Can 6-month-old babies eat salt?

Salt is the most common condiment in daily diet and it is an indispensable seasoning for every family. Nowadays, people have a heavier taste in food and many people consume a lot of salt. Parents should be reminded that when making complementary foods for babies, you can add an appropriate amount of salt, but be sure to use less salt. If the baby eats too much salt, it will be very harmful. So, can six-month-old babies eat salt?

Can 6-month-old babies eat salt?

Nowadays, two generations take care of the baby together. Many concepts begin to emerge during the parenting process. The elderly always think that children also need to eat salt so that they can have strength. However, new mothers have read many books and believe that eating salt will harm the health of babies. So, can 8-month-old babies eat salt?

Babies under six months old cannot eat salt, but babies over six months old can eat a small amount of salt. Babies need less than 1 gram of salt per day in their first 6 months, which they usually get from breast milk or formula. Salt should not be added to the baby's complementary food when he is under 1 year old, because it may harm his kidneys. The kidney function of babies under 3 months old is still weak, and eating too much salty food will increase the burden on the kidneys and affect their normal development.

Babies after 3 months can eat some salty food. After 6 months, the amount of salt can be limited to less than 1 gram per day. After 1 year old, the amount can be gradually increased, but it should not exceed 2 grams per day. If you sweat a lot or have diarrhea or vomiting, the amount of salt can be increased as appropriate. Babies aged 0-6 months should not consume more than 200 mg of sodium per day. For babies under 6 months old, their main foods are breast milk and formula milk. Both breast milk and formula milk contain sodium (the main component of table salt), and the content is enough to meet the baby's needs, so there is no need to supplement with salt. By analogy, natural salt should also be calculated when adding complementary foods to your baby.

The above is the introduction about whether 8-month-old babies can eat salt. In short, infants and young children are much more sensitive to salt than adults. If you want to control salt intake for your baby, you might as well add salt after the meal is cooked and served on the table. At this time, the salt is attached to the surface of the food, and you can taste the saltiness with just a little bit.