Can Babies Eat Ice Cream?

We’ve been asked a few times whether or not it’s safe for babies to eat ice cream.

In most cases, this has been because a well-meaning relative has given ice-cream as a treat… without checking with mommy and daddy first. This leads to concerns that it might make baby sick.

As a rule, the odd taste of ice cream sneaked to your baby really shouldn’t do any harm…

…so don’t panic if your little one has been given any (although it’s worth pointing out to friends/relatives that you’d like them to speak to you first!).

But, of course, ice-cream certainly isn’t recommended as a suitable food for baby’s first year.

For one thing, it contains sugar – and you really don’t want to encourage a sweet tooth at an early age.

For another, it may contain ingredients that could cause a reaction. For example, it could contain nuts, or ingredients made from nuts – even if it’s not immediately obvious. Some varieties of ice-cream also contain artificial colours or flavours.

Whilst ice creams from stores are usually pasteurized, the ice cream from trucks or dispensing machines may NOT be safe for baby

It is common in the UK for pregnant women to be advised to avoid soft serve ice-cream from machines, because it can become contaminated with Listeria (a possibility if the tubes on the machine are not kept scrupulously clean).

This same precaution is advisable for very young children, too.

Once your baby is over a year old, then you may offer a little ice-cream now and again – compared to other treats, a good quality ice-cream is our ‘dessert of choice’ for our older children as it does, at least, provide some calcium.

But it’s still important to bear in mind that it also contains sugar and fat, both of which should be limited throughout life.

In particularly hot weather, there are plenty of other nice things you can offer your baby to cool him off – and provide some nutrition at the same time!

Frozen fruit slices are ideal, served as finger foods, placed in a mesh feeder, or even crushed in a bowl. You can also try freezing yogurt, then pureeing with your baby’s favourite fruit and a touch of vanilla!

When summer temperatures are soaring, one of our favourite things to do is make a simple banana ‘ice-cream’.

All you need to do is cut a ripe banana into slices, pop it into the freezer until firm, then throw the frozen slices into your blender and whiz them up!

The result is AMAZINGLY close to real ice cream, both in texture and taste – the natural sweetness of the banana does away with the need for any sugar!

You can create different flavours by adding other ingredients to your banana ‘base’ – a tablespoon of blueberries and a teaspoon of wheat germ, for example, provide wonderful colour and lots of goodness.

Do you create your own ‘ice-cream’ with healthy ingredients? Please share your ideas and recipes!