Babies don't need many calories but require lots of nutrients. Yet some foods commonly offered to babies are highly junk food – high in calories, sugar, or salt, and low in nutrients. 

Babies have small tummies therefore they shouldn’t be filled with junk food or low-calorie food. The nutritional deficit can hinder their development. Therefore, it is very important for parents especially mothers look after their baby's diet and see which food is best for them and which should be avoided. Here are some foods which are not good for your little ones and must be avoided.

Also: Click here to read the best foods for babies!

Sausages:

Hard, chunky, sticky, slippery, and round foods are not safe for young children because they can easily choke on them. Don't give your baby sausages or large pieces of meat or cheese, whole grapes, popcorn, chunky raw vegetables, and whole nuts and seeds. Make sure when you start serving your baby finger foods cut food into pieces that should be no larger than half an inch.

Soda:

Sometimes babies are served with sodas or soft drinks as early as 9 months age. According to a study, it is found that by 24 months more than 10% of toddlers are drinking soda on a daily basis. Sodas provide zero nutrients and fill up their tummy which makes them eat or drink less of their nutritious food. Also, sodas contain a lot of sugar which can cause tooth decay.

French Fries:

As per the study, 14% of 9 months old baby eat French fries at least once a week. By the age of 12 months, around 40% of French fries are consumed by a toddler which is a start towards unhealthy eating habits.

Fast food must be minimized as they are full of sugar, fat, calories and salt but low in nutrients. Therefore if you are looking for a bite on the go for your toddler you can opt for baby friendly foods such as flavored yogurt.

Processed Foods:

The more a food is processed the lesser nutritious it will be. Only the sugar and salt level goes up but nutrition-wise it is not at all healthy, especially for kids.

Related: Baby Food Maker To Prepare Baby Food

Ready to eat food is not meant for younger children as they might as well contain too much amount of sodium which isn’t good for them.

Gelatin Desserts:

Most varieties only contain sugar, artificial color, and artificial flavor with a small amount of gelatin to make it wiggly. Homemade gelatin is made with fruit juice and sugar reduces the artificial additives, but it's still basically just fruit juice and sweetener.

Gelatin is easy to swallow; choosing a healthier option for your baby would be wise such as a healthy, baby-friendly dessert: a baked, mashed apple with a sprinkle of cinnamon. Such foods are naturally sweet and have good fiber, vitamins, with a yummy, smooth texture.

Juice & Fruit Drinks:

Beverages contain fruits but that doesn’t mean that they are healthy. The fruit fiber is lost when they are processed to make the juice and you are only left with sugar. Moreover, if given in a huge amount they can also cause diarrhea in some babies.

Using juices to sweeten baby food isn’t also a good option because the sugar in juices makes the food pass through the digestive tract more quickly without letting the nutrients being absorbed in the body. 

Also never get fooled by fulfilling the requirement of Vitamin C through juices, babies can get Vit C just by a small amount of fruit serving too.

Juice isn’t suggested for babies younger than 12 months.  Babies younger than 6 months should only drink breast milk or formula milk. From 6-12 months, they can have small amount of water but with breast milk or formula milk. 

After your baby’s first birthday, you can give them cow milk and you can also tend to continue breast milk too. At this stage, your child can have a small serving of juice daily but juice serving must be limited as per the doctors and experts.

RELATED: When Can Babies Start Having Juices?