Some parents are so confident in the benefits of carrot juice for children that they are ready to include it in complementary foods for 2-3 months of a baby's life. Pediatricians consider such a step reckless.
Juices should be introduced into the nutrition of babies last, since they are concentrates of acids and other strong substances.
Carrot juice for children: from how many months
The child's body. This root vegetable contains a lot of carotene, vitamins of group B, D, K, minerals: potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron.
Eating a vegetable helps to cope with many problems:
- strengthen vision, bone tissue;
- improve the health of the nervous system;
- prevent disorders of the development of the thyroid gland, bowel function;
- restore weakened immunity.
But giving carrot juice to a month-old baby is strictly prohibited.
It is safe to introduce it into complementary foods only after babies get acquainted with other types of vegetables, including mashed boiled carrots. It's not just the potential risk of allergies.
Whole fruits contain fiber, which regulates the absorption of active substances and reduces their aggressive effect. Mineral salts and acids are absorbed from the juice instantly, hitting the kidneys and irritating the gastrointestinal mucosa. Carrot, on the other hand, can provoke carotene jaundice in a baby and disrupt liver function.
Early age for introduction of juice into food: 10 months.
Provided that the child does not have a tendency to allergies, any digestive disorders and diseases of internal organs. If in doubt, acquaintance with this product should be postponed until 1.5-2 years or at a later period.
The baby's juice should be diluted with boiled water at a temperature of + 25-30 ° C in a 1: 1 ratio.
Serving size for a 2-3 year old child: about 60 ml. You can give a drink once a week.
After 3 years, the volume of juice can be gradually increased to 100 ml, diluted ⅓ with water. You should not strive to further increase the portion. A large amount of such a concentrate is harmful even for adults.
How to make carrot juice
When choosing between a purchased and freshly squeezed product, preference should be given to the latter. Especially if the house has carrots grown on its own plot. Manufacturers do not always honestly indicate the full composition of the juice on the packaging. Inside may contain preservatives, large amounts of sugar, artificial vitamins.
Before cooking, the back part and the tip are cut off from the root vegetables, and cleaned. You can soak them in cold water for 1.5-2 hours. Then it is rubbed into small shavings, immediately squeezed through a gauze bag or fine sieve.
Freshly squeezed carrot juice is not immediately offered to children. First, it is filtered several times, given 10 minutes. infuse, then mix with water.
Such a product is not stored for the future. Maximum shelf life: 3 hours in the refrigerator, in a container under a lid.
You can also use mixes with pumpkin, cucumber or apple juices, diluted with water by ⅓ volume.
It is useful to preserve a mixture of carrot and red beetroot juices in jars for the winter. Before rolling it is boiled for 5 minutes with sugar: 100 g per 2 liters. Consumed by diluting with water by ⅔ volume. This drink energizes, prevents the development of hypovitaminosis, stabilizes the mental state.
Carrot juice is useful for children with asthenic syndrome: dizziness, physical weakness, increased drowsiness, apathy. During epidemics of acute respiratory viral infections, it can be used as a prophylactic agent, along with honey and lemon.
Children over 3 years old are given carrot juice with a small amount of grated pulp for giardiasis, pinworms and other types of helminthiasis. It is also useful to drink it for respiratory diseases: cough, bronchitis, tonsillitis, tonsillitis.
It is necessary to refuse to drink the drink in case of inflammatory pathologies of the mucous membrane of the stomach, intestines, hepatitis, pyelonephritis, a tendency to food allergies.
An undesirable child's reaction to juice may be nausea, severe belching, cutting pains in the abdominal cavity, and bloating. There may also be yellowing of the sclera of the eyes, oral mucosa, skin rashes or spots. Such symptoms usually appear within 1-3 days, sometimes later.
Carrots and freshly squeezed carrot juice are the best natural sources of vitamin A. Perhaps everyone knows about this. As well as the fact that this vitamin is good for vision. And what else is carrot juice useful for health and how to use it correctly to maximize the benefits? This is a more difficult question. Let's figure it out in order.
The chemical composition of carrot juice
In addition to vitamin A, which in carrot juice contains a truly record amount (38.9% of the daily value of an adult per 100 g of product), it is also rich in beta-carotene (42% of the daily value per 100 g) and organic acids (10% of the daily value ).
There are also vitamins C (3 mg / 100 g), E (0.3 mg / 100 g), PP (0.2 mg / 100 g), B1 (0.01 mg / 100 g) and B2 (0.02 mg / 100 g). In addition, carrot juice contains a complex of minerals: potassium (130 mg / 100 g), sodium and phosphorus (26 mg / 100 g each), calcium (19 mg / 100 g), magnesium (7 mg / 100 g) and iron ( 0.6 mg / 100 g).
Carrot juice: calories and nutritional value
100 grams of carrot juice contains 12.6 g of carbohydrates, of which 12.4 g are mono- and disaccharides and only 0.2 g are starch; 1.1 grams of protein and just 0.1 grams of fat. The total calorie content of the product is 56 kcal / 100 g. Of these, 51 kcal is obtained from carbohydrates, 4 - from proteins and only 1 kcal - from fats.
Thus, weight loss diets that require you to get the bulk of your calories from carbohydrates and limit your fat intake work very well with carrot juice. But you need to keep in mind that with such a diet, you will not be able to feel all the usefulness of vitamins from carrots, because vitamin A is better absorbed in combination with fats.
But on the other hand, this drink has another valuable property in terms of weight loss diets: it reduces hunger. If in the morning instead of breakfast you drink a glass of freshly squeezed carrot juice, as well as a glass of juice before lunch and dinner, then otherwise you can eat any food you are used to, and at the same time lose weight, since you will eat much less.
Carrot juice: beneficial properties
Carrots are multivitamin products, which means they strengthen health in general and increase immunity. A number of diseases of the liver and intestines occur only due to a lack in the body of those nutrients that are contained in carrot juice.
It has a beneficial effect on the work of the digestive system, stimulates intestinal motility and helps with constipation, relieves worms.
It has a local anti-inflammatory effect. There are reviews that with gastritis or stomach ulcers, half a glass of carrot juice with cream three times a day on an empty stomach contributes to the rapid healing of mucous membranes.
But we do not recommend experimenting with this on your own, since there is also an opinion that with high acidity, you should not take carrot juice, because it contains a sufficiently large amount of organic acids and vitamin C. Consult your doctor for advice.
The anti-inflammatory effect of carrot juice is also used in the treatment of coughs and runny nose: it can be used to gargle and drip into the nose. In the same way, external use can be used to treat all kinds of skin lesions: burns, frostbite, inflammation, acne.
Carrot juice can cleanse the liver and free the bile ducts. Cleansing the body with carrot juice often causes skin discoloration: it turns pale or becomes yellowish. This is not due to the orange color of the carrots, as many believe, but due to the removal of stagnant bile deposits from the liver. Over time, the yellowness disappears.
With chronic pancreatitis, treatment with carrot-potato juice helps, which is drunk in a glass half an hour before meals every day for a week. But you should not do this during an exacerbation of the disease.
Natural carrot juice is also used in oncology. The benefit of this drink for cancer lies in its ability of beta-carotene to inhibit the development of cancer cells. With regular consumption of carrot juice, the risk of developing cancer is halved.
Carrot juice is very useful during pregnancy and lactation. The only warning for pregnant women is not to go to extremes. The dosage should be reasonable. Vitamin A is necessary for the health of the unborn child, but its excess, especially in early pregnancy, can lead to the development of fetal pathologies, such as cleft palate and cleft lip. So if 100 ml of juice contains almost 40% of the daily value of this vitamin, then pregnant women should not consume more than 250 ml of juice per day.
But in the last trimester, drinking enough carrot juice reduces the likelihood of sepsis during childbirth, since it has natural aseptic properties.
When breastfeeding, taking carrot juice improves the composition of breast milk, so you can drink it as much as you like, and best of all with the addition of cream. This will be an excellent prevention of vitamin A deficiency in a child.
Carrots are also used in cosmetology: natural masks with carrot juice for the face and hair nourish and protect the skin well due to the high content of vitamin A, and improve the complexion.
The use of carrot juice in baby food
Carrot juice is useful for children in the same way as for adults. With a lack of vitamin A, the growth and development of the child slows down, the child is less resistant to infections. However, among pediatricians there is still no consensus on the age at which to start giving carrot juice to a child.
About ten years ago, carrot and apple juices were prescribed to newborns from almost three weeks of age. Currently, medicine has taken a course towards the most natural feeding, and there are recommendations not to introduce anything other than breast milk into the baby's diet, at least until 5 months of age.
It is recommended to start complementary foods with pale-colored vegetables and fruits - they are less likely to cause allergies. And from about 6 months of age, you can give carrot juice to children without any special fears. For children under one year old, carrots quickly and delicately help to establish stool when the child is constipated.
Carrot juice for babies needs to be prepared in a special way. A juicer should not be used, as it leaves some chopped pulp in the juice that will be difficult for your baby to swallow. Better to grate fresh carrots on a not very fine grater, place in cheesecloth and squeeze. Then the drink will be clean, without pulp.
Carrot juice: contraindications
Despite its medicinal properties, the use of carrot juice has contraindications.
In diabetes mellitus, sweet carrot juice can be harmful (it depends on the severity of the disease; it is necessary to follow the individual recommendations of the attending physician).
Also, with an exacerbation of gastritis or peptic ulcer disease, carrot juice is harmful, although outside the period of exacerbation, these diseases, on the contrary, can be successfully treated with this juice.
Let us recall once again that vitamin A, that is, exactly what carrot juice is useful for health, is not as harmless as it seems. When consumed in excessive quantities, it can even cause symptoms of intoxication: lethargy, headache, nausea and vomiting.
The optimal dosage of carrot juice for a healthy person is one glass a day, in the morning before breakfast. With the course of treatment of certain diseases, a diet with an increased amount of juice, up to three liters per day, can be prescribed. But you should not stay on such a diet for too long.
How to drink carrot juice properly
The benefits of freshly squeezed juice remain at their maximum for a very short time. The fact is that beta-carotene breaks down very quickly upon contact with air. Therefore, you need to drink carrot juice as soon as it has been prepared.
If there is a need to store it for a longer period of time, freezing is the best way to store it. In frozen carrot juice, all nutrients remain in their original form. In order for the nutrients from carrot juice to be absorbed by the body better, you need to combine it with dishes containing a sufficiently large amount of vegetable or animal fats.
This can be, for example, a salad with vegetable oil, or something made from dairy products. Or you can add a little cream directly to the glass of juice.
The thing is that vitamin A, which is especially rich in carrots, belongs to the fat-soluble category, that is, fat is needed to transport it to the cells of the body. Without it, a significant part of the vitamin will simply be lost and not absorbed. For this reason, infants should be given carrot juice immediately after breastfeeding.
But flour dishes and foods with a high content of starch or sugar with carrot juice are poorly combined, it is better to take them separately.
You can mix carrot and other types of juices and get new interesting tastes and useful properties. For example, children usually enjoy carrot-apple or carrot-pumpkin cocktail very much. Fresh carrot-beetroot drink is doubly useful for cleansing the body.
Making carrot juice
The easiest way to do this is with a juicer. But the juice obtained in this way will be quite thick due to the ingress of particles of carrot puree into it. In some types of medical nutrition (for example, with gastritis or stomach ulcers), this is unacceptable. And just many people prefer to drink pure juice. So if you need to get rid of the pulp, the liquid must be filtered through cheesecloth.
Smile with your child! 🙂
Carrot juice is one of the richest and healthiest drinks. It is supplied with a whole range of vitamins, minerals and biologically active substances. However, the drink also contains allergens that are especially dangerous for an unprotected child's body. Next, it will be considered in detail from how many months you can give a child carrot juice, and at what age such complementary foods are most rational.
The chemical composition of carrot juice
Nutritionists all over the world claim that carrot juice is a storehouse of all kinds of nutrients that make it possible to activate the body's defenses in the baby, which helps to create the natural resistance of the child's body to infections.
Did you know?Carrots have been actively used by humans for food for more than 4 thousand years, but until the 15th century. the vegetable was an exceptionally delicacy.
Among such substances you can find:
- vitamins: E, C, K, H, groups B, A;
- minerals: calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, chlorine, zinc, fluorine, iodine, chromium, etc .;
- beta carotene;
- essential oils;
- saccharides;
- fatty acid.
The nutritional value of the product is presented in the table:
Carrot juice: benefits and harms for children
Carrot juice is a fairly rich product that can have an immediate effect on the body. Its irreplaceable benefit for children's health, first of all, lies in the huge concentration of carotene. Thanks to this substance, vitamin A is synthesized in the body, with the help of which the formation of immunity is improved, as well as the growth of organs and tissues, including the skeletal system, is activated. 
- In addition, the combination of important vitamins and minerals makes it possible to:
- improve visual acuity;
- eliminate a sharp deficiency in the body of phosphorus, iron and protein;
- activate digestion;
- strengthen the skeletal system and teeth;
- prevent pathologies of the intestines and thyroid gland development;
- improve the work of the heart and nervous system;
- normalize the state of mind;
- accelerate the growth of hair and nails;
- increase appetite;
- to supply the body with energy.
Important!Sugar and other sweeteners should not be added to freshly squeezed juice as they can cause tooth decay.
How to make baby carrot juice
Everyone can prepare a high-quality and balanced drink for a baby, however, you should adhere to several rules of preparation. First of all, you need to choose high quality carrots. Today in supermarkets you can find an abundance of various carrots, but in most cases they are grown using all kinds of chemical remedies and artificial fertilizers. 
To prepare a drink for a baby, it is best to buy a homemade carrot or take one that you have grown yourself. Vegetables should be chosen of medium size, free from rot and other defects. Carrots need to be washed well and cleaned from the remnants of tops and peels. If you took a large vegetable, it should be sure to peel it from a dense core. After the manipulations, the fetus must be soaked in cold water for 2 hours. This will help eliminate all kinds of toxins taken from the soil from it.
Important!Carrot juice can kill a baby's appetite, so it is better to give it after the main meal or between meals.
After that, the carrots should be passed through a juicer, and if they are not available, you can use a regular kitchen grater. The root vegetable must be grated on the side with the smallest cells, and then carefully squeeze the pulp through cheesecloth folded 3-4 times. To reduce the irritating effect on digestion, fresh carrot is diluted with clean boiled water in a 1: 1 ratio. After that, the drink can be given to the baby without fear.
Video: how to make carrot juice
How can you give carrot juice to a baby
A few decades ago, fresh juices were given to infants to replace water, as well as as the main vitamin base as early as 3 months. However, such an early introduction of the product into the infant's diet can negatively affect the activity of his fragile body. 
From what age
Any juices, including carrot juice, are recommended to be given to children no earlier than 5–6 months after birth. In some cases, the product can also be given to a 4-month-old baby, but for this there should be a recommendation from a pediatrician and only if the baby is initially bottle-fed. If the child is kept on full breastfeeding, it is recommended to give him carrot juice no earlier than 8-12 months.
Did you know?In Portugal, a delicious jam is made from carrots. And since, according to European laws, jams for sale can only be made from fruits and berries, carrots are officially recognized as a fruit in the European Union.
How often to give
Up to a year, the baby is shown to drink no more than 2-3 tbsp. l. carrot juice per day and no more than once a week. This portion must be divided into several doses, so as not to cause a malfunction in the digestive system. At the age of 12-15 months, the daily rate can be gradually increased to 50 ml. If the baby refuses a vitamin drink, then it can be diluted with an apple one, which children usually like more than a carrot one. They give such a drink no more than 1 time a week, and when the baby reaches the age of 2 years, the number of times is doubled. 
Contraindications and possible side effects
The drink has much fewer contraindications than positive qualities. With controlled use, the product is absolutely harmless to the baby's body, but if abused, it can manifest itself:
- diarrhea;
- nausea;
- loss of appetite;
- allergic skin manifestations (urticaria, itching, etc.);
- yellowness of the skin.
Carrot juice storage rules
Freshly squeezed carrot juice should be stored for no more than a day. Store it in a dark and dry place, at a temperature of 0 ... + 5 ° C. Any household refrigerator is ideal for this. It is undesirable to store the drink at room temperature, since in just a few hours it will become practically unusable.
Sterilization and rolling it into jars will help to extend the shelf life of carrot juice. In this case, in a sealed container at a temperature of +10 ... + 15 ° C, it can retain its properties throughout the year. However, to feed the baby, it is recommended to keep the product for no more than 6 months, since by this time all the beneficial substances in the drink are almost completely inactivated. 
Carrot juice is an indispensable food for infants and older children. It contains the ideal ratio of vitamins and valuable minerals. However, infants should not enter the drink into the diet earlier than 6 months of age and gradually.
Carrot juice for babies
Carrots are considered a versatile vegetable: they are both sweet and very healthy, so children love them, even those who do not eat other vegetables. Carrots contain a large amount of various useful substances: vitamins of different groups, nicotinic and pantothenic acids, phosphorus, carotene, apigetin, magnesium, cobalt, iron, etc. Even babies for normal growth, development and resistance to infections, you need to eat this vegetable, but read it you can enter only in the form of juice. There are several opinions on when to start giving a baby.
With this article, we will consider why, how and when it is better to give carrot juice to infants.
What are the benefits of carrot juice for young children?
For infants in carrot juice, it is not its pleasant taste that is important, but the high content of vitamin A (carotene), the so-called growth vitamin, on which the growth rate, the condition of the skin and mucous membranes, and vision depend.
Excessive consumption of carrot juice in a child may turn yellow skin, but this will not affect his overall well-being. In this case, it is necessary to stop giving it for a while.
When can you give carrot juice to babies?
Previously, doctors suggested starting to give carrot and apple juices as early as three weeks of age. And modern medicine, aimed at natural feeding, recommends giving carrot juice to infants. only from 6 months and then, after the introduction of other less colored vegetables.
How to make carrot juice for babies?
To prepare carrot juice for very young children, it is not recommended to use a juicer, but you need to do the following:
- Brush 100 g of carrots with a brush under running water, cutting off the bottom and cutting out the core;
- soak it in water for two hours;
- grate on a fine grater;
- put in cheesecloth and squeeze out the juice.
This produces pure (no pulp) carrot juice.
In winter, to increase immunity in children, it is recommended to add carrots when preparing any juices.
Carrots are a healthy vegetable that adults and children love, and must be included in a child's diet. But as for newborns, at what age can they introduce carrot juice into complementary foods, how is it useful, and how to prepare a drink? Can the product be used as a treatment for the common cold in young children?
Carrots can be eaten in many ways, one of the most popular uses is juice.
Carrots are eaten raw, fried or boiled. In cooking, carrots are added to salads, soups, meat and consumed as a separate product. The root vegetable contains a large amount of vitamins and amino acids.
Composition and benefits:
- Carotene (provitamin A)... Increases immunity, improves vision, bone health, and contributes to the normal development of the child.
- B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B8)... They soothe the nervous system, regulate metabolism, improve vision, reduce the negative effects of toxins, promote the breakdown of food, improve skin condition, and normalize cholesterol.
- Folic acid (B9)... Regulates blood flow, supports immunity, affects the formation of white blood cells.
- Vitamin C . Strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacteria and viruses.
- Vitamin E. Strengthens the immune system, participates in the biosynthesis of proteins, is the prevention of cancer and prevents the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases.
- Potassium. Regulates water balance and normalizes heart rate.
- Calcium Creates a foundation for the formation of bones, nails and hair.
- Magnesium Participates in the production of enzymes and protein synthesis.
- Sodium. It has a positive effect on the functioning of the nervous and cardiovascular systems.
In addition to vitamins and minerals, carrots contain iron, phosphorus, zinc, copper and manganese. All of these components are essential for balanced growth and normal functioning of the body.
How and when to introduce carrots to babies?
For babies, the best way to introduce carrots into the diet is carrot juice. Pediatricians recommend starting feeding with it.
As for the timing of the introduction of carrot juice, if the child is breastfed and gains weight normally, it can be administered at the age of 6-7 months. If the child is artificial or is not gaining weight, then the pediatrician may recommend injecting carrot juice, starting at 5 months.
In rare cases, for example, with a large lack of weight or problems with housing and communal services, the pediatrician may recommend starting to inject carrot juice at the age of 4 months.
Contraindications
Carrots are a healthy and hypoallergenic product, but in some cases they cannot be used:
- With increased acidity of the stomach.
- With diabetes mellitus.
- With increased sensitivity to a vegetable or to its components.
- When allergic reactions occur.
In any case, before introducing a new product, you need to consult a pediatrician.
Carrot juice should be injected with caution - allergies may occur
Introduction rules
The baby's gastrointestinal tract is not fully formed, therefore, you need to carefully introduce carrot juice into the diet and adhere to some rules:
- It is better to give preference not to purchased juices, but freshly squeezed and not containing pulp.
- Introducing juice into complementary foods, it should be diluted with water, in a 1: 1 ratio.
- The first week, carrot juice should be given separately, starting with a few drops and bringing up to 50 grams per day. When the child's body gets used to the new product, other juices, for example, apple or pumpkin juice, can be added to it.
- After the first acquaintance of the baby with the drink, you need to watch the condition of the skin and the well-being of the child as a whole for a day.
- Complementary foods should be given after attachment to the breast (in the case when the child is on HB).
Many mothers ask the question, from how old can a child be given carrot juice with pulp? You can do this after three years.
Carrot juice is a natural way to boost your immune system, as well as a remedy for indigestion. In addition, it is used as a safe method of treating the common cold in children and adults.
Preparation
In order to prepare fresh carrot for complementary foods, you need to take one carrot (preferably not purchased, but from your own garden), wash and peel.
If the vegetable has a large core, it is cut off. After that, the root crop should be soaked in running water for 2 hours.
Grate the soaked carrots on a fine grater and strain the resulting mixture through cheesecloth.
The finished juice is diluted 1: 1 with water, after which it is given to the child.
You can make the juice yourself, or you can buy it ready-made in the store.
Rules of use and storage
- Carrot fresh should be given to the baby immediately after preparation.
- If there is a need to store the product, then it is best to keep it in the freezer.
- In the refrigerator, the drink is stored in a sealed glass container for no more than 4 hours.
Carrot juice for a cold
Carrot juice is a safe remedy for the common cold, saturated with phytoncides, which, when they get on the nasal mucosa, fight germs.
In addition, the juice does not irritate the mucous membranes, does not burn and does not cause allergies, therefore it is a natural and safe method of treating the common cold in newborns.
Action: when nasal instillation, the juice fights infection, relieves puffiness and dilutes phlegm. It is used for rhinitis, sinusitis and other diseases that are accompanied by nasal discharge.
Before burying the nose, the following manipulations are performed:
- First, we clean the nasal passages... To do this, we use boiled water warmed up to room temperature. The water is slightly salted, which will reduce the swelling of the mucous membrane and the child will breathe much easier;
- Pipette is used for rinsing... A full pipette of saline is introduced with the child lying horizontally. The head should not be tilted back. If you deviate from the correct position, the solution may enter the sinuses, causing unpleasant sensations;
- After the solution has been injected, the baby's nostrils are massaged with gentle and gentle movements... Further, with the help of an aspirator, secretions are sucked out of the nose. A small pear can also be used for this purpose.
A useful and effective way is to use carrot juice made from fresh carrots. Residues cannot be reused, only freshly squeezed concentrate is used.
For children under one year old, it is recommended to dilute carrot juice with water, in accordance with a 1: 1 ratio, which will reduce the risk of allergic reactions and will have a beneficial effect on the mucous membrane. Instillation should be done 2-3 times a day, at intervals of 2-3 hours, no more than 1-2 drops in each nostril.
If you have difficulties with instillation, you can apply a cotton wool turundochka, moisten it with carrot juice and insert it into a spout. These manipulations should be carried out extremely carefully so that the child does not get injured. The baby's nose is very small, so the cotton turunda does not need to be pushed too far.
Summary
Carrot juice is a storehouse of useful microelements, and most importantly, a product that contains the greatest amount of carotene. In addition, it is hypoallergenic, natural and safe, so it can and should be given to babies as complementary foods.
