What not to feed your baby..

Rach-

I have a few exciting food posts percolating; however, I need to get my promised baby post in before you return from your vacation. Though maybe you should pay close attention, since Mike and I will be dropping your niece and nephew off at your place for a few days mid-September.

Hee hee, just joking (though if you were interested...)

Due to something I am coming to refer to as 'second child syndrome,' this will not be a 'what to feed your baby' post. No, this is more of a 'what not to feed your baby.' While Coby has always had a healthy appetite, in the past month she has consumed the following non-baby-recommended items:

Dog food - I wish that I could say that this was an isolated incident, but my baby has managed to get to the dog food bowl several times.
Felt Marker - I actually tried to wipe off washable marker from her tongue. Blue marker. Please don't recall my recent discussion on feeding your child dye-free cheese.
Dirt - Lots and lots of dirt. And sand. Fortunately she discovered before our camping trip that dirt does not taste good.
Ice Cream- Daddy has given the princess the remainder of his cone on several occasions this summer.

The list goes on. Another symptom of second child syndrome is that baby #2 does not get special meal treatment but begins to partake in family meals at a much younger age (with or without teeth - yes my 11 month-old has no teeth). Mike and I have always been a bit lazy about spoon-feeding our babies - thus starting at an early age Coby, like her brother before her, eats a lot of finger food.

A friend introduced me to Real Food for Mother and Baby by Nina Planck. Nina emphasizes a diet of whole foods - lots of full fat dairy, veggies, and meat. Nina also supports my philosophy of not needing to fuss with a lot of additional food preparation for my older baby, but feeding babe food from the family table. This book also made me realize the importance of meat as an iron source for babies. I have to admit (sorry Nina), that I can't totally break away from the convenience of carbs, but I do try to stick to whole grains. The one thing that I have made the decision to stop using is just-add-water baby cereal, I stick to oatmeal and blueberries for breakfast, and ensure that my little monkey is getting iron from natural sources.

I have to run. Coby is into the dog food again.