If you're like many parents, you might be thinking that maple syrup is a "kid-friendly, baby-friendly" food. It’s so delicious - and it goes so well with pancakes!
Maple syrup is a natural sweetener made from maple tree sap.
And natural sweeteners are fine for kids, right?
I’m a huge fan of maple syrup in general, but not for babies. There are a few good reasons to skip maple syrup during infancy, and sugar content tops the list.
Let's take a closer look at maple syrup, some potential downsides of giving maple syrup to babies who eat solid foods, and when it’s fine to start serving it more regularly.
Why Can’t Babies Eat Maple Syrup?
Many parents are already familiar with the health risks associated with offering honey during a baby's first year. Honey should be avoided in babies under 12 months mainly because of the risk of botulism, but also because of its high sugar content.
You might wonder whether the same goes for maple syrup?
Added Sugar
One of the reasons that added sugars like maple syrup aren’t recommended for babies is that babies are already familiar with and predisposed to prefer sweet flavors. Breast milk, formula and even amniotic fluid are all slightly sweet.
Rather than reinforcing that preference for sweet by offering sugary foods, it’s wise to prioritize offering different flavors (like sour, bitter, etc.) to help train a child’s palate to appreciate a variety down the road.
Maple syrup is made by boiling maple sap to remove the water and concentrating the sugar into a thick syrup. In fact, the only macronutrients in maple syrup are carbohydrates that come primarily from sugar.
But aren’t natural sugars better for kids than added sugars?
Most natural sugars are found in fruits, vegetables, and dairy. Babies and kids benefit from the wide range of additional nutrients these foods also contain that are needed for healthy growth and development.
However, natural sugars such as honey, maple syrup, and agave sugar are high in sugar and low in nutrients.
When the new nutrition label rules that required added sugars to be listed separately went into effect, there was a lot of confusion about honey and maple syrup. These are one-ingredient, high-sugar-content foods, but they don’t contain added sugars. So, the FDA decided that food companies aren't required to list the “added sugars” separately on nutrition labels for honey and maple syrup.
Still, honey and maple syrup are still considered added sugars in terms of dietary intake.
Sugar is a nutrient that should be limited, so it doesn't have a Dietary Reference Intake (DRI). In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that children under two avoid added sugars. And the limit for toddlers and adults is no more than 10% of the daily diet.
For context, a 2-year-old needs approximately 1,000 calories a day. Ten percent of 1,000 is 100 calories. That's about 25 g of added sugar.
One teaspoon is 4 g of sugar. And a single serving of maple syrup (2 tablespoons) has about 24 grams of sugar (an entire day’s worth of added sugar for a toddler…)
Choking Hazard
When coated in the thick and sticky consistency of maple syrup, other foods can become stickier which can increase choking risk.
A good rule of thumb if you do choose to serve it to babies is to limit maple syrup to a small swirl or thin layer and supervise closely.
Can Babies Have a Maple Syrup Allergy?
Maple syrup isn't one of the nine most common food allergens, and allergies to maple syrup are very rare.
But maple syrup is made from tree sap, which contains pollen. So if a baby is allergic to pollen, they may react to the pollen in maple syrup. An allergy to pollen found in foods is called pollen food-allergy syndrome.
Can Maple Syrup Cause Botulism?
The risk of botulism from maple syrup is extremely low compared to honey–another food to avoid during the first year.
Both honey and maple syrup are natural sweeteners with a similar consistency, but maple syrup doesn't have the same risk of infant botulism. Honey can contain Clostridium botulinum spores, which is very dangerous for babies under 1 year.
Botulism is a serious illness caused by bacteria that can grow in food that has not been properly canned or preserved. Infants are particularly susceptible to botulism because their immune systems are still developing. Throughout the first year of life, a child’s digestive system and immune system mature and the risk of botulism is virtually eliminated by the age of 1.
Although botulism is a risk with any home-canned or jarred food, maple syrup isn’t typically a botulism risk for babies.
What About Maple Syrup Urine Disease?
The name causes a lot of confusion for parents. But despite its name, Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD) is unrelated to eating maple syrup.
It's a rare, inherited disorder that affects how the body processes certain proteins. Babies with MSUD can't break down all of the amino acids from their diet. As a result, these amino acids build up in the blood and urine, causing sweet-smelling urine. MSUD gets its name from the characteristic maple syrup odor of affected infants' urine.
Is Pancake Syrup a Good Maple Syrup Substitute for a Baby?
If you've noticed the price difference between pancake syrup and maple syrup, you might wonder if 100% pure maple syrup is worth it.
Although 100% pure maple and pancake syrup (sometimes labeled as “imitation maple syrup”) are both high in sugar, the quality is different. Neither offer any significant health benefits for babies.
Should You Serve Maple Syrup During Baby-Led Weaning?
As registered dietitian specializing in infant nutrition, I don’t generally recommend serving maple syrup to babies, but a small taste of maple syrup here and there isn’t the end of the world.
Baby-led weaning encourages caregivers to expose babies to as many safe and healthy foods as possible. The variety increases a baby's acceptance of new flavors and textures which helps maximize their willingness to try new foods as they get older.
One of the potential benefits of maple syrup is that when served in small amounts once in a while, it can help make new foods more palatable and thereby help increase a baby’s diet diversity. Here are some examples:
Roasting vegetables in some maple syrup
Including maple syrup in a nutrient-dense muffin recipe
Swirling a small amount into some plain, full-fat yogurt
Have you introduced maple syrup to your kiddo yet? Let me know how it went in the comments below.
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