As your baby eats more baby food, especially vegetables and fruits with a deep green or yellow color, you may notice that her skin color also takes on a more yellow to orange color too. It may be especially noticeable on her palms, soles, and over her nasolabial folds (the skin that runs from the bottom of your nose to the corner of your mouth).
This is called carotenemia and is caused by the high levels of beta-carotene in certain foods.
It should not be confused with jaundice, which would also make your baby's white eyes turn yellow.
Foods High in Beta-Carotene
In general, foods that are high in beta-carotene include yellow-orange fruits and vegetables and dark green leafy vegetables.
Examples of baby foods that are likely high in beta-carotene include:
- butternut squash
- carrots
- corn
- papayas
- spinach
- squash
- sweet potatoes
- winter squash
Other foods that are high in beta-carotene, but which generally aren't found in commercially prepared baby food include pumpkin, collard greens, beans, egg yolks, and yams. Of course, once your baby starts eating table food or if you are making homemade baby food, she may get more of these high beta-carotene foods than infants who are just eating jarred baby food.
No treatment is necessary for carotenemia, although you can perhaps offer fewer foods high in beta-carotene if you like. This does become less of a problem as your baby gets older, especially as she becomes a preschooler. Mashing and pureeing foods makes the beta-carotene in the food easier to absorb, which may explain why it is more of an issue with baby food.
