What comes to your mind when I say a tropic food from Kerala? You might have guessed it right, and that is the coconut. It is considered as one of the tropical food by a vast number of people out there especially by the west and by the people of some other countries as well. Coconut is being used for many purposes in different regions of India. It is used in a lot of deserted dished that are loved by the people.
But when it comes to the babies them, the moms always remain a little bit conscious about giving coconut to their kids, and they still have one question whirling around in their mind that is can babies have coconut? Well, you will soon find out the answer here, but for that stay tuned to the upcoming paragraphs, especially if you are a mother, then there are some necessary information about your babies and coconut.
So, without making any further delay, let’s delve into the information that is necessary for you to know as a mother.
Is coconut comes under the category of a nut?
Well, this question is one of the most common among all the moms, and I am sure that they want to know about it as well. Therefore, without consuming much of your time, let me disclose the answer here – No, the coconut can’t be considered a nut at all, it’s a fruit. However, in some areas, it is regarded as the tree nuts which give rise to the thought these can be considered to cause allergic reactions when fed to the babies. If you are interested in that topic more then this article should be something you should check. But fortunately, the coconut allergies are extremely rarest of all. Even the people who are having allergies to nuts don’t have any allergy towards the coconuts. It means the probabilities of your baby having a coconut allergy is considerably low; therefore, there is no need to worry about while feeding your baby with coconut.
When can you introduce your baby to coconut?
It is essential to know that when can babies have coconut introduced in their meal. The answer to this is here. If your baby hasn’t had any allergies in the past towards the nuts or anything, then you can introduce the little kid with coconut following a three-day rule. However, if your baby has the nut allergies in the past, then it is better first to consider it with a pediatric allergist to make sure if there is any.
Is coconut safe and sound for the babies?
Well, the answer to this is that it all depends on vario0us different situations. But as some people consider the coconut milk to be an excellent alternative to human milk, and then it is a complete no-go, not even cow milk be an alternative to that. As other alternatives for breast milk can cause the deficiency of iron in the babies and furthermore can lead to severe dehydration as well. Therefore, don’t look for any substitute of breast milk for babies as the mother’s milk is full of essential mineral and vitamins that are good for baby’s health and also it strengthens the immune system of the baby.
However, coconut can be added to the diet of your baby if there is not any case of coconut allergy. The ripe coconut flesh chunks that we eat are very hard for your little ones. But several other ways that you can conclude giving coconut to your champ are mentioned here.
Ways to make your baby consume the coconut
Since several ways are there in which the coconut can be consumed, but it’s a little hard to determine which method will be more suitable to your child. Each different form of coconut has various nutritional benefits. Therefore, here, you can look at each of them separately.
Coconut cream or milk
The coconut milk is extracted from the fresh coconut that is made by blending it with water. Whereas if it’s not diluted with water, then the thick mix is called coconut cream due to its thick texture. You can feed your baby with the coconut milk after he/she has turned six at least. You can make coconut baby food by blending coconut milk with many other mashed ingredients such as mashed vegetables. One can also use coconut milk to make rice in it and to thin out the purees of the baby.
The coconut milk is having excellent contents of health-promoting nutrients such as vitamin B, zinc, iron, and phosphorus. Also, it is rich in Lauric acid that is also present in breast milk, making it easy for the baby to digest it.
You can also make coconut cream baby food in the same way as coconut milk. These both are same; the only difference is that the cream is a little bit thick.
Desiccated coconut
If you don’t know what a desiccated coconut is then for your knowledge, the drying of the coconut flesh is called desiccation. Usually, the desiccated flesh of the coconut is shredded that can further be used to extract the milk out of it.
Several people think that can toddlers eat desiccated coconut, and then yes the babies can have desiccated coconuts.
Mostly the desiccated coconuts are available in the sweetened form. Therefore, it is better to consider the unsweetened and the pure desiccated one for your kid.
Benefits of coconut
There are a lot of nutritional benefits of having the coconut. Here are the benefits it provides.
- The coconut is rich in vitamin B and many other minerals such as protein, iron, and the phosphorus.
- It strengthens the immunity, thus helping your baby to fight against the infections.
- It is easy to digest as it contains Lauric acid in it.
- The coconut is rich in antioxidants, thus acting as a shield against the free radicals.
That’s all for the benefits that coconut provides to your little kid, making it energetic enough to trouble you with his adorable small actions. By now, you may have cleared all your doubts regarding the coconut consumption in case of your child.