Infant solids

[Caidyn]

Just wondering which foods should be or are best avoided for infants until after a certain age other than the most common ones such as:
Tomatoes
Corn
Wheat
Eggs
Cow's milk
Nuts and nut butter
Citrus

I remember seeing a list at one time and cannot find it anymore. Are things like lentils, quinoa, buckwheat, spinach okay?

Thanks so much!!

[CoBabyMaker]

I found this guide to be helpful.

[cristeen]

I follow the school of thought that he can eat almost anything that we eat, with a few exceptions. Grains will wait until 18 months, since he cannot digest them before that. Nuts will wait until 12 months or until he can chew them, whichever one is later. And honey will wait until after a year.

At 8 months, mandarins (citrus) is one of his favorite foods. He just tried corn for the first time tonight, and egg yolks were one of his first foods (whites wait until after 12 mos). The only reason he hasn't had tomatoes is because they're out of season, and he's been drinking cow's milk formula for months now.

At this age, food is about experimentation and introducing him to different tastes and textures - so unless something is a choking hazard, or contains one of the above items, I'm just letting him eat off our plates at this point.

[Smidge]

I agree with PP about eating what we're eating for the most part.

HOWEVER, my MIL is an OR nurse and has seen too many babies/kids die of peanuts getting stuck in their throats. The doctors try to get them out, but they just can't.

So, she says no peanuts until they can spell it and I'm following her rule.

O, and we limit acidic things like citrus and tomatoes until 18mo or so. They can a have bite or 2, but that's it. Otherwise they get an upset tummy and diarrhea.

[texaspeach]

the AAP said earlier this year that it the order of introduction wasn't important. there's no need to avoid anything except honey (botulism) or undercooked foods, and choking hazards unless you have a history of atopy (ie excema, asthma, allergies) in your family.

that said, we DO have a history of allergies so we waited until 8 months for proteins, and won't introduce egg white until after a year. we're skipping cows milk until we can do a controlled trial in the dr office. wheat we introduced at 8 months, but we didn't have a reason for waiting that long.

[mamadelbosque]

We've never limited what the boys could have once they started solids. Theres some evidence that shows the longer you wait to introduce allergens the *MORE* likely they are to be allergic.