Jan - fermented milk products have virtually no lactose. Yes, your choice of venue (greenland) does make it very anonymous!

So now there are yogurts on the market that say 100% lactose free, but that is mainly a marketing gimmick, because a regular yogurt is still 99% lactose free - very few people would notice any difference.

The pediatrician who says that breastmilk or formula should be the main source of nutrition is dead wrong and this advice is dangerous. The baby would become anemic from following this advice. Formula fortified with iron would not provide bioavailable iron. The best source of bioavailable iron, if you can tolerate the smell of it (I cannot!) is organic organ meat. Liver is a top source of iron. If you cook liver, it is easily mashable. For me it was all theoretical, because I am disgusted by the smell produced by cooking liver, but if you do not have that strong repulsion, then consider organ meats (kidneys heart liver). They have to be organic because liver in particular accumulates toxins that get into the body of the animal, which is why organic is a must. I do not buy a lot of organic products due to the higher cost, but with the organ meats, organic is an absolute necessity. Since you are already buying organic veggies, you would probably know where to find organic organ meats.

I think that both you and the baby are on the right track, enjoying the fun of exploring foods. Do consider that you yourself might have become anemic from all that work carrying and nursing the baby. The fatigue you are attributing to lack of sleep might be due to lack of sleep, but might also be due to low iron in your blood. I would usually recommend Floradix iron supplement. It is a German product, admittedly very expensive (I think in the vicinity of 30-40 dollars a month, but you do not need it every month) and a little inconvenient logistically because you need to take it 30 mins before food, but it has a wonderful taste, is absolutely non-constipating (unlike iron supplement pills), provides a full B-complex dose, and a bunch of herbs, too. You buy it in a bottle which you keep in a fridge and consume within a month (it is perishable). Children can have it, too.

***

Avocados are a terrific baby food - they are a nature-made puree and they contain lots of fat that the baby needs so much at this developmental stage.

***

Owning an iron skillet is a good idea with children, because cooking in iron cookware does enrich the cooked foods with iron. Iron-rich foods are also more bioavailable to the body in the presence of vit C. So if you cook, say, ground beef with pinto beans (both iron-rich foods) and canned tomatoes (vit C), and all of it in a cast iron skillet, the synergies would yield a very healthful meal for you and the baby. And it is all mushy anyway. If you are not willing to use canned tomatoes, you can buy tomatoes in a Tetra-Pak containers. The tomato pieces in Tetra-Pak containers are also small enough to be given to the baby directly to play and try the taste of.

I am glad maple syrup is safe. Maple syrup by itself has nutrients, unlike sugar, and a little goes a long way - yogurt, oatmeal, farmers' cheese can be sweetened just a tad with maple syrup.

***

I hope the psych appt goes well but definitely get a second opinion on the nutrition to the baby. Do note that anemia at this age has far-reaching negative consequences. In one study children were tracked over the years and the finding was that the children who were anemic as toddlers did worse on math tasks in Kindergarten than their age peers who were not anemic as toddlers.

Formula may cause anemia in two ways: 1) if the baby is full from formula and will not want to eat meat or beans or other iron-rich sources just because its stomach is already filled with formula, then the baby forgoes iron-rich foods, and 2) iron is not absorbed well in the presence of calcium. If the baby drinks formula all day long, there are no windows of opportunity for the iron to be absorbed.

Just to summarize: iron is absorbed better in the presence of vit C and worse in the presence of Calcium. So this needs to be taken into account for meal planning.