• What Are The Arguments For And Against Feeding Babies 'Bland' Foods?

Many parents are concerned about the diets of their infants. When should they start to feed them solid foods? What foods need to be avoided? Why can’t infants drink cow milk? All of these questions are asked by parents regularly and sometimes the available sources on the internet conflict with each other, so who are you supposed to trust? An example of this conflict is the argument for and against feeding babies “bland” foods. An article stated that, "The idea that babies should eat only bland food is a myth that has somehow become our cultural norm… There's absolutely no science behind it”. This article goes further to state that, even though you should avoid spices that would irritate the skin or mouth of the baby, there is no harm in mild to moderate spices in a baby’s diet. This article was fairly new, the older articles disagreed by saying that seasoning used in table food should not be used to feed …show more content…
These questions include what foods to stay away from that are harmful due to the pesticides and hormones that they might contain, the allergies that they could flare up, or the long term and short term side effects on an infant after eating certain foods. Organic food causes concern of pesticides and hormones, commonly allergenic foods include eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, fish, and shellfish, and long term effects of a poor diet in an infant could result in ADHD, obesity, diabetes, anemia, and poor kidney function. Most articles suggest that these potentially harmful foods for infants should be introduced when they are four to six months old, or one year old for safe measure. Another way to protect the vulnerabilities of a baby is to make sure the hands preparing the food are completely washed, otherwise bacteria can be spread from raw food or other items to make the baby