Can babies have candy and soft drinks? 2026

It is recommended that babies (0-12 months) and young children do not eat the following five foods (some should not be considered as such because they only have empty calories):

Spinach, chard and lettuce

Like celery and beets, they usually contain nitrates, which in large quantities can be toxic. Before one year old, it is not advisable for the baby to eat a whole plate of chard or spinach. But there is no problem if they are small quantities. And frankly, I doubt a baby will eat an entire plate of chard if they're not forced to.

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Whole nuts

Most foreign bodies in the airways are peanuts. They are followed by other nuts and other hard, rounded things, such as chicken or hake vertebrae, cherry pits, etc. The problem is that, when you try to bite them, they jump and go towards the airways. Nuts should be avoided until at least three years old, some say five. But it is because of the form; There would be no problem with completely crushed nuts, like in a Santiago tart.

salt and sugar

Salt and sugar are no worse at six months than at six or thirty years. They are just as bad. If it is always said that you should not give salt and sugar to babies, it is not because they are going to get poisoned but because we want to create good habits. We would like them, when they grow up, to not drink as much salt and sugar as they usually do in our society.

The strategy is not working. Children eat a perfect diet for six or twelve months, and at two years old they drink soft drinks, potato chips, and sweets. To end up like this, there was no need to start so well. What will influence your child's health is not how much salt and sugar he or she ate at six months, but how much he or she consumes throughout his or her life. It is better for parents, now that they feel a new responsibility, to make an effort to eat healthy. Cook with very little salt, avoid soft drinks, sweets, candies and salty snacks, have fruit for dessert and not cakes, have bread for breakfast and not cookies or pastries and the baby will be able to eat the same as his parents from the first day.

Sweets, candies and sweet or salty sweets

Of course, your child will someday eat candy, sweets, sweets and chips, and will even drink soft drinks and may add sugar or cocoa to the milk. But all this, of course, in moderation. And you at least wait for your child to ask for them. As long as he doesn't know they exist, he won't ask for them. And there is no reason for a baby to know that sweets exist.

Soft drinks

Commercial “soft drinks” usually contain a huge amount of sugar. Look at the label. A can contains 36 g of sugar, six of the cafeteria sachets. And light soft drinks? They do not contain sugar, but they maintain a bad habit. The only healthy drink is water.

In conclusion, as you can see, healthy food for a baby is practically the same as for an adult. If you make the decision to only eat things you can give your child, and if you maintain that diet for decades to come, it will be best for the health of the entire family.

What happens with dishes that contain alcohol?

The baby can eat stews to which wine has been added during cooking: the alcohol evaporates before the water. By the way, it doesn't hurt to remember that alcohol is bad for children and adults. Not long ago, wine was given to children to “whet their appetite”, to “make blood” or for a snack, and to babies, in a bottle, to help them sleep.