pears
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Are Asian pears
healthy
for babies?
Yes. Asian pears offer tons of plant fibers that help diversify the gut microbiome.The fruit also contains plenty of vitamin C (for healthy skin and a robust immune system) and copper to help your baby’s body absorb iron from other foods. Got a constipated baby? Pears can work wonders in moving things along as they are naturally high in fiber, fructose, and sorbitol—all of which promote bowel movements.
Just be careful not to overdo it, otherwise, you may have a poop explosion on the horizon!
★Tip: Hold that peeler! Pear skin generally contains tons of nutrients and offers antioxidant benefits, which can be up to 20 times more prevalent in the skin than in the inner flesh.
Just be sure to wash the fruit before serving as pears often contain pesticide residue.
How to prepare pears for your baby!
Every baby develops on their own timeline. The preparation suggestions below are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional, one-on-one advice from your pediatric medical or health professional, nutritionist or dietitian, or expert in pediatric feeding and eating. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read or seen here.
6 to 9 months old: Puree ripe pears into a puree. As they grow, offer large sections of cooked Asian pear with the core, seeds, and stem removed (removing the skin is optional). Once cool, try handing a whole half section in the air for your baby to grab and hold. This is easier for babies than picking up slippery pieces on their own. Rolling cooked pear in hemp seeds, finely shredded coconut, or finely ground nut can help add grip. Encouraging baby to hold the food with two hands is also helpful in managing slippery textures.
9 to 12 months old: Continue to offer large halves of cooked pear with the core, seeds, and stem removed. If your baby is showing success in breaking off pieces of fruit and chewing, you can thinly slice or grate the raw fruit to minimize the choking risk. (Slicing into paper-thin rounds may work well, as opposed to half-moon pieces.) Note: At this age, your baby is likely to spit much of the raw fruit out. Many times, they will pick up pieces of spit out food and bring it back to their mouths. This is completely normal and part of healthy oral motor development as your baby learns to move food around in their mouth to chew and swallow.
12 to 18 months old: Serve thinly sliced pear, and as your toddler gets better at chewing and swallowing, increasing the thickness of the slices and leaving the skins on, which will help acclimate your child to fruit skins overall. Don’t be surprised if your toddler spits the skin out; this is still normal at this age and part of the process of getting used to the texture.
18 to 24 months old: At this age, your toddler may be ready to take on a whole pear! Give it a go once you feel comfortable. A whole pear (with or without the skin) may be safer than halves or quarters of raw pear because toddlers take smaller bites when working with a whole piece of fruit than they otherwise would with sections of fruit that they can put further into their mouth.
It's a fact!
The Asian family of pears are shaped like apples with a uniform tannish color, and they have a crisp flesh that are better suited for use where cooking isn’t required. European pears have the shape and flavor of what most Americans associate with a pear. Cultivation in the United States began in 1621 when the first European settlers made landfall in New England. Unlike how they had done in Europe, the first pear trees were grown from seeds.