All About Supplements for Children

[mrswongtuition]

I give home made yogurt cos I saw the sugar levels in Petit Miam, I wanna faint already!


Can give yogurt daily, it's not a problem. Only problem is the sugar in commercial yogurt. If you want, you can try Paul's plain yogurt, then mix with your own fruits/fruit & vege juices

[autumnbronze]

Yes, I see the point about the high sugar content. I am also very particular about DS's sugar intake.


So I am discerning and selective - No sweets, no soft drinks, cakes just to name a few. These are treats for special occasions. Even his biscuits are organic, sweetened with grape fruit juice.

But, I see no point in shutting my DS from the reality - that he is exposed to such foods on the outside ie school, ILs, friend's house, restaurants, when we go for overseas trips and rather than totally 'police' his intake of food, I'd prefer that he grows up being discerning in his choice of food.

My personal philosophy - moderation with regards to what one eats.

My humble 2 cents

[mrswongtuition]

autumnbronze:

Yes, I see the point about the high sugar content. I am also very particular about DS's sugar intake.


So I am discerning and selective - No sweets, no soft drinks, cakes just to name a few. These are treats for special occasions. Even his biscuits are organic, sweetened with grape fruit juice.

But, I see no point in shutting my DS from the reality - that he is exposed to such foods on the outside ie school, ILs, friend's house, restaurants, when we go for overseas trips and rather than totally 'police' his intake of food, I'd prefer that he grows up being discerning in his choice of food.

My personal philosophy - moderation with regards to what one eats.

My humble 2 cents

If they grow up not exposed to such foods, they will not acquire a taste for it.

My boy does not put sweets into his mouth. No matter how you force, he will not eat it. He will spit it out. Too sweet for his liking!

[autumnbronze]

Kudos to you then mrswongtuition.


Your personal philosophy works for you.

:celebrate:

I should further add that for DS's case, despite being exposed to sweets and sometimes requests for it like say a lollipop for instance, I notice that he'll have a few licks and then tell me he doesn't want it anymore. He just wanted to taste it. Same goes for cakes too.

This is my method because our taste buds are liable to/may change over time (if you choose to believe that). I only developed a liking for oats some years back and some meat eaters become vegetarians for instance. So, for me, its imperative that he is taught to be discerning when it comes to food. Its the whole picture I am looking at. Because you see, even certain savoury food like preserved meat or hotdogs are not good for health if eaten on a regular basis, right?? or apart from gaining weight due to having a sweet tooth, one can also gain weight if one indulges in too much carbo or junk food.

Its been interesting reading your posts on health matters. I notice you really put in a lot of effort in ensuring that your DS eats healthy meals. I am just curious to know how do you manage when you are out or overseas with him.

[nanana]

autumnbronze:

Hi nanana,


Take a look at these two links. Hope you find them useful

http://health.learninginfo.org/benefits-yogurt.htm

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/benefits-of-yogurt

Oh thanks so much for the links! didn't know yogurt has so much benefits
Ok so I shall give my girl yogurt daily or as regular as I can cuz yogurt is not cheap too..

[autumnbronze]

nanana:

autumnbronze:

Hi nanana,


Take a look at these two links. Hope you find them useful

http://health.learninginfo.org/benefits-yogurt.htm

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/benefits-of-yogurt

Oh thanks so much for the links! didn't know yogurt has so much benefits
Ok so I shall give my girl yogurt daily or as regular as I can cuz yogurt is not cheap too..

Hi nanana,

Yes, I do agree that petit miam is not cheap.

But because he is not a regular milk drinker, so I have to supplement with yogurt, which has a high source of calcium, apart from tofu and others.

[mrswongtuition]

autumnbronze:

Its been interesting reading your posts on health matters. I notice you really put in a lot of effort in ensuring that your DS eats healthy meals. I am just curious to know how do you manage when you are out or overseas with him.

So far we've only brought him to familiar places which we know that we can arrange for food easily. We will usually place special order for the food once we arrive. When he was 10mth old, we brought along organic bottled food cos we were feeding him 100% organic food at that time. When he was almost 2yo, we brought some organic bottled veges to mix with the rice/porridge/noodles we ordered for him.

Now that he's older, he will take adult food with us. But I'll choose those dishes/meals with less sauce. Usually we will end up choosing the soupy stuff for him cos he loves soup.

When he was younger we would bring food out with us in Thermos, or find somewhere which they serve organic food.

My greatest shock was when I had to send him to childcare. Their menu had alot of processed food and my boy refused to eat them cos the food made him very thirsty. We ended up having to bring food for him everyday.

[schweppes]

mrswongtuition:

I give home made yogurt cos I saw the sugar levels in Petit Miam, I wanna faint already!

Hi mrswong, i'm interested in how you make your home made yogurt. Is there a special machine to buy? And is it difficult to do? Can you share how you do it?

my dds love yogurt, and it'll be nice to make some home made ones.

Thanks

[mrswongtuition]

schweppes:

mrswongtuition:

I give home made yogurt cos I saw the sugar levels in Petit Miam, I wanna faint already!

Hi mrswong, i'm interested in how you make your home made yogurt. Is there a special machine to buy? And is it difficult to do? Can you share how you do it?

my dds love yogurt, and it'll be nice to make some home made ones.

Thanks

Just share with you why I got this crazy notion of making yogurt. My boy was 100% BF until 18mths old. I was very unwilling to buy commercial yogurt as it's full of flavouring and it's made from cow's milk (kids under 1yo might be allergic).
So, I tried making yogurt from my BREASTMILK. First few times were flops. Then we got success but not consistent. So we decided to shop for a yogurt maker

There are a few different brands of yogurt machines.
Before I bought 1, I used the traditional method of making yogurt:
Heating up milk to right temp, stir in culture, transfer to thermos, cover and let it work it's magic.
But it's not always successful as there are many other factors to consider without a regular temperature control.

So we invested in one. We chose an ELECTRIC YOGURT MAKER (not those sold in Phoon Huat or health stores).
There are the higher ends ones available at Robinsons. Those are around $200 - 300 per set. They make the yogurt in small quantities (small bottles of around 300ml).

I bought a $55 one from CK Tang (basement). It makes yogurt in a large container (1L). You can choose to put lesser milk & you'll get lesser yogurt. It's designed in such a way that you can simply buy those Magnolia milk (in carton) and put it straight in. It does come with a container if you want to use your kiddo's regular FM.

For the start up culture, you can simply buy those ready packs (dehydrated powder) or use an old batch (stir in 1 spoon).
I normally buy organic starter culture. Sometimes I can't go all the way to Tanglin Mall to get it, I will use Paul's natural yogurt as starter.

[mrswongtuition]

Forgot to mention, you can control how you want your yogurt to turn out. I normally let it work for around 6 hours to maintain the milk's natural sweetness (more suitable for kids).


My hubs like yogurt that has been fermented for at least 8 hours - he likes the sourish tang.

We normally add cut fruits with fruit juice or fruit puree (mix & match) to make it naturally sweet & tasty

We store the yogurt in it's original container when making small batches.
When making large batches, use a clean spoon and portion into smaller containers. I normally sterilise the glass containers and the spoon with boiling water before using to store/scoop the yogurt to prevent contamination. Always use a clean spoon to scoop yogurt out from the containers.