Babies and salt: How cautious are you?

[AuntyViCtimoftheZombies]

Just wondering about other people's views on this and whether there are any "experts" out there with more information!
Our DS is now 11 months old and a big eater, he especially loves "grown-up" food and always wants to eat the same things we do. He loves bread, cereal, pasta in sauce and all sorts of "proper" food, and likes to share meals with us. But... once you start looking at the salt content of things, it seems practically impossible to feed him a good mixed diet, and the sort of things he likes, without running up against the salt recommendations (under 1g a day for under-1s). We have started giving him home-made bread when we can, because bought bread is often so salty, but so many other things have lots in - some cereals, cheese, many bought sauces and stocks.... Short of cooking absolutely EVERYTHING from scratch, it seems practically impossible to stick to. I was going to give him some rice pudding the other day and then saw that half a tin contained 6g of salt which is the whole daily recommendation for an adult, never mind babies! So had to have a change of plan.... On the other hand, many HVs seem to tell you just to encourage babies to eat what you eat, and don't seem to worry too much about salt. So I was curious where other people stand on this, and how much information there really is about the risks and effects of too much salt at this age (I know the recommended limits, but not what evidence there is behind them!). Thank you!

We were fairly careful until he was one, keeping his food quite plain and making more complex dishes such as mild curry etc from scratch to keep the salt content down. (Although I've never bothered baking my own bread!)

He's now 20mo and we're not so careful, he has baked beans now and then for example and a spoonful of gravy occaisionally. I don't add salt or stock cubes to dishes he is going to share, we would salt it ourselves at the table if necessary.

Actually I remember checking the salt content of a jar of Dolmio and it didn't seem too bad, but maybe I was reading it wrongly!

We were careful with first but have completely thrown caution to the wind with second who just eats what first now eats. If you're going to do it properly it is a huge commitment. Also I have reasoned with myself that the women in my family, me included, all have problems with low blood pressure so a bit of salt might do them good.

I'm truly surprised that there are some discussions on trivial topics which have hundreds of responses and this very first one I have looked up had only 3.
I too am very concerned about salt - and not just for my baby son but also try to keep it moderate for my 9 year old. The things I find difficult are white bread (can't find a slice with less than 0.8g!) which means for the baby this should be about his maximum DAILY limit gone in one slice. Also find family and friends don't seem to have the same worried - my MIL has given baby adult cottage pie with stock cubes/ adult gravy before he was 1 and I hit the roof as I would always separate the food and mix with either baby gravy or just cooking water at this stage. Another friend says she never worried and her kids are fine.
Are there any experts out there that can help? I know that there have been high profile cases where babies have died, but what damage could it do if babies had high salt regularly? I need some back up :-)

but babies have died from having high salt food all the time. If you normally give him low salt food then the odd portion of grown-up cottage pie won't matter. Hitting the roof does sound like a bit of an over-reaction IMO

we tend to cook from scratch so I don't worry much about what mine has. I also do my own bread in a bread machine which saves a lot, and give him porridge rather than the kind of cereal that has a lot of salt.

I think maybe I will have to invest in a bread machine, good tip!

bread machines are fabulous, Tip

Slat was/is a real bugbear of mine. I ended up making everything from scratch as it is almost impossible to buy food 'on the run' and stay within the recommended guidelines.
My children are 7 and 4 and I'm still very careful about their salt intake

I've been wondering about this too. My rule of thumb at the moment is to try and keep food with salt in to one meal, e.g. today DS had bread and hummus for lunch, but will be having home-cooked food with no salt for tea. But that has no scientific basis, obviously. It would be helpful if there was a rough guide out there for those like me who don't want to spend their whole time doing sums.

The most annoying thing is when they only state the sodium amount on a packet so you have to convert into salt all the bloody time

Was careful til dd was one - baked own bread used low salt stock (still do and lo salt to cook). Mre relaxed now but do think If she has had a day with salty stuff (eg been out and had pizza or something) will be very careful next day but do same about sweet stuff. The levels of salt in food generally is shocking.

Exactly, chocolatemoose. As a busy Mum I would really benefit from a rough guide too. I think I'll get the breadmaker but would prefer to be able to buy as I don't have enough hours in the day as it is!! But as far as I can tell, if you see the sodium content you need to times it by 3 I think to get the salt equivalent. So for a 1-3 year old how can you include two slices of 'normal' shop bought white bread in any of their meals without going over the daily maximum salt limit - which could be every day? And this is without salty cereals, hidden salt in treats and the odd spoonful of gravy on their dinner! Very scary.

I did most of the things already mentioned, ie baked own bread, make meals from scratch with boots low salt baby stock cubes, gave porridge or shredded wheat for breakfast, then it frees up the salt quota for more interesting foods like baked beans or eating food in a cafe.