Babies before one year old have very low salt needs. Babies under six months old cannot eat salt, and babies over six months old can eat a small amount of salt. Babies need less than 1 gram of salt per day in the first 6 months, which is usually obtained from breast milk or formula. Salt should not be added to your baby's solid food when he is under 1 year old, as it may damage his kidneys. The kidney function of babies under 3 months old is still weak. Eating more salty food will increase the burden on the kidneys and affect their normal development. It can also cause subtle changes in the kidneys, increasing the incidence of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and heart disease in adulthood.

Babies after 6 months old can limit their salt intake to less than 1 gram per day. After 1 year old, it can gradually increase, but it should not exceed 2 grams per day. If you sweat a lot or have diarrhea or vomiting, the amount of salt you eat can be increased as appropriate. The daily sodium intake of babies 0-6 months old should not exceed 200 mg. For babies under 6 months old, the main food is breast milk and formula milk. Both breast milk and formula milk contain sodium (the main component of salt), and the content can already meet the baby's needs, so there is no need to add additional salt. .

Can babies eat salt? How many months does it take for babies to eat salt? When is the most appropriate time for babies to eat salt?

When adding complementary foods to your baby, you must also calculate the natural salt content. Some mothers put less salt when cooking food for their children, but ignore the invisible salt. The most common invisible salts are pickles, salted fish and bacon. To make your baby's taste lighter, these foods should be removed from the diet as much as possible. You don’t have to worry about the lack of taste in complementary food, and the baby will not accept it. The baby’s sense of taste will be slower than that of adults, so the requirements for taste are not high, especially in food such as minced meat and fish. If no salt is added, the baby will be easily accepted. I would like to remind parents not to use adult standards to determine the taste of baby food. This requires parents to be very careful.

Can babies eat salt? How many months does it take for babies to eat salt? When is the best time for babies to eat salt?

If salt is added, should it be iodized salt or non-iodized salt?

In iodine-rich areas, babies do not need to add iodine, and breast milk and complementary foods can provide sufficient iodine. In areas where iodine is relatively deficient, the iodine content in breast milk is no different from that in iodine-rich areas. However, whether breastfed or formula fed, the iodine content in the urine of infants is much lower than that of iodine-rich infants. This shows that babies regulate iodine in their bodies by reducing the amount of iodine excreted in their urine. Therefore, babies under 6 months of age do not need iodine supplements.

There is currently no accurate daily requirement data for 6-12 months. It can be absorbed through daily food. Therefore, it is not recommended to add iodine, whether through iodized salt or a multivitamin complex.