Feeding baby oranges
When Can Babies Eat Oranges?
Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors
In this Article
- Introducing Your Baby to Oranges
- Nutritional Benefits of Oranges for Your Baby
- How to Prepare Oranges for Your Baby
- Tips for Introducing New Foods to Your Baby
Introducing new foods to your baby is an exciting and fun time. You can watch them explore new tastes and textures as they learn about eating.
Oranges may seem like a healthy choice since they are full of vitamin C, but the acidity of the fruit might not be good for your baby's digestion and might cause an allergic reaction. To avoid a bad reaction, you should wait until after one year of age to allow your baby's digestive system to mature.
Introducing Your Baby to Oranges
By the time your baby is one year old, they might seem like an old pro at trying new foods. Or maybe they've learned to be cautious of new foods that taste different than what they're used to. Either way, have fun introducing a new category of foods to your baby’s diet — citrus!
Oranges have to be peeled before eating, and the membrane left around individual slices may still be tough after the skin has been removed. You can start out by offering canned mandarin oranges first since the outer membrane is softer and more palatable. Just make sure the canned fruit doesn't have added sugar.
If your baby doesn’t like oranges at first, continue offering them on a regular basis. You might have to offer a new food a few times before your baby begins liking it. Citrus fruits have a distinct flavor that may take time to get used to.
Nutritional Benefits of Oranges for Your Baby
Oranges are well known for having a high dose of vitamin C, which helps your immune system stay strong. But oranges also have other nutrients like potassium, folate, and thiamin. Additionally, oranges have high water content, so they help your baby stay hydrated.
How to Prepare Oranges for Your Baby
The first time your baby eats orange, cut the pieces up to be about the size of your baby's fingertip to prevent choking.
Gradually cut the pieces bigger as your baby grows. If the orange is too acidic at first, try mixing it with other foods like yogurt. This helps cut the acidity as your baby adjusts to a very new taste.
You may be tempted to offer your baby orange juice, but be sure to check nutrition labels for added sugar. You shouldn't give juice to babies under one year old, and even if your baby is old enough, make sure to only give them 100% fruit juice.
Tips for Introducing New Foods to Your Baby
Before offering solid food for the first time, ask these questions:
- Can my baby hold their head up independently? This is an important developmental milestone for eating solid food.
- Is my baby interested in eating? Your baby may watch you eat with interest, or even try to grab your food and taste it. When you offer your baby a spoon, they should open their mouth to eat.
- Can my baby move food to their throat? If you offer food with a spoon, your baby may push it out with their tongue first.
This is called the tongue-thrust reflex. With time they will learn to use their tongue to push the food to the back of their mouth and swallow.
Offer a variety. As your baby starts to eat solid foods, they need variety in their diet. This helps ensure your baby is receiving all of the nutrients they need and also helps expand their palate for new tastes.
Normalize new foods. Once you introduce a new food to your baby and you've confirmed they aren't allergic to it, try to offer it to them again at least twice a week. Not only does this familiarize your baby with new foods, but it can also prevent food allergies from developing. Additionally, when your baby is learning to eat, they watch you. Make sure you offer them the same foods the rest of the family is eating for encouragement.
Consider Allergens. By the time your baby is 12 months old, they should be introduced to each of the common allergenic foods:
- Cooked egg
- Creamy peanut butter
- Cow’s milk (dairy)
- Tree nuts (such as cashew or almond paste)
- Soy
- Sesame
- Wheat
- Fish and other seafood
By introducing these foods early in life, you can reduce your baby’s chance of developing food allergies.
Only introduce one new food at a time, and wait at least three days before introducing another so you can monitor your baby’s response to the food in case of an allergic reaction.
If you notice your baby having an allergic reaction, stop feeding them that food immediately. If the reaction is characterized by swollen lips, eyes, or face; hives; or vomiting, call their pediatrician. If you suspect anaphylaxis, characterized by swelling of the tongue or difficulty breathing, call an ambulance immediately.
What Parents Need to Know
At first glance, this might seem like an odd question. Why are we talking about oranges in particular? What makes them different from any other fruit you might feed your baby?
Well, when you think about it, they’re different in quite a lot of ways. Oranges, unlike bananas, pears, or melons, are a pulpy, stringy, citrus fruit. Those factors make a difference in when and how you should feed it your baby for the first time.
The most common age recommended for the introduction of citrus fruits is around 12 months.
You want to be sure that your baby is older and successfully chewing foods before introducing oranges. Though pediatricians no longer recommend delaying a child’s exposure to foods to prevent allergies — in fact, it seems that eating some foods earlier may help prevent some reactions — the issue with oranges and other citrus fruit is not just possible allergies, but also the reaction that babies can have to the acidity and the risk of choking.
Here are some points to keep in mind.
Citrus fruits are acidic, which means when the fruit is metabolized it produces acid. Though adults’ stomachs can handle the acidity of an orange, babies’ stomach are much more sensitive and may not react well to the level of acidity.
If babies are given oranges too early, the acidity may, in some cases, cause diaper rash and redness around the mouth. This doesn’t necessarily mean that your baby has an allergy to the fruit. It’s simply a skin reaction to the acidity.
The acidity may also cause an upset stomach or increase acid reflux symptoms if your child has problems with acid reflux.
As with most parenting decisions, it’s best to use your common sense here. Do you or other members of your immediate family have food allergies? Has your child routinely suffered from acid reflux? Are you considering giving a large scoop of pulpy orange to a 2-month-old? In those cases, it would be wise to wait a little longer to give your child acidic fruits.
If, on the other hand, your child is around 12 months old and you have no reason to suspect they have allergies, then go ahead and dish it up.
One of the tricky parts of feeding babies oranges is the clear membrane that holds the sections together. Those can be hard for even adults to gnaw through.
You can try either cutting up each section into small pieces or peeling off the membrane yourself. For those of you who aren’t interested in an afternoon of membrane peeling, canned mandarin oranges are both small and have thin membranes.
You don’t have to worry that your baby isn’t going to get enough vitamin C just because they aren’t eating oranges.
Babies only need around 35 mg of vitamin C per day. You can get that from a bunch of other baby-friendly fruits and vegetables, including:
- sweet potatoes
- watermelon
- strawberries
- peas
- papaya
- kale
Introduce oranges slowly and in small amounts. A few small spoonfuls a day might be a good place to start.
Watch for any reaction during the next two to three days. Look for reddening skin around the mouth and keep track of whether or not they develop a diaper rash. Diaper rashes may, of course, be unrelated to citrus fruits, but it’s important to pay attention just in case the two are related. If your child has hives, swelling, vomiting, wheezing, or trouble breathing, seek medical attention right away.
Make sure the pieces of orange are cut into very small pieces (e.g., smaller than the size of a dime.) And, always stay with your baby when they are eating.
Watch out for and remove the membrane and any seeds that might be difficult for your child to get down.
When you’re ready to move beyond slices, here are a few other ways to incorporate oranges into your baby’s meals:
- orange ice pops (this can be frozen orange juice or a mixture of pureed oranges and yogurt)
- orange juice and carrots (it sounds gross, but for some reason oranges bring out a special something in carrots)
- orange smoothies
- orange chicken
Introducing new foods to your child is one of the pleasures of that first year of parenting. Sometimes a few extra precautions are needed to make sure that your little one can enjoy them safely.
Orange in baby food - Telegraph
Feature : may cause allergies. In the diet of the child can be introduced after a year.
The birthplace of oranges is China. They appeared in Europe at the beginning of the 17th century. Closer to the 18th century, the orange "came" to Russia. Prince A. Menshikov grew overseas fruits in his greenhouse.
Later, Catherine II called this greenhouse “Oranienbaum”, which means “orange tree” in German.
There are four groups of varieties of oranges. The first is ordinary multi-seeded fruits with yellow flesh. The second is umbilical (with a second embryonic fruit and orange flesh). The third is kinglets (small in size, very sweet with blood-red flesh). And the last - Jaffa (very sweet and juicy large sizes with a thick tuberculate peel).
100 grams of orange contains 43 kcal
| Vitamins | Macronutrients | Microelements |
| Vitamin PP - 0.2 mg Beta-carotene - 0.05 mg Vitamin A (RE) - 8 mcg Vitamin B1 (thiamine) - 0.04 mg Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) - 0.03mg Vitamin B5 (pantothenic) - 0.3mg Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) - 0. Vitamin B9 (folic) - 5 mcg Vitamin C - 60mg Vitamin E (TE) - 0.2 mg Vitamin H (Biotin) - 1 mcg Vitamin PP (yacin equivalent) - 0.3 mg | Calcium - 34 mg Magnesium - 13 mg Sodium - 13 mg Potassium - 197 mg Phosphorus - 23 mg Chlorine - 3 mg Sulfur - 9 mg | Iron - 0.3 mg Zinc - 0.2 mg Iodine - 2 mcg Copper - 67 mcg Manganese - 0.03 mg Fluorine - 17 mcg Boron - 180 mcg Cobalt - 1 mcg |
06 mg Composition and nutritional properties of orange
100 g orange contains:
- Proteins - 0.9 g
- Fats - 0.2 g
- Carbohydrates - 8.1 g
- Dietary fiber - 2.2 g
- Organic acids - 1.3 g
- Water - 86.8 g
- Mono- and disaccharides - 8.
1 g - Ash - 0.5 g
Benefits of orange
Orange contains a lot of ascorbic acid, vitamin B1 and vitamin PP, sugar, organic acids, fiber, pectin, citric acid, essential oils, and minerals.
The use of oranges helps to improve digestion, heal wounds. It also has a beneficial effect on the nervous and cardiovascular systems. This fruit has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects, relieves fatigue, stimulates appetite, and quenches thirst.
Contraindications for use
The abuse of oranges can lead to a weakening of the liver. Also, orange is contraindicated in diseases of the intestines and stomach. The acid found in orange fruits can erode tooth enamel.
Orange in children's diet
For a child's body, this fruit is very useful. First of all, for good digestion. But don't abuse it! This can lead to an increase in acidity in the stomach, and as a result, gastritis.
It is also worth remembering that citrus fruits are very strong allergens.
Cooking and consistency
Choose the right oranges. A heavy fruit will be juicy and tasty. Small fruits are sweeter than large ones.
After six months, you can try giving your baby a few drops of orange juice, gradually increasing the dose. Later, you can give the child an orange slice.
You can increase the dose to one whole orange every few days after 5-6 years of age.
Orange Recipes for Kids
Kids Mulled Wine with Fruit - 3+
Ingredients (for 4 servings):
- Black currant - 200 g
- Water - 800 ml
- Sugar - 3-4 tbsp. spoons
- Spices (raisins, ginger, cinnamon, orange peel, cardamom, cloves) - 1 sachet (35 g)
- Orange - 1 pc.
- Apple - 1 pc.
- Lemon - 1/2 pc.
Preparation:
Scald the berries with boiling water, mash with a wooden spatula and squeeze out the juice, which must be refrigerated.
Pour the squeezed pulp with hot water and cook for 5 minutes, then strain. Add sugar, spices and let it brew for 30-40 minutes. Strain, add previously squeezed juice and heat to 80 degrees. Peel citrus fruits and cut into thin pieces, arrange them in circles and pour over mulled wine.
Read also: 5 delicious vitamin recipes for children
Orange drink (4 oranges - 9 liters) - from 2 years
Ingredients: Orange - 4 pcs. Preparation: Cut oranges into small pieces and grind in a blender. Pour 3 liters of water, let it brew for 10 minutes, strain. Add sugar, citric acid, mix another 6 liters of water and bottle. Cottage cheese and orange casserole - from 1.5 years Ingredients: Preparation: Beat cottage cheese, butter, starch, sugar and semolina in a blender until smooth. Put the mass into a baking paper-lined pan. Then beat in a blender the pulp of oranges, starch and sugar. Pour this over the curd layer and bake for 45 minutes at 180 degrees. Bon appetit! For more recipes, read the Baby Food section.0006 About nutrition There are various myths that eating oranges, tangerines, and even more so limes or lemons can curdle mother's milk. They also say that citruses increase the acidity in a child or give milk a sharp taste. All this is fiction. Vitamin C plays an important role in wound healing, gastrointestinal function and energy. The body does not produce vitamin C on its own, so it must be obtained daily from different foods. Breastfeeding mothers are advised to eat 3-4 fruits per day, two of which should be citrus fruits. It should be borne in mind that an excess amount of any food will irritate the baby, so the portion size should still be controlled. Helps increase hemoglobin levels by aiding in iron absorption. Always eat citrus fruits, limes, along with iron-rich foods. Keep the body hydrated, especially when breastfeeding. Helps heal postpartum wounds. Improve immune function so your child can get enough antioxidants and antibodies. Play an important role in preventing stretch marks after childbirth due to their ability to produce collagen. Relieve digestive problems such as bloating. Help reduce inflammation in the body. The combination of grapefruit and kiwi is a rich source of vitamin C and fiber. Such a salad helps to speed up digestion, strengthen immunity, increase metabolism, lower cholesterol levels and heal wounds faster. This combination is good for digestion and also to reduce bloating after childbirth.
spoons Why breastfeeding mothers need to eat citrus fruits
The truth is that citrus fruits are a rich source of vitamin C, flavonoids, and fiber. Eating them can instantly lift your spirits, invigorate and, most importantly, provide essential nutrients.
What effect do citrus fruits have on a breastfeeding mother?
Grapefruit and kiwi salad.
Lemon + mint water
