At what age can you give honey to your child?

Kids love to feast on sweets. Children experts say that such sweets should, if possible, have a natural composition.This article will help you figure out at what age you can give honey to your child.

Natural sweets are not only very tasty, but also useful. You can eat honey for both adults and kids. However, when introducing this natural sweetness into the baby's complementary foods, care must be taken. In order not to harm the children's body, you should choose only high-quality honey.

The chemical composition of honey is unique. So, it contains the following components:

• complex of vitamins of group B;
• vitamin C;
• vitamins E and A;
• folic acid;
• minerals.

Honey has a different texture. Some varieties are more liquid, others rather thick. The more water contained in the beekeeping product, the more liquid the consistency it has. Thus, the water content in different varieties of honey can range from 14 to 22%.

This sweet bee product contains quite a lot of sugars. So, honey contains up to 80% of organic natural sugars - fructose, glucose and sucrose. The more sugar is found in honey, the sweeter it is. Choosing too sweet varieties of bee products for kids should not be.

The origin of honey may be different. The composition of honey depends on the flowers from which nectar bees collected. If such sweet nectar was collected only from flowers of one variety, then this sort of honey is called monofloric. For example, honey can be buckwheat or lime. If the bees collect nectar from various plants, then it is considered polyfluoric (mixed). For example, flower honey is mixed. Such a product of beekeeping contains many active ingredients, each of which has a strong effect on the body.

Fresh honey has a rather liquid consistency. As it is stored, the consistency of this beekeeping product changes. The more the honey crystallizes, the thicker it becomes. Many factors affect the crystallization process. One of them is the ambient temperature and the original variety of natural sweets.

You can eat both fresh and last year's honey. However, in a beekeeping product that has been stored for several months, the concentration of beneficial substances will be somewhat lower.

Honey is not only a sweet product. It is also a real medicine that can be used to treat many diseases. The benefits of bee products for the human body are so obvious that not only advocates of traditional medicine, but also doctors offer their use for the treatment of various pathologies.

Honey contains components that can reduce inflammation. The inflammatory process is the result of many diseases. To cope with the developed inflammation can be extremely difficult. In children, due to the peculiarities of the functioning of the immune system, inflammatory processes can take quite a long time. The use of this beekeeping product in the treatment of such conditions helps reduce inflammation without the use of drugs.

Catarrhal pathologies and infections are necessarily accompanied by an inflammatory process. Its severity may be different. Thus, a child with acute respiratory viral infection usually develops a runny nose, sore throat, trouble swallowing, coughing, fever and other adverse symptoms. To cope with most of them is possible through the use of bee products.

Honey in the treatment of colds can be used to prepare various folk remedies. The most popular is milk with honey. This recipe is tested over the years and still does not lose its popularity. A warming milk drink helps reduce the pain in the throat and also helps restore normal breathing.Adding soda to such a drink makes it even possible to treat cough.

Honey helps with angina. The beneficial components contained in this product help to reduce the pain that has arisen due to acute tonsillitis. After several days of using this beekeeping product, the pain during swallowing gradually decreases, which leads to a general improvement in health.

Honey, no doubt, can be attributed to products that have a beneficial effect on the immune system. Kids, especially those attending educational institutions, are prone to frequent infections. The lower the immunity of the child, the greater the likelihood that he will get sick. As a rule, the risk of infection of a child with acute respiratory infections increases significantly during the cold season.

Adding honey to the diet of the crumbs is an excellent prevention of the development of infectious diseases. This sweet contains components that help strengthen the body’s own defenses. In order for the baby to be ready for the cold and flu season, this beekeeping product should be introduced into its menu in advance. Such prevention will not only be quite effective, but also be sure to enjoy the crumbs.

Children's body is significantly different from an adult. Such features and contribute to the fact that diseases in children and adults occur in different ways. So, many babies, having become ill, can cough for quite a long time. It is extremely difficult for their parents to cope with this symptom. One of the diseases that can lead to such a protracted cough is chronic bronchitis. This pathology has several clinical options, accompanied by the appearance of cough. In this case, the cough can be both dry and wet (with sputum). You can cope with both species through the use of honey.

This beekeeping product contains components that facilitate the release of sputum through the respiratory tract. Also in the natural sweetness there are substances that have antibacterial function. Such a complex effect and contributes to the fact that the airways begin to gradually be cleared of accumulated sputum in them, which leads to the cessation of coughing.

Useful products of beekeeping for children of different ages. So, these natural sweets should definitely be included in the diet of adolescents. Schoolchildren visiting various clubs and sports clubs, especially in need of high-quality energy sources. Honey has a fairly high energy value - 304 kcal per 100 grams. That is why a wholemeal bread sandwich with honey is a great idea for a little snack that a teenager can do in between classes.

Children love sweets, so honey is often perceived not as a medicine, but as a delicacy. Such taste characteristics can lead to the fact that the crumb simply eats too much natural product at a time. This should not be done, since such a situation can be dangerous if the child has adverse symptoms. The number of bee products consumed by a child must be monitored by his parents. Exceed the recommended age standards in the use of natural sweets is not worth it.

Bee products also help to treat diseases that are recorded in adolescents. So, honey, for example, can be used to treat thrush. Adolescent girls may experience this pathology. The use of honey inside helps to reduce the unpleasant symptoms of this disease.

Beekeeping products in the diet of children should be carefully. Despite the fact that honey has a huge amount of useful components, it also contains substances that can harm a child’s body. That is why when you add to the food menu crumbs of dishes containing honey in its composition, its parents should always be careful.

Bee products should not be used by children who are allergic to them. You should also not eat honey and children suffering from individual intolerance to this product.

Aromatic sweetness contains a lot of sugar. This should be sure to remember the parents of children suffering from diabetes. Adding honey to the diet can be fraught with the development of complications of the disease. That is why Before giving honey to a diabetic child, his parents should always consult a pediatric endocrinologist or pediatrician.

Hurry up with the addition of honey in the menu is not worth it. Pediatricians from different countries of the world say with certainty that they should only give bee products to the baby after the introduction of basic complementary foods in its diet. That is why it is better to give honey to one-year-old crumbs at a later age.

The digestive system of infants has a number of features. During several years of life after birth, a child learns to recognize new types of food. That is why the main source of nutrition for the baby is breast milk. All the lures in his menu begin to be introduced gradually, so as not to provoke the development of unpleasant symptoms.

Honey is a sweetness that is more suitable for older children. So, for the first time you can “acquaint” a baby with honey at 2-3 years. In older children, the digestive system is already functioning much more intensively than in infants. That is why with the introduction of honey at this age, the risk of adverse symptoms is significantly lower.

The introduction of honey in the diet of babies up to 3 years should be done very carefully. All pediatricians remind of this. Dr. Komarovsky notes that before introducing crumbs of bee products into the menu, you should definitely check the baby’s individual reaction to this product. To do this, apply a small amount of natural sweetness on the palm of the crumbs. If, after some time, a rash does not appear on the baby’s skin, he can also give him honey inside.

When honey is introduced into the child’s diet parents must evaluate the dynamics of changes in the well-being of the child. So, if, after eating natural sweetness, the baby began to complain of abdominal pain or a burning sensation in the mouth, then you should refuse from taking honey for a while and be sure to discuss the symptoms with a pediatrician.

When adding the crumbs of bee products to the food menu, be sure to remember the quantity. So, for acquaintance it is enough only 0.5 tsp. If after such an amount of product, the baby does not have adverse symptoms, the dosage of the product can be gradually increased.

The quality of bee products is very important. Currently, unfortunately, it is quite easy to come across low-quality honey. Choose natural sweets should be carefully. It is better to still buy bee products from trusted vendors and purchase honey during the harvest season, since in this case the risk of buying low-quality goods is significantly reduced.

Many parents are interested in the question of where to store honey. A refrigerator is not the best place to keep this sweet. These bee products are best kept in a cool place that is well ventilated. In order to preserve the sweetness, it is better to put it in the kitchen cupboard, which is not located next to the stove. The most favorable temperature for the storage of fragrant bee products is from +6 to +10 degrees.

Honey in baby food can be used in different ways.So, this beekeeping product is perfect for making delicious drinks, fragrant pastries and a variety of desserts. Such dishes come to taste for many children, and also quite useful for them.

About the age at which children can eat honey, see the following video.