question for primal parents page

[pipermaru]

i have been primal on and off for almost 2 years (was "off" when i was pregnant). my son is currently two months, exclusively breastfed and i have been reading up on baby-led weaning, which i plan to do around 6 months. i plan to keep him primal for as long as i have control over it. i was wondering if anyone has any information on what would happen if, say, a 6 year old was given a cupcake at school and had never been introduced to grains before. would he be fine, have a really bad tummy ache/poops or something more serious... i know i can only control so much of his diet for so long so i was wondering if it could be beneficial to introduce some friendlier grains (like sprouted grains) in his toddler years to avoid a serious reaction down the line...

i should note that i am gluten intolerant myself and notice he was colicky around the holidays when i let myself indulge a bit...

thanks for your help!

[Ayla2010]

He might react to it, but I don't think its going to disadvantage him to not have it at home.
My boys are 4 and 19 months and we are just over 2 months Primal. In that time there was a pre-school thing, and there was cakes and stuff (made with spelt flour, and not white sugar, more like honey or something) all over the table and both gorged themselves as it was right there, and I wasn't able to distract them with what I bought.
My oldest is now saying no to things now because he knows they have flour, a 6 year old would likely do the same. But I have since that day realised I can't be worried about events like this, as they don't happen often, and as they get older they will choose the right things for themselves, we can only do what we can to educate them.

[Ayla2010]

Forgot to add, that night my youngest threw up and neither slept well.

[HeyChelle]

baby led weaning at 6 months? Now that I've never heard of. Baby led weaning at 18 months, or two years, or even three years - sure. That makes sense. 6 month olds NEED that breast milk. My most independent child weaned herself at 14 months. Fortunately, my child with food allergies nursed until he was over 3 (I was on an elimination diet.) I'm not sure what we would have done had he weaned earlier.

As for your other question. If they are healthy and not intolerant/allergic, then they should be able to handle any new food as a school age child as long as it is on occasion as you mention. You certainly won't be doing any harm by keeping your child primal.

[Ayla2010]

HeyChelle
I think she means baby led solids (ie finger foods and no purees, letting them feed themselves)

[HeyChelle]

HeyChelle
I think she means baby led solids (ie finger foods and no purees, letting them feed themselves)

I see. Now that makes sense!

[Raine]

I don't think you need to feed him grains etc so he gets used to them. When he does eat junk, he will feel sick, yes. But that's also a good lesson for him as to why you feed him healthy foods. I don't think a gradual build up over time will stop an allergic reaction either, maybe before he goes to school get him tested for gluten intolerance etc just to be safe, then you can tell the school.

Unfortunately once they hit preschool they will be bombarded with junk (and peer pressure) from preschool parties etc and it continues on through all of school!. I must say this frustrates me a lot. My son's old school used to give the kids lollies as rewards for doing well in class and they wouldn't stop when asked. We have since changed schools, this one is much better but still dishes out the junk at school events/christmas etc.

[Ayla2010]

thankfully we don't have the lolly problem, as its a steiner school.(Also means they don't celebrate these big events which is great for us, as we don't either) The baking they do is with spelt flour, and other forms of sugar over white sugar (although I did tell them about agave being the worst, and they didn't use it again) my son in the last few weeks of school refused the rolls they baked (because its grains LOL, but he didn't make that connection with cake yet, but he is only 4). Once school goes back in 3 weeks, ill be saying that its an allergy over us just not wanting to eat grains, so they take me more seriously. I will send "treat" things with him so he doesn't feel like he is missing out but I think it will get easier over time, as today we were out at a cafe with my parents who had raisin toast, and neither of my boys asked for any.

[banananutmuffin]

I was adopted and came to this country when I was 9 months old. I am positive my parents fed me things that I never received over in my birth country, and I never had any kind of reaction to it. I agree that as long as your kid doesn't have any allergies, they likely won't experience any dangerous reaction to a sudden ingestion of grains or such.

ETA: I am not a breastfeeding Nazi or anything, but I do tend to agree that breastfeeding a baby until at least a year old is the best thing to do. It's the primal/paleo thing to do, for sure. My elder child showed signs of not wanting the boob around the age of 8 months... she pushed it away and fussed a lot in general. I *thought* it might be a sign that she wanted to wean, but upon retrospect I think it was other things (discomfort because she was teething, etc.). My one year old is still nursing. She loves the boob so much I fear I will never get her weaned. lol

[jedikelly]

check out Everyday Paleo from Sarah Fragoso - Paleo Recipes and Paleo Talk Podcast ; she has 3 children I think (maybe 4) and might able to shed more light on raising primal/paleo children