I believe cheese is a good source of calcium....so as the kids start consuming less and less milk, any other source of calcium like cheese, yoghurt, etc would be a good supplement. One slice of cheese per day should not be any worry at all. Parents in india say ghee is good, but i don't know why. No harm as long as you give in moderate quantity i suppose, like in khichdi or roti.

Regards,
Sheetal

Seema,

Calcium is found in so many foods that if baby doesn't drink milk, that's not really a bad thing.

Cheese is very good for baby and is a good source of calcium AS IS YOGURT.i very much agree to that. i very much agree to sheetal for that.
and anything, even ghee or cheese in excess would not prove good, like i said in my prev post.

Other foods that contain calcium are tofu,soya products, broccoli, certain beans such as kidney beans, whole wheat/white bread,and some our indian pulses, canned salmon etc and other non veg foods..
next time at your visit to grocery store, try peeping in the nutritional values of vegetables and other items, you will surprised to know how much calcium is available there.
lets say, you eat all the vegies,in a week, in US u can make a different vegie everyday upto 10 days ! not to mention the pulses that we eat !!

we eat wheat almost everyday, which has enough source of calcium, american eat them once a while.. our wheat product arent containing ne yeast which means we eat direct cooked product while most of the american diet, except the mexicans ( tortillas ) have yeast,,even some tortiallas have yeast nowadays, which means its the raised flour and not the actual direct product.i hope u got my point.

our food being core food and direct cooked food, we get enough nutrients from our food, if we eat all vegies properly and eat daily a serving of dal, rice, vegie, roti and a pulse,,which i follow for nirja strictly..
which isnt the case with american ffood.so practically speaking, cheese was never an imp or even a part of our diet in india.
however, you will find that they give advertise to increase atleast 2 servings of dairy in infants of diet, apart from bm or formula,and for adults 4-5 servings, in which these days they have come up with good fat alternatives,like replacing bad fats with good ones !!!! and one reason why i mentioned to use hard cheese or light taste cheese in my post earlier is because it has right fats and right yeast that our body needs or baby can absorb.

americans, prefer cheese, because they arent familiar to ghee ! like back home in our dess,india,, we didnt knew about cheese until amul came up with ! some of us knew that paneer was cottage cheese.but its a part of luxury diet or restaurant diet.however, punjabis eat it a alot !
so we have our ghee to give all the nutritional value and support our diet with good fat.
to my surprise, native americans and italians do have dishes with clarified butter or ghee, which now US has started adopting and naming "clarified butter" as LOW calorie food than cheese. therre are couple wonderful programs on cnn,bbc, and food network..watch them, they are really nice tips for babies,to old age about eating right.search the exact names on google or their sites,,,i dont rem them all.
however, babiees dont require a low calorie diet until 2 years, but recently, american pedia studies have shown that 85%-90% of babies adopt the food and taste that they are fed in first 2 years of life which they have published in many books.
for me, nirja loves cheese, she is goin to eat it neway, in future, even if i dont give :) so why i would want her to give her something extra thats not needed..
to gods grace and touch wood, herr weight is 22.6 lbs and 28.3/4 height,,she is doiing just fine :)) without a cheese :)), not to mention, she looks thin, its the weight when you hold her,,i and my dh get backpains :))...tons of touch wood.at the same time, god give us good strength to hold her.

if you think your baby is growing fine without certain things, dont run after it..let them grow naturally.let them come to you and ask for food, instead of running behind them ! just make sure when they ask for food, make them happy...u know wat i m trying to say.

hope this suffices all your doubts.
for nething,in excess is always bad,,,may it be cheese or ghee.

my comments are my perrsonal opinions, experiences and knowledge.
and i personally dont intend or want to insult neone or argue...so please dont take it that way !

rg
Hetal
p.s.m off for the day.
good weekend all of you.

hetal,i have a question,same as sheetal said, why is it we dont use cheese back home in india. i dont recall myself eating cheese until i came to school for all the burgers and pizzas in india.

hi, just some opinions..
i personally prefer ghee than cheese. nirja loves cheese, but i dont give her at all.my dr keeps telling me and i keep telling him back, hows her weight and all, and he is happy even though i dont give her cheese.
however, both are considered saturated fats, and excess intake of both causes obesity.
ghee is said to have alot of ayurvedic qualities. even though its high in BAD FATS, it has often proven to be good for heealth like a lubricant to digestive tracks, good muscle build and in some cases when taken with certain herbs its said to give strength and improve apetite.. considering both fats (cheese and ghee), cheese in turn increases the actual fat or cholestrol levels and is hard to digest than ghee. also its said to stick to intestines, if not digested properly and requires high activity levels. while in ghee, its easier to digest and lighter than cheese.
personally i would not mind giving an extra teaspn of ghee than giving a single slice of cheese !

Rg
Hetal

thanks Hetal.i buy your vote. your posts was pretty convincing and i will try my best to give my baby an indian balanced food with a serving of fat. hats off to you.

thanks sheetal, i will give cheese once a while. i think a slice a day is for us and will be a bit more for 11 month old. he is 22 lbs. how abt 1/4 slice.

thanks for inputs girls. u all r gr8.

regards