Breast milk is by no means, the best one and only nutrition for infants during the first six months of life. Thereby, you are required to nurse your baby naturally and exclusively for this whole period, so he can grow and develop, and get ready to experience the different food tastes and textures and make them part of his daily diet.
While you introduce your baby to new types of food and expand his nutrition knowledge, we advise you to select your infant’s food options wisely and avoid serving him the following items till he’s one year old:
- Cow milk and egg white: Take your time before you offer your baby these two foods, as they contain the types of protein that your baby’s immature digestive system may not handle, making him more prone to food allergy which comes in form of diarrhea and abdomen pain.
- Nuts, especially peanuts: It is highly important that you avoid offering your baby nuts and seeds, being among the most common allergenic foods for babies under 1 year old and on top of choking and death hazard foods.
- Honey: Don’t put your baby’s health at botulism risk and stay away from honey as much as possible, for it may contain the bacteria causing this condition.
- Unpasteurized cheese: Be careful on the types of cheese you offer your baby who still under 1 year old and stay away from unpasteurized cheeses as they may cause him food poisoning.
- Fruit juices: Don’t offer your baby more than a half cup of fresh fruit juice a day, so he won’t get diarrhea.
- Caffeine sources: Prevent the negative effects of caffeine on your little one by simply not introducing him to any dietary caffeine source, like soft drinks, tea and chocolate.
- Fish and shellfish: Don’t serve your baby neither the types of fish that have high levels of mercury, like mackerel and shark, nor the allergenic types of shellfish, like oysters, shrimps and lobsters.
- Berries and citrus fruits: Berries varieties contain a difficult-to-digest protein, while citrus fruits like grapefruit and oranges contain a great amount of acid which can cause your baby tummy trouble and skin rash. So it’s very important that you avoid these fruits till your baby is one year old.
- Salt: Make sure you don’t serve your infant more than 1 g of salt a day, and it would be better if you limit his intake to the sodium he gets from your milk, because the kidneys of a little baby can’t handle too much sodium.
- Sugar: Do not add sugar to your infant’s diet, neither as sweets nor as sugar in its commercial form, as this type of food can weaken his immune system and damage his baby teeth.
So if you follow this checklist and the pediatrician guidelines, be sure that you will manage to keep your baby safe and away from any risk that may impair his growth and development.
Read More: Getting Started On Weaning Foods!
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