Diet taboos for one and a half year old babies

High-risk foods that are easy to choke, any alcoholic foods, undercooked meat/eggs/seafood, fresh milk consumed directly as staple food, processed foods with excessive salt and sugar additives, the rest are mostly "risk classification" and "varies from person to person" precautions. Don't be overly anxious, but don't step on the hard red line.

Don't believe how high the risk of choking is. Last week, there was a 1-year-old and 7-month-old baby in the community. Grandma randomly stuffed half a peeled longan into the baby's trachea. The baby took one sip and got stuck in the trachea. His lips were purple on the way to the hospital. Fortunately, the rescue was timely and no serious accident occurred. In addition to the well-known whole nuts, whole grapes, pitted cherries, slippery jelly, and QQ bouncy marshmallows are all high-risk items. This does not mean that they cannot be eaten at all, but they must be dealt with properly: grind the nuts into powder and mix it into the porridge, peel and seed the grapes and cut them into four pieces. I suggest not giving them jelly at all. Even if it is cut into small pieces, it will easily slip in along the airway when the baby sucks it, making it difficult to prevent. Oh, by the way, there are also those small plums and apricots with pits. The pits must be picked out cleanly before feeding them to the baby. My best friend’s baby swallowed a cherry pit and coughed for a long time, and his face turned red. Although it was excreted in the end, the whole family was scared to death.

When it comes to controversial foods, honey is definitely at the top of the list. The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that the intestinal flora of babies over 1 year old is relatively well-developed, and it is okay to eat a small amount of honey. However, most domestic pediatricians will recommend not to touch it before the age of 3 years old. After all, honey may contain botulism spores. Although the probability of being infected is low, the consequences are really serious. I am a conservative myself, and my child has never had it before he was 3 years old. If your child has constipation and wants to rely on honey to treat it, it is best to ask your child care doctor first, and then make a decision based on the child's intestinal condition. There is no need to insist that "this is how it is eaten abroad."

Many old people always say that "if you don't eat salt, you will have no strength." They secretly dip their children in adult vegetable soup and feed them adult vegetables. My mother-in-law has done this before. The baby drank almost two bottles of warm water that day, and his mouth was still dry at night. A 1-and-a-half-year-old baby needs only 700mg of sodium per day, which is almost 1.8g of salt. The natural sodium in the milk and vegetables and meats that he usually eats is enough. Adding extra will easily increase the burden on the kidneys and develop a habit of heavy taste, which will make picky eaters more troublesome in the future. To be honest, there is no need to talk about salt discoloration. If the baby is really resistant to salt-free meals and refuses to touch a bite, then it is okay to add a small amount of low-sodium baby soy sauce. It is better than starving. There is no need to go to extremes when raising a baby.

Many people think that they can switch directly to fresh milk after 1 year old, but this is not true. The gastrointestinal digestion capacity and nutritional needs of a one-and-a-half-year-old baby are still more suitable for formula milk. The protein molecules of fresh milk are large. Many babies will have diarrhea, constipation, and even rashes after drinking it, and the content of nutrients such as iron and DHA cannot keep up. If your baby really refuses to drink formula milk and wants to try fresh milk, drink a small cup of 30ml for 3 days first. If there is no allergic reaction, then slowly increase the amount. Don't directly use fresh milk as the only source of milk. It is not too late to completely replace it after the age of 2 when the stomach and intestines are more stable.

Oh, and there is another pitfall that many parents have stepped on: Don’t buy processed foods in the name of “children”. I bought a certain brand of children's cod sausage for convenience before. When I got home and looked through the ingredient list, I found that the first ingredient was chicken, and the second was water. The content of cod was less than 5%, and salt and flavorings were added. My child ate it twice and refused to even touch the meal, and finally threw it all into the trash. Before buying snacks, don’t just read “for babies” on the package. Turn to the ingredient list and look at the first three. If there are white sugar, salt, or various additives that you can’t understand, just put them down. It’s better to cut up steamed pumpkin or nibble on a steamed apple for your baby.

There is also a hard red line not to touch: Never give undercooked food to your baby. Soft-boiled eggs, sashimi, medium-rare steaks, uncooked green beans, and fresh daylilies may be fine for adults to eat, but babies aged one and a half years old have poor gastrointestinal immunity and are easily infected with salmonella and listeria. Vomiting and diarrhea are mild, and severe cases can cause sepsis. Don't take the risk just to try something new.

In fact, you don’t have to be too nervous when you are one and a half years old. There are mothers around me who are so meticulous that they weigh every mouthful of food, and there are also mothers who raise their babies extensively. Their babies eat everything and still grow strong. As long as you don't touch those core taboos, you can completely adjust it according to your own baby's situation: for babies with allergies, add mango, pineapple, and shelled seafood later. Babies with good stomachs have tried it before and are not allergic, so there is no problem if they eat a small amount. You don't have to follow other people's recipes. What is best for your baby is the best.