raw egg yolks and babies

[BirthIsAwesome]

hi ladies :) I have a four month old, and though I plan on nursing exclusively for at least 6 months, I'm planning ahead on what to feed him. I get pastured eggs from my next door neighbor (can literally see the chickens running around from my bedroom window) and was wondering what your opinion would be on the safety of feeding raw egg yolks to my baby. I was thinking of adding some to a green smoothie and spoon feeding him a bit of it...any red flags in your mind?

[cristeen]

Honestly, id be more concerned about the greens... Instances of food poisining from raw veg are more common than from eggs. If you trust your sources, trust them. If you don't, i imagine you wouldnt be using them.

All that being said, a smoothie would not be among my recommendations for first foods. But then i believe in 1 food at a time when they're first starting solids.

[spughy]

If you're eating it as well, then go for it - I'd be more inclined to do a fruit-based smoothie than a green one, as cristeen pointed out greens are more likely to have bacterial contamination, and also they can contain potent plant polyphenols and toxins that are beneficial in small doses for adults, but possibly not for children.  Some people theorize that's why small kids often won't eat bitter things. 

I think one of the most important things in feeding babies, that's often overlooked, is that they feel like they're eating what you're eating.  They're more likely to accept the flavours as familiar (exposed via breastmilk), and in small taste-like quantities (which is all a 6-month old should be getting) there's not much going to harm them. Mashed potatoes? Bits of meat? Buttered veg? Curry? Stew? Fried chicken? All good.  If you're hanging out in this forum, it's unlikely you're scarfing chinese take-out frequently, so you're probably fine to feed your meals to your babe. As they get older and need to eat more frequently than you do, then by all means prepare steamed veg or squishy meats or whatever, but in the taste-and-fun stage just let them take stuff off your plate.  Run it through a food mill if you're so inclined.  I'm not a fan of the one-food-at-a-time feeding methodology UNLESS you have a history of severe allergies in your family.  If your baby has a reaction, try to think back to what he ate and go for the obvious culprits first.

[BirthIsAwesome]

thanks so much ladies! the greens would be from my own garden this spring, and I would use them immediately after picking (the AAP states that the nitrate issue with spinach {and several other veggies like beets and collards} is negligible for babies older than 3 months, but I read that the levels increase with storage, so would only use my homegrown spinach and lettuce...see link here)

Also, I don't plan for it to be his very first food, just a food during his first month. And yeah, it wouldn't be for baby, it would be my own smoothie that I would give him tastes of. I trust my source for eggs, just didn't know if there were any baby-specific concerns (like, I trust my raw honey source also, but won't give it to my babe until he's 1).