Foods to Avoid?

[Jewels06]

So we're starting to get a little more adventurous in our solid foods and I've heard that babies should avoid eggs, peanuts and certain allergenic foods but what are all the foods they should avoid and until how long. My LO is 8 months about to be 9. TIA!

[ErinYay]

I'm a little more cavalier than most, primarily because we have NO allergies (apart from a little mild hay fever) on either side of the family. V won't get peanuts, raw honey, or strawberries until a year, but she gets quite a few dairy products- yogurt, cottage cheese, moisturized cheeses, and has had a few sips of organic whole milk (she's shown zero reaction to anything so far). We do whole eggs, again with no reaction (new studies seem to indicate that starting possibly allergenic foods around 6 months is actually beneficial in thwarting later allergies, but only in kids with no family history of food allergies.

I am waiting on citrus as it's a little rough on their bellies. I avoid all HFCS, and try to minimize her soy intake, not due to allergies, but because I think they both wreck havoc on a little one's endocrine system (well, soy really only in excess, but she's got a lot of years ahead of her to be exposed to hidden soy).

[cristeen]

At 10 mos, we're still avoiding all nuts, all grains, honey and strawberries. Soy HFCS and MSG are things we avoid as a family.

Right now we're waiting to reintro citrus in another few months since he did react to that. The other minor reactions he's had seem to have resolved themselves pretty quickly.

I definitely follow the practice of 1 new food at a time though.

[sparkysgirl]

I thought that they are now saying that doing this is not nessasary...new studies or something.

[belltree]

Eggyolks is a great food for children, just make sure to cook them thoroughly.

There are some foods, that can cause allergic reactions, but it is easy to see. Plus newest studies indicate avoidance does not help.

Honey should be avoided because of Botulism, Nuts and whole grapes because of choking.

Just look at your child and do it one at a time and your child will be fine.

In Spain the kids get oranges at 4months and no one has associated them with bell problems, in Japan they get Fish very early, the "rules" are so different for every country, that I believe them to be more cultural than based on facts.

We are avoiding grains so far, because he spits up after them, and I just learned, that kids don't have an enzyme yet to actually digest grains, but he snacks on them here and there.

[tzs]

i went a couple months holding out on the "biggies" (egg whites, dairy other than yogurt and cottage cheese, and peanuts) but with no family history and hearing that holding off is so debated anyway plus wanting her to eat what we eat and a wide variety of foods we just went ahead and gave the green light to everything.

now we just don't do the health risk stuff: honey, cows milk, and soy (a little soy ok, she's had miso soup and if a stir fry had tofu in it i wouldn't pick it out, but i'm not feeding her tofu as a protein, faek soy meats, or soy beverages etc...)

[Norasmomma]

I am a very relaxed mama on this, I give my babies pretty much anything, but honey. There was a boy here who did get infant botulism and almost died about 5 years ago, so the honey thing is my biggie.

If I was in a allergenic family or had celiac disease or something I'd be more freaked, but honestly my 9.5 month old eats what we eat. I've given him berries, eggs, pretty much anything and everything. I'm not that concerned about it.

I mean we just went out to lunch and I gave him a few of DD's french fries. As a family we avoid HFCS and most yucky stuff, but I think that depending on your own family history and such that going with your gut is probably the best.

[kittyhead]

when my older son (now 4 years old) was a baby we had a list of things to wait on... he didnt have nuts until his third birthday. we just took the baby to his 9 month checkup and the ped told us that the studies have changed, and that the only thing she advises waiting on is honey. we have a strong family history of food allergies, but so far both kids are fine so i feed the baby almost anything that i am eating. he ate almost a quarter of a carnitas super burrito the other day... rice, beans, pork, sour cream, cheese, salsa, quacamole and he is not even ten months old yet.

[AFWife]

We waited on honey because of botulism...but that was about it. He started taking bites of whatever we were eating at 9 months.

So far he can't have pasteurized dairy (raw is fine) (we discovered this at 2mo though), cinnamon gives him a rash around his mouth, and pineapple gives him one heck of a diaper rash (it could be because he ate a ton of it, though).

He had peanut butter around 12months (they used to say delay until age 2 right?) Scrambled eggs with avacado and raw cheese were a fave breakfast at 9mo! (So, whole eggs)

The only issue in either of our families is dairy. Unless you have food allergies in your family I say go for it!

[NSmomtobe]

Originally Posted by sparkysgirl

I thought that they are now saying that doing this is not nessasary...new studies or something.

My doctor told me not to give egg white, nuts, or honey in the first year. I probably will give egg white, but nuts are a choking hazard and honey can carry infant botulism (although he said this is rare due to pasteurization).

I am more likely to take the advice of the Public Health Nutritionist in this area: She said that the only food that needed to be avoided is honey. She said not to worry about allergies unless the child shows signs of allergies. Delaying the introduction of foods is unlikely to make a difference in allergy development (at least past 6 months, once the gut has closed), although many people choose to delay foods that have a family history of allergy (in our case, shellfish), I guess because it is easier to treat allergic reactions in older kids. She also said that there was no need to wait days between introducing foods because most allergic reactions occur within hours.

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by NSmomtobe

My doctor told me not to give egg white, nuts, or honey in the first year. I probably will give egg white, but nuts are a choking hazard and honey can carry infant botulism (although he said this is rare due to pasteurization).

I am more likely to take the advice of the Public Health Nutritionist in this area: She said that the only food that needed to be avoided is honey. She said not to worry about allergies unless the child shows signs of allergies. Delaying the introduction of foods is unlikely to make a difference in allergy development (at least past 6 months, once the gut has closed), although many people choose to delay foods that have a family history of allergy (in our case, shellfish), I guess because it is easier to treat allergic reactions in older kids. She also said that there was no need to wait days between introducing foods because most allergic reactions occur within hours.

And if you wait until they're verbal they can tell you about early allergy symptoms or, if it's a slight allergy, symptoms that you wouldn't have caught on your own. (Like, an itchy mouth or something)

[texaspeach]

Originally Posted by sparkysgirl

I thought that they are now saying that doing this is not nessasary...new studies or something.

this is true. the aap no longer suggests a specific order of introduction after 6 months IF there is no history of atopy (allergies, asthma, excema). we do have these things though and followed a more traditional schedule. we had allergy testing at 9 months that revealed ds is allergic to wheat but nothing else (and a challenge confirms)

citrus and tomato we waited until this month to try as they are pretty acidic, and we are avoiding honey directly (even though cooking does NOT neutralize the botulism spores the chance of getting botulism from honey is incredibly small)