Many people like to steam the fruit before feeding it to their children. Especially in winter, the fruit must be heated, and they are afraid that the child will be "cold to the stomach". Is it necessary to do so?
Like other complementary foods, when you first start feeding fruit to your baby, you should also follow the principle of adding small amounts (increase gradually) and introduce only one new food at a time. When first introducing complementary foods, wait a week or so before adding new types to your baby, and pay close attention to whether your baby develops intolerance or allergic reactions, such as diarrhea, rashes, and vomiting.
With the progress of the baby's chewing and swallowing ability, the roughness and thickness of the fruit complementary food can be gradually increased between six months and one year old. Transition from fine puree (6 months) to thicker puree (7-8 months) to soft, small fruit bars/pieces (8-12 months).
Among them, bananas, avocados, apricots, mangoes, papayas, peaches and other ripe and soft fruits can be peeled, cored, and seeded, scraped off with a spoon or mashed into a paste for the baby to eat; hard textured fruits Fruits, such as apples, pears, and melons, usually need to be cut into pieces and then boiled with a little water or steamed (relatively speaking, steaming can better preserve the nutrients of the fruit), in order to make it softer and easier to mash Make fruit puree.
In order to prevent the fruit from choking the trachea of the child, avoid giving them hard fruit before the age of 5 (but also avoid overcooking to reduce the loss of vitamins).
Older babies like grapes, cherries, tomatoes and other fruits. We can cut them in half or cut them into quarters. Those with seeds must be removed before feeding them to the baby to avoid choking into the trachea. Citrus fruits (such as oranges, tangerines, grapefruit) are relatively easy to cause allergies in babies, so give small amounts at first and pay attention.
Can I choose canned fruit?
If you don't have fresh or frozen fruit, you can only use canned fruit, and choose pure canned fruit without added sugar. Babies need and can absorb the natural sugars in fresh fruit, but all sweeteners, including sucrose, should be avoided, alone or in food. Sweet foods are often high in energy, which can easily eliminate hunger and affect the baby's appetite. However, sugar itself does not contain nutrients such as protein, vitamins and minerals, and has low nutritional value, which is not conducive to the growth of the baby, and can easily lead to tooth decay.Can I give juice to my child?
Fruit juice is often considered nutritious by many parents, but fruit loses a lot of nutrients in the process of turning into juice, and the sugar content is high. Because of its good taste, it is easy to capture the hearts of children, and it is easy to cause obesity and tooth decay. It is not recommended to drink fruit juice before one year old, and after one year old, try not to drink fruit juice. If you must drink this unhealthy drink, dilute it 4 times and drink it from a cup. Only milk and plain water are recommended drinks for children.Why do children have diarrhea after eating certain fruits?
In fact, if the fruit must be causing the diarrhea, either the child is intolerant or allergic to the fruit, or the fruit is contaminated with germs. Although cooking fruit can destroy most foodborne bacteria, high temperature also destroys the nutrients in fruit, especially heat-sensitive nutrients such as vitamin C and B vitamins.In order to prevent the fruit from being contaminated by germs, parents should choose fresh and safe raw materials, and pay attention to cleanliness during the production process. The fruits used for making complementary food are washed, peeled and cored with running water. Fruits with peels like bananas should also be washed with running water to avoid contamination of the fruit by germs on the peel during processing. As with other complementary foods, you must wash your hands with soap or hand sanitizer before preparing fruit for your baby, and before eating. Use clean kitchen utensils and cooking benches, and the production process must be separated from raw meat and other ingredients to avoid contamination. To ensure that the ingredients are fresh, the production process is hygienic, and properly stored, there is no need to cook the fruit, and the child will not be infected with bacteria and diarrhea after eating.
If it is intolerance to fruit, in addition to allergies, it may be that the fructose in it has a "laxative" effect (this is also the truth of honey's "laxative"). Many people will have different degrees of fructose intolerance, that is, they cannot digest fructose well, resulting in abnormal intestinal movement. Some people will have abdominal pain and loose stools, while some people have mild symptoms, and some people will not at all. If the child does not show any discomfort, just because one or two loose stools after eating fruit, not persistent diarrhea, do not need to do anything.
How much fruit can a child eat per day?
The Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Supplemental Nutrition Program recommends:- 6~8 months old baby can eat up to 55~110 grams of fruit per day;
- Babies from 8 to 12 months should eat up to 110 to 170 grams of fruit per day.
How long can the prepared fruit supplement be kept at room temperature?
Fruits that have been peeled, cut or cooked, like other prepared complementary foods, should be eaten within two hours if they are kept at room temperature, otherwise they should be stored in the refrigerator (if the room temperature exceeds 32 degrees, the storage time cannot more than an hour). In addition, the unfinished food in the baby's plate or bowl should be thrown away, because the harmful bacteria in the baby's mouth may contaminate the leftover food through saliva. The baby vomits and has diarrhea.Does freezing affect fruit nutrition?
Freezing is arguably the best way to preserve the nutrients of fruit, and in some cases, frozen fruit is even "fresher" than fresh fruit. This is because fresh fruit has to go through links such as picking, transportation, and sales before it can be eaten in our mouths. Many times growers don’t wait until fully ripe to pick, but pick ahead of time, allowing the harvested fruit to mature slowly during transportation and storage, ensuring that they remain “fresh” before they reach our mouths. Unripe fruits are often not as nutritious as ripe fruit, so if they are not freshly picked on the market, they may not be as nutritious as those that are ripe and picked immediately and frozen.Freezing is the best way to preserve nutrients if the fruit you bought home cannot be eaten while it is ripe and still fresh. When freezing, you should ensure that the freezing temperature is -18°C or below, and do not freeze for too long, so that the nutrients in the complementary food can be well preserved. The study found that the nutrition of the same fruit after freezing is almost the same as when it is fresh. Also, many fruits, especially soft ones, once refrigerated for more than 3 days are less nutritious than frozen fruits.
How to freeze baby's fruit complementary food?
Although freezing complementary foods will slightly alter the taste of the food, freezing is undoubtedly the best way to preserve the nutrition, texture and taste of complementary foods for a long time. How should I freeze my baby's food?If you directly freeze a large bag, not only will it take a long time to thaw, but the baby is likely to not be able to eat it at one time, so it is best to divide it and then freeze it. The method is very simple: use a spoon to put the food into the ice cube molds one by one, and if the mold itself does not have a lid, cover it with plastic wrap. Tin foil is not recommended because small pieces of foil tend to remain in food. Once the food is frozen, you can take it out and divide it into airtight freezer bags to continue freezing, which saves space in the refrigerator. Finally, don't forget to mark the freezer bag with the storage date and the name of the food. When there are many frozen items, it is not easy to tell which is which, so it is necessary to write the name of the food.
How to thaw baby's fruit food?
Defrost in the refrigerator is the best way to thaw, and put food for your baby in the refrigerator overnight (keep it airtight). You can also freeze thawed, make sure the food is in a well-sealed bag, submerged in cold water, and change the water every 30 minutes or so. Both cold water and microwave-thawed food should be eaten as soon as possible. Be careful not to thaw food directly at room temperature to avoid spoilage. If the complementary food is not eaten in time after thawing, it is not recommended to freeze it again.The thawed puree can be heated in water or in the microwave. Stir thoroughly when heating, and you can pause stirring once every 15 seconds to allow the food to be heated as evenly as possible. Be careful not to let the water flood into the food container.
Note that freezing hardly affects the nutrition of the fruit, but high temperature will destroy the nutrition of the fruit, so it is not recommended to heat the temperature too high. The temperature of the baby's feeding should be controlled below 32~48°C, and try the temperature before feeding the baby. If adults use their mouths to test the temperature, do not share the same tableware with children, so as not to transmit bacteria in the mouth to children.
