If babe got a bottle of milk based formula...

[Shami]

then she was already exposed to milk. She is self feeding now (6mths) and I want to give her oatmeal made with milk. There are no food allergies on either side of our families. The AAP has now said there is no evidence that avoiding certain foods after 4-6 months will prevent allergies in famiies with allergy issues. There isn't much info on ebf babies...go figure My babe is ebf except for that one little bottle at birth (low blood sugar due to my gestational diabetes). Thanks for your thoughts. My main question is that I want to give her oatmeal cooked with milk. Also I'd like to give her some eggs. Whadda ya think?

[4Blessings]

Any hay fever, eczema, pet allergies on either side? Food allegies and other allergic tendencies go hand in hand. Don't assume that no food allergies in the parents means no food allergies in the next generation.


Technically you would need two exposures to an allergen before reacting so one bottle of formula would be one exposure. Although if you've been eating dairy and BFing and the child has no reactions you should be ok.

What do I think? Having seen an anaphylactic reaction to milk in a ten month old child, I would wait to introduce milk until at least one year of age. A six month old doesn't need cow's milk. Ditto for eggs. Oatmeal can be cooked with water, rice milk, etc.

But that's just me.

[nalo]

Originally Posted by Shami

then she was already exposed to milk. She is self feeding now (6mths) and I want to give her oatmeal made with milk. There are no food allergies on either side of our families. The AAP has now said there is no evidence that avoiding certain foods after 4-6 months will prevent allergies in famiies with allergy issues. There isn't much info on ebf babies...go figure My babe is ebf except for that one little bottle at birth (low blood sugar due to my gestational diabetes). Thanks for your thoughts. My main question is that I want to give her oatmeal cooked with milk. Also I'd like to give her some eggs. Whadda ya think?

Okay...what do I think? NO WAY! A 6 month old should not be getting milk. Period. I would also wait until at least a year for all of the top allergen foods and at least two years for some of them - like peanuts. Mix the oatmeal with breastmilk or water.

[Shami]

Yes I have allergies to pollen/mold. I didn't know those can effect food allergies. I can't find much research on this issue. Doula, everything you said is what I have heard on mdc and had planned to do, but where is the research? Not challenging you at all. I am not the best googler and am having trouble finding the studies that show avoidance of certain foods preventing allergies.

I guess my reason for wanting to have solid research studies is because I want to give dd foods that I am eating which sometimes are cooked with milk or eggs. Thanks for your help!

[nalo]

Originally Posted by Shami

Yes I have allergies to pollen/mold. I didn't know those can effect food allergies. I can't find much research on this issue. Doula, everything you said is what I have heard on mdc and had planned to do, but where is the research? Not challenging you at all. I am not the best googler and am having trouble finding the studies that show avoidance of certain foods preventing allergies.

I guess my reason for wanting to have solid research studies is because I want to give dd foods that I am eating which sometimes are cooked with milk or eggs. Thanks for your help!

I don't have time to find links right now but the research is everywhere, so I do encourage you to keep looking around until you find what you need - even the AAP recommends no milk until 1st b-day, I believe (and I tend to disagree with many of their recommendations). I don't want to sound patronizing if you already know this but I'll say it just in case. The main reason for avoiding certain foods until a certain age (and all solid food until 6 months) is because baby's digestive systems are not mature enough to properly digest these foods. Even if you choose to give high allergen foods "too early" and there is no reaction you are basically predisposing them to develop an allergy to that food later in life by messing with their little systems that are not designed for what you are putting into them. Now, many babies who get cow milk as 9 month olds, for example, will never develop a milk allergy but they will definately be at a higher risk for doing so. They also may have or develp an intollerance which goes undiagnosed and does damage to the body over time. My thinking is...and I don't mean to sound overly harsh here...why on Earth would you put your child's health at potential risk just so you don't have to deal with making safe foods for her? At 6 months she is still primarily EBF and probably will be for a while so foods at this age are more for exploration and tasting - not for any amount of actual nutrients and calories. When you are making your own food just see which things would be safe for her and offer those. Fruits and veggies are best at this age anyway and there are no hidden ingredients to worry about. HTH a little.

[Shami]

Doulamary, don't worry I have a pretty thick skin so you can tell me anything because I did come here for info and opinions. So...let me have!!

Here was my thought process (without adequate research, I will admit) mainly based on mdc mamas and some baby led weaning research.
Babygirl goes wherever I go, she sleeps where I sleep, and I want her to eat what I eat (eventually as she matures). I want to encourage her to eat what we eat and not to be picky about foods. So I started by offering apple, plain steamed sweet potato, blueberries, and broccoli. The way I eat broc. is steamed with lemon-butter drizzled over it. So, I gave it to her and she loved it. Anyway, I am happy to make her plain stuff, but why, when we don't eat plain stuff. Now the AAP is saying that after 6 months they have no evidence (I don't know if that means no studies or the studies were inconclusive) that witholding foods prevents allergies.

I'll keep searching and looking to you all for more info and links whenever you have time to find them. Thanks for taking the time with me!

[nalo]

You need to make up your own mind given the research out there but the AAP also strongly believes that vaccines have zero correlation to the skyrocketing autism rates and that is something I believe to be a load of crap. In addition to all the research out there, a landmark court case just found vaccines to be the culprit in one child's development of autism and the AAP stands their ground regardless of what the overwhelming trends in the population are showing. Way more kids are food allergic today than ever before and this can primarily be attributed to earlier and innapropriate exposure. Again - you may believe the AAP and that is your choice but that is my 2 cents.

I didn't mean to make it sound like I think babies and children should be fed bland food. I think spices and herbs and flavor are fabulous and they shouldn't be left out (but I stand my personal ground on no dairy or other high allergens until at least age one). I do, however, advocate for starting slowly. When a new food is introduced to a babe you should offer that one food only for 4 days in a row and then stop for at least a week to see if there is any reaction to that food (this is the standardly accepted way of food trialing, perhaps with small tweaks here and there). If not, then you are fine. So as an example. Do a food trial with squash. If that is fine, next do a food trial with squash and nutmeg (you know squash is fine so nutmeg is the one new thing you are trialing). The next week trial carrots. If those are fine, the following week trial carrots with one herb or lemon juice mixed in - whatever you want to try. I think babies should have real flavors and not single, bland foods but I also believe you need to do proper food trials and never introduce more than one thing at a time so you can effectively guage any reaction. It won't be long before she has a long list of foods you know are safe for her and you can combine in many various ways for safe, yummy meals.

[kjbrown92]

I have read that the US is about the only country that gives kids bland foods for their first foods, instead of just giving them what everyone else is eating. So I thought the same thing about my DD, and she started drinking more and more and getting up more and more every night, and getting mysterious rashes, and then had to do an elimination diet when she was 14 months old. So I'm not knocking the " give them what you're eating" plan, but do it slowly, and carefully, monitoring any reactions, waiting 3 days between new foods, etc.

And yes, you having environmental allergies makes your DD more likely to have ANY kind of allergy/intolerance. If both you and DH have them, it's up to 80% likely, I think it is.

K