At what age can you give carrot juice to a baby?

Typically, fruit and vegetable juices are used as initial complementary foods for children. One of them is carrot, high in vitamins and minerals. However, before introducing this product into your diet, it is important to familiarize yourself with the terms and rules.

Beneficial properties of carrot juice

Carrots contain many vitamins and microelements that are beneficial for baby's health. Each of them performs a specific function in the body:

• Vitamin A helps the immune system, improves bone condition, increases visual acuity, and ensures the normal development of the baby;
• B vitamins calm the nervous system, regulate metabolic processes and cholesterol levels, block the effects of toxins, stimulate food absorption;
• folic acid normalizes blood flow and promotes the formation of white blood cells;
• vitamin C helps the immune system resist viruses and bacteria;
• vitamin E is involved in the biosynthesis of proteins, prevents pathologies of the cardiovascular system;
• potassium regulates heart rate and maintains water balance;
• calcium is responsible for the formation of hair, nails and bone skeleton;
• magnesium stimulates protein synthesis and enzyme production;
• sodium is important for the nervous and cardiovascular systems; together with potassium, it maintains water and acid-base balance.

In addition, carrots contain phosphorus, manganese, iron, copper and zinc.

At what age should carrot juice be used for infants?

For children under one year of age, carrot juice is made without pulp. To reduce the concentration of allergens, the root vegetable is soaked in water for 2 hours.

When to start

For infants under 1 year of age who are formula-fed, the introduction of carrot juice is allowed from 5 months.

Important! In some cases, for example, with low weight or digestive problems, the pediatrician recommends introducing carrot juice as early as 4 months.

For breastfed children, the product is added to the diet from 6-7 months.

How often to give

The recommended dosage for babies over 5 months is 120 ml per day no more than once a week, for children over 1 year – no more than 200 ml.

Introduction rules

Carrot juice is added to the child’s diet carefully, following a number of rules:

• prefer freshly squeezed product without pulp;
• dilute it with water in equal parts;
• the first week they give a few drops of juice, gradually increasing the dosage to 50 ml per day, after getting used to the new product, other juices are added to it: pumpkin, apple;
• After the first administration of the drink, the condition of the baby’s skin and his general well-being are monitored throughout the day.

If the child is breastfeeding, it is recommended to give complementary foods after breastfeeding.

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There are a few more nuances that are important to consider:

• It is better to give the drink in the morning to monitor the baby’s condition throughout the day;
• if a rash, vomiting and diarrhea appear, stop feeding and return to it no earlier than after a month;
• juices with pulp are given to children aged 1 year and older.

How to cook

It is advisable to prepare juice for a baby from purchased homemade carrots or grown on your own plot. The vegetable is inspected for the presence of rotten fragments, the dense core of large specimens is removed, and then placed in water for 2 hours, changing it periodically.

Juice

To obtain the drink, carrots are grated (on the side with the smallest cells) and squeezed through cheesecloth or passed through a juicer.

To prevent the concentrated drink from irritating the gastrointestinal tract, it is diluted with boiled water in a 1:1 ratio.

Puree

There are several ways to prepare carrot puree:

• cooking in a saucepan;
• using a double boiler or multicooker;
• for a couple.

For better absorption, it is recommended to add 1 tsp to the finished puree. olive oil.

To achieve softness sufficient for blending, cook the carrots for 20–30 minutes, depending on their size. The traditional composition of puree includes:

• 100 g vegetables;
• 3 ml olive oil.

How to cook:

1. Peel the carrots, soak and cut into cubes.
2. Add water and cook over medium heat for approximately 20 minutes.
3. Beat in a blender or rub through a sieve.
4. Combine the mixture with olive oil and mix thoroughly.

Read also:

Celery for an infant: how to properly introduce it into complementary foods

How to prepare buckwheat porridge for first feeding

Side effects and contraindications

Introducing carrots into a baby’s diet is unacceptable if:

• diabetes mellitus;
• increased acidity of gastric juice;
• sensitivity to one or another component in the composition.

Can allergies occur?

An allergic reaction to a vegetable appears immediately or several hours after eating it and is accompanied by a number of symptoms:

• apathy and slowness;
• discomfort in the abdomen, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting;
• rashes on the skin in the form of red spots that turn into irritation and itching.

All these phenomena cause great anxiety in the child. Therefore, when introducing a product into the diet, it is important to follow the rules of safe complementary feeding.

How to store prepared carrot juice

The shelf life of freshly squeezed carrot juice is no more than 24 hours from the moment of preparation.

Important! Storing the drink at room temperature makes it unfit for consumption within a few hours after preparation.

Keep the juice in a dry and dark place at a temperature of 0...+5°C, in a glass container with an airtight lid.

What pediatricians say

According to pediatricians, carrot juice is an ideal food for infants and older children. It contains a lot of useful substances, and the carotene it contains significantly reduces the body’s susceptibility to external negative factors. This creates protection against various diseases and improves health.

However, despite its safety and hypoallergenicity, it is important to be careful when introducing the drink into your diet.

Conclusion

High-quality carrot juice is a storehouse of microelements necessary for the full development and health of a child. Therefore, it is recommended to introduce it into the diet as complementary food from 5-6 months. It is important to first consult with a pediatrician to make sure there are no contraindications.