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How old can a baby eat salt? After entering the complementary food period, this is a problem that new mothers will almost always face. Sissi's mother has a friend who is extra "cautious" when raising her children, especially when eating salt, and her baby didn't add a single grain of salt until he was 3 years old (which shocked me at the time), reasoning: the later the child eats salt, the better for the body.
But recently, when she got the results of the physical examination of the baby's 3-year-old admission to the kindergarten, she regretted it: because of her height and language retardation, she was told by the doctor that the iodine content was insufficient, and the reason was that "eating less salt" affected the normal development of height and brain.
Compared with the older generation of "babies do not eat salt and have no strength", today's mothers hold the concept of "sooner rather than later" when raising children, deliberately delaying the baby's salt time, but most mothers prefer to eat salt at the age of 1, so when is the baby good to eat salt? I hope your answer is not much different from my next popular science.
I.: When does the baby start eating salt?
Generally speaking, babies should not eat salt within 1 year of age; After 1 year of age, you can add a little salt (an average of 1 gram of salt per day is fine); After the age of 3, you can follow the adult taste to increase appropriately, but try to reduce oil and salt. Why?
The "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2016)" clearly points out that complementary foods for infants and young children under the age of 1 should maintain the original taste of food, and do not need to add additional salt, sugar and various condiments. Complementary foods do not need salt, not because the child does not need sodium, but because children under the age of 1 can meet their sodium needs through milk (breast milk or formula) and complementary foods.
Babies between 0 and 12 months: Mainly breastfed and do not need to add salt. Breast milk also contains sodium, which can basically meet the needs of the baby. After 6 months of age, although the baby has added complementary food, due to the immature physical development of the baby, eating salt too early may increase the burden on the kidneys, anorexia, affect respiratory health, etc., so there is no need to add salt.
1-3 years old baby, you can add a little salt, this stage of the baby needs 700mg per day to meet the needs of growth and development. The baby's daily intake of milk and the food eaten can provide about 400mg of sodium, so we only need to supplement the baby with about 300 sodium left, so 1 gram of salt per day for children under 3 years old is enough.
After the age of 3, in order to stimulate the baby's appetite, you can approach the amount of salt eaten by adults, but try to reduce salt and oil to avoid the baby's heavy taste and endanger your health.
Baby salt time Tip:
If the baby has not been rejected by eating the original complementary food, and all aspects of the body have developed normally, we can add salt later. If the baby's situation of eating complementary food is not very ideal, then it is no problem to add salt a little earlier, but the amount is as small as possible, and the time is best not early. In principle, no earlier than 1 year old and no later than 3 years old, provided of course that the baby's physical development is normal.
Sodium requirements for babies aged 0-3 years
- 0-6 months: 170 mg/day
- 6-12 months: 350 mg/day
- 1-3 years: 700mg/day
II.: Tips for adding salt to your baby
How can we not only make the baby eat a little less salt, but also make him eat complementary food with flavor? According to Sixi's mother's 5 years of parenting experience, she summarized 2 more practical tips for adding salt to babies:
First: the borrowing method
As the name suggests, borrowing the taste of natural ingredients. For example, dried shrimp can be salty, kelp can be freshened, lemons can be fishy, tomatoes can increase sweet and sour, etc. The taste contained in these natural ingredients can not only effectively stimulate the baby's appetite; It can also avoid excessive salt intake and affect growth and development.
Second: the post-salt method
This is a very ingenious way to make complementary food for the baby, you can first put salt in the pot when cooking for the baby (just like we first put salt in the pot when we fry fish, and then put the fish in it to fry), or put salt when it is done, so that the salt added is in the soup, will not be immersed in the food, and the baby digests better.
III.: Several types of "invisible" salts hidden around children
There is a misconception about babies eating salt: many parents think that without extra salt, babies do not eat salt. If you look closely at the composition of your baby's food, you will find that in fact, many foods you think are saltless, in fact, salt has been added to it, and you may give it to him again after seven or eight months. Here is a list of the more common "invisible" salts in life:
Processed food: the baby likes to eat seaweed, biscuits, bread, etc., you go to see the nutrients in the ingredient list, but where there is sodium content, it generally means that there is salt in it, so we must see the ingredient list clearly for the baby when choosing retail!
Condiments: For example, soy sauce, oil consumption, ketchup, etc. commonly used at home, if you usually put a little of this in the baby's complementary food, it is equivalent to letting the baby eat salt. Be sure to look at the sodium content of these condiments and add them carefully to your baby.
Seafood: This type of food is high in sodium, especially semi-finished seafood;
Vegetables and fruits: kelp, hollow vegetables, dragon fruit, etc., all have sodium content, parents remember to control it when they give it to their babies;
In addition, noodles, mineral water, and milk all contain sodium ~ All in all, the food that the baby eats before the age of 1 must first understand the ingredients before giving them food; Babies aged 1-3 years old can eat, but control the amount.
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