Many times when the baby is weaned off breast milk to solid foods, parents in all their excitement try to make the baby food as tasty as possible by adding either salt or sugar. Your baby's taste buds aren't developed yet, so she won't know if the food will taste better or different with salt or sugar!

Babies need very little (less than 1 gram) of salt per day. Too much salt intake can do harm to their kidneys, so it is very important to avoid extra salt in their food.

Be careful while buying packaged foods for your baby. Check the labels for ingredients as well as the nutritive values. Certain ready-to-eat or ready-to-prepare foods can contain high amount of salt. Tinned/canned foods also are high on sodium, so these are better avoided.

It is always better to give your baby home-cooked food, so that you can have a control over the ingredients and their quantities. You can have a variety of home-cooked foods so that the baby gets a variety of nutrients.

Not only babies, but toddlers also don't need as much salt as we adults consume. Toddler's need for salt per day is slightly higher than the baby's. So when your toddler starts eating normal food, make sure the salt intake is not increased abruptly.

The healthier your baby eats, healthier it grows! Be a well-informed parent and make the right choices for your baby!