As your baby starts growing up, you may want to try giving them different food items to taste as an introduction or just to see how they react to it. Fruits might seem one the best option to gives since they are natural and healthy. But it isn’t necessarily like that since fruits may contain acids and oils that may or may not be digested by the baby or cause adverse reactions at times.
Making orange juice for babies 6 months old is a no-go since their sensitive stomach may not necessarily be able to tolerate the acidic content of the fruit. Orange primarily contains citrus acid which can also result in rashes appearing on babies that are too young. Therefore, it is best to give oranges when your baby is closer to completing a year.
Here are some benefits of giving oranges to babies.
Oranges are filled with a lot of nutrients, including various minerals and vitamins. For infants and children, these are extremely necessary and vital in their initial years of development. If certain babies have issues in their physical development, feeding them orange juice can supplement their nutrition.
Nearly all infants and kids face indigestion more often than not. This is primarily due to the fact that their digestive system is beginning to gain strength gradually. The constituents of an orange are helpful in that manner since they stimulate the digestion process.
In the early stages of development, the diet of infants lacks the fiber necessary for a good bowel movement. Fruits are a great option to feed kids when it comes to countering that. Giving orange juice for baby constipation is a great idea since orange contains quite a decent amount of fiber.
Given the rich amount of minerals and salts in oranges, these are great supplements for elements such as calcium and phosphate. With regular consumption, it avoids weakening of bones and softening of joints, which is a disorder that arises in the absence of these minerals, termed as rickets.
Cold and cough are the usual guilty ones whenever your infant falls sick. A good old and a well effective solution is a home-made remedy of mixing orange juice with a dash of salt and honey. This has been known to be a great treatment for common cold and cough.
Quite different from a usual cough and cold, whooping cough hurts the throat and is known to be quite contagious. Administering some orange juice that is diluted with some water can help reduce a cough.
Though observed more in children than infants, mumps, or parotitis as it is also known, is a viral disease that is highly contagious. A popular way of treating mumps is to consume orange juice, supplemented by many other fruit juices. Combining them together half and half with some warm water brings relief to the child.
For young children and babies, diarrhea can be extremely dangerous leading to a lot of dehydration and loss of energy. Orange juice is the best option to rehydrate the body as well as restore the balance of minerals that are lost. The juice should be diluted with water before giving it to the infant.
If your child isn’t chewing food properly while eating, the stomach will fail to digest it well, leading to indigestion. In such a case, your child can consume raw fruits juices like orange juice for a couple of days. As the bowel movement restores, the child can continue on a fruit based diet and then gradually get back to the usual diet.
Typhoid fever is known to destroy a person’s digestive strength along with causing intense abdominal pain, cough, headache, fever and so on. Since the stomach can only digest juices and liquid, orange juice can help with both and is one of the best options to give your child suffering from typhoid.
A general medium-sized orange consists of:
Constituent Quantity
It also contains small quantities of copper, zinc, and manganese
Deseed the pieces and peel off the membranes before giving it to your child. Cut the pieces down into small bite-sized ones, lest your baby ends up choking on one.
Try and give him sweet oranges at first, since he may not necessarily like the strong sour taste of a usual orange. Give the fruit a good look to ensure there aren’t any soft spots or weird colors.
Do not give orange juices or pulps that are available in the market in bottles. Those contain multiple preservatives and sugar to maintain a taste. Buy clean and fresh oranges from the market and make your own juice at home.
In order to experiment around with the taste of oranges, you can further mix it with a bunch of food items. Some of them are:
Keep the following precautions in mind before giving oranges to your little one.
All these items have a weird taste by themselves. If your baby ends up disliking them, they might push the entire fruit away. Also, seeds should always be removed from it. Go for an orange where it’s easy to separate them from the fruit.
If even after removing the peels, fibers, and seeds, your baby has trouble eating small pieces of the orange, you can go ahead and mash the orange until it is just like orange puree for baby. This would be extremely easy for your baby to eat and taste, too.
Go the extra mile and try to get only the sweetest oranges. Your baby’s taste sensitivity may not be prepared to handle the sourness that comes with the fruit. By keeping the sweetness quotient high, they will like the fruit better.
Your baby should always consume fresh fruits and ones that are ripened appropriately. The mark of a good orange is that it is firm in every direction. If you press it and it ends up being soft, avoid it and go for another one.
If you’re wondering how to make orange juice for babies, here are some exciting recipes that go way beyond simple juices.
What You Will Need
How To Prepare
a) Take the carrots and cook them together until they are soft.
b) Next, add some orange juice and cinnamon to it and blend it together.
What You Will Need
How To Prepare
a) Put the ice cubes and the juices into a blender.
b) Blend it all together until it has a thick consistency.
What You Will Need
How To Prepare
a) Put all the ingredients into a single container.
b) Shake it well or stir it together inside a glass to blend it well.
What You Will Need
How To Prepare
a) Take a cup of yogurt and add the oranges to it.
b) Top it up with some honey.
What You Will Need
How To Prepare
a) Put all the ingredients in a blender.
b) Mix it all together to get a runny liquid thickness.
What You Will Need
How To Prepare
a) Take a pan and add some olive oil to it. Let it sit on medium flame.
b) Sauté the banana slices on it. Continue doing so while adding both the juices.
What You Will Need
How To Prepare
a) Take a pan and add carrots, water, and juice to it.
b) Steam the carrots until they are tender and mash them if preferred.
c) Sprinkle some cinnamon for added flavor.
What You Will Need
How To Prepare
a) Take the orange and puree it well, while adding yogurt to it and mixing it together.
b) Put the mixture in an ice-cube tray and freeze it.
Once your baby is consuming solids and is nearly a year old, you may give him orange juice. Ensure they aren’t allergic to acidic fruits and give them diluted always.
They are absolutely safe for consumption by babies who are at least a year old. It’s best to keep a track of whether they show any reactions to it as well.
Orange squashes contain a good amount of added sugar for sweetening. These have very less nutrition and can harm your baby’s teeth. Hence, it’s best to avoid them.
In order to maintain a good level of Vitamin C, the alternatives can be found in melons, papayas, potatoes and spinach, none of which have the sour tastes and have low chances of causing any allergic reactions.
Citrus fruits for babies are fine for consumption. So, a couple of drops of lemon juice should be fine as a preservative, since they will be distributed in the final preparation.
Fruits like oranges provide a great ton of nutrition and can be used for making a wonderful variety of food preparations, too. Ensure that your baby is of the right age and the right affinity for them, and they will join you in enjoying the delicacies together.