Nitrates & Your Baby

Something that I knew nothing about until our first was ready for solid foods and I started research was nitrates. I knew that nitrates are naturally in some foods and that they are added as a food preservative into a lot of processed meats... I also knew that they are not good for you and that you should try and avoid them (I say try because these days with how processed food in America is, it is hard and expensive to do so).  As adults, unless you ingest unusually high amounts of nitrates, we aren't affected by it much.

Nitrates occur naturally in soil and also in some vegetables... most commonly: spinach, celery, beets, lettuce, broccoli, carrots, and cabbage. Spinach has the highest levels and with improper storage they can increase. As these occur naturally they are not a problem for adults, but for an infant starting on solid foods whose digestive system isn't "up to par" it can be a problem. Nitrate poisoning in infants is known as baby blue syndrome as it causes a lack of oxygen. There aren't many reported cases of baby blue syndrome (methemoglobinemia) but it is also commonly known that many cases are not reported. What does this mean for you and your baby?

My recommendation, and the recommendation of many pediatricians and nutritionists, is to hold off on giving these vegetables to an infant under the age of 8-10 months in large amounts. Given the variety of vegetables and fruits that can be given to your child, it shouldn't be much of a problem to avoid them until your baby is older.

The other place for nitrate poisoning that your baby is susceptible to is in drinking water (which most pediatricians recommend infants 6 months and old have some each day), mostly for those who have well water as most public water systems are regulated. If you have well water and are concerned, you can test the water - if it is indeed high (<10mg/L) then you should give your child other water to prevent illness (there is nothing you can do to treat the water - in fact, for example, boiling it actually increases the nitrate levels).