7. Avoid sweetened drinks, salt and bovine (cow’s) milk for babies till 1 year of age.
Avoid giving food/drinks to your babies mixed with sweeteners. Sugar does more harm than good. Avoid giving fruit juices to babies upto 1 year of age. Your infant does not need juice right now and it is best if you avoid sugary fruit juices and sodas.
Every Paediatric syrup has huge amounts of sugar in it so as to make it palatable for the child. If you can’t avoid syrup medicines, simply make them drink water afterwards or clean their mouth with wet washcloth, finger brush or clean finger. This would minimise the bacterial action and keep their mouth germ & cavity free.
According to recent studies, babies till 1 year of age DO NOT need additional salt and cow’s milk in their diet. The amount of sodium your baby needs at this age, is easily fulfilled by the solids they eat and also through the breastmilk. Their absolutely no need to feed them with extra salt.
Even though 6 months – 12 months of age is the weaning period for babies, but avoid substituting your Breastmilk with bovine(cow’s) milk. Children don’t have enough enzymes at this age to digest the heavy milk proteins. However, you can easily substitute it with fresh curd.
Make sure you clean your baby’s mouth inside thoroughly after every meal, to keep their mouth germ free and healthy.