Babies only need a tiny amount of salt, in fact it’s less than 1g per day until they turn one. For the first 6 months of life they will meet their salt needs through breastmilk or formula. One to 3 year old's shouldn’t have any more than 2g salt per day. Once weaning starts and milk feeds reduce, your baby will get the additional salt he/she needs from food, but this is where it tends to go a bit haywire and babies consume too much. We know that by the age of one year, a lot of babies are having far too much salt. What is sodium? Sodium Chloride is the chemical name for salt often referred to just as sodium and it’s actually the sodium component that is harmful if your baby eats too much of it. Salt and sodium are often used interchangeably and you may see both on food labels. How do babies eat too much salt? The staple foods of weaning such as bread, crackers, breadsticks and cheese are actually very high in salt because it is needed as part of the recipe. Also processed meat such as ham and sausages are popular foods given to little ones but are very salty too. Breakfast cereals , even plain ones, can be a huge contributor to salt in your child’s diet. It is important to avoid adding salt to anything you cook from scratch, even if you think it tastes bland. Taste is a very different experience for your baby than it is for you. You should also avoid soy sauce, standard stock cubes, gravy and packet, tinned or jar sauces marketed for family meals, as they tend to have high salt content. How can you manage your baby’s salt intake? Cook From Scratch Check Food Labels Shop bought baby foods, such as baby cereals, finger foods and pouches have a low salt content as it is against the law to add salt to baby food during processing. Toddler and children’s meals, however, can have salt added, so be careful and check food labels to make sure to buy only age appropriate foods for your baby! Baby friendly ready meals, puffs, pots, pouches and jars are often low in nutritional value, and pouches can have water added to bulk them out. Meals often have a low meat or protein content (as protein is an expensive ingredient) so won’t meet your baby’s requirements for the critical nutrients they need. Don’t Rely On Cheese Cheese is very highly salted and it’s often loved by little ones as it is so flavorsome. It’s also a great source of calcium, protein and a fabulous energy booster. It is one food, I recommend you still allow your baby to have, routinely, but try to rotate with other protein foods such as chicken, fish, lean meat, beans and other pulses so that your baby doesn’t have cheese every day. Low salt foods are: Fruits and vegetables – fresh, frozen or tinned are fine but avoid those canned in syrup or brine Pasta Rice Potatoes Plain meat Fresh chicken Fish – not battered or bread crumbed or canned in brine Eggs Lentils, beans and pulses Milk, cream, yoghurt Very salty foods that are best avoided are: toddler, child & adult ready-meals pies, pasties, scotch eggs and sausage rolls Breaded or battered chicken and fish Sausages and other cured meats Ham Smoked salmon Bacon Biscuits Crackers including breadsticks Gravy Packet, dinner or jar sauces Pizza and filled pasta Crisps What to look for on food labels: When looking at the nutritional information labels on foods check the amount of salt per 100g. A low salt food contains less than 0.3g per 100g. Salt is sometimes also expressed as sodium. To find out the amount of salt in a food you need to multiply the sodium value by 2.5 so if a packet of crisps contains 1g sodium, it contains 2.5g salt. What actually happens if my baby has too much salt? Your baby’s kidneys process excess salt so that they can wee it out in their urine. However as their kidneys are immature they are not able to deal with large amounts of salt in one go. In addition, we know that a high salt intake can cause high blood pressure which puts your little one at greater risk of heart disease and stroke as they get older. A high salt diet in childhood has also been linked to osteoporosis as it interferes with calcium absorption. It’s also linked to asthma, obesity and some cancers too. References: https://childrensnutrition.co.uk/full-blog/salt-and-weaning/ https://mylittleeater.com/salt/ https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/about-salt-in-your-childs-diet
