My husband and I recently moved to China and we have a 6 month old baby boy. We aren't comfortable feeding him any chicken or pork yet, but I do want him to get protein somehow so I thought of tofu. I was NOT a huge fan of tofu, I think living in the States where we don't know how to cook tofu and it's not the real stuff it has made me not like it, but since being here I have tried a few and it really isn't that bad! So for my son, what is the best tasting tofu to give him. I know NOTHING about tofu and so I'm not sure where to start in picking a good tasting one.
Thank you for your help!
I don't have an answer for you, but two questions spring to mind.
#1. With flavoured tofu, what is the flavoring (chemical?) and how much salt.
#2. What is your baby like with beans? More specifically your babies gut/poop/diapers.
Other considerations. The white soft tofu is generally pretty tasteless, but will take on the flavor of anything you cook it with/in.
Babies often spit out anything new, and their tastes are often different to ours. Most prepared babyfoods tasted awful to me.
@tigertiger: I haven't given my son beans yet, I have just kept him on fruit and vegetables so far. He has had a hard time when it comes to bowel movements so I am trying to get him on prunes or something, but I do want to try to give him some protein soon!
I assume you know that tofu is made from beans. Other sources of protein include fish, eggs, and dairy.
Lots of f&v should give him plenty of fibre. The problem with fibre is that if you don't get enough fluid, you can get constipated.
I have seen prunes in Metro and Carrefour on DianChiLu. Pears are also supposed to be good. I am trying to remember if I have seen prune juice anywhere. Sugar water is also good for constipation, apparently, dissolve brown sugar in warm water (strong concentration).
Luckily there is lots of advice on the internet about baby constipation.
I would check with a good doctor and see if it's ok to feed tofu to the kid.
Although tofu can be a digestive rollercoaster. I read the enzymes breaking up the tofu stuff in our, western digestive systems, could struggle with it. That said, Me and most of my friends never have tofu problems.
For the kid,
In general I assume there is nothing wrong with, going in, but there could be a bigger problem 'at hand' when it comes out. Since it has a lot of stuff that makes pooping a remarkable experience for the parents.
About the quality of tofu, I would use the softer ones for obvious reasons.
Or even better make your own. It's easy and you know what is in the tofu.
There is an article from Colin -I think- on how to make it.
I assume you are not doing breast-feeding, because if you do, protein shouldn't be of any concern. If you are not feeding him safe baby formula, you need to be very careful with what to supplement as protein intake. Babies under 12 months can not digest pretty much any other kind of protein except mothers' milk; because baby's digestion system isn't fully developed.
Tofu is made from beans, beans is much harder to digest than most vegetables because they contain high level of protein, they generate gas during digestion process, it can cause severe stomachache to a baby. You should check with a pediatrician before feeding him tofu. And I remember I was told by my pediatrician in the States not to feed my baby any cow milk or egg or honey or any processed nuts product(like peanut butter) until he is at least one year old.
At 6 month, you can give him thin rice cereal(or mix with oats cereal) and soft fruit and cooked(processed) vegetables; add other protein after he is 12 months old.
internet search of babies and protein gives infomation that disagrees with some of what the last poster said about babies not digesting protien. it might be worth checking on there for advice from MDs and not hearsay on here. babies are growing and need protien.
Ifoundthetuna - but then, if the baby grows up here, and although it seems he is the child of 'westerners', he won't have to have a typical western digestive system. Why not ask Chinese parents what they feed their babies?
At 6 months, I wouldn't worry a bit. Your baby should still be getting all calories from your milk or formula. Food before 1 is just for fun. You can do veggie and fruit purees or just stick a piece of long food (think french fry or broccoli spear size) that they can grasp and gum to get the taste. First foods for mine were avocado, broccoli, banana, sweet potato, squash, etc. Most will get spit out for the next few months :) We skipped rice cereal, but tried some oatmeal with fruit. Yogurt was also a hit around a year or so. She got no food at all until a few days after 6 months of age, and for a few months wasn't even given food once a day. It's just introducing new tastes and textures.
As for tofu, I think my kid was under a year when we gave it to her. It's one of her favorites. We're in the US now, but we get the good stuff and cook it to be very flavorful. If you're not sure how to cook it, you should be able to find lots of tips online. Avoid the stinky tofu! :-P Have fun! Convincing your kids to eat all the yummy things you love is so much fun.
One of the very few things I and my MIL both agreed was a boiled egg yolk mixed with mothers milk or formula (Shipped from USA).
Started the egg yolk once per day. At 6 or 7 months 2 yolks a day.
Look up Weston A Price foundation for other ideas.
The yolk is full of great nutrition and easy to digest.
You will not find western or CHinese brand baby meat products. At 8 or 9 months most get fround meat and boil it and puree it much like the Nurishing Traditions baby bood reciepes on Weston A Price web pages
Tofu? Increases Insulin, Insulin Like Growth Factor -1
I do even eat my wifes tofu. But then I aim for a ketogenic diet.
Eric
