Some foods that are inconsequential for adults can be dangerous or even fatal to babies.
Some can trigger severe reactions in young bodies, some present choking hazards, and
some are just downright bad for infants.
Take a look, and take note; these are the foods you should never feed your baby.
Honey may seem like one of the healthier things you could give to babies, but this all-natural
sugar alternative might well be one of the worst.
Occasionally, honey can contain spores of a bacteria that causes infant botulism, a
rare form of food poisoning which manifests with symptoms like muscle weakness, poor feeding,
constipation, and lethargy.
While adults and older children can digest the bacteria with no side effects, babies
can't.
It's also worth keeping in mind that honey-flavored or honey-infused foods can also cause infant
botulism, so avoid honey graham crackers, fruit smoothies sweetened with honey, and
anything that explicitly contains that natural sweetener.
Not only that, but honey can also damage your baby's teeth just as badly as sugar.
If you're after a sweet touch to your baby's diet, try giving them either puréed, mashed,
or dried fruit.
Considering babies live off breast milk or formula for the first few months of their
lives, it seems odd that cow's milk is such a no-go when it comes to their diets.
But infant stomachs are incapable of digesting cow's milk in any large volumes, and those
who are fed milk from a cow can suffer from irritation of the gut lining, which can cause
blood loss and anemia.
For their first year, babies should only drink breast milk or formula.
Once they're a little older, though, cow's milk can be a great inclusion in a child's
diet, since it contains nutrients such as protein, calcium and potassium, as well as
vitamins A, B and D. Start gradually introducing your baby to cow's milk from the age of 1
while keeping an eye out for allergic reactions, and mix in formula or breast milk if they
don't take to it immediately.
Even then, try not to give your child more than 20 ounces of cow's milk a day, or they
run the risk of coming down with iron deficiencies.
Certain parts of an egg are more dangerous for babies than others.
The egg whites in particular, for example, are best avoided.
The main problem here is that egg whites can be a highly allergenic food, since this part
of the egg contains four different proteins that can each cause allergic reactions of
varying levels of severity.
As a result, most pediatricians recommend that egg whites not be fed to babies before
their first birthday.
In recent years, however, the consensus on this subject has shifted a little.
A study in 2008 suggested that holding off on giving babies eggs may not prevent atopic
diseases and reactions such as eczema, while others are beginning to argue that babies
can be fed whole eggs from the start, as long as they're not particularly susceptible to
allergies.
Still, considering egg allergies can lead to runny noses, itchy eyes, skin rashes, and
even anaphylaxis, a lack of clarity on the safety of egg whites might be enough to make
some parents stay well clear or at least have a serious discussion with your pediatrician.
This shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but it's such a big one that it's worth talking
about.
Candy, chocolate, and other sugary foods are bad enough for adults, and giving them to
babies is something of a faux pas, too.
In fact, the American Heart Association recommends that babies and toddlers not receive any overly
sugary foods until they're at least two years old.
According to a 2018 study, 27 percent of children between the ages of one and three don't eat
vegetables each day, while 75 percent of children between one and two eat sweets every day.
That number rises to 90 percent for two and three-year-olds.
The effects of this are grim and predictable.
Babies who eat too much sugar will gain weight, suffer from nutrient deficiencies, develop
cavities, and likely have a preference for sweet flavors later in life, causing further
problems down the road.
Considering peanuts are so notorious for their allergenic nature, it should seem obvious
that babies shouldn't be given them to eat.
But some research actually suggests that exposure to peanuts at an early age can actually reduce
the chances of a child becoming allergic.
So why is it on this list?
The danger with peanuts actually lies elsewhere.
Whole nuts of any kind should never be fed to a baby because they constitute a significant
choking hazard.
Not only that, but inhalation of a peanut into the lungs is also likely, and can require
an unpleasant procedure to remove.
Since most nuts can't be chewed into mush by babies until they've developed their molars,
it's best to steer clear during the early months of eating solid foods.
"No more rhymes now, I mean it!"
"Anybody want a peanut?"
Don't fall back onto using a spoonful of peanut butter as an alternative, either, as it can
be easily caught in the throat and cause choking.
Instead, blend peanut butter into other foods, like yogurt or pancake batter, or sprinkle
crushed peanuts into applesauce.
Just like they're not great for adults, soft drinks can also prove hazardous to your baby's
health.
Not only are they loaded with sugar, but they can damage your baby's fragile emerging teeth.
These filling drinks can also spoil their appetites, meaning they're less likely to
eat the nutritious foods they actually need, and can cause diarrhea if their digestive
systems are forced to cope with too much fluid and sugar in one go.
But it's not just soda that is bad for babies.
Fruit juices aren't only entirely unnecessary to any baby who is getting enough fruit and
vegetables in their diet, but they're also just as high in sugar.
This goes for smoothies, flavored milks, and milkshakes, too.
If you really want to give them fruity drinks, blend soft fruits and limit their intake to
no more than about a half a cup per day.
Just like sugar, salty foods can be detrimental to your baby's health.
We all know that a diet high in sodium later in life can be a recipe for disaster, and
strong preferences for those foods as older children and adults often start with exposure
to salty foods at a very young age.
If a baby under the age of one is receiving breast milk or formula, they are probably
getting enough salt in their diet.
Once they move on to more solid foods, avoid adding salt and limit foods that are high
in the stuff, like bread, chips, canned soup, and jarred pasta sauces.
Encouraging a preference for salty foods isn't the only issue, either.
A diet high in salt can cause damage to an infant's kidneys, as they're not yet able
to process it.
According to the UK's National Health Service, babies in their first year should have less
than 1 gram of salt a day, which works out to less than half a teaspoon.
Considering how much salt is added to prepared foods, it's not hard to go over that mark.
Keeping caffeine out of your child's diet should be a given, but here's the problem:
it shows up in some less-than-obvious places.
Not only can caffeine can be present in soda, energy drinks, and tea, but also in things
like hot cocoa, chocolate milk, pudding, and even ice cream.
Experts tend to agree that caffeine is best avoided by children of any age, never mind
babies.
In children, it can cause nervousness, headaches, stomachaches, lack of concentration, trouble
sleeping, increased heart rate, and high blood pressure.
Babies and toddlers have all those risks and more, including seizures and heart arrythmias
if given in large amounts.
Think of it this way: caffeine isn't so much a food as it is a drug.
And you wouldn't drug your child, would you?
Vegetables are, for obvious reasons, a fantastic thing to give to your baby.
As soon as they're on solid foods, it's actually pretty crucial that they be getting plenty
of veggies and fruit to keep them growing strong.
It's just as important, however, that they stay away from raw vegetables, as they constitute
a major choking hazard for the little ones, since they're not so easy to chew.
They can also be pretty tough for babies to digest, and may, in extreme cases, lead to
diarrhea.
Just make sure that you cook all vegetables until they're very soft and you'll have no
problem.
The cooking process also alters the protein in fruit and vegetables and makes them less
likely to cause allergic reactions.
And as a final bonus, cooking them should give you peace of mind with regards to any
contamination or bacteria that may be lurking on the raw produce.
This is another general rule of thumb for introducing solid foods to your baby: Stay
away from anything that's unpasteurized.
Pasteurization is the process of using heat to remove harmful bacteria from food without
removing the food's nutrients.
Generally, food items that are sold at farmers' markets, farms, orchards, and roadside stands
tend to be unpasteurized, but unpasteurized foods can also be found in grocery stores.
The bacteria that's destroyed by pasteurization can be incredibly harmful to your baby.
That includes Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria, all of which can cause serious illnesses.
And that risk is even worse for babies due to their weaker immune systems.
Foods which can often be found unpasteurized include milk, cheese, juices, ciders, and
honey, some of which you're already staying away from anyway, right?
Always make sure these have been pasteurized if you're hoping to include them in your child's
diet, even after the age of one.
If you can't be certain, it's probably better that you don't take the risk.
Nitrates are chemicals which, unfortunately, are pretty much everywhere.
They're added by manufacturers to many meats, including cured meats, bacon, salami, and
sausages, in order to prolong their shelf lives and add color.
But nitrates and a similar chemical called nitrites have been linked to the formation
of nitrosamines in the body, which lead to a higher risk of cancer.
To minimize your child's intake of preservative nitrates, avoid food products that list sodium
or potassium nitrates and nitrites as ingredients.
Eating a diet high in antioxidants and vitamins can also stop those pesky nitrates and nitrites
from becoming nitrosamines, but it's best to just avoid them entirely.
And while naturally occuring nitrates such as those found in spinach, carrots, beets,
green beans, and squash won't cause you any harm, they can cause problems for babies and
potentially lead to the development of a fatal blood disorder called methemoglobinemia.
This is one of the main reasons why babies shouldn't eat solids before the age of four
months, but if you're getting them onto real food any earlier than the normal six months,
it's probably best to avoid high-nitrate foods, just in case.
A few of the foods we've covered up until now are problematic for babies because they're
allergens, and can cause adverse reactions in children.
But it's also worth considering just how you're going to introduce any food that can be described
as allergenic to your child's diet.
This is worth remembering in particular if your baby already suffers from an allergy,
or if you have a family history of suffering from allergies.
The golden rule: go slow.
Introduce allergenic foods like cow's milk, eggs, gluten, nuts, seeds, soy, shellfish,
and fish one at a time and in small amounts so you can see how your baby reacts.
Go in too hard and with too many foods and you'll have no way of telling which foods
are causing an allergic reaction, if one appears.
If there's no reaction to a particular food, keep it in your baby's diet to prevent any
allergy from developing.
And finally, if it looks like your baby is suffering from anaphylaxis and experiencing
symptoms that include wheezing, difficulty breathing, clammy skin, or fast heartbeat,
seek medical attention immediately.
It could be life-threatening.
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