Ice Cream is a very delicious sweet which if consumed in moderate quantity can have a very positive impact on your baby’s health. Ice cream has plenty of vitamins like A and vitamin B6 and minerals like calcium and phosphorus etc.
When giving ice cream to your baby for the very first time, you need to consider a few things. Your baby is a delicate being and you need to be very careful about what he/she eats. This includes giving the ice cream at the right time and in the right amount.
Following are some of the most important things to keep in mind when feeding ice cream to your baby for the first time
1. The Right Age for Ice Cream
Most people think around 6 months when your baby starts having solid food is the time you can introduce ice cream in the diet. This is so not true since ice cream is a pretty energy-dense food, and you need a strong metabolism and digestive system to process this kind of food. You can visit the post www.elitebaby.us/blogs/news/when-can-babies-have-ice-cream to learn more about the right age to give your kids ice cream.
Most medical experts suggest that you should wait at least 12 to 15 months before giving ice cream to your baby to minimize the risks.
2. Avoid Excessive Sugar and Honey Based Products
Ice cream that is rich in honey can cause a condition called Botulism in your baby. Botulism can lead to vomiting Diarrhea, and skin rashes, etc. another thing to avoid is giving your child ice cream that has a high content of added sugars.
Sugars can make your baby quite uncomfortable because they are hard to digest especially when there is very little movement. Only offer your baby ice cream that has very little sugar and honey content to avoid such complications.
3. Which Ice Cream to Start With
Choose the flavors that do not contain common allergens like nuts and strawberries. These allergens can cause wheezing, and diarrhea, etc. The best choice is to prepare ice cream at home using organic material but if that is not possible then you can go for those products that have little sugar content and no ad-ins like candy bits, or chocolate chips, etc.
You can start with frozen yogurt and homemade fruit popsicles and slowly build your way to the actual ice cream for better results.
4. How to Introduce it to the Baby
kids love ice cream more than any other food and that is why you need to keep an eye on how much they eat in one serving. Do not put a whole pint in front of the kids since they will probably ruin it.
The best way to give ice cream is to put a small scoop or two in a little baby bowl and give it to your child. This way you can prevent your baby from overheating and ruining his health.
5. Try Homemade Fruit Smoothies
You can make a bunch of different homemade smoothies and give these as an alternative to the ice cream to your baby. These taste very sweet and they contain zero artificial preservatives.
By giving these, you can make sure your baby gets the healthiest diet that contributes positively to your child’s physical as well as mental development.
Fruits can fulfill your baby’s every calcium, protein, vitamin, and mineral needs with zero side effects. So, along with regular and low sugar ice cream, introduce these to your child for their better health.
Final Words
Giving ice cream to your baby is a pretty big step, one that requires you to take all the safety measures before you go ahead and feed this stuff to a baby. If you give ice cream at the right time, and with low sugar and fat content, this can actually make your kid more cheerful, friendly, and healthy.
But always remember to not overdo this since excess sugars can have adverse effects on the baby’s health. We wish you the very best in taking care of this important endeavor and we really hope what we have discussed above helps you figure all this out. You can also ask your pediatrician to learn more about the right time and method of giving ice cream to a baby.