Can Babies have Mustard?

Caring for babies is no easy task, as it involves many resources especially when it deals with the child’s nutrition. Mustard often finds its way to the meal of most adults, and you can find it amongst the recipes of various nutritious meals. So, can babies have mustard? This question seems to bother many nursing mothers, as they start adding herbs and spices to their baby’s meal.

Feeding babies requires that parents keep to some Dos and Don’ts and most new parents are oblivious to what they should feed their little ones. Adding mustard as a condiment in your baby’s meal may seem fine if the child is older. Also, a little amount would be good, as you might notice some side effects feeding babies excessive mustard.

Why Mustard?

Spicing the meals for babies is quite necessary, as you start making their food more palatable and healthy. Thus, adding some condiments would be a great option and mustard can serve as one. Mustard is an excellent condiment from the famous mustard plant that contains a variety of nutrients.

Containing a significant amount of copper, calcium, and various vitamins including vitamins A, K, and C, this condiment is quite healthy. Also, mustard contains manganese, selenium, fiber, and magnesium, and as such, it possesses various health benefits. But, can babies have mustard? Yes, they can if they are older and do not have any allergic reactions to condiments and vegetables.

Giving My Baby Mustard: From What Age?

Like other condiments, pediatricians advise that parents only introduce such when the child is about 8 months old or even older. This suggestion is to help prevent the child from having digestive upsets and other possible allergic reactions. For babies below 6 months, the nitrates in mustard can cause the Blue Baby Syndrome (methemoglobinemia disorder).

 Even with the big babies, it would help if you first meet with a health practitioner to tell if it is the right time to start giving your child mustard and how much the baby can have. Also, try to notice any adverse effects and discontinue giving babies mustard if you notice any serious side effects.

Health Benefits Derived from Mustard

There are many botanical benefits that you can find in herbs and spices, and as such, it is quite beneficial to add them to meals. Mustard offers tremendous health benefits and ensures that babies stay energetic and healthy. Some common benefits of mustard include:

1.           Improved Digestion

As babies grow, they get introduced to a variety of semi-solid and solid foods that may pose some digestive issues. Thus, the gastrointestinal health of babies is often the major concern for parents.

Containing anti-oxidants that helps get rid of accumulated fats in the digestive tract of the child and improve the baby’s metabolism. So, you can add some mustard to your child’s meal to help smoothen the whole digestive process.

2.           It acts as Pain Relieves

There have been various reports regarding the pain-relieving effects of mustard seed, as it ensures that the blood circulates properly. Babies may face some pains in their muscles, as they start with their early development.

Also, they may start feeling pains due to excessive stress from their many “baby’s activities” – sitting, crawling, and others. Thus, some amount of mustard in their meal would soak in and absorb the pain.

3.           Suitable for Respiratory Health

Are you babies suffering from cold and sinus? Well, the frequent exposure of babies to air pollution may pose a threat to their respiratory health. However, mustard contains some amount of magnesium and selenium, which offers some anti-inflammatory properties that relieve the common cold and quickens the recovery process of asthmatic babies.

4.           Provides Curative Effect for Worms

The antibacterial solutions that mustard provides makes it suitable as the perfect cure for worms. This property of mustard ensures that the baby’s gut remains clean. Thus, if your child is suffering from a worm, mustard in the child’s meal is a sure bet to help offer relief, and you can rest assured that your child would have a healthy metabolism.

5.           Enhances the Child’s Skin Quality

Whether for adults or babies, mustard has great skin enhancement qualities. Making your baby have some of this condiment in their meal would nourish the skin and make your baby have a special glow.

6.           Hair Growth Stimulation

It is quite common for some babies to have a thin hairline, and most parents would love it if their little ones grow thicker hair. Mustard contains great minerals that stimulate the growth of your baby’s hair.

7.           Stronger Teeth and Nails

As babies start growing teeth and nails, vitamins and minerals from mustard can help trigger the growth of stronger teeth and nails.

8.           Keeps the Heart Healthy

With an excellent potential of keeping cardiac arrhythmia and other heart issues at a reduced level, mustard seems like an important additive to your child’s meal. It reduces heart disorder chest pains and ventricular enlargement. It contains omega-3-fatty acids that also makes it suitable for babies.

Mustard also offers some therapeutic effects that provide solutions to some ailments in children. Whether it is migraine, dermatitis, or cancer, mustard offers solutions that help cure and prevents them. Studies also suggest that mustard can also help protect against psoriasis.

So, the answer to the question “can babies have mustard” has clear answers, as mustard has various health benefits. However, it would be quite beneficial to also seek the advice of a medical practitioner before getting started with this nutrition for your little one.

Conclusion

Can babies have mustard? This question is common amongst many nursing mothers, as they feel concerned about using this condiment in preparing their baby’s meal. It can be quite tasking for parents to make a choice on the best food for their little ones, as they are engrossed in ensuring the child gets nutritious meals that keep them healthy.

However, mustard holds a lot of minerals and vitamins that can help the child grow and become energetic. But this condiment is only suitable for older kids, as the nitrate in mustard has a serious side effect on babies below six months.