Benefits
Dried fruits are a great snack alternative. You may allow your baby to drink milk with these as well. And this way you will satisfy his need for sweets.
When dried fruits are considered, there are so many options we can list of. Raisin, dry prune, dried apricots.... The list goes on...
These are the foods you can give your baby when he is ready for finger foods . Especially from month 7 to 9, they are about ready to eat raisin. This is also true for blueberry, dry prune and dried apricots.
Keep in mind
Don't forget our ancestor's advice: “Enough is as good as a feast”. That's why amount of dried fruit they eat is very important. If your little gourmet eats excessive amounts of dried fruit, he will grow to be a chubby one. Don't give your babies the dried fruits that are not sold in packages. If you insist on buying from open counters, taste it and if you feel any kind of moldy taste, don't buy it. Eat it after washing it to get rid of dust.
Warning
What if dried fruits stick in your baby's throat?
After your baby starts chewing his foods, a good solution would be to give dried fruits in small portions to prevent these risks. Also make sure that they sit while eating these kinds of food. In other words don't let him wander around eating raisins by handfuls. Always keep an eye on him while he is eating these kind of foods. Babies can't make a sound when something sticks in their throat. You can only understand something is going wrong by watching it.
Do dried fruits cause tooth decay?
Dried fruits are both sweet and requires chewing like a gum. This means, it can stick on teeth of your little ones. Which may cause tooth decay.
To protect babies against tooth decay, instead of giving dried fruits plainly, try to feed dried fruits to your baby as part of another food. Also you can make sure they gargle after eating dried fruits. Of course you can also brush your teeth after eating dried fruits.
Nutritional value per 100 gram raisin;
Vitamin K3.5 mcg
Calcium 50.0 mg
Iron 1.9 mg
Magnesium 32.0 mg
Phosphor 101 mg
Potassium 749 mg
Sodium 11.0 mg
Nutritional value per 100 gram dry prune;
Vitamin A 2000 IU
Vitamin C 4.3 mg
Calcium 31.0 mg
Iron 2.8 mg
Phosphor 72.0 mg
Potassium 852 mg
Sodium 23.0 mg
Nutritional value per 100 gram dried fig;
Omega 6 345 mg
Vitamin A 10 Iu
Vitamin C 1.2 mg
Vitamin K 15.6 mcg
Folate 9 mcg
Calcium 162 mg
Iron 2 mg
Magnesium 68 mg
Phosphor 67 mg
Potassium 680 mg
Sodium 10 mg
Dried fruits 8
Would you ever think that dried fruits would strengthen the bones of your little ones? Surprising but dried fruits are a great source of calcium.