Baby's first foods can cause allergic reactions or pose a choking hazard. Ella Walsh explains what foods you should not feed your baby in his first 12 months.
While venturing into the wide world of solid foods is an exciting time for you and your baby, you should be aware that certain foods which can cause allergic reactions, choking, or are considered unsafe for young babies are off the menu for your little one.
Foods to avoid in baby's first year
Fruit juice, because it offers no nutritional benefit and can discourage consumption of milk, which your baby needs in order to grow healthy and strong.
Honey, because of the rare but serious risk from botulism, a bacterial infection.
Reduced fat milk, because babies under one should still be having breastmilk or an appropriate baby formula. After 12 months, babies can move to normal cow's milk, but it should only be the full-fat variety until the age of two.
Salt and sugar are two foods you definitely don't want to introduce too early to your little one. Saltcan be hard on a baby's kidneys and he really doesn't need it - all the salt he requires can be found in breastmilk, formula and the natural foods he consumes. Be particularly wary of stock cubes and gravies, which can be surprisingly high in salt.
Sugar doesn't need to be added to your baby's food, either. Adding sugar to his food can encourage a sweet tooth, leading to tooth decay.
Tea, due to the tannins it contains, which may inhibit vitamin uptake.
Whole nuts, simply due to the choking risk. Peanut butter and other nut butters are no longer banned because of allergy concerns, but are still considered a chozing hazard.
While venturing into the wide world of solid foods is an exciting time for you and your baby, you should be aware that certain foods which can cause allergic reactions, choking, or are considered unsafe for young babies are off the menu for your little one.
While it used to be the case that parents were advised to avoid foods that have been implicated in allergies, most recently those guidelines have been revised, and now there are very few foods on the banned list for the under ones.
Foods to avoid in baby's first year
Fruit juice, because it offers no nutritional benefit and can discourage consumption of milk, which your baby needs in order to grow healthy and strong.
Honey, because of the rare but serious risk from botulism, a bacterial infection.
Reduced fat milk, because babies under one should still be having breastmilk or an appropriate baby formula. After 12 months, babies can move to normal cow's milk, but it should only be the full-fat variety until the age of two.
Salt and sugar are two foods you definitely don't want to introduce too early to your little one. Saltcan be hard on a baby's kidneys and he really doesn't need it - all the salt he requires can be found in breastmilk, formula and the natural foods he consumes. Be particularly wary of stock cubes and gravies, which can be surprisingly high in salt.
Sugar doesn't need to be added to your baby's food, either. Adding sugar to his food can encourage a sweet tooth, leading to tooth decay.
Tea, due to the tannins it contains, which may inhibit vitamin uptake.
Whole nuts, simply due to the choking risk. Peanut butter and other nut butters are no longer banned because of allergy concerns, but are still considered a chozing hazard.
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