Is Cucumber Ok For Baby Led Weaning?

So, your little one is finally at the age where you can start them on solids, and you can officially start with the baby-led weaning process. However, where do you start? There are a number of veggies out there that moms like to start their babies off with; cucumber being one of the most popular, but is cucumber ok for baby-led weaning?

Cucumber is more than ok for baby-led weaning. In fact, it is a great option. The hard outer layer of the cucumber is perfect for babies to hold onto, while the middle is soft enough for babies to chew on. However, as with all solid foods, it can be a choking hazard if eaten unsupervised.

Now that we know that cucumber is more than ok, and is in fact, a great option to give your baby when you are doing baby-led weaning, let us take a look at the best way for a baby to eat a cucumber during this process.

Is Cucumber ok For Baby Led Weaning?

Cucumber is a great option when it comes to all the different options of food out there to give your baby during the baby-led weaning process.

However, a lot of parents do wonder whether or not it is ok for their babies to be eating cucumbers during baby-led weaning because many foods can be a risk to feed your baby for a number of reasons, such as:

Choking – certain foods (like grapes and blueberries) run a high risk of being a choking hazard.

Allergies – certain foods (like egg or nuts) are more likely to have an allergic reaction in your child’s body than others.

Too young – Certain foods (like meat) are only ok to give your child once they are older and their stomachs can handle it, which means that your child may be too young to be trying certain foods at this age.

Thankfully, cucumber is not a choking risk, a common food allergy, and is perfectly suitable for your baby from as young as nine months old.

Cucumber is perfectly gentle on a baby’s stomach from around nine months old.

As long as your baby is being well supervised while they are eating, cucumber is safe to give your baby.

What Are Some Of The Benefits Of Using Cucumber For Baby Led Weaning?

Cucumber is beneficial in many ways when it comes to baby-led weaning, a few reasons being:

Nutrition

Cucumber is full of so much wonderful nutrition that your little one needs in their diet, and in just a few slices, your baby will receive:

Between 14 to 19 percent of all the vitamin K, your body needs in a day.
Vitamin C
Vitamin B
Magnesium
Potassium
Minerals such as copper and phosphorus

Other health benefits of cucumber are benefits such as:

It helps your support your brain to develop and stay healthy.
Helps relieve constipation.
Helps support your kidneys and supports their function and health.
Helps with hydration.

Cucumbers are extremely nutritious, which means that adding them to your baby’s diet will not only help them when it comes to learning how to eat solid food but will also be beneficial to their health.

Color

Babies are having a great time learning and respond to fun colors at this age. Because of this, they will be eager to see colorful food on their plate, such as a big bright green piece of cucumber.

They will more than likely be very eager to grab a stick or slice of cucumber because of its fun color, more so than they would be by a more bland-colored food, like a white piece of pasta.

Shapes

Parents can cut the cucumber into many different shapes and sizes, which, again, is fascinating to young babies.

This will make them want to pick up, touch, and play with the cucumber, which they will then inevitably put in their mouth and attempt to chew on it.

Cutting cucumber into different shapes such as stars, triangles, squares, circles, and semi-circles, will not only help intrigue your baby into playing with the food, but it is also starting to teach your baby about different shapes.

Perfect For Teething

Cucumber is a crowd-favorite amongst parents when it comes to a teething baby. When cucumber is cold, it has a great cooling effect on a baby’s gums. It helps ease the pain and calm the swelling down in their sore, little gums.

Since baby-led weaning usually starts around the same time that teething does, this will be a win-win for you and your baby.

Easy To Hold Onto

Cutting a cucumber into sticks makes them easy for a baby to hold onto. When a baby is first learning how to grab and hold food, they will need foods that are easy to pick up and then continue to hold onto; cucumber sticks are exactly that.

They Have A Mild Flavor

Babies need to be eased into the world of food and all of their different flavors. All a baby’s taste buds have ever known up until this point has been the taste of breastmilk or formula.

Strong flavors, if rushed into, can upset a baby’s tummy. Because of this, babies should be slowly be introduced to different flavors, starting from very mild flavors and building up from there.

Because of this, cucumber is a great place to start as it has a very mild flavor that won’t overwhelm a baby’s taste buds or stomach.

Conclusion

Cucumbers are great for baby-led weaning, and as long as your baby is being supervised while they eat (as they should always be), there is no risk in letting them eat it, and it is super easy for your child to hold on to.

Cucumber is incredibly nutritious and will help give your baby many of the vitamins and minerals that their little body needs in the day.

On top of cucumber being healthy and easy to hold, cucumber is bright and colorful and fun for your baby to play with and look at, because just like you and me, babies eat with their eyes first, making cucumber fun and a great food option to spark your baby’s love and fascination with food.

Is Cucumber Ok For Baby Led Weaning?

Is Cucumber ok For Baby Led Weaning?