Introducing Fish To Your Baby
By the time your baby reaches her first birthday, you would
have introduced her to a large variety of fruits and
vegetables, cereals and even meat. However, your pediatrician
may have advised against introducing fish in her diet if she
was younger than one year. Once she turns a year old, you could
consult your pediatrician on whether it will be all right now
to start her off on some fish eating.
Most health experts agree that once your baby turns one, it
should be safe to introduce her to fish. There are also
tremendous nutritive benefits to eating fish. For example
Omega-3 fatty acids are believed to be responsible for the
proper development of the brain. Fish are very rich in Omega-3
fatty acids. Further, these acids also help in reducing the
incidence of ADHD in young children. Fish is also ideal because
of its perfect mix of low calories and high proteins.
Of course, you may not help but be a little concerned about
introducing fish into your bay’s diet since you have been
hearing quite a bit about mercury poisoning found in fish.
Mercury is a poisonous metal and typically is released in air
through industrial pollution. When mercury enters river or
oceans it turns in to methyl mercury. This in turn is absorbed
by fish and most fish have methyl mercury in their muscles and
tissues. If babies under a year eat fish, they can be exposed
to the harmful effects of this methyl mercury, causing great
damage to the baby’s brain and nervous system, which are still
in their developmental stages.
Always ensure that your baby is at least a year old before
you start giving her some fish. The highest levels of methyl
mercury can be found in king mackerel, swordfish and shark and
should not be eaten by young children or by pregnant women.
If you would like to know which fish is best for babies,
probably start with cod, sole, haddock and flounder. These are
known to be low allergy carriers and are also digested more
easily. While serving fish to your baby, you have to be extra
careful since it can contain bones. These bones could get stuck
in the baby’s tender throat with disastrous consequences. Clean
the fish well before giving it to your baby. If you are
planning on giving her canned tuna, then do not give more than
three-ounce servings every month.
When you first start your baby on solid foods, you would be
giving her pureed fruits and vegetables or well cooked ones.
You can puree fish and give it to your baby just like you did
with the fruits and vegetables. Further, not every baby takes
to the taste of fish immediately. You may want to add the
fruits and vegetables that your baby likes to the fish puree so
that it tastes less of fish.
Fish contains some very important nutrients and adding them
to your baby’s diet will certainly help her growth. Just keep
in mind the necessary safety precautions before introducing
fish in your baby’s diet.
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