SUGAR FREE Snacks for a 6 Month Old

Please be aware the "Sugar Free" and "No Sugar Added" can be two different things. Sugar Free normally means there is an "artificial" sweetner added. Artificial meaning it's made from chemicals. Aspartame, etc.... These can all have long term negative health effects. Please, do some research before giving any child "Artificial Sweetners."

At six months a baby really doesn't need any snacks - breast milk/formula and baby food should do the trick. When he's a bit bigger you can give him cheerios, they are not sweet and are a great finger food to have on hand.

You don't need snacks for a six month old. Babies shouldn't be eating things like puffs until they can do the pincer grasp which is more like nine months. At that time, I would suggest cheerios.

For now, breast milk/formula and vegies or fruits is all they need. No snacks needed!

-M

((I'm assuming you're talking refined sugar, and not the fructose, lactose, galactose, -ose, -ose, -ose, that's in every natural edible food. Well...because to avoid those sugars is...well...deadly.))

So moving along...While you MIGHT find stuff at Whole Foods, etc., what we did when we were concerned about content was to make stuff ourselves. Then we knew exactly what was in it.

- Boiled carrots. Either baby ones or big ones cut into circles. They should be boiled into near mush. Because your baby is getting the vast majority of his nutrients from milk or formula right now, you don't need to worry about retaining delicate volatile nutrients. Boil the heck out of them. They should retain their shape but mush if you poke them with your tongue. For added flavor/nutrients try boiling them in chicken stock.
- Other boiled root veggies (like potatoes, etc.)
- Baked into mush squash (acorn squash, etc.)
- Banana's cut into slices and then quarters...or sliced in long strips.
- Watermelon
- Ground meat/seafood (baby grinder type)
- Ground anything (meat/veggies/etc... mixed into mashed potatoes and rolled into balls for finger food is a fun trick).
- Hummus
- Stewed apples & cinnamon
- Apple sauce
- Curries
- Tofu, especially steamed silken tofu
- Scrambled eggs
- Yogurt

You may see that the trend here is SOFT and wet. Dried snacks are harder (figuratively & literally). Hence why cheerios are so popular. They dissolve in nearly nothing flat. Personally I feel like the chemicals we breathe in the air are a lot worse than anything found in Cheerio's, although some people take issue with them, I'm not one of those people. I've heard from a few people that Cascadian Farm Purley O's actually dissolve and mush up the way that cheerio's do, similar texture, similar ingredients, but organic and non additive. <grinning> You'll have to read the list yourself though, and do some empirical testing. Most of the organic O's are too hard, dense, and don't dissolve well at all...so it would be great if these actually do...but I have no experience with them.

REMEMBER: (Although I'm sure you know already, I'd feel remiss if I didn't mention it)

1) At this age, introduce table foods slowly, to watch both for allergies and for gastrointestinal upsets (their entire digestive system is still forming, & some children's are more complete than others at this age. Some babies munch happily away, others get violently ill. If you get bad reactions -gas, diarrhea, vomiting, etc., back off and wait a few months). Slowly is typically one new food per week.

2) Nearly all of the "food" he should be consuming should be breastmilk or formula.

3) Avoid honey for the next few years, to avoid the risk of botulism.

You are always on track with fruits and veggies. 99% of packaged goods ARE NOT GOOD FOR BABY or even you for that matter.

Stick to the foods that your grand parents ate. If they did not put it in their mouth, do not put it in your baby's mouth.

LEARN HOW TO READ LABELS. Don't be fooled by what they say, be aware of what they are NOT SAYING.

What does "enriched" really mean?
What do they use to "artificailly colour" something?
What really is "BHT" added to most packaging?
What is Trisodium Phosphate and why is it in some breakfast cereals?
How come they have to "bleach" flour?

I could go on!

You are the mom, you get to decide how to feed your son now and forever. What you do for him now will determine his eating habits for the rest of his life.

Be the grown up. Don't look to a multi billion dollar company that is in it for a profit to feed your child, look to the land, look inside your heart and feed him what you KNOW to be true.

If you need help, feel free to ask me. My passion is educating parents on what they are REALLY feeding thier children. Don't even get me started on fruit juices...

B.
Family Wellness Coach

We did cheerios and the Annie's organic cheddar bunnies (like goldfish, but much better for them - although I am not 100% sure they don't have sugar - double check it)
And don't forget the real food - cut up bananas, cheese sticks, grapes (at 6 months I would cut them into 1/8ths -1/16ths depending on the size of the grape), avocado cubes, and roasted sweet potato cubes - those are some of our faves. That is all assuming you want some kind of chunk - my first child was all about chunks even at the beginning. My little girl is more into smoothness, so I do greek yogurt blended with fruit or mixed with fruit purees (steamed pears, or steamed apples with a sprinkle of cinnamon) rather than the yo baby yogurts - as those have sugar too!

Good luck and enjoy your little man - I know it is cliche - but they grow up soooo fast!!

Hi ReaAnn,
I can't remember how old my son was when I started him on Cascadian Farms Organic Purley O's (basiclly sugar free cheerios). He loved and still loves them. I like you did not and still do not give my son sugar he is now 13mo. You cn find them at Vons, Whole Foods and Gelsons. It was really hard to find stuff without sugar...Good luck
P.

I made all my babyfood, the store bought stuff is a lot of processing and chemicals... cubbed tofu, cheese, fruits, cheerios, kix, chex, peas, beans, no salt whole wheat crackers or whole wheat noodles, yams...they like to feed themselves. It's not so much what's in some of those gerber foods, but what's not. Why have them fill up on something with no protein, vitamins...

Plain old Cheerios did the trick for mine.

Just wanted to add that looking for "sugar free" snacks is not a good idea since most things that are sugar free have artificial sweetners added in, which are more harmful to baby than actual sugar. Stick with FRESH fruits and veggies.

My favorite is sugar free applesauce. Mott's has a really good one that you can get in the serving size packs so it is easy to take along when out and about. I also gave my kids frozen peas, thawed out just a bit. They are small and soft and obviously have no sugar. good luck!

It's prob a little early for snacks, other than maybe cheerios. And, I commend you for avoiding sugars. You should be able to find plenty of sugar free snacks at natural food stores, whole foods, trader joes, etc. But be careful, sugar isn't nearly as evil as High-fructose corn syrup. Natural sugars, fruit sugars, cane sugars, etc are better than the high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners that are substituted. Read the labels.

Plain yougurt,Organic Earth's Best babyfood,Applesauce from TJs ,bananas,avocado,anything you make yourself...
Cheerios do have sugar in them,also i don't think it's safe to give cheerios to a 6mo baby,he can choke on it.
M..

The puffs really don't have alot of sugar. Read the grams and serving size, they are not that bad. I fed my dd all organic and mostly homemade food and I gave her those on occasion. You can also go to Henry's and they have an organic baby section. You can find things there. Most stuff has some sugar, just try to find ones from natural sources like fruits. Try baking sweet potaoes. You wrap them in foil and bake them. You cube them up and they make a great snack. A little messy though. Cheerios are low in sugar as well. Good luck

Hello! 6 months may be too early for them, but Roberts American Gourmet Pirate Booty was a favorite of my daughter. Sorry, I don't recall how old she was when she started eating them. Its a healthy cheese puff. They disolve quickly in the mouth and they are a favorite of my husband as well :) I buy them at Henry's or Vons. Good Luck!

I wouldn't make a move without consulting the Super Baby Food book. The woman author is a bit self-riteous, but her suggestions and recipes and guidelines are golden. I steamed and pureed all of my own organice vegies and froze batches to save time. I also fell back on her mixed grain high protein super porridge, and sweetened it with fresh bananas and some organic nutmeg and cinnamon. That was breakfast and snack food until he was at least 18 months old.

As time goes on, and teeth and chewing enter the scene, less pureeing and certainly less grinding of the whole grains is perfectly appropriate.

It may sound like a lot of work, but it really isn't. Especially if you cook batches and freeze.

Good luck!

A 6 month old shouldn't really need snacks. He should be getting all of his nutrition from breast milk or formula with a small amount of food once or twice a day. Something like mashed bananas, avocados or brown rice cereal is a good intro into solid food to get used to the idea, but he doesn't even really need it from a nutritional standpoint. One of the best pieces of advice I got when my son was that age was don't worry so much about the food. As a first time mom of course you are excited to see him eat and explore....but eventually it will become just another thing you have to do! Relax and let him be a baby! :)

the puffs have what 20 grams of sugar pure 80 pieces or something like that and i highly doubt your baby eats that many in one sitting. what i did for my daughter at that age was gave her these.

puffs (fruit and veggie ones)
veggie crackers
wagon wheels
cut up fruit
gold fish
cherrios (plain)

the baby snacks on the baby isle are all great for your baby and like all food are best in moderation. your baby is 6 months old and not really needing snacks. what i did with my daughter was when i would feed her a meal i would toss a few things on her tray so she could self feed. i see your concern about sugar but if i were you i would be more worried about their salt intake. but theses are also things you should worry more about when your baby is much older and ony on regular food. use your best judgment as a mom as to what your baby should eat and go by what her dr suggest. good luck!

Our kids always got plain cheerios, which they loved to pick up one by one. However, it was long ago, and I don't remember the age at which they starting eating them, since they (the cheerios) are really small. Do goldfish have sugar? Kids usually love those.

Not positive these have no sugar added - but at 6 months, my daughter snacked on Cheerio's, rice crackers, and frozen Krustez mini pancakes.

K.

I am very picky about what I feed my kids - no sugar, preservatives or anything artificial. It is a challenge and sometimes I have to make compromises. I never found anything (snack foods) for when they were that young. But by the time he figures out chewing, I highly recommend Annie's Whole Wheat Bunny Crackers. My boys have loved them since they could first chew them (that was sometime around a year, I think). They are pretty easy to find - definitely at Whole Foods and other health food stores, buy I am seeing them more at supermarkets now, too. Good luck!

I agree with the other posters...cheerios are good, but stick to fresh food...that's the best.

We eat mostly organic food in our home, so probably the organic baby food and treats will be your best bet for packaged foods without all the sugar, hormones, and artificial stuff. BUT read the labels. Just because it says "organic" on the front, doesn't mean that it's 100% organic. And definitely watch out for the artificial flavoring and sweeteners.

I used to buy organic baby food at Henry's Marketplace and Vons when they were on sale. And I would make my own at home and freeze them in ice cube trays. Just defrost 1 or 2 cubes at a time.

Also check out Amazon.com's Subscribe and Save Program. You get 15% off their price plus free shipping. So it might be cheaper to buy it in bulk through them. You just set up delivery every 1, 2, 3, or 6 months. You select the quanitity. You can cancel at anytime.

My doctor told me to wait till eight or nine months before I gave my baby snacks.

Try Cascade Farms Organic O's. You can find them at Whole Foods. My daughter loves them and they are all natural with no added sugar or preservatives. It is a great snack!

B.

B. McLaughlin