Infants and Solid Food

[Annie Laurie]

Did you wait until your baby was 12 months to introduce things like wheat, eggs, and dairy? I always understood things like that to be highly allergenic and wait on those. But I was reading this today:

 

http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/solidfood8to10montholdbaby.htm

 

My baby is 8 months old and has just in the last month discovered the joy of eating and he really, really wants to eat everything he sees us eat. We eat salmon, eggs, cheese, yogurt, and berries all the time and I've not let him have any yet.

 

He loves self-feeding and eats avocado, bananas, peaches, nectarines, sweet potato, oatmeal, chicken (I give him a leg bone with little bits of meat on it and he gnaws on that), and carrots enthusiastically. That's all he's tried so far.

[Mommy22alyns]

The girls had yogurt close to a year. Becca was sensitive to egg yolk and threw up every time she ate it, so we stopped until she was 1 and it went away. As a result, we waited until 1 to give Sylvia any egg.

[Annie Laurie]

Hi Nicole,

The new gudelines threw me for a loop this time around. I was so conservative with food introductions with my first three, and now they're saying that's not helpful after all. I walked a middle road this time--was far more liberal in what I gave her than I was with my first three, but, I still can't bring myself to do nuts. We have no food allergies in our family, so really, it probably doesn't matter what I do either way.

 

Hi Kirsten,

 

So, they're saying waiting doesn't make any difference in allergies for baby? I may just let Milo try what we're eating, but slowly, so I can make sure he's not reacting to anything. He really loves to participate in meal time with us.

 

ETA:

 

My boys have had mild dairy allergies though, at least I think that was what it was, so I should wait on that. I tried an elimination diet for quite awhile with Milo, due to how fussy he's always been, but it didn't seem to make any difference.

[sleepymommy]

I didn't but if I had the chance to do it over again, I would have.

[T'smom]

I have not held off on dairy, but I have on nuts. She LOVES cheese and yogurt. I might be a bit more careful, but we don't have any food allergies/sensitivities on either side of the family.

[Lily_Grace]

We waited on high allergens, but went sort of haphazard with the rest. I did follow the 4 day rule - waiting that long between new foods - but we didn't do baby food or purees. Just table food that we were already eating.

 

Dairy is high on my family's list of sensitivities so we started with the least likely forms to cause a problem, like yogurt and goat cheese, and then worked our way up to milk in foods. At 18 months he still doesn't like plain milk to drink and I don't push it. The rest of us drink mainly water, anyway.

[beaners]

We do lactose-free milk until about 18 months, because my husband has trouble with dairy and regular milk leads to awful diaper rashes. It seems to be fine past the early toddler stage. We do eggs, peanut butter, fruits, etc early on but I always pay careful attention when we add something new in.

[Tap]

I held off with ds16, and he was the one who had horrible allergies. He was allergic to carrots, broccoli/cauliflower, nuts, and oranges among others. If I had given him the common allergen foods earlier, I would have suspected this was the problem, but it wasn't.

 

 

Due to my experience with ds16, I didn't wait with dd12. Dd12's favorite food when she was 6mths old was canned chili. LOL She would spit any baby food or bland food back at you. She wanted real meat with a lot of flavor. One of her favorite foods under 1 yo, was prime rib.

[Ellesmere]

When my oldest was born, we were told to wait until (I can't remember how long) before giving her allergenic foods. She had her first allergic reaction at eight months and we still don't know what caused it. At her first birthday, she reacted to a nut extract in the cake. She was given soy before her first birthday and had an allergy to it. She is allergic to things that she had after her first birthday, too.

 

When the second was born the guidelines were different. Either way, my MD said wait with my second on what two of us are allergic to until my allergist gave the o.k. on them.

 

Not discounting the article at all. But if you have a history of allergies, I'd follow whatever your doctor says (and s/he may agree with the article.) Of course, we thought we had no severe allergies in the family when my youngest was born (my first severe reaction was when she was two) and we had no idea what to do when her first allergic reaction happened. Thankfully, my mom was with us!

[stripe]

I was told this with older kids but now the American Academy of Pediatrics realized that they may have made a huge mistake, and by delaying exposure, they may have actually caused more problems. They said in Jan 2008 that there is "no current convincing evidence that delaying their introduction beyond [the age of four to six months] has a significant protective effect on the development of atopic disease."

 

Therefore they've reversed their position and you can do whatever you want without feelng you're doing something wrong, and consulting with your baby's dr about any concerns.

 

http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/resourcespre.php?id=108

[kalanamak]

There are no food allergies in kiddos ancestors, so I started at 3 months with very, very thinned rice cereal in b-milk. I introduced one thing at a time for the rest of the year, but since we don't eat meat, it was grains and veggies. He wasn't so wild for fruit. He would seize the spoon and just shove the food into his mouth. I had to hang on to the spoon to keep him from overdoing it. I felt he was clearly saying he was ready, and we had no troubles with it at all. He still can't have a lot of acid food (tomatoes), because it irritates the exit, but I don't think of that as allergy.

[Carpe]

Given my family history, we don't wait on anything, we just permanently avoid some things. We eat nuts, but there is no dairy in my house. My littlest one used to eat PB sandwiches (on toast) at 8 months old. There are no nut allergies anywhere in our families, nor egg, wheat, or most other common allergens. We have severe dairy and soy allergies on both sides. And both my kids have to carry epipens for them. I want the house to be a safe haven, so it doesn't even make it in the door.

 

If you introduce a new food and then wait 3 or 4 days before the next one, you'll know for sure what is causing a reaction.

[coffeegal]

No, I hold off all solids until the infant is 6 months but after that it's a fast slope to eating everything and weaning themselves at 12 months. We have no known food allergies in the family. :001_smile:

[angela in ohio]

My babies went on to solid food at about 10 months, and they are what we ate. The only thing I held off on was raw honey and eggs, and we limited fish to once a week until they were a few years old. I've never even heard of waiting on wheat, eggs, and dairy. Peanut butter, yes, but we didn't.

 

The only allergy we found was ds' problem with red food dye (an intolerance, not an allergy, actually, because he would vomit it out) but he didn't have any of that until he was older anyway.

[Mama Geek]

I had read to try the allergens between 6 and 9 months of age. She was eating some solid food like avacado and bananas at about 4 months. We waited about 2 weeks in between allergens and made wheat be the last one that she tried since dh has major gluten issues.

 

She has a slight reaction to soy and gets really sick from eggs. We will wait at least another year before feeding eggs to her.

[Soror]

As dairy, gluten and soy have been family issues we have waited on those. Actually the baby hasn't had any gluten(that I know of), she just started getting some dairy and only trace soy(I think soy is bad for you regardless). The babe gets all other allergens though. I didn't wait terribly long with the other foods although it wasn't the first foods we introduced either. The next baby might be getting dairy a bit sooner assuming we are still on it but I don't see the need to feed gluten or soy as it isn't in our family diet.

[Natalieclare]

We do lactose-free milk until about 18 months, because my husband has trouble with dairy and regular milk leads to awful diaper rashes. .

 

 

Sorry, but this made me chuckle! :lol::lol::lol:

[AnitaMcC]

I have severe prednisone dependent asthma so our kids were considered high risk for allergies/asthma.

 

The twins were 4 week preemies and dx with asthma by age 6 months... I avoided high risk foods until they were 12+ months old. They also had issues with formula as I couldn't nurse them. We finally landed on a "digestable" one for them after the 4th or 5th formula. They were started on non-allergy risk cereals and foods around 6 months.

 

Ds#2 and #3 we didn't introduce high allergy risk food until after 12 months also. Ds #2 wasn't dx with asthma until nearly 2yrs old. Ds#3 was dx around 4 months old. I nursed them for the first 4 weeks then they wernt on only formula full time. They both were started on rice cereal at 6 weeks old since they were piggies (drinking 40+ ounces of formula a day) per their pediatrician recommendation.

 

Our situation was a bit different and so we did things our way based on each individual child and our family medical situation.

 

Oh, and none of us have food allergies. I think Dh is lactose intolerant but he won't admit it or he doesn't care.

 

Niece suddenly became allergic to shell fish when she was about 23 yrs old. Through childhood she loved and ate shrimp. Then the last time she had it... she had anaphalactic reaction and now carries an epipen.

Edited July 18, 2011 by AnitaMcC

[LAmom]

I haven't read all the posts but yogurt and cheese do not count as the "dairy" infants should not have as far as I know. There is a difference with the way they are processed. It is recommended that cow milk should be started later (after 12 months). I didn't do milk but they all were still breastfeeding so had no need to. Yogurt and cheese were absolute favorite foods. I did no solids until they were sitting, had teeth, grabbing for food on their own. Then they ate what we ate with exception to peanut butter and honey (and onions made them gassy). Not everyone waits on those. Peanuts seem to be the big one and honey supposedly causes botulism (though friends gave it to their kids before the magic 12 months and they lived).

 

I do think family history matters with foods, etc. For the early months (9 months) I would slowly start table foods to kind of monitor how they would do (if the food caused a diaper rash, etc). Like bananas, avocados, etc. Strawberries hurt their bums. :tongue_smilie:

 

Do what you think is best! Lots of mixed advice out there. Or find a good source (friend, doctor, website that you trust) that you will follow some guidelines.

[justamouse]

I let mine have anything they wanted. We eat a wide variety and even now, they are NOT picky eaters. If we were eating it, I would just stick it in a blender (when they were on puree) and blend it, and when they were to chunkier food I would dice it up and put it on their tray. I've never made 'thier food' and 'our food'.

[2_girls_mommy]

Mine ate wheat and yogurt before they were one. We did wait on whole milk until they were one. And strawberries and I think peanut butter maybe? I can't remember about that.

 

And eggs, we let them have either the white or the yellow part only. Again, i can't remember which, but it was whichever was ok according to recomendatios at the time.

[LAmom]

Did you wait until your baby was 12 months to introduce things like wheat, eggs, and dairy? I always understood things like that to be highly allergenic and wait on those. But I was reading this today:

 

http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/solidfood8to10montholdbaby.htm

 

My baby is 8 months old and has just in the last month discovered the joy of eating and he really, really wants to eat everything he sees us eat. We eat salmon, eggs, cheese, yogurt, and berries all the time and I've not let him have any yet.

 

He loves self-feeding and eats avocado, bananas, peaches, nectarines, sweet potato, oatmeal, chicken (I give him a leg bone with little bits of meat on it and he gnaws on that), and carrots enthusiastically. That's all he's tried so far.

 

 

Sorry, should have read your post more carefully. Sounds like your baby has a great appetite and I would not hesitate too much. I definitely would give yogurt and cheese. I forgot, double check online, but I think that the white part of the egg is OK? Or the yellow? One of them!! :D You could try berries and nothing else new that day and see how he does. I only found problems with strawberries not blueberries. Have no idea about fish! Probably good for them. :001_smile:

[LAmom]

.

 

And eggs, we let them have either the white or the yellow part only. Again, i can't remember which, but it was whichever was ok according to recomendatios at the time.

 

 

:iagree: We were posting at the same time!

[Ellie]

I didn't read any guidelines. :-)

 

I did go to La Leche League meetings when I was pregnant with my second because my first had been lactose intolerant (our pediatrician had never heard of such a thing. :glare: I learned about it from reading "New Wives' Tales.") So baby #2 didn't get any solid foods until she was 8mo and could feed herself, and she didn't have any cow's milk to drink. Ever. Some cheese, but not until she was older than 1yo.

 

We have no history of food allergies in our families.

[beaners]

Sorry, but this made me chuckle! :lol::lol::lol:

 

Haha, oops! Well, at least if he did get diaper rashes too I wouldn't be the one taking care of it!

[twoxcell]

The only thing I really waited on was milk, and honey. None of my kids have food allergies.

[Lucy in Australia]

No history of allergies in either side of our family. With all 3 of mine, I started solids at 4 months. Yes, they were big(gish) babies and yes, they were quite ready. By 6 months, I was giving them a little of everything. Peanut butter, eggs, etc... I did watch them carefully :) When my boys were babies, the "rules" were all about waiting till they were 1 year old however no one in my extended family did this (possibly due to our French/Russian background) so I chose to listen to my mother and aunties. I think they were right :)

[weddell]

If I didn't have a history of food allergies in the family, I wouldn't wait on most things. The reason for waiting on letting babies drink cow's milk is because it can be hard to digest for babies and lead to stomach problems (which is NOT the same thing as an allergy) and also because people want to save money on formula by switching to cow's milk early but then the baby may not be getting all the vitamins and extra fats that are included in formula (or breastmilk). By 1 most can digest cow's milk just fine and are eating enough other foods to get all the vitamins and fats they need.

 

My kids both have food allergies (so does my DH and so did his grandfather). I didn't wait on feeding allergens in my first baby and she still had allergies (we almost killed her at 9 months old with the sesame in some hummus). I did wait on common allergens with my second and he still had allergies. My kids are most likely genetically predisposed to having allergies. My guess is that for some kids, waiting or not waiting probably won't matter. I think it makes more sense for most kids to try most foods before age one.