When introducing complementary foods, any mother thinks about how to diversify the baby’s diet. For successful development, a baby needs good and high-quality nutrition. But not all adult food is suitable for a baby. Even completely harmless semolina and pasta are questionable. Let’s figure out why some products cannot be given to children under one year old.
Reasons to avoid
In the first year of life, many systems of the child’s body are still developing, including the immune and digestive. The ban on the use of certain products under one year of age is associated with the vulnerability of these two systems. The baby’s diet should not include allergenic foods and dishes that cause problems from the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys and liver.
Foods harmful to little children:
- provoke an allergic reaction,
- poorly digested or not absorbed by the body at all,
- put excessive stress on various organs and systems, for example, cause gas formation, bloating and other problems.
We offer mothers an overview of products prohibited for children under one year old.
Sweets
Sweets, cakes, pastries, muffins, waffles, baked goods and other “snacks” of industrial production can harm the immature body of a baby. They contain colorings, preservatives and other artificial additives, unhealthy confectionery fats or vegetable oils. “But a growing body needs sugar!” – any mother will reasonably object. Yes, but the best sweets for babies under one year old are baby fruit purees and juices , not sweets or pastries.
The puree contains a sufficient amount of natural fruit sugars that are beneficial for the growing body. It is better to choose fruit drinks and compotes for a toddler up to one year of industrial production marked “for feeding children from so many months”, juices are also special for children from the store marked “without added sugar”. Chocolate for babies up to one year is also prohibited. Cocoa in its composition belongs to strong allergens , moreover, it can invigorate the baby to overexcitement.
Salt and Pickles
Kids dental services Littleton recommend that mothers accustom their baby to the original taste of products when complementary foods are introduced. This is a solid foundation for proper nutrition and health for years to come. Vegetables and cereals are tasty on their own, without sugar and salt flavor enhancers. It is better not to add salt to complementary foods at all, but salt them the way they salt an adult food is strictly prohibited. The “salt” norm of an adult is about 5 grams per day, a baby from six months to a year can receive no more than 0.3 grams of sodium chloride per day. This dose is found in complementary foods and breast milk or milk formulas that are given to the baby. There is no need to add salt to his food. For a baby’s body, an adult dose is an excess of almost 17 times, which loads the kidneys, liver and blood vessels and retains fluid in the body. For the same reason, babies should not be given pickles and other very salty foods, such as pickles, straws, nuts or fish.
What is forbidden for children under one year old?
Seafood
Undoubtedly, seafood is very healthy: rich in protein, micronutrients and other important compounds. But squids, mussels, shrimps and other inhabitants of the deep sea are strong allergens for the child’s body. In addition, seafood protein is unusual for the baby’s digestive tract and will be poorly absorbed. Modern mothers know that even fish puree appears last in the infant’s complementary foods. His healthy baby begins to be given at about 10-12 months 5.
Pediatricians refer to allergenic vegetables, fruits and berries of red and orange color. Strawberries, strawberries, sea buckthorn, raspberries, pomegranates, pineapples, melons, grapes, red apples, persimmons, peaches, tomatoes, red and orange bell peppers, all citrus fruits and even carrots are potential highly allergenic foods for a baby under 6 years old. Allergenic also include exotic fruits and vegetables – kiwi, avocado, passion fruit and others. For a healthy child, they are introduced into the diet after a year, after consulting a doctor.
