I don't have an answer to your question... but I giggled when I saw your post because I thought you meant "dates" as in, "My DD is only 4 MO and wants to go out on a date."

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they seem awfully sweet but i dunno if they are considered ok or not. i use dates instead of sugar in a lot of things so i can't imagine giving them to a baby they are kinda like candy

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by spmamma I don't have an answer to your question... but I giggled when I saw your post because I thought you meant "dates" as in, "My DD is only 4 MO and wants to go out on a date." :

Well, kids grow up so fast these days.

I didn't think about the sugar...but bananas are pretty sugary too, right?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by spmamma I don't have an answer to your question... but I giggled when I saw your post because I thought you meant "dates" as in, "My DD is only 4 MO and wants to go out on a date." :

oh good I'm not the only mama-brain that thought that.

I was expecting some silly playdate story

sorry no advice here on your actual question, first time around for me and not there yet

 

I thought you were talking about your kids going out on a date too.

 

Ha...I was interested in a thread about "the baby bachelor/ette" the new reality tv show.....

I would think dates are kinda hard to chew and might be difficult for a babe to eat

 

I can't think of any reason not to offer dates... we've used the "baby self-feeding" approach with both dd1 and now dd2. Basically skipping "baby foods" and letting baby start feeding themselves from the family meal. There's a thread here in Life w/ a babe if you're curious.

Anyway, I probably wouldn't offer a really sugary dish to a small child as the "whole meal" (because we wouldn't be eating that ourselves), but I know coconut is a fabulous food for babes and I can't think of any "medical/nutritional" reason to avoid dates! So enjoy your date roll.

 

They're very gooey, chewy, and sweet, I've let my son have small pieces I bit off or cut up since about 1 year, like raisins.

 

I also was confused by the title!

I would think plain dates would be fine ... but not the coconut date roll, because coconut it highly allergenic.

 

Hmmmm... my understanding was that coconut allergies (eaten, not topical) are fairly rare? Coconut was suggested to us several times as a "safe" food/fat while we worked out dd1's allergies... and nearly everyone suggested it for dd2 when her weight dropped. We add coconut to a lot of meals because of this...coconut "cream" on oatmeal is a favorite with dd2.

But allergies are a good thing to think about when introducing foods to a young babe. Even without a family history you just never know, especially these days! For reference, the top allergens are:
Milk
Eggs
Peanuts
Tree nuts (such as almonds, cashews, walnuts)
Fish
Shellfish
Soy
Wheat

And the reaction may be subtle... a rash, eczema, red bum, under eye circles, cough, difficulty swallowing, etc. So while we're very gung-ho with self feeding I do keep a close eye on what the girls get and rotate items on a 3 day schedule due to dd1's dietary restrictions.

 

I probably wouldn't use dates as a starter food...but introduce them after baby has been eating for a few months.

 

I eat dates all the time (I have a real sweet tooth and would otherwise eat sugary garbage [and sometimes still do tee hee]) and DD had a few when she was around 8 months old (we also do BLW), but recently when I offered her one she wasn't interested. I wouldn't want her filling up on sugary dates, but right now she's really just experimenting with food. She won't touch anything green. She likes raisins, too, but they come out (OK TMI) mostly undigested and bloated.