My Daughter Seems to Be Very Food Sensitive...

Well from my knowledge the best thing to do is wait a few weeks or even a couple months and try again.I was a little older when I had an allergic reation to tomatoes and strawberries as a toddler but I got over it and am able to eat them now.. good luck!

Chicken is supposed to be hypoallergenic, meaning no one is allergic to it. That is very strange. I would talk to the doctor about it, and avoid chicken for a while.

Hi A.,
The tendency towards allergies is definitely inherited. It sure sounds like your baby can't take chicken at all right now. I have a son who throws up anything made with chicken, even chicken broth. Chickens are fed some drugs , especially antibiotics, since they live in such close quarters and germs spread like wildfire. Trace amounts of these drugs may show up in the chicken on our tables. You may want to go with the free-range, all natural chicken that you can find at Whole foods and other high-end grocers, once she's older. I usually don't start my babies on meat until ten months. If baby is nursing or on formula she's doing fine for protein foods. I have a ton of allergies, too, and all three of my kids have allergies, but not to the same things as each other or me. Hope this helps, A..PS I can give you tips on making your own baby food if you'd like. Its a good way to control what your baby eats and its much cheaper than those little jars.

Ask your pediatrician because many say not to give meats until later. Keep with the fruits,veges and cereal for now and as her system matures she may be able to handle different foods better.

A.,
A good rule of thumb that was passed on to me for feeding babies is to wait until they get teeth to eat meat. APparently, the enzymes needed to break down and use the meat products start to be produced at about the same time as they start to get their teeth. Some times parents and conventional wisdom provide better insight than doctors.
Hope this helps,
E.

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At her age, just stick with the things she tolerates well.
Another possibility is for you to get a baby food grinder and use it to grind up your table food .
Maybe she would like that better.

Hello,

My daughter is also 6 months old. My pediatrician has recommended we waited till aroud 8 months to add meat. I am not sure why but she seems to be fine. Good luck

My son just started eating meat 2 months ago. He wouldn't touch anything with chicken, beef, and especially pork. He wouldn't even swallow it, yes I wore it often. He just turned 2 last week. Health wise the dr. says he is above in physical ability and has no other issues. Also learning wise he is starting to spell and read so it should really have no effect on her if you stop giving her meat. He does have seasonal allergies which the dr says I did pass to him during pregnancy but it's nothing to be overly concerned with. Maybe try her again on meat in 6 or 8 months or maybe when she ask you for a bite of your steak. Hope that helps :) S.-mother of 3 (& 1 one the way)

In people who are predisposed to allergies (because there are allergies in the family) you have to use a different schedule. Even if you don't have allergies meat is not supposed to be introduced till they are 8-10 months old (I would say closer to 10 months). That may be why she is vomiting. Their stomaches and kidney can't handle protein like that. It's super hard on the stomach. It's ok, I didn't know it either when I was a new mom (my third child is now 4 months). It's ok to back her off back down to just fruits, veggies and cereal. Just make sure that your cereal doesn't have wheat in it. Some jar foods do as well as cereals. I wish you the best of luck. No one tells you these things when you first have kids. It would be nice if they did. My son is gluten intolerant and my daughter is both gluten and dairy intolerant. Even when you do delay foods you can still have problems. My daughter was almost 7 months when we introduced foods and she has issues. It's something to keep an eye on.

~M.

My pediatrician said not to give meats until a little later. My daughter (now 11 months) would never eat the baby food meats and I became concerned that she wouldn't like meats. However, now she eats shaved deli meats and will eat chicken, turkey, ham, and roast beef. I would say give your daughter whatever she is willing to eat now and then when she has enough teeth that she can chew a little try some tiny bites of deli meats. I would say if she vomits after that you need to talk to your doctor.

I have some severe food sensitivies as well, but I seriously doubt that she's having a reaction to chicken in particular. From my own experience, I would guess that she just doesn't like the chicken-based baby food. When you really check it out, it is pretty gross!

Both of my kids HATED meat-based baby foods, but did well with meat when I cooked it fresh and ground it up myself. It was much more appetizing!

Good luck!

Well, I was where you were at, four children ago. One thing I have learned is that teeth mean something. I did breastfeed all my children, and eventually made my own baby foods. My last daughter actually taught me something. She was a small girl, the pediatrician kept telling me to feed her rice cereal, etc. I swear the stuff never digested properly. She is still slow growing, her teeth came in later and I firmly believe she was meant to wait until I fed her foods. I started to reasearch and learn about taking charge of my family health... I made my own foods because really there is no nutrition in the baby jar foods. Whatever is there is fortified and in reality you don't know if the human body can absorb the nutrients... My 7 mo old hasn't had any food and is thriving very well. He actually has teeth where my others never had any until later. I will be letting him taste foods soon, but I am not in any rush, since he is happy with what he has. I guess I can go on, but that is my 2 cents. Research about foods and alternative health. Allergies can be cured by alternative health and better eating. Good luck!

I agree with holding off for a few more months. I tend to wait longer to introduce baby food due to allergies in my family. My daughter just started eating chicken/turkey in babyfood this month (10 months). She's been my first to actually like baby food this early...my others just wanted to nurse.
Their little tummies are still immature. I'd stick with fruits & veggies for now.

I would just stop giving it to her. Perhaps her system just isn't ready for it yet. I waited quite some time before adding meat to the repetoire. Try again in a few months and if she has the same reaction then stop altogether. She will do just fine on the many other fine foods available. As a parent of 4 girls, two with food allergies, I would recommend that you work slowly in adding foods to her diet. She is still so young and her digestive system is still growing. Other not so obvious signs of allergies can be red flushed cheeks or ears and irritability. Another helpful hint - and cost effective too is to mash up whatever veggies you have made for the family and feed that to her. It tastes much better. I used to buy baby food to have in a pinch, then filled up the jars with my own food. It made for happy babies and you knew just what was in it. Solves a lot of worries.

First, I'm sorry about that response from Ritastull S. While she is correct and I, too, would find a new doc, obviously it's too late as your daughter is 6 months old already and you should, in fact, be starting solids now. Not sure why some doctors refuse to go by their governing board (the AAP) and the WHO and UNICEF when it comes to solids. Still, her message was not helpful and not all that nice.

Second, I would guess that the chicken problem is actually not an allergy, but a sensitivity to the texture. Back off for a few weeks and then try again. It's a common problem when solids are started too soon and the baby hasn't totally gotten past the gag reflex. Before you worry too much, just go back to the stage 1s and 2s (same texture, different size and more blends) and then try things like chicken and beef again in a month or so. Remember, she gets all her nutrition from breast milk or formula for the first year, so you aren't hurting her by not introducing protiens this early.

Good Luck!

I started my son on baby food at 4 months also but only fruit and veggies mixed with rice cereal to thicken. You can also add a little bit of formula or breast milk if you get it too thick. There is great finger food you can start offering her that she shouldn't choke on but teachs her about different mouth textures and hand eye coordination. I didn't give my child any meats until about 9-10 months. I was told their stomachs are just too sensitive. They wont' get bored with the food you are offering. I would back off then try again in a few months. She is getting plenty of protiens from formula or breast milk and the other foods she is eating so she doesn't really need meat yet. If you try again in 3-4 months and she has a reaction I would then look into allergies.

I am a mother of 6. 3 of my kids have have life-threatening allergies. It was passed down through my mom's side of the family. It is very hereditary. My 1 son is allergic to eggs, nuts, poultry & potatoes. When he was 5 I had to take him to a chiropractor that gave herbs to heal the body. I was very skeptical, but also very desperate. Every day from the moment he ate anything until he fell asleep at night, his belly hurt sometimes to the point of doubling over. His allergies had been found when he was 2. He had an anaphalactic reaction to home-made ice cream. He had eaten eggs fine until that day, but since they were raw, his body reacted. We took him off everything he was allergic to, but since we didn't heal his body it slowly sensitized itself to many other foods. None of my other kids bodies did this, but his did. I would suggest you have her tested for allergies. You never know how bad the reaction can be & 2 of my kids have almost died. Check with the chiropractors in your area & ask for references if you're skeptical. I assure you I was. They can check it painlessly at the office. An allergists' tests are quite painful & rarely done on small babies. The herbs quickly heal the body. As bad as my son was, he was through treatment in about 6 months. We drove 2 hours each way to the doctor, but it was well worth it. I wish you luck.

1) Many babyfood items also have milk/dairy and other ingredients. My oldest has a milk and soy allergy, a milk protein allergy and an iodine allergy. I had a really difficult time finding babyfood without allergy triggers
2) Has your ped ever suggested backing off the babyfood and trying again later- many allergies are created by immature digestive systems. The new guidlines for solids indicate waiting until the child is at least six months before beginning, and even then solids should be a minimal part of the diet. Check out the American Academy of Pediatrics, www.kellymom.com for more information. The kelly mom site is a pro-breastfeeding site, but it has very helpful information on food allergies and the timing of solids.

While I agree with the others that you should probably hold off on the chicken for a while and re-introduce later, since it is harder to digest and you have seen problems, it is possible to be allergic to chicken. My oldest son is 4 and we just had him allergy tested, due to eczema and asthma. We were shocked to find that he is allergic to eggs and chicken. We have given him these for years and never knew, since he never broke into hives or had any direct reaction that we could tell. He did have a lot of reflux problems as a baby though, more than average, and went through probably a year where he would throw up at least once a day. Call us ignorant, but because it was so consistent from the beginning, we just assumed he had a short gag reflex (as did the pediatricians we took him to) and dealt with it. Now we realize it probably was due to the allergy. When you do re-introduce it later, if you still have problems, I would take her to an allergist. Our other son seems to only have one allergy so far: tapioca. That's another weird one that no one has ever heard of. I currently have no food allergies, but had a couple of pages full of foods I was allergic to as a child and later grew out of (and none of those foods were chicken, eggs, or tapioca!). So, I do think that the tendency towards allergies is genetic, but not necessarily the SAME allergies.

I have three kids and my son who is now 7 1/2. He has active airways. we found that out when he was two. we had him tested when he was 3 and found out hes alleric to cats and dogs. My daughter ava who is 5 1/2 is ok, but lucy is 8 months and when we started give her foods at 6 months she got an alleric reaction to the beechnut ceral oatmal night time. she broke out into hives every where. her face started to get very red! My husband I took her to childrens out in mason and they gave her 1/2 teaspoon of benyel. she was alleric to what ever was in that stuff. The pediatrician told me not to give that any more, I only give lucy gerber oatmeal and fruits and vegs. she will only eat some chicken and meat if its mix with something sweet. He basically told me we will not know until she is older and starts eating more to find out what she is alleric to. I hope to god its not wheat! good luck! sorry if some spelling is wrong. My other two are home from school and they are messing around so, I need to go! thanks H. H.

My daughter (now 17 months old) did very well with most foods. However, she hated baby food chicken. I was actually concerned that this would spill over to real chicken, but she's fine with real chicken now. Your little one just might not like it or maybe her little tummy just isn't ready for it yet. I wouldn't worry about it just yet. Try again in a few months and see how she does. Besides, have you noticed that most of the baby food meats are kind of disgusting. See how she responds in a few months :-)

My Pediatrician told me to introduce rice cereal ONLY at around four months, then start veggies at six months, fruits at eight months, and meats and corn at one year. That worked really well with my two children.

My guess is, your daughter's digestive system is still too delicate for those kinds of foods, especially meats. She's only six months old, so my recommendation is to cut back to just rice cereal, and veggies like peas, carrots, green beans, and sweet potatoes. Remember, though - introduce ONE veggie at a time, for about a week, to see if she has an allergy or reaction. If a week goes by and she does okay, then introduce another veggie.

Just don't rush it. She'll have the rest of her life to eat meats and heavier foods.

Take care and God bless!!!!

I am a grandmother but when my children were starting baby foods they were not given meats until they were at least 8 months and usually a year. Maybe wait and try later as your little ones digestive system matures. G B.

Hi A.,

I would definately pay attention to her responses...at six months they have to be pure signals. I would just stop feeding her whatever she is not responding well too. You don't mention if you are breast/bottle feeding but I don't think it's critical she get solid food at this point. I would just work with whatever she is responding well to. I didn't follow the pediatrition schedule at all. Our childrens first food was avocado which is a great baby food. You can mash it or when she is a little bigger dice it small. Also, I do have a friend who is allergic to poultry though it could just as easily be the fillers or preservatives they mix it with.

P.

Get thee to an allergist! Our daughter has a peanut and tree nut allergy. Our experience with the family practitioner was that he did not have complete information about food allergies. Good luck.