Usually, a newborn baby is kept only on breast milk. This is because it contains all the nutrients required for the healthy growth of the baby. However, after certain months, the baby is also given additional food supplements, other than just milk. Yet, while the baby is still young, there are certain foods, which should not be consumed by him. There can be a number of reasons behind this, such as insufficient nutrient level, allergic reactions, choking risks, etc. To get detailed information on what foods baby should not eat, read through the following lines.
What Foods Toddlers Should Not Eat
- Avoid giving too sugary or sweetened sweets to your baby. This includes food items like cookies, chocolate and other sweets. This is because the more the baby is exposed to such foods; the more he/she would run away from the healthy ones. Also, chances are that your baby might face weight issues later in life.
- It is strictly advisable not to use salt in the food that your baby consumes. This is mainly because the kidneys of the infants are not developed enough to handle so much salt. The salt that is present in the breast milk or the formula milk is enough for their daily consumption.
- Do not feed egg to your baby, before the little one is at least one year old, as you may run the risk of developing an allergy.
- Do not feed the young baby with cow’s or goat’s milk, as it is low on nutrient content. Breast milk is the best for the newborn. Cow’s milk contains proteins that cannot be digested by a baby.
- Avoid giving honey to your child, before he/she is one year old. Honey contains spores that can lead to infant botulism, a fatal disease.
- Give only a specified amount of fluid to your baby, as it may dilute the nutrients present in breast milk.
- Do not give hard solid foods to your baby, as they may cause choking. This includes raw vegetables such as carrots, celery sticks, grapes, cherries, berries, raisins; hot-dog or other meat chunks; nuts like peanuts, almonds, and cashews; popcorn; hard candy; and even suckers. In case you are giving any of the food mentioned herein, make sure that they are properly diced and chopped.
- Soft foods like marshmallows and jelly can get stuck in the throat of your child and should be avoided.
- High nitrate containing vegetables, such as spinach, cabbage, beets, turnips, broccoli and carrots, should be avoided. High nitrates would prevent oxygen from being carried properly to your baby's blood, thereby causing the Blue Baby Disease.
- Peanut butter and other nut butter should be strictly avoided, as they can get stuck in the throat of your child, making it difficult for him/her to swallow.
- Citrus fruits such as oranges, kiwi fruit and grapefruit should be avoided, as they can produce allergic reactions in babies.
- Fish is also not considered to be a safe food for babies. However, in case you want to start, make sure the fish you choose to serve is not known to have high mercury levels. Start with white-flesh fish types, since these are considered to be the least allergenic.
- Deep-fried foods or those that are smoked should not be fed to babies. Such foods are harder for the baby to digest.