Can babies have stuff like cream, evap milk etc?

[fizzbuzz]

Also cream cheese? Anyone?

[fizzbuzz]

forgot to add she is 7 months old.

[CanStarveWillStarve]

Yes to cream cheese, cream etc. Does evap have sugar added? If so then I'd give it a miss, but otherwise yes, that would be fine too.

[fizzbuzz]

It has something called stabiliser in it I think, but I read label and it didn't have sugar in it. What about squirty cream, or is that full of rubbish?

[itsmeNDP]

squirty cream is just chemicals made to look like cream, if you mean the aerosol stuff.

[nearlythree]

Squirty cream is def. off limits. I used natural fromage frais a lot when weaning. Cream cheese also good but I think cream would be a bit tough to digest. Butter is okay and better than margarine.

[fizzbuzz]

I use fromage frais and yoghurt, but just wondered about cream. Perhaps single cream would be better.

[munz]

i've given J a small amount of cream at xmas. (double) didn't realise butter was better than marge - will ahve to get some for him.

[wurlywurly]

dh was brought up on evaporated milk instaed of baby milk.

[fizzbuzz]

wurly wurly . I didn't realise butter was better than marge, although I did suspect it.

Trouble is, I don't like marge, so don't put it on bread, but LOVE butter. I can see a calorie problem here fro me!

[itsmeNDP]

Butter is better (in moderation) than marge because it is a natural product. Marge is a synthetic product.

[DizzyBint]

yes unsalted butter best. margarine a processed product. no worries about fat content for babies.

[fizzbuzz]

Where are we with easy spreading butter? I think that has vegetable oil added to it.

[fluffyanimal]

Just wildly guessing here, but I'd imagine that easy spread butter is OK so long as the added vegetable oil isn't hydrogenated (which is unlikely as they hydrogenate veg oil to make it harder).

In my dim and distant childhood, my mum always kept butter in a cupboard so that it was always spreadable. We ate it quickly enough for it not to go off before it was used up.

[DizzyBint]

yes keep butter out, covered but not in fridge and that makes it spreadable anyway. failing that then i would say non hydrogenated oil added would be ok.

[evamum]

slightly off topic, but my sis was 2 months prem and was fed condensed milk

And we use kerrygold softer butter, it's got no veggy oil but is magically easy to spread

[AitchTwoOh]

i have no idea why this would be the case but i find that organic butters tend to be more spreadable from the fridge. and also less melt-y in hot weather. they seem more stable somehow...

[nearlythree]

fizzbuzz, know what you mean re the calories - we never had butter in the house until we had the dcs!

You can use extra-virgin olive oil instead of butter in cooking. For example, you can mix it with garlic and herbs for garlic bread. You can also use it as the base for a roux for white sauce although it has a strong taste - you wouldn't want it for cauli cheese but ideal for lasagne and other meditterranean-style dishes.

[glamourbadger]

My twins see a pediatric dietitian at the hospital who has recommended we give them full fat everything. They gave us a leaflet which recommends double cream, butter, cream cheese, etc. They are tiny and were quite prem so it's just in an effort to fatten them up.

I can't imagine it is a problem to give these to a normal term baby in moderation - as long as it's balanced with veg, protein, etc?

[MrsBadger]

am not quite sure why cream should be any worse than butter...

[nearlythree]

My dd2 needs a calorie-dense, high fat diet. Her sister eats much the same stuff (they are 3 and 5). It's only when I'm trying to cook for all of us that it becomes an issue as dh and I can't have a high-fat diet. That's when I tend to use olive oil as it's better in terms of the type of fat.

[Aloha]

Butter is cream and evaporated milk is just milk. All are fine. As are vegetable oils and spreads made from them.

[fizzbuzz]

Well thanks for help everyone. Evap milk has something called stabiliser in, that's why I queried it.

Now for something else: Dd will not drink milk. Want to give her custard as v milky. Made my own, which was...well...a disaster. Curdled like mad. Can you make it with custard powder?

[nearlythree]

Don't know tbh. My dd2 won't drink milk but has lots of cheese, fromage frais etc - macaroni cheese at least 3 times a week! What about blending up some bananas for a milkshake? Or buying tinned organic custard?

[nearlythree]

Rice pudding?

[fizzbuzz]

Can you buy tinned organic custard? I've never seen it.