Salt - eating out - baby led weaning.

[BridgetBidet]

Sorry, I'm new to this so I hope I've got this in the right place. At Christmas when my ds will be about 9 months old my Mum and Dad are visiting and want to take us out for a meal at a vv posh hotel with the baby. The idea is that we're going to put him in a high chair and he will be able to share some of the food with us.

The only thing I'm concerned about is the salt content, because I've been cooking for him at home I've been making stuff without salt and the things I've been buying I keep an eye out for too much salt content. Do you reckon he will be alright having the food at the restaurant just with no added salt? Or will food cooked with salt be too much?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

I would think just once wouldn't do any harm if you are generally careful about salt intake.

At 9 months he'll be fine with a bit of salt as a one off. If there are things you know he likes and are healthy why not pop some in your bag and give those too? Don't stress though, sounds like a lovely treat for all of you.

I agree - won't hurt now and then. Think of the salt intake over a week not over one day. And maybe avoid obviously salty foods like risotto, sauces etc.

Just a thought, but you might find the baby won't eat the salty/richer food. My DSIL used a regular stock cube in some bolognaise sauce we had while staying there recently and my ten month old just kept spitting it out, even though he loves bolognaise sauce usually. There might be another explanation but it might be worth having some back up food in your nappy bag just in case.

If you stick to potatoes, veg etc it will be fine as a one-off. I tended always to bring a little bag of rice cakes, breadsticks, raisins and so on as a back-up anyway; nobody minds a little baby eating your own food.

It'll be fine - its one meal of the day. You need to avoid salt when you can, and not stress about it the rest of the time

I always figure that since DS doesn't have salt at home, he'll be fine having some when we eat out and we eat out with him at least once a week. It's pretty easy to just order a plate of vegetables or an omlette and ask for no added salt anyway. At that age DS was always happy with a bit of bread and some vegetables when we ate out.

It'll be fine - enjoy the treat.

Thanks for your advice, I think what I'm going to do is take a little bag of snacks like veggies/rice cakes for the baby and perhaps just give him a little taste of what we are having.

I wouldn't mind so much about a little bit of salt, but what about making your life easy on yourself and packing up some of her favourite bits and giving that to her.

Trust me, posh restaurants are not the time to start trying out new foods. Stick to safe, and tbh, at 9 months, is generally speaking always your best bet.

How posh is "v v posh"? Might it be better to get a babysitter or go somewhere less posh and more baby friendly?

I'm sure it will all be fine!

We are baby led weaning and have eaten out with Dd a couple of times. We just make sure we order something that isn't going to be obviously hugely salty and let her have some. If your usual food isn't salty then a Bit more as a one off isn't really a problem. The baby led weaning book by gill rapley has really good advice about salt intake that I found super helpful and reassuring about this sort of thing.

So long as you're not eating out every day I wouldn't worry.