Paleo Baby
Nourish Balance Thrive
Recent Episodes
Worried you might be starting your baby off on the wrong foot by weaning onto all the foods that ended up causing you so much trouble? Are you tired (or frightened) of stick blenders, ice cub trays and sippy cups? Are your instincts telling you "there must be a better way to wean"? The minimalist approach to baby-led weaning Cara and Julia discuss in this interview is both simple and effective, listen in and then send us your questions!
Here’s the outline of this interview with Julia Kelly and Cara Champeny:
[00:00:18] Both Julia and Cara have been through the paleo baby weaning process.
[00:00:53] Cara, like me, has had her own personal health issues that were resolved by a paleo-type diet.
[00:01:44] Cara's older son Wills was weaned in the usual way (onto cereal grains).
[00:02:36] Wills also ended up with GI issues.
[00:02:58] Cara was sure she wanted to do things differently with her youngest daughter, Maisie.
[00:04:02] Baby-led weaning.
[00:04:15] Avoiding exposure you things you'd rather they didn't develop a palette for.
[00:04:43] Babies shouldn't need special food.
[00:05:39] Creating problems for yourself.
[00:06:00] Confidence and being different.
[00:06:27] Cara is able to get her own way at home when it comes to food.
[00:07:23] Julie initially looked to The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby & Child Care.
[00:08:16] Trading one dogma for another.
[00:08:29] Trust your instincts.
[00:09:37] The NT book was way too regimented.
[00:09:55] Julia waited until Ivy was sitting upright.
[00:10:24] Letting baby use their gums.
[00:11:37] Cara thought Maisie would be ready for food at 6 months, not so.
[00:12:40] Ivy was properly eating food at 8-10 months.
[00:13:12] You shouldn't need to prop them up for feeding.
[00:13:43] Introducing something other than sweet.
[00:14:04] The window of opportunity,
[00:14:23] Ivy started eating whole fruit age 2-3 years.
[00:15:02] Ivy loved holding things, e.g. a lamb chop bone.
[00:16:02] Gagging vs choking.
[00:17:18] Maisie got really good at "gagging food forward".
[00:19:50] Pre chewing food at 8-9 months.
[00:21:25] Wild Planet Wild Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
[00:21:32] US Wellness Meats. We particularly enjoy their liverwurst, braunschweiger, head cheese and pemmican.
[00:22:12] Pre chewing donates digestive enzymes.
[00:23:40] Maisie loves meat, loved pre chewed food.
[00:24:30] Could the absence of meat early cause aversions later?
[00:27:05] Simplifying things in the kitchen.
[00:28:04] Real food negates the need to worry about excess salt.
[00:29:36] Looking for the most nutrient dense foods possible.
[00:29:57] Special "stuff" for parents.
[00:30:57] Skip the mesh things, they're too hard to clean.
[00:31:22] Breast feeding is as easy as it gets, bottles and pumping are hard.
[00:32:06] No sippy cups.
[00:32:21] Klean Kanteen.
[00:32:42] Throwing out the daily schedule to reduce stress.
[00:34:13] Eating larger meals less frequently with a lot of fat.
[00:34:58] Eating for sustained energy and stable blood sugar.
[00:35:27] Ivy tended towards a 4-day cycle, eating more some days, less on others.
[00:36:05] Don't force feed.
[00:36:28] The importance of mindfulness.
[00:38:17] Emotional attachment to food.
[00:38:47] It Starts With Food (but doesn't end with food)
[00:39:53] Try not to project your own wants or needs onto the child.
[00:40:51] Surviving birthday parties.
[00:41:53] Not using treats as a tool.
[00:42:22] Gluten-free products.
[00:44:11] Cara tries to make light of the inevitable slip ups.
[00:44:50] The more you say don't eat that, the more they want it.
[00:46:39] Being reminded of the mistakes of the past.
[00:47:19] Laying the foundation early.
[00:47:53] The goal of a healing diet is the reintroductions.
[00:49:15] Not everything your paediatrician says has to happen.
[00:49:56] Real food Mamas podcast.
[00:50:06] Babies by science part I and Vaccines with Dr Tommy Wood.
[00:50:32] Avoiding egg white and nuts early.
[00:50:55] Our babies like good dark chocolate.
[00:51:22] Avacado.
[00:52:00] Squash and yam.
[00:52:10] Homemade jerky.
[00:52:30] Maisie loves fruit.
[00:52:51] Grain-, Gluten-, and Guilt-Free Pancakes by Chris Kresser.
[00:53:53] Ivy doesn't like things too sweet now.
[00:54:26] Root vegetables, winter squash cooked in bone broth.
[00:55:22] Ivy likes liver.
[00:55:41] Maisie likes salmon and venison.
[00:56:15] Salad bowl with sardines, mixed leaves capers, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, Seasnax.
[00:57:17] Kids in restaurants.
[00:57:40] Food culture is not the best in WI.
[00:58:22] Eating in a nice restaurant is easier when your kid doesn't like chicken tenders.
[00:58:58] Send us your questions!
Megan Sanctuary, MS, PhD candidate, is a student at the University of California, Davis. She is a member of the Milk Group that has been decoding mother’s milk for clues to lasting health for the past decade. She is currently using this basic science information to develop effective clinical interventions.
A feature of the evolution of lactation is the explicit development of a symbiotic relationship between microbes and the mammalian host. This relationship is emerging as a key process of proper development. Human milk feeds and guides the colonization of the infant gut microbiota and nourishes the phenotypic state and metabolic processes of bacteria evolved to this unusual ecological niche. A milk-oriented microbiota (MOM) sets the infant up for a lifetime of health. The crosstalk between maternal milk and the infant gut has been the focus of research of an interdisciplinary and highly integrated team, the Milk Group, at UC Davis, for the past decade. Megan's group have used the insights gained from basic science research to steer the development of clinical solutions. Interestingly, one of the most abundant components of human milk, oligosaccharides, provides no direct nutritional support to the infant. Instead, they have shown that these complex sugars actually selectively promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut while excluding potential pathogens. The specificity of this interaction is a key principle to understanding how the microbial ecology of the intestine goes wrong promoting conditions like irritable bowel syndrome in adults and necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants. This paradigm has been utilized in recent clinical trials with success, and we have also began to examine the gut microbiota-brain axis in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.
[00:03:32] Milk-oriented microbiota presentation at AHS 16.
[00:06:15] Implications for the microbiota.
[00:06:58] Critical periods of development.
[00:08:34] The functions of the microbiota.
[00:08:54] Oligosaccharides in milk are prebiotics for bacteria.
[00:10:16] Immune factors in milk, lactoferrin.
[00:12:56] "Lock and key" milk specificity.
[00:15:07] Donor milk.
[00:16:24] There is no substitute for human breast milk.
[00:17:55] Pasteurisation.
[00:19:06] WAPF milk formulations.
[00:22:57] Should we be consuming the milk of other animals?
[00:24:36] Raw dairy from a cow that you know.
[00:27:31] Other hormones in milk.
[00:27:50] Type 1 diabetes.
[00:29:19] Gut health could be the deciding factor.
[00:31:53] Necrotizing enterocolitis.
[00:32:34] Bifidobacteria supplementation (probiotics).
[00:33:35] Autism and antibiotics.
[00:35:03] Neurotransmitters and short-chain fatty acids.
[00:37:06] Environmental toxicity.
[00:41:54] Megan is consulting, email her.Please join me and my dear friend Toréa Rodriguez, FDP-P, as we introduce you to our upcoming project: The Whole Life Detox. This podcast will give you the inside scoop and an invitation to our free online mini-class: Whole Life Detox | A Holistic Approach to a Clean Environment.
On October 4th – Whole Life Detox: A Holistic Approach to a Clean Environment -FREE Webinar! 5pm PT / 8pm ET
Ever think about detoxing your home?—you should. More toxins than you can possibly imagine permeate the average home, but it is possible to get your home completely clean WITHOUT getting overwhelmed. On October 4th, Toréa and I are hosting a live Q&A Webinar to help you clean out your home simply and easily! Register for the event here.
How do you approach big parenting decisions? Do you find yourself confused and conflicted with what the “experts” say? Have you wrestled with the idea of “sleep training,” bedsharing, or nursing schedules for your baby? What if there was a way to approach all of the important topics so you were empowered to make the best choice for you and your family?
My guest Tracy Cassels offers a sound and unique perspective that I think will help a lot of parents. Tracy has an undergraduate degree in Cognitive Science, masters in Clinical Psychology, and PhD in Developmental Psychology. She is the founder and lead author of the site Evolutionary Parenting.
Evolutionary parenting is the idea that we have evolved and coevolved with our infants to create a unique relationship between babies and their caregivers. When we approach parenting challenges with the idea that these co-evolved relationships may, on a lot of levels, be at odds with our modern culture and way of life, it becomes clear that alternative solutions to these challenges may be imperative.
How much do you know about your baby’s basic biology and physiology? Enough to know what’s normal or abnormal when it comes to development? Join us as we dissect infant sleep patterns, how to approach sleep “research,” what ‘normal’ really means, and healthy sleep for modern families, all from the perspective of Evolutionary Parenting.
In this episode we take a detour through a slightly different topic for Paleo Baby. Disordered eating effects many people in many different ways. Eating too little, eating too much, body image, dieting, exercise, are all wrapped up in the definition and treatment of disordered eating. Unfortunately, those seeking help for this issue, and other mental health concerns, are often treated without regard to the person's biology, health challenges, or lifestyle, often leading to a long and bumpy recovery.
At Nourish Balance Thrive, we’ve learned that nothing can be treated in a vacuum. As alternative health care providers, we understand the importance of treating the whole person to get to the root cause. It’s rare to find mainstream practitioners who are willing to concede that diet and lifestyle might contribute to your overall health concerns, especially mental health. As a therapist, Erika Holmes defies the status quo and is a breath of fresh air in this important conversation. Join us as we break down a holistic approach to disordered eating- it’s main drivers, recovery, common questions, and a great discussion about what “normal eating” really is.
From Erika:
I’m a native Californian but now live and work in beautiful Denver Colorado. I have a Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) license in Colorado and California and a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology with an Emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University. I graduated with honors as a member of Psi Chi Honor Society. With over 10 years of clinical experience both in agency work and in private practice, I have extensive experience working with clients in a wide range of ages, struggles, and goals.
I believe that therapy is great, but shouldn’t last forever. My goal is for us to work hard, work smart, and then work myself out of a job. I want to empower you to make changes in your life that decrease suffering, increase awareness, and assist you in creating a life worth living and relationships worth having.
Learn more about me and my practice at ErikaHolmesMFT.com or ColoradoCFT.com. Email me at [email protected]