Salted butter for baby - is it ok?

[jinglejangle6]

Is it ok to put a scraping of salted butter on my baby’s toast, or should I have bought non-salted? He’s 6.5 months and has just started weaning. Thanks!

I'm sure a tiny bit isn't going to hurt either way

I’m not sure, as you’re not meant to add salt to cooking are you? Hmm. I might give him some dry toast for now then buy some non salted later.

You’ll be giving him wotsits in a few weeks so I wouldn’t worry about it

I personally don’t - I get him unsalted. Another thing I found out was that some bread has quite a high salt content so I check that now too.

www.srnutrition.co.uk/2019/05/bread-for-babies-whats-the-low-down

at PP saying a little bit won't hurt and that you'll be feeding him crap in a few weeks anyway - who the fuck gives wotsits to a baby!?

OP, use unsalted butter if at all possible. Under 1 they shouldn't have any extra salt, their kidneys are too small to handle it. Obviously if you forget every now and then that's fine, happens to everyone, but as a rule, no salt for babies.

Great, thanks. That bread link is really helpful too - I hadn’t considered salt content in bread or that seeds could present a choking risk!

I think the recommended maximum is 1g per day. I put our butter on his toast because I don't have space for a second butter in the fridge and most of his food is salt free.

I look at it in terms of what they are eating over the day - if the rest of the day they are eating fruit, veg, unprocessed stuff then a tiny bit of butter won't do any harm, if they are going to be having lots of other processed foods like cheese, bread, even breakfast foods like weetabix contain a bit of salt then I would use something else on toast.

I use non salted butter for both mine still and they are 4 and almost 2. Once you’ve got it it lasts ages and don’t see why not?

@Ohalrightthen yes I was being flippant but really, you can overthink these things. No baby ever came to harm from having a scrape of salted butter on a bit of toast. Being paranoid about the possible salt content of every single food in isolation is not a good thing.

[quote BasinHaircut]@Ohalrightthen yes I was being flippant but really, you can overthink these things. No baby ever came to harm from having a scrape of salted butter on a bit of toast. Being paranoid about the possible salt content of every single food in isolation is not a good thing.[/quote]
No, but being aware of the salt content in each item is important. Paying attention to what you feed your child isn't paranoia. If OP was going into a flat spin about a bit of salted butter, I'd be telling her not to worry. But she's asking if she should buy unsalted, and so I'm saying yes, she should. The "a little bit won't hurt" mentality is fine, to a point, but there is a LOT of hidden salt (and sugar) in our food, and as a nation we have a horrifically unhealthy diet and obscene childhood obesity rates, so attention to detail is no bad thing at all.

@Ohalrightthen

Agreed.

I also use the unsalted butter in my cooking for the kids, like when I scramble them eggs etc.