How to Feed a Henry

For the past seven weeks, we have removed dairy from Henry's diet. We wanted to test whether it could help clear up the fluid in his ears and reduce the chance that he would continue to get ear infections. In the meantime, Henry has been evaluated by two Ear, Nose & Throat specialists and had a series of treatments by an osteopath .  Henry is in great health, except for the ongoing fluid in his ears. Last week, we visited Henry's pediatrician for his 18-month check-up. Henry is meeting all milestones and his health is generally thriving. Unfortunately, his ears are still completely blocked with fluid. While we are not excited about this outcome, Daddy and I feel like we have done what we can with alternative low-invasive treatment options. Henry is scheduled for ear tube surgery tomorrow morning. Making non-dairy meals for our family was generally easy and didn't require many sacrifices. For the most part, our whole family participated, but Daddy and I did spl...

For the past three weeks, Henry has been dairy-free in an effort to reduce his susceptibility to ear infections. This is a big change for our family's diet. Since introducing solids, we have frequently given Henry dairy products. In addition to drinking whole milk , he would often eat yogurt , cheese , kefir milk, and foods cooked using cream and butter . Dairy foods are some of his favorites, but we decided to give this a shot on a trial basis to see if it could help improve Henry's health . Henry drinks a dairy alternative with his afternoon snack. Not only is Henry dairy-free at home, we also notified his daycare provider about this change. The staff asked me to write a note clarifying what foods we wanted to restrict. Since dairy can be found in many surprising places , they needed a clear understanding about what foods are not allowed.  Daddy and I gave them a list of foods Henry is avoiding during this trial period:  Milk Yogurt Cheese Cream cheese Sour ...

Last week I took Henry to the pediatrician. He was diagnosed with yet another ear infection. This is his fifth serious ear infection over the past seven months. The pediatrician gave us another round of antibiotics and was concerned enough to refer us to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist for an evaluation.  Henry's usually bubbly personality changes for the worse when he gets an ear infection. When Henry is sick his usually bubbly and outgoing personality changes to clingy and cranky. He has trouble sleeping for more than a few hours at a time, without crying out for comfort. It's rough on the whole family when he does not sleep well because his ears are hurting. I am tired of giving Henry multiple antibiotics and I am worried that his hearing and speech development are being affected. Ear infections are fairly common in young children and there is a lot of conflicting advice about how to treat them. The most common treatment for recurring ear infections are ear tub...

Yesterday, I wrote about preparing to expose Henry to foods that have a higher potential for allergen. I should have posted that story a few weeks ago, but it just didn't make it into the queue until now.  So what was our first allergy prone food for Henry? We started with shellfish, fresh local oysters. I was surprised that Daddy seemed less apprehensive about this then I was. Daddy and Nana harvest oysters on Hood Canal. Harvesting and grilling oysters was a new experience for our family, but one that will be very memorable. If you like fresh seafood and have the opportunity to harvest and grill your own oysters, I highly recommend it.  A few weeks ago we stayed on Hood Canal for a long weekend with the family. Our vacation house was right on the water adjacent to a former oyster bed. At low tide, we were able to walk down to the sand and pick out any oysters we could reach. Nana and I also had a quick tutorial from a local about how to shuck oysters. ...

Allergies are a topic that causes parents a lot of anxiety, including me. When we first started introducing Henry to food, we decided to forgo the one food at a time rule. It seemed overly cautious and cumbersome to wait days between new foods, especially when there is no history of allergic reaction in our family.  We have been careful, however, with foods that have a family history of allergy. Daddy has an allergy to shellfish, although it developed when he was an adult. He also is peanut and dairy intolerant, but occasionally indulges in Thai food and ice cream . In addition, I had strong reactions to strawberries and peaches as a small child, allergies that disappeared as I grew older. Henry eats almost anything, but are we ready to introduce potential allergens? Reassuringly, the CDC reports that less than 5% of American children have a food allergy. Some studies have shown that delayed exposure to allergenic foods has no effect on the likelihood of dev...

After starting things off with a splash of lemon , I wanted to know what we should actually start feeding Henry. Lemons are a great source of Vitamin C and a squeeze of lemon juice is a nice option for flavoring other foods, but I’m not planning to feed him lemons every day. Henry is going to need something more. So where do we go from here? Everyone I talk with seems to have a different approach for introducing babies to solid foods. There are an overwhelming number of rules and recommendations, many of which conflict with each other. Sorting through the information is daunting and confusing. One pediatrician recommends rice cereal first, while another says whole grain oatmeal is more nutritious. One expert says to try homemade purees, while another says that babies can have large finger foods. One friend says bananas and mangoes are good starter foods, while another says to avoid fruits first since Henry will develop a sweet tooth. Green vegetables first, then yellow, then o...