What to Feed a Well-Nourished Baby

What to Feed a Well-Nourished Baby

The importance of breast-feeding your baby, especially during his first few months, cannot be overemphasized. Breast milk is perfectly designed for your baby's physical and mental development. Breast-fed babies tend to be more robust, more intelligent and freer from allergies and other complaints, especially intestinal difficulties, than those on formula. In addition, colostrum produced by the mammary glands during the first few days of a baby's life helps guard him against colds, flu, polio, staph infections and viruses. Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world. In certain cases, for instance - low milk supply, an unwell mother or adoption - infant formula is used (donated breast milk is also an option).

So, what is best for baby? It comes down to nutrition! Hands down, healthy breast milk is perfectly designed for baby's physical and mental development. In some situtations breastfeeding is clearly impossible, but if mom is able to breastfeed - it is absolutely imperative that she supplies her body with the right nutrients.

The typical modern diet is filled with products based on sugar, white flour, additives and commercial fats and oils, which do not nourish and build. The proper nutrients are necessary to create breast milk that will provide all a growing baby needs. These include good quality proteins from foods such as grass-fed meats and organ meats, good quality fats from butter, coconut oil, olive oil, cod liver oil and egg yolks, as well as complex carbohydrate-rich foods like vegetables, properly prepared (pre-soaked) whole grains and legumes. Think whole food, natural and seasonal, with a big emphasis on healthy fat.

Healthy Milk Comes From Healthy Mothers

The quality of breast milk depends greatly on the mother's diet. Sufficient animal products will ensure proper amounts of vitamin B12, A and D as well as all-important minerals like zinc in her milk. Lactating women should consume a diet that emphasizes organic liver, organic eggs and cod liver oil. Whole organic milk products and stock or broth made from bones will ensure that her baby receives adequate calcium.


1. Choose Organic. Pesticides and other toxins will be present in mother's milk if they are present in the diet, so all care should be taken to consume organic foods of both plant and animal origin during pregnancy and lactation. Organic foods also provide more omega-3 fatty acids needed for baby's optimal development.
2. Avoid Hydrogenated Fats. Hydrogenated(and partially hydrogenated) fats should be strictly avoided as these result in reduced fat content in mother's milk.
3. Avoid Trans fats. Trans fats accumulate in mother's milk and can lead to decreased visual acuity and learning difficulties in the infant.

Babies Four Months & Older: Egg Yolk - Nature's Perfect 1st Food

A wise supplement for all babies—whether breast fed or bottle fed—is an organic egg yolk per day, beginning at four months. Egg yolk supplies cholesterol needed for mental development as well as important sulphur-containing amino acids. Egg yolks from grass-fed hens or hens raised on flax meal, fish meal or insects are also rich in the omega-3 long-chain fatty acids found in mother's milk but which may be lacking in cow's milk. These fatty acids are essential for the development of the brain. Parents who institute the practice of feeding egg yolk to baby will be rewarded with children who speak and take directions at an early age. The white, which contains difficult-to-digest proteins, should not be given before the age of one year. Small amounts of grated, raw organic liver may be added occasionally to the egg yolk after six months. This imitates the practice of African mothers who chew liver before giving it to their infants as their first food. Liver is rich in iron, the one mineral that tends to be low in mother's milk possibly because iron competes with zinc for absorption.

Avoid Cereals: Babies Can't Digest Grains

Cereal grains should not be given to infants. Babies produce only small amounts of amylase, needed for the digestion of grains, and are not fully equipped to handle cereals, especially wheat, before the age of one year. Some experts prohibit all grains before the age of two. Baby's small intestine mostly produces one enzyme for carbohydrates—lactase, for the digestion of lactose. (Raw milk also contains lactase.) Many doctors have warned that feeding cereal grains too early can lead to grain allergies later on. Baby's earliest solid foods should be animal foods as his digestive system, although immature, is better equipped to supply enzymes for digestion of fats and proteins rather than carbohydrates.

Babies Six Months & Older
Carbohydrates, in the form of fresh banana (mashed), can be added after the age of six months. Bananas are rich in amylase enzymes and are therefore easily digested by most infants.

Babies Ten Months & Older
At the age of about ten months, organic meats, organic fruits and organic vegetables may be introduced, one at a time so that any adverse reactions may be observed. Carbohydrate foods, such as potatoes, carrots, turnips, etc., should be mashed with butter. Don't overdo on the orange vegetables as baby's immature liver may have difficulty converting carotenoids to vitamin A. If your baby's skin develops a yellowish color, a sign that he is not making the conversion, discontinue orange vegetables for a time. Lacto-fermented taro or other root veggies make an excellent carbohydrate food for babies. It is wise to feed babies a little organic buttermilk or plain organic yogurt from time to time to familiarize them with the sour taste.

Once your baby is a year or older, you can feed him or her a porridge of cereal grains, but only if the grains are soaked 24 hours before-hand (www.westonaprice.com for more information on soaking grains). Soaking in an acidic medium neutralizes phytates and begins the breakdown of carbohydrates, thus allowing children to obtain optimum nourishment from grains. It also provides lactic acid to the intestinal tract to facilitate mineral uptake.

Above all, do not deprive your baby of clean sources (organic, grass-fed, free-range) of animal fats - babies needs them for optimum physical growth and mental development. Mother's milk contains over 50% of its calories as fat, most of it saturated fat, and children need these kinds of fats throughout their growing years.

Avoid Fruit Juices
It is unwise to give a baby of any age fruit juices, even apple juice. Juice provies only simple carbohydrates and will often spoil an infant's appetite for more nutritious foods. Sorbitol, a sugar-alcohol in apple juice, is difficult to digest. Studies have linked failure to thrive in children with diets high in apple juice. High -fructose foods are especially dangerous for growing children, but even organic fruit juices have very little nutritional value.

Steer Clear of Processed Foods
Keep your baby away from processed junk foods as long as possible—but do not think that you can do this indefinitely. Unless you lock your child in a closet—or live in a closed community of like-minded parents—he or she will come in contact with junk foods sooner or later. Your child's best protection in later years will be the optimal diet that you have given him or her during infancy, your loving example and the eating habits you instill.


Copyright: Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enid, PhD. © 1999. All Rights Reserved.