Kiwi Baby Porridge. At what age to give this great fruit?

If at home we enjoy eating fruit, kiwi will surely appear regularly in our fruit bowl. If we are also parents and we want our offspring to eat fruit, eating it in front of them will help make them curious and want to eat it with us, and this is where the first doubts appear. Can I give my baby kiwi if he asks for it? From what age? In porridge?

Yes, of course we can offer kiwi to our children. In fact, the market currently offers us baby formula that includes kiwi as the main ingredient so that they become familiar with the acid flavor.

The AEPED in its Recommendations of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics on complementary feeding points out that the taste for different flavors appears at an early age, so accustoming babies to the acid flavors of some fruits from the beginning of complementary feeding will help to continue eating them in their adult life.

Kiwi is a very healthy tropical fruit. Its intake only gives us a moderate amount of calories, however its benefits are remarkable. It is a great source of vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. Protects from infections by strengthening the immune system and prevents anemia and constipation.

So… At what age can babies eat kiwis?

The kiwi is a fruit classified as "potentially allergenic" in its two varieties, green and gold.

Years ago it was recommended to delay the introduction of this type of allergenic food until one year and even 3 or 6 years. However, taking into account the scientific evidence that is currently available, both the AEPED in its guide and the Generalitat of Catalunya in its Recommendations for feeding in early childhood, advise introducing these foods at the beginning of complementary feeding.

The answer is clear if we look at official sources. From 6 months we can offer kiwi to our babies. Always in the format in which we feel most comfortable and following some guidelines to discover an allergy, if there is one.

Kiwi porridge recipe for babies 6 to 12 months

Although some official organizations begin to recommend that babies eat pieces from 6 months, the truth is that many families are mistrusted by this fact and they prefer to offer complementary food in the traditional way with porridges and purees.

Of course, from 9 months we should start the transition to solids to prevent the baby from not wanting to chew later, and with a view to being fully integrated into the family menu at 12 months.

The porridges have the advantage that the fruit is incorporated whole, so the fiber is not lost as much as in a juice. There is also the possibility of simply mashing the kiwi with the fork, so that there are some lumps that allow the baby to play with the original texture of the kiwi.

Ingredients

¼ kiwi, peeled and ripe

Preparation

1. We peel the kiwi carefully so that no skin remains.
2. We mash the kiwi with a fork. Being a very soft fruit it is not necessary to pass it with the blender. It is not necessary to remove the black seeds, but do not panic if they appear whole in the diaper.
3. We can serve it cold or warm it slightly to offer it to the warm baby.
4. How to give kiwi to a 6 month old baby?
5. As we have already mentioned before, kiwi is a highly allergenic fruit, so to introduce it into the baby's diet we will have to attend to some considerations.

The first thing to keep in mind is if any of your parents or older brothers and sisters are allergic to this fruit, either in its green variety or in its gold variety. If they were, the first step would be to rub the skin of the kiwi on the baby's arm to see if it reacts to contact. We will repeat the operation three days in a row always before 5 in the afternoon to have time to see a possible reaction before going to sleep.

If the baby passes this test or if no one in the close family has shown signs of an allergy to kiwi we can offer it to him to eat it in the format we choose. It is important to offer these potentially allergenic fruits as the only new food in your baby's diet to be sure which fruit gave him an allergy in case of a reaction.

For example, if the baby has eaten pear without problem, we can offer him a kiwi and pear porridge. If our baby has never eaten orange, we should not offer him a kiwi and orange juice, since if there is a problem we will not know if it was because of the kiwi or the orange. This step will be repeated for three days in a row before 5 in the afternoon, as in the previous step.

The green kiwis and the gold variety are not exactly the same fruit, but they are both equally allergenic, so the introduction must be done with the two varieties individually.

How to prepare kiwi juice for babies and children

From the WHO the recommendation is clear: No juices in babies under one year old and limited consumption in children over one year old. The American Academy of Pediatrics has specified what they mean by "limited consumption" and recommend less than half a glass of juice a day for children between 1 and 3 years old, less than 180ml of juice for children between 4 and 6 years old and less than a glass of juice a day for children between 7 and 18 years old.

For a special occasion, and always without displacing the consumption of the whole fruit, kiwi juice can be an easy option to prepare and very refreshing. It will be enough to peel the kiwi well and put it in a blender. To give it a more special flavor, we can flavor it with some mint leaves or a celery stalk. It will always be better to offer children some natural juice than a sugary soda, which should never appear in a child's diet.