Introducing Fish To 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.