Why shouldn't I feed my LO carrots?

[Blessed_Mom]

So- I cannot just steam carrots and feed them to my DD is it? I read something about nitrites?/nitrates? How is that gone with jarred carrots? What can I do? And how are they harmful?

[karika]

how old is your child? I cut organic carrots into rings, then steam them and feed them to my children when they are ready for food. The first times i make sure they are well cooked and mash them, adding a bit of water if necessary. But this is of course after they are ready for food... for dd1 she didn't eat until 10 mo and dd2 at 8 mo. I chose avocado for their first food both times. I wouldn't use canned foods because of the leaching problem of BPA in the cans anyway....

[tzs]

really??? carrots too????
i had just come to the realization while giving my babe beets and then finding out they are somehow "bad" that i am going to have to ignore all the little don;ts and just feed her a wide variety of good whole foods

[Blessed_Mom]

My DD is 9 mo old. Not canned - jarred (glass) ..because I read somewhere that we shouldn't steam them and give them to our babies due to some nitrite/nitrate problem. What is this problem and how else can i give my DD carrots? Do I have to buy them pureed from outside if I cannot feed her some myself (how do the baby food companies treat them otherwise to get them rid of some nitrates?)

[beckyand3littlemonsters]

it's the first i've heard of it, i always thought carrots were good for baby actually a lot of the recipes for making your own baby food have carrots in them don't they?

[trancechylde]

Here is some info- carrots are fine!

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/nitratearticle.htm

[sunshynbaby]

I hadn't heard anything about carrots. I boil them instead of steaming because I just can't seem to get them soft enough steamed.

[Pookietooth]

It depends on the soil in which they were raised and how fresh they are -- the longer they sit, the more they get for some reason. So try farmer's market carrots that are organic.

[dislocator3972]

Super Baby Food said that some soils produce carrots high in nitrates. A baby younger than 7 months would have a hard time filtering out the nitrates. Baby food companies test for nitrates, but there is no way for the average consumer to know what the nitrate content is in the carrots at the grocery store.

That's what I read anyway.

[j_p_i]

I hadn't heard not to give carrots either. I've steamed them and given them to my DD mashed up a bit. She's not a big fan unless they're mixed with something though!

[PrincessAnika]

AFAIK you just aren't supposed to use the cooking water for pureeing....but i haven't done carrots yet or researched them much so i could be wrong....

[Kelly1101]

9 month olds should be fine. It's only a wory for very young babies, like four months old, who are really too young for solids anyway.