Grapes for Babies – Health Benefits and Recipes

Including various solid food items in your baby’s diet can be exciting for him. Whether it is cooked food or simple fruits or vegetables, it will be quite interesting for him as he will explore and get attuned to new tastes. Grapes are one of those food items that provide health benefits and expose your baby to a new taste. Using grape juice for baby’s constipation is something that many people usually recommend, while the sweet and sour taste of the grapes can intrigue your baby.

Is It Safe to Give Grapes to a Baby?

There is no harm in giving grapes to your baby but there are certain precautions that need to be adhered to. It is also necessary to watch for any signs of allergies in your baby.

When Can a Baby Eat Grapes?

Usually, grapes should be given to babies once he starts eating solids. You can give him grapes when he reaches around 10 months of age or so. Some may recommend starting it right at 6 months, but it is usually recommended to wait at least until 8 months or so.

Nutritional Value of Grapes

Grapes are known to contain numerous nutritional elements. The constitution of a 100g of grapes (red or green) can be broken down as follows.

Nutrient	Amount
Carbohydrates	18 grams
Protein	0.72 grams
Total Fat	0.16 grams
Dietary Fibre	0.9 grams
Vitamin C	10.8 grams
Iron	0.36 milligrams
Calcium	10 milligrams
Zinc	0.07 milligrams

Amazing Health Benefits of Introducing Grapes to Your Baby’s Diet

Whether making grape juice for babies or using them in various recipes, including them in your little one’s diet will provide him with a number of advantages to support his health.

1. Better Blood Quality

Haemoglobin levels in the blood ought to be optimal along with a good amount of red blood cells, so that the oxygen can be carried to various organs of the body and absorbed successfully. Grapes also maintain the same in babies and keep their organs functioning properly.

2. Protection from Respiratory Infections

Giving grapes to babies can reduce the chances of bronchitis, asthma, and other typical respiratory issues that are common among kids their age.

3. Easy to Digest

Solids can get a little tough on young babies, who have issues with digesting them right away and can even cause indigestion at times. Grapes are extremely light, which helps the body break them down easily. The sourness of the ripe grapes works in settling the acidity problems, too.

4. Potential Laxative

Constipation can plague numerous babies in the early years, and the beginning of solids can spell various issues around it. Grapes have a good amount of fibre, which works in building up poop and retaining the water within them, giving rise to easy bowel movements.

5. Protection of the Nervous System

The growing age of toddlers is where the brain develops rapidly, forming new connections within its network and creating more neurons to fire rapidly. These ought to be protected from any kind of damage so as to maintain the intelligent functioning of the brain. Grapes contain those constituents that can protect this central part of the brain quite effectively.

6. Rich Source of Antioxidants

The rapidly increasing appetite and diet of kids lead to their increased metabolism, releasing waste material in the form of free radicals and toxins inside the body. Failure to flush them out effectively causes them to start harming the DNA molecules and other healthy cells of the body. The antioxidants within grapes can bond with these substances and prevent them from causing any harm, leading them to be flushed out safely.

How to Select and Store Grapes for Baby Food

It is best to buy fresh grapes from the market and use them within a couple of days or so. Storing them extensively causes them to ripen and get soft as well as sour. Opt for seedless organic grapes if you can find them.

The Right Way to Cut Grapes to Avoid Choking in Babies

Knowing how to feed grapes to a baby is also important. Grapes should always be sliced along their length and then mashed before giving to a baby. Even for slightly older ones, never cut along the width or give them whole, since they could very easily choke your child.

Precautions to Take While Feeding Grapes to Babies

Right from choosing the appropriate grapes down to preparing them properly, there are a bunch of precautions you need to follow, which will keep your little one safe.

1. Pay Attention to the Texture

When choosing grapes for your baby, make sure you pick the right ones. Go for grapes that don’t have blemishes or soft areas on them. They ought to be firm and round. Soft grapes are usually ripe and don’t last long. Taste a few and then pick the ones that are somewhat sweet.

2. Wash Them Properly

Whether grapes are organic or normal, there are chances of various external materials being present on them, right from simple dirt and germs, down to pesticides or other chemicals. The solution lies in rinsing off the contaminants by placing grapes under running water. Keep them soaked in water to clean them completely.

3. Mash or Chop the Grapes

Babies can’t chew or crush grapes by themselves. Giving them a full grape could cause them to swallow it directly, which could lodge in their throat and choke them. Slice the grapes, remove the seeds, and mash before giving it to your child.

Recipes Containing Grapes for Infants

There are more than a few tasty grape recipes for babies that you can make use of to prepare some tasty food items for your little one.

1. Baked Potato and Grape Casserole

Here’s an old traditional dish with a new twist that your little one will surely enjoy eating:

Ingredients

• Cheddar cheese
• Red grapes
• Brown rice
• Vegetable stock
• Bell pepper
• Onion
• Olive oil
• Sweet potatoes

How to Prepare

• Add oil to a pan; sauté the peeled potatoes in it with some diced pepper and chopped onions for a few minutes.
• Add vegetable stock and let it boil. Follow it up by adding brown rice.
• Let it simmer, and cook until the stock is soaked up. Keep it aside.
• Once it cools down a bit, add sliced grapes, cover with cheese, and bake this dish in an oven for about half an hour at 180 degrees. The cheese should melt and be golden by then.

2. Fruity Chicken and Vegetable Puree

Why not pair up different fruits, vegetables, and meat to make a complete puree?

Ingredients 

• Boneless chicken breast, one
• Homemade chicken stock, ¾ cup
• Peeled and sliced carrot, one
• Seedless red grapes, 10
• Peeled and sliced sweet potato, one

How to Prepare 

1. Place the chopped chicken breast and all the other ingredients to boil in a saucepan over a high flame.
2. Reduce the heat as the mixture comes to a boil.
3. Let the mixture simmer until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked.
4. Transfer this to a blender and puree it to the required consistency.

3. Grape Tuna Salad

Accentuate the taste of seafood with grapes.

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• Coriander
• Avocado
• Grapes
• Canned tuna

How to Prepare

• Take a bowl and mash avocado properly. Add olive oil and coriander to this mash and mix them all properly.
• Add tuna pieces and grapes to this mixture and stir.
• Use this mix as a spread on a toast or just as a side snack.

4. Veggie Grape Combo Meal

If your toddler isn’t a fan of your vegetable preparations yet, he will be after this one.

Ingredients

• Red grapes
• Basil leaves
• Olive oil
• Sweet potatoes
• Carrots

How to Prepare

• In a bowl, take chopped sweet potatoes and carrots. Add some basil leaves to it, sprinkle some olive oil on top, and mix.
• Move this mixture to a tray and let it sit in the oven (pre-heated to 230 degrees) for about 10 minutes.
• Take some oil in a pan and toss the grapes for a few seconds. Place them in the tray as well for another 10 minutes and let them cook.
• Once this cools down, serve as a side salad.

The taste of grapes is an interesting one and having your child eat them for the first time can result in a variety of reactions. If your baby tends to find the strong taste a little uncomfortable at first, pair it up with some great recipes. He will soon warm up to the flavour and start enjoying them regularly.