TMC Weaning Talk - By Mrs Wong Boh Boi

Being a first time mom, I often feel inadequate about caring for Kenan. So whenever there are talks which I think are useful, I will try to attend, granted that I'm not busy with work. Last Wednesday, I was at another weaning talk, this time Mrs Wong was the only speaker and it was organised by TMC.

Food and allergies

I was about 15 minutes late; Mrs Wong was talking about the different types of food and their potential in causing allergy when I arrived. I didn't manage to copy all the types of food. Below is what I jotted down:

Level 1 (least allergic):
Rice, pear, prune, apple, pork

Level 2 (can cause some allergies):
Barley, apricot, beef, wheat, plum, spinach, cabbage, oat, cherry, cauliflower, broccoli, banana, potato, corn, chicken, peach, turnip

Level 3 (common allergy culprits):
Legume, berries, cow’s milk

She advised that if babies develop rashes from eating any of the above food (the reactions usually show up within 4 hours of consuming the food), parents should stop it for one week, then reintroduce it again and in smaller amounts.

But if serious allergies develop, e.g. swollen eyes, difficulty breathing, then keep it away for a much longer period.

Preparing baby purees and stock

When it comes to preparing baby purees, Mrs Wong feels that using fork to mash the food is good enough. She said it's alright to give babies foods that is textured rather than being too finely blended.

In addition, when it comes to some vegetables and fruits where the skin needs to be remove, such as pumpkin and potato, don't peel the skin first. Instead, steam them first then scoop out the flesh as this will help retain some of the vitamins found in the skin, said Mrs Wong.

Moving on to the preparation of stock, she commented that fish bones are a good option. Next comes pork bones, then chicken and others. Pork is a better option than chicken because the latter are usually injected with growth hormones, unless you are using kampong chicken, then that should be safer.

She said when making stock, don't chop the bones into small pieces and don't cook them for too long. The recommended time is about two hours. Chopping the bones into small pieces and overcooking will cause the marrow to seep into the stock and there had been some reports pointing to the potential danger of certain diseases being passed to humans through the consumption of bone marrows (such as mad cow disease).

In making the stock, Mrs Wong recommended double boiling as you will get a good concentrated stock of goodness. If you don't have a double boiler or a 炖盅 at home,  the other way to do it is to put the bones in a smaller pot, then put that into a larger pot filled with some water and then boil it (it's not necessary to add water into the small pot of bones, but if you want to have a bit more stock, can add a tiny amount). By the way, it seems like only a small amount of stock is produced each time, so if you want to make enough to freeze, then you need to buy more bones. Mrs Wong said the stock can be frozen for up to a month.

If you are making fish stock, remember to sieve it and remove any bones. For the other kinds of stock, skim off some fats as babies can't take too much  fats.

In addition, it is good to let baby test out the stock to see if there's any allergies before using it to make porridge.

Then someone in the audience mentioned about using ikan bilis to make stock for babies. Mrs Wong said to avoid ikan bilis because it’s too salty and is bad for small babies, especially their kidneys (same for things like Bovril; after all, they should not take salt until they reach one-year-old). Then another participant suggested soaking it overnight, but Mrs Wong pointed out doing so will remove all the nutrients.

Other types of food

Fish: Cod and threadfin are good to introduce first. Salmon's taste is stronger so mommies may like to start that a bit later.

Noodles: Some Chinese yellow noodles contain a certain type of acid (I didn't manage to catch the name) which is bad for babies (and pregnant moms). A good alternative is to use Italian pasta.

Soy products: Don't give boys too much soy-based products as the estrogen can affect the male reproductive organs. Even girls should not eat too much as it can cause early menstruation.

Spinach: Maximum three times a week, if not will have too much iron.

Egg yolks: Maximum three yolks a week*

Chinese herbs: Cordycep (东虫草)  can be taken from one year onwards. Red dates and wolfberries (枸杞) are good and can be given to babies. But wolfberries can be sourish if cooked for too long, so put in later. Red dates must remove seeds if not it will be heaty. Bird’s nest has a high risk of causing allergy, so give much later when child is a few years old.


*After note: I was doing some reading up on the internet and noted that there are some slight difference in opinions as to when egg yolks can be introduced to a weaning baby. Some websites state from eight to nine months, others say it's ok to give from six months onwards. But when it comes to egg white, all agree that it is to be given from one year onwards.

Weaning Your Baby - A Philip Avent Event

Last Saturday, we attended ‘Weaning Your Baby’, an event organised by Philip Avent. The programme included talks by Dr Yvonne Ng Peng Mei, Consultant, National University Hospital and Mrs Wong Boh Boi, Assistant Director, Thomson Medical Centre, as well as a live demonstration on how to prepare two yummy baby recipes using the Avent steamer cum blender. Participants were later treated to a scrumptious buffet lunch.

Below are my takeaways from what the two speakers had shared.

Dr Ng – Tips on Weaning

Dr Ng highlighted that according to international guidelines on weaning, the recommended period for babies starting on semi-solids is not before 17 weeks and not later than 26 weeks. She stressed that babies need energy-dense and nutrient-dense food, which are to complement and not replace milk.

She advised that new food be introduced every few days to see if baby can tolerate it. She said that the most common sign of allergy is break out of rashes. Parents should worry when their babies develops serious signs of allergy like swollen eyes and difficulty breathing. Egg white, peanut and seafood, which are common in causing allergies, should be delayed till one year old.

Lumpy foods can be introduced from 10 months onwards. When babies reach eight, nine months old, they can be given finger foods. Parents should note that salt should not be used in baby’s food until after baby turns one-year-old.

As for fruit juices, Dr Ng cautioned against giving too much – it should be limited to 120ml per day for babies less than 12 months, and not more than 240ml for babies older than 12 months.

She added that meal times should be an enjoyable affair for the baby. However, there should not be excessive playing during feeding either.

Food guideline:

6 months – purees, mashed foods
8 months – finger foods
12 months – family food

She directed the audience to the Health Promotion Board’s website for more information.

When Dr Ng flashed the HPB guidelines on the screen, some members of the audience were surprised. Dr Ng said the recommended portions do appear quite large, so asked parents to moderate it (I took a look at the guideline again after the event; it says for babies up to 12 months, so perhaps that's why the portions look big? For younger babies, we just need to reduce the amount accordingly).

Mrs Wong – Make Feeding Fun and Educational

As Dr Ng had mentioned, Mrs Wong reiterated that parents should make eating fun, and one way to do so is to let babies eat with the family. This is also a good way for babies to learn socialising. In addition, she advised parents not to let babies eat in a corner of the house, it’s as if they are being punished. Parents can also make feeding fun by taking turns to feed each other – mommy feed baby, and baby feed mommy!

Mrs Wong noted that some parents like to keep wiping baby’s mouth when feeding. She told parents not to be obsessed with wiping, and accept that feeding a baby is going to be a messy affair. The reason being that babies associate wiping of mouth as the end of a meal, so if parents keep wiping, they will get confused and wonder why have they finish eating so many times! This drew bouts of laughter from the audience.

As for types of first foods, infant cereal is the most common. According to the slide she showed, from six months, parents can prepare cereal by adding four tablespoons of infant cereal to 200ml of milk in a bowl. Mixed into a paste and feed baby with a teaspoon.

Other examples of food that are good as first foods include sweet potato, potato, porridge, papaya, banana and pumpkin.

When introducing new food, Mrs Wong advised that if baby doesn’t like something, take it away for a while and then reintroduce it later, and in smaller portions. She said parents can also try disguising the food e.g. feed it to the baby with some other foods and make it colourful too.

However, parents should not to force babies to eat something. After all, feeding is not a battle, she pointed out. More importantly, don’t bargain with your baby.

Here's a feeding guide Mrs Wong shared:

During the Q&A session, one mommy from the audience asked why is it that her baby seems to have problems swallowing foods like sweet potato. Mrs Wong explains that sweet potato and potato tend to be more dry, so parents can add milk to make it easier for babies to swallow.

Mrs Wong suggested that parents don’t have to mix all the foods together all the time, it can look unappealing (one example popped into my mind - mixing spinach and pumpkin – I bet the colour will look awful!), and the taste may not be so nice when you mix everything together. So put the food separately, and also give baby chance to taste the original taste of each type of food.

Then she reminded the audience that it’s very common that babies don’t get enough of iron, so parents should take note of this when preparing babies’ meals.

After turning one year old, babies can take food from family meal and it's not necessary to cook separate food for them.

Live Demonstration

After Mrs Wong’s segment, there was a live demonstration on how to use the Philip Avent steamer cum blender.

The facilitator did two recipes for the audience to try. Bubt I only managed to taste one of them – the Chickadee Dreams (chicken, carrots and sweet potato) and I love it! It’s amazing how tasty it is and there’s no salt or sugar added!!

We've bought the Avent blender cum steamer recently. Seeing how easy it was to prepare baby foods with this gadget gave my confidence a boost. I'm looking forward to the day when I start Kenan on semi-solids, I hope to make it a fun adventure for him!


Additional Information

Here are some simple, easily digestible articles on weaning:
1. Weaning Your Baby onto Solids
2. Weaning Winners
3. "Wean" your baby over with nutritious organic Healthy Times baby food!
3. Recommended dietary allowances (HPB)
4. Rashes and Runs - When Food is the Culprit