Food Allergies & Introducing Solids

My baby is not even two months yet and she has shown interest in what we are eating. I have tried a little cereal mixed with some applesauce and formula and she loved it. She did get angry with me for only giving her a tablespoon full, but other than that she hasnt had any bad reactions or constipation which is more than I could say for formula alone. Im still only ging to give her a litte ever once in a while, but she is really ejying it so far.

My husband and I both having had food allergies wanted to avoid that for our children so we did a lot of research and found that introdusing solids early would NOT be the best way to avoid this so...we waited until one year to add solids to our first childs diet. He also was growing quite well...he was 10# at birth and was wearing a 2T for his first birthday. We had 11 children and while not all of them made it all the way to a year we went at long as we could. It got harder to be strict with more children and "helpful people". I know this goes against what most doctors are now saying but as we all know the trends change with every generation as far as when to feed our little ones so that shows you that there really is no right and no wrong. As far as baby being interested...they are interested in everything and everything goes in the mouth whether it is animal, vegitable, or mineral so that really is not any indication in my book. I heard that one a lot over all these years of raising children (our youngest is almost 3 and the oldest 22). Our children are very healthy and had no food allergy issues in spite of the allergy issues of us as parents. I hope that is helpful. You have to go on your gut instinks and I hope my experience is of some help to you. I would be happy to anser any specific questions you might have! Best wishes as you make your choices and way to go on the organic food for baby!! YEAH!!!

Sincerely,
K. B

www.shaklee.net/takecontrol

Your milk is not filling him up. Allergies don't necesarily come from introducing new foods to him. He needs to have rice cereal and other foods, per doctor. My son developed some food allergies, but grew out of them. Try it.

Hi Ana,

My personal experience was this: my son started rice cereal at night in his bottle and in the morning to fill him up. At 5 months we started him on pureed veggies that I made at home then he started him on fruits. I bought organic when avaiable and if not either fresh or frozen. If you want more ideas, email me and I'll explain more. My son is now 9 months old and has no food allergies yet.

My daughter is 8 months old, I introduced solids at 4.5 months old. First, I started feeding her one tablespoon of rice cereal mixed with your milk to an appealing consistency. (My daughter likes her solids thicker).
Gradually increase her solid intake a little more each day until she reaches two tablespoons in 7 days. Then introduce bananas with the cereal, starting at one tablespoon mixed with two tablespoons of cereal and increase bananas until you get to two tablespoons of cereal and two tablespoons of bananas in 7 days. This is a tried and true way of introducing solids, by mixing them together so the baby doesn't only eat her favorites. I did the above and went in this order: cereal, bananas, prunes (or applesauce if her stools are more loose), carrots, green beans, then a meat.

My son, now 5 months old, follows the food to my mouth. I believe all my children did at that age. I did start solids at 4 months old with my older two, but that was because I didn't know any better than just listen to the ped. Now, I start feeding my kids, when *I* want to.

I start off with avacado and not the carbs...rice cereal. Then I'll move on to veggies and fruits.

My oldest two, well, one does have food allergies and the other seasonal allergies. I wouldn't say by feeding them too early, they would develop allergies. But, I would begin feeding them when *you* feel you should. It really isn't recommended to feed a child earlier than 6 months old...although I know many of us do. I'll probably be starting this month sometime when he turns 6 months old.

Please listen to your heart and not the dr.! Do the research (I think you already have) and don't be fooled by the fact that he is bright and sees you eating, and thinks it looks like fun! You know what is best for him, and what you're doing is right. I waited to nearly 8 months to try to avoid food allergies and I know that it helped a lot. I had to work hard not to eat those offending foods (ice cream, chocolate) while I was nursing my daughter. She would get infections and perforated eardrums from ME eating those, so imagine if I fed her foods. You are preparing him for a healthy life by providing the best food right now. Hang in there and just smile at those who tell you they know better than you! Also seek out La Leche League and GO. Best thing I ever did. A room full of moms who are nursing is like realizing you DO belong!

If he is showing intrest in your food, then he is ready for baby food!! I started both of mine around 4 months old and neither one of them have food allergies. They both had eggs and peanut butter before it was recommened too and no problems there either. There is starting to be more research done on weather withholding baby food till 6mts, not giving them the whole egg before 1yr old and peanut butter before 2yrs is really going to prevent allergies or not. (The peanut butter by 2yrs old is more of a choking hazzard than anything.) But it is believed that if we are going to have food allergies, we are going to have them regaurdless when the food was introduced to us. Especially since you are BFing, what you eat goes into your milk and the baby gets it. So if you eat eggs, the baby gets eggs. A friend of mine son is allergic to eggs and it happed all of a sudden and he was BFd only so go figure. The DRs said he would probably out grow it and they will test him later down the road to see.

Good luck!
S.

Allergies usually occur if the parents have them or in formula fed babies. All little ones are recommended to start on the least possible allergy causing foods regardless of their family history. My little girl is also exclusively breastfed and I found a great website, wholesomebabyfood.com that gives the chart for what to introduce when along with recipes and how to on how to make your own baby food. Remember too that for the first year their primary nutrition comes from you and the eating solids is just practice. Phoebe, my 7 1/2 month old goes through phases with voluntarily eating her solids and refusing them. Good job with the breastfeeding!! You're doing the best for him.

You are getting a lot of good advice. My daughter is 3 and exclusively breastfed. We were concerned with food allergies because she had eczema. She was over 7 moths old before I gave her any cereal and I was all worried about solid foods and making sure she got enough. I also was going to stop breast feeding at 1 but we kept nursing until she was 2. She is hardly ever sick so I think I did the right thing. Basically you have to go with your gut. Cereal won't make them sleep longer during the night and IMHO a larger, breast fed baby will be hungry more often so trust your gut. You are the only one who knows what is best for your baby. :)

My son is 5 months old and also exclusively breastfed. He, too, has more than doubled his birth weight, shows interest in my food, and eats approximately every two hours, including through the night. I have been so tempted to start him on solids. My pediatrician originally recommended rice cereal at 4 mos but at his shot appointment during that time she said that he was doing so well that she didn't feel it was necessary until 6 mos. While I can't speak from direct experience, all of my research has indicated that it is best to wait until 6 mos before introducing any kind of solids not only because of fear of allergies but because a baby's digestive system just isn't ready to handle "real" food. Plus, in a breastfed baby, the introduction of an iron containing cereal can actually interfere with his absorbtion of the easy to use iron produced in your breastmilk. And introducing solids too soon can cause your milk supply to decrease if too many of the babies meals are being replaced. I will continue to nurse him for the next month but I haven't decided what his first food should be. I have also read that rice cereal isn't necessarily the best first food....While I couldn't directly answer your question, I hope have someone support you in not rushing to feed solids helps!

follow your gut feeling on this one. you are going to hear so many different opinions. You've got the moms whose Drs have them giving the baby cereal in their bottles when they are two weeks old and then you have those waiting til 8 months or more for any solids. You do what you think is right for your child.

I can tell you my personal experience with 4 children....none of mine have food allergies at all. All were breastfed for the first 12 months or more. Never used formula, not even once. My first I started cereal when he was close to 4 months old. He wasn't really ready for it and wasn't able to eat any real amount of it for at least a month or so. But I kept at it because he was my first and it was something new so I was gung ho about it. With the rest of them I looked more at their interest in food I was eating and would offer them bits now and then to taste once they were 4 months or so. When I saw that they were able to swallow and work it back in their mouth I started solids. With most of them this happened between 5-6 months old. Relex for a baby is to try to suck the food like they are nursing and this doesn't work! So they have to be able to understand that it is food and how to eat it. Hope this makes sense and helps some.

I also wouldn't worry about him still nursing that much. Two of mine still were at that age. I still get up once or twice a night with my 14 month old. My daughter was a good sleeper and at 2 months she regularly slept through the night. Every child is different. Breastmilk is so digestible that it moves through the body very quickly. If they wake up and seem hungry, then I feed then. I don't agree with the people who say not to. Sorry. If they have solid food or formula that is different. It is harder to digest and therefore stays with them longer. Breastmilk doesn't. So a completely breastfed baby that wakes up hungry, I feed. It will probably change when he starts eating some decent amount of solid food, which probably won't be right away when you start them. It take s awhile for them to learn how to do it.

Good Luck!

My pediatrician had me introduce solids at 5 months but he wasn't interested until 6 and he hated rice cereal. If he is still waking up every 2 hours IN THE NIGHT, I think you just have to realize he is not actually hungry but just looking for comfort and you should not feed him just because he cries, especially if he is already big for his age. I was still exclusively breast-feeding at that point too but my boy slept through the night at 3/4 months and ate every 3-4 hours during the day. You may be totally against letting him cry in the night and not indulging him but feeding him too much and letting him get too big will do more damage in the long run (not to mention he isn't getting good, uninterrupted sleep). If you are just talking about the day time, food might be a good idea and 5 months is what a lot of pediatricians recommend.

Was in your same boat - my little man was and still is in the 97th percentile for ht and wt - I did the cereal @ 4 mos, b/c he was just starved! It helped A LOT and he loved it - he is now 3 and has zero allergies - eats really well, growing properly etc...go ahead - it will make for a happier little guy!

The AAP has redone its recommendation to be SIX months, not four, as it was only a few years ago. You're doing the right thing!

Also, this early solids are really for practice. Rice cereal has nothing to it and is lower calorie than breastmilk, so it's really just to get him used to eating. I'd hold out for the six months, and then start on something tastier, like banana or avocado. Breastfed babies tend to prefer less bland food because they've been exposed to more flavors anyway. :)

I exclusively breastfed my daughter, too. When she was about 5 months old, she began to follow my spoon or fork when I was eating. She would also get excited, kick her feet and coo. I bought some rice cereal to see if she would eat it, SHE LOVED IT. I think she was READY to eat. I was concerned at first because my other children did not begin foods until 6 months. But she seemed eager and did not have any problems with the rice cereal. We even began fruits as soon as she did not show any adverse reactions to the cereal. The only problem we encountered was getting too much cereal; she got constipated. She is now 13 months old and has continiued to be a strong eater, enjoys all foods and cant seem to get enough!!! Good Luck.

I started giving mine cereal at 2 weeks old. The child couldn't get enough! We started introducing solids at 3 months. He likes to eat! He is now almost 2 and no allergies.The only things I havent given him is seafood and honey.