it may also foster valuable conversations and enjoyable family time together. Your children may be acting out…or silently asking for attention…or just trying to gain approval for dessert!

 

2. Stop giving praise for finishing all of their dinner! Yup, that’s right! Praise your children for trying foods, sitting at the table, and sharing their day’s activities with you…but definitely not for cleaning their plates! Keep in mind that your kids will typically overeat or hide their food to garner praise for eating 100% of their meal…or sometimes just to follow the table rules you mistakenly may have set!

 

3. Start talking with your children about listening to their bodies’ cues for hunger and fullness. Teach them to notice how they feel at the beginning of a meal, the middle of a meal, and at the end of a meal. Then check in with them to see how they feel an hour after. This will help your children learn to use “self talk” and check in with their own bodies as they get older—and hopefully cultivate a lifetime of  internally regulating their food intake by way of mind and body clues. And please let your children know they do not need to eat everything on their plate!

 

4. Give your children a choice of two different dinners. The act of choosing helps to give your children feelings of pride and independence. For example, you might ask: “Do you want roast chicken with sweet potatoes and green beans tonight or would you prefer rice and beans with ham and green beans?”

Photo Credit: theloushe via Compfight cc

5. Cook with your children to help identify which foods they like while also teaching them some of the fundamentals of living. Learning how to cook, set the table, clear the table, and even clean up the kitchen help children to understand the basics of nutrition, the time spent, and the constant effort required to feed a family. Your children will be more likely to respect meal times and less likely to hide their food…and then start “grazing” later.

 

6. Play detective! Observe if your children are grazing…or eating more snack foods or just some specific foods…before or after the meal. (And don’t forget to check out whether instances of food hiding have occurred.)

 

7. Finally, don’t forget that heart-to-heart talks are always helpful. Sit down with your children and let them know you will not be angry…or yelling…at them! (But you must remember to keep that promise!) Then try to explore their feelings about and behaviors during the meal and, perhaps even more revelatory, other things that may be affecting their food consumption behaviors.

 

Have a question for Laura? Ask her by clicking here! 

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Proud to Be A Mama Gift Giving

Proud to Be A Mama Gift Giving
By Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE, CEDRD and Mom

 

Are you in need of a last minute gift? Two weeks ago I found these great finds at the Citibabes Holiday Shopping Event. So read on to support moms and I am sure you will be known as one of the coolest gifters this season.

Photo Credit: JD Hancock via Compfight cc

 

Moms Are Rocking It. Here are five great companies with entrepreneurial moms and one with a dad that have great products worth gifting this season. So support other moms and give a healthy gift.

 

The Poncho Baby Nursing Cover – OMG this soft cover is amazing for private breastfeeding in public and can double as a stroller cover. This is the best baby shower gift or holiday gift for those expecting!! And the covers are made in the USA!! Such a cool concept for progressive moms in a big city! www.ponchobaby.com

 

Kalulu Kids – Just love this Brooklyn mom and her beautiful tunics for both boys and girls!! They are soft, super cool and versatile. I asked mom Milbert to make one for me. I love them so much that I want to wear them!!  Oh, they may look French, but these petite garments are proudly made in the USA and do not have a pretentious price tag!! www.KaluluKids.com

Little Duck Organics – Okay, so a dad of three started and runs this company. LDQ are cute and healthy snacks, but my favorite thing about this product is that the cups of grains come in a container that converts to a garden complete with seeds. After baby eats the cereal, plant the dish in some soil, water and watch it grow. Superfragilisticexpialidocious! Stuff stockings with these snacks or gift to new moms!! www.LittleDuckOrganics.com

Bitsy’s BrainFood – Want smart children? Want healthy kids? Two moms, Maggie and Alex have created the first educational cookie that contains omega 3 fatty acids. The cookies are letter shaped for education and contain omega 3 fatty acids for brain development. These intelligent moms got it right, because they put the correct form of omegas – DHA from a fish source in their cookies. And did I tell you they contain ½ serving of fruits and veggies? Yup! I am such a fan that I have now become their spokesperson!! Check out the educational and interactive site www.BitsysBrainfood.com and look for my blogs in the grown up’s section.

Atolya – Another brilliant mom just started this brilliant company about two months ago. She is selling the most beautiful Turkish bath towels. Sima, mom and founder of Atolya is originally from Turkey where they use very soft but thin linens. So they absorb the water quickly but dry even faster. The towels are multipurpose!! They can be used for bathing, sun bathing, as a sarong or even as a throw. And they are super light so ideal for beach days or traveling. They are the perfect gift for a new home, a new couple, or a traveling family. www.atolya.com

 

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Healthy Halloween Ideas + Wholesome Haunted Halloween Contest Winners!

Happy Almost-Halloween! We are happy to announce the winners of our Wholesome Haunted Halloween Contest with Bitsy’s Brainfood. Our winners were kind enough to share their wonderful ideas for a healthy halloween and we’re very excited to share them with you:

Rachael R:
www.nboysmommy.typepad.com

My BBF (Battle Buddy Forever) Nicky and I met in the Army over a decade ago.  We were literally “Battle Buddies” training to be leaders in the real life transition of adult and womanhood.  We banded together then, to force the change in our lives for better fitness and health. We rendered triumph in our journeys, acknowledging that DIET is an utmost factor.

Today, as mothers, we continue to band together to keep our children enriched with healthy lives.  We value their nutritional foundations. Although we choose health over popularity food with our children, we’re very proud to live our lives in a way where not a single one of them are short on fun or experience just because of a conscious diet.

Our candy-free Halloween celebrations are full of fun, edible indulgences:

  • Bloody Brains (chicken meatloaf and tomato herb sauce)
  • Scrambled Brains (green food colored scrambled eggs)
  • Vampire tongues (crisp bacon) and flying ghouls! Yep, those pancake ghosts fly right into our mouths!
  • Our witch finger breadsticks are LITERALLY finger-licking good
  • WE just forgot to tell the vampires, that their teeth would get stuck!

Happy Healthy Halloween!


Mary-Kate C:
http://www.3boysandagirl2.blogspot.com/

When it comes to picky eaters, you can’t beat an almost 4 year old!  Our son won’t eat or try anything new… unless you somehow put a “cool” spin on it! So as a mom who wants her kids to eat healthy and be exposed to a variety of foods, you have to get creative! Some of my ideas for healthy, creative Halloween snacks are:

  • Fruit Cup Jack-O-Lanterns:  We took orange fruit cups, drew Jack-O-Lantern faces on them, taped a green spoon to the back (for the stem) and Ta-Da!  A cute & spooky spin on a healthy snack!
  • Ghost Bananas: Cut a banana in half cross-wise and then in half length-wise. Put some peanut butter on it, raisins for the eyes and mouth and boom! – A ghostly banana treat!
  • Spiders: Make deviled eggs. Cut a black olive in half and put half on the yolk part of the egg, slice the other half and use it as legs for the spider!  Scary and yummy!
  • Vampire Teeth:  Put peanut butter between 2 apple slices and use almonds as the teeth.  Yumm!
  • Give me a Hand:  Take a rubber glove and fill it with popcorn!  So easy and yummy too!

These are some easy ways that I have found I can get my almost 4 year old and friends to enjoy some healthy treats but also make them fun for them!  🙂

 

And we’ve been getting into the spirit at Mom Dishes It Out. Check out some of our spooky and scary Halloween ideas below (PS they’re great activities for both you and the kids)!

Soup In a Cauldron

We love making and eating soup in the Fall months. The weather gets chillier, plus soups are a great way to pack in some extra nutrition! You can add a can of beans for extra protein and fiber or throw in a cup or two of kale for a boost of vitamins, the options are endless.
One of our favorite things to do around Halloween is to make a big pot of soup and pretend that we’re making a witches’ brew. For a super fun activity with the kids, dress up as witches and warlocks and get to cooking in your cauldron!

 

Frankenstein

We love avocadoes and guacamole, so what better way to dress up this dish for Halloween than labeling it Franken-Food. If you’re having a party you can have the kids make labels for a fun and creative activity. It’s always fun to make Frankenstein footprints out of paper and make a path on the floor to the food table. A great addition is using carrots or cucumber sticks as “fingers” to dip.

 

Mud Yogurt

We love Greek yogurt and our kids love traditional mud cups. So, we thought of a compromise that added some nutrition, but kept the snack fun and festive. We recommend adding a tablespoon of cocoa powder to Greek yogurt and stirring until it reaches a mud-like color. Feel free to add more until you reach the desired coloring. You can throw in some gummy worms or crumble up a chocolate cookie for dirt.

Or if your children prefer smoothies, you can add cocoa powder to your family’s favorite smoothie recipe. This way your kids can drink the “mud” and enjoy a fun Halloween activity.

 

Do you have any festive activities you do with your family to celebrate Halloween? 

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The Hamburger Bun (minus the hamburger)

They boys absolutely love to go food shopping with me. So when it’s time to restock the kitchen, Billy and Bobby hop into the double stroller, and the three of us take a nice long walk to the Whole Foods in Tribeca (my favorite of their Manhattan locations).

It’s not just the boys who benefit from our little shopping excursions either; I love sharing this experience too, since it gives them the opportunity to pick out all their favorite foods while getting a taste for all the beautiful fruits and veggies on display. Quirky fun fact: They also love checking out ostrich and emu eggs.

While perusing the supermarket aisles, the boys usually grab household staples off the shelves like Kashi Heart to Heart, Laughing Cow cheese and hummus. But on our last trip, Bobby decided to pull one out of left field and toss hamburgers buns into the cart. Hamburger buns?

Of course, my gut reaction was, “Ugh, why can’t my kids try a fruit or vegetable instead of another form of bread?” It wasn’t long before I came to my senses though, and thought, “Well, why not?”

I asked Bobby what he would use the rolls for (considering he doesn’t eat hamburgers), to which he innocently replied, “peanut butter.” Case closed. We bought them.

That night, I decided to take advantage of the rolls to whip up a “grilled chicken sandwich”—a hearty and wholesome meal I knew Bobby would enjoy. (I also knew getting him to try it would be a challenge. More on that to come.)

To create my masterful meal, I simply placed Bell & Evans breaded chicken tenders between the whole-wheat buns and slathered on some ketchup. As predicted, Bobby protested, screaming that he didn’t like it even though he hadn’t taken a bite yet.

Standing in the dining room, Bobby glared at the sandwich as if it were crawling with bugs. “You like all of these foods individually,” I told him. “Just try it.” It’s true; Bobby likes chicken and ketchup and bread. The idea that he could be so repulsed by the combination of all three ingredients was not beyond comprehension.

It wasn’t easy, but after a bit of gentle encouragement, I saw Bobby out of the corner of my eye as he walked over to the once disgusting sandwich and took a bite. And you know what? He did like it! In fact, Bobby liked the sandwich so much that he grabbed the remains and brought it with him into the living room, chomping away while watching TV.

Like I’ve said before, I’m by no means perfect. But on that fateful evening, Bobby and I actually accomplished something: he tried—and approved of—a new combination of food. It was a triumph in my mind.

Would I have preferred if he ate his chicken sandwich in the kitchen, at a table, near a napkin and while my husband and I, instead of staring at the TV? Yes. But sometimes, especially when dealing with a fussy eater, you have to pick your battles.

Do your kids claim to hate foods before trying them? How did you coax them into taking a bite?