My son is 11 months old (well, in four days) and I cook all of his table food, except for bananas and avocado. This usually isn’t a huge problem because there are so many things that are too hard unless they’re cooked, but I think he’d really enjoy softer things like berries, grapes, apricots, peaches, etc. He has only ever had these from a pouch.
Food poisoning is my main concern. I rinse everything off as well as I can, but it’s just so dangerous and scary. When did you start giving your kiddos raw produce?
I never knew there was a concern with giving raw produce to babies. We started giving our son things like raw avocado (do people cook avocado? I don’t know) peeled and cut grapes, berries of all kinds, peaches, banana, etc at six months.
By a year he had enough teeth to eat raw apples, carrots, etc. I would just wash the apple and hand it to him and he would eat it, and then I would take it away when he got to the core. I do buy organic apples if he is going to eat the peel. I peel the conventional apples first.
I think it’s probably just a concern that I have. We give him avocado and bananas raw, but I’m worried about just about everything else. SO thinks I’m a little crazy with this one, too.
[name_m]Just[/name_m] wash them. It’s fine. I started giving my LO anything that wasn’t too hard as soon as I knew she could chew. Probably between 6-8 months? She LOVES blueberries. Really, any kind of berry. Grapes. Watermelon. I would recommend peeling peaches, as the skin can be a little hard to chew. [name_m]Pears[/name_m] are good too, if they’re nice and ripe and you peel them. They practically disintegrate.
I used to worry about what [name_f]Isis[/name_f] eats, but there came a time where no matter what I’d do she’d eat food she found in the carpet, (I hate carpet, no matter how much you vacuum, carpet is still gross. Can’t wait to own a place so I can rip the carpet out!) or she’ll deliberately rub her food on the ground/in the dirt/on the concrete/my pants/her eye before putting it into her face. [name_f]Evey[/name_f] time. If I took the food off her to wash or give her a new piece, she’d never actually get any nutrition. And she’s never been sick, so I don’t worry about it any more. She also eats leftovers from the fridge. Generally, if I would eat it, I consider it safe for her to eat too.
Raw produce is fine, more than fine, it’s fantastic. The food pouches are great, but they often contain thickeners and preservatives that kids really don’t need to eat. Occasionally these packets are also recalled for making kids sick, so there’s no guarantee that they are less likely to give your kid food poisoning than the peach in your fruit bowl.
So, it seems that I was completely wrong about this. For the record, it isn’t germs I’m worried about… I know that he needs exposure and it’s never a problem if something falls or has been out for a bit of time. It’s the huge outbreaks of listeriosis and the like. I have trouble believing that none of those people washed their food. Anyway, thanks for all of the responses! This was very helpful.
This was never a concern for me. I generally give all of my produce a soak in some water and white vinegar after a shopping day. Hearty stuff like apples, grapes, ect I will do this with. Berries I just do a dunk & swish so they don’t get damaged & mushy. I give each fruit/veg it’s own clean water, not all mixed together.
No, I understand- stuff like E. coli on spinach is completely terrifying. I get where you are coming from here, I just never thought about it when our son was a baby. I mean, I washed stuff and all, but I never worried about listeriosis or anything. I have a theory where you can only worry about so many things before all of the worrying spaces in your brain are taken up. But it is totally a valid concern.
I think the vinegar wash that tararayaz mentions above is a great idea. I just read that giving your produce a quick soak in a vinegar rinse helps it last longer in the fridge, too, though I haven’t tested that yet.
[name_f]Persephone[/name_f] is 7 months and I’ve been giving her raw fruits since she was 4 months. She eats apple, banana, pear, peaches, all sorts of things. [name_m]Just[/name_m] was it really good.
I steam apples and pears just to get them a bit softer and smoother (daughter is just under 6 months still). Like you, [name_f]Banana[/name_f] and avocado are all I do raw.
I’m a little freaky about food though…peaches and apples both make the dirty dozen list (EWG's 2022 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce | Summary) so I’d be very careful with washing. Hell, I’m freaky about where everything comes from and how it’s washed when I’m preparing it for myself… but otherwise, as long as your little one can handle the texture I think it’s fine.
I agree with tarynkay, though. Food poisoning and all that is definitely a valid concern, but you can really only worry SO much about food before you’re starving your kid and yourself. [name_m]Wash[/name_m] with vinegar and practice safe food handling, and that’s the best you can do without driving yourself (and your SO, and possibly your kids) crazy
This is coming from a mom who still cuts grapes (at least the big ones) in quarters for her 2 year old, because round foods freak me out as choking hazards. Everyone has at least one thing they are a freak about when it comes to parenting, in my experience.
