5 Foods To Avoid When Weaning

Do you know what foods to avoid when weaning your baby? We have a list of 5 foods for mums to skip to avoid allergies and choking in infants.

Foods to avoid

The World Health Organisation and other health authorities usually recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six-months, without supplementing with cereal or juice etc.

Aside from that, there are no hard and fast rules as to what you should start with after 6 months.

It will depend on baby's appetite, whether he has teeth and how ‘by the book’ you are as a mum.

Cultural factors also play a role. Children in Asia usually start with rice and rice water. Their western counterparts usually start with a cereal based diet.

According to nutritionists, infants should be weaned slowly and gradually by introducing one food at a time. However, there's nothing wrong with introducing your child to a variety of different tastes over time. In fact some studies show that children introduced to a wider palate early in life tend to have healthier diets in the long run.

You should, however, be aware that there are some foods to avoid when weaning to avoid allergies and choking in infants.

1. Honey

Honey has natural healing properties and tastes good. But it can also contain botulism spores that don't affect most adults but could harm the immature digestive tracts of babies. Raw honey in particular should be avoided for the first years. The good news is that as they mature, most toddlers will easily handle processed honey, particularly if it is added to baked or cooked food.

2. Nuts and seeds

Some nuts, seeds and beans are high in nutrition value but because they are tiny, toddlers can choke easily on them. They include pistachios, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, cashew nuts, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts and pecans. You can include them in your baby's diet by dry grinding them into a fine powder. You can then add a small amount, think half a teaspoon, to your baby's cereal. Only add one at a time so that you can watch for any allergic reaction. Avoid peanuts entirely.

3. Salt and sugar

Salt and sugar should not be added to baby's food. If you feed them baby food from a jar, do check the sugar and salt content on the label. Choose those with as low values as you can or those completely without any added. As they become toddlers and start eating adult food from your plate, they will develop a taste for salt and later sugar. Most toddlers won't complain if salt isn't added to their food as they will not have developed a taste for it yet. It isn't essential and can be added gradually. Many Asian cultures add salt and sugar very early on in the infant diet and this is not strictly necessary. Delaying the introduction will allow their little taste buds to experience the more subtle flavours of food.

4. Cow's milk

Health authorities generally recommend that cow's milk not be introduced before 12 months. Expressed breast milk and infant formula works well for cereals. Many Asians are lactose intolerant so there is risk of allergy with cow's milk. Do monitor your baby after you introduce whole cow's milk for any symptoms of an allergic reaction.

5. Hard round fruits

Fruits such as grapes and cherries are obvious choking hazards due to their shape and size. You can always cut them into smaller sizes and remove the seeds so your baby can start enjoying the nutritional value of these fruits. Even when your baby enters toddler-hood and is getting better at chewing, be careful with grapes. Cut them if you can as their size and shape make them perfect plugs in your child's narrow oesophagus.

This article was originally published under the headline "10 foods to avoid feeding your toddler". The editorial team at theAsianparent would like to apologise for the misinformation in the original article. We would also like to thank the mums at Storks Nest Singapore who pointed this out to us. We thank you for reading and we will ensure that it doesn't happen again.

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theAsianparent

foods to refrain from eatingbaby weaning