My tenth month old likes to eat tuna when I'm eating it. Is this ok? He doesn't really like alot of regular food so I am inclined to give it to him.
Thanks for all the advice. For all wondering I only eat the chunk light tuna in water so the mercury content is lower. I decided that a bite or two every now and then in ok for him. Thanks for all the advice and maybe I'll try canned salmon.
Try salmon, it's a lot safer. Here you'l find a list of mercury content in different fish:
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/fishmerc...
I'd ask your pediatrician - there were certainly risks during pregnancy because of the mercury levels in Tuna and other similar fish, but I honestly don't know what the advice is in babies.
According to HealthyChildren.org, the parenting website for the American Academy of Pediatrics, canned tuna should be OK for children. Here's the link:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/...
If there's any question, I'd ask your pediatrician to see what they recommend.
I personally wouldn't have an issue with it - the quantity at this age is so minor compared to other things.
Fish is safe, but tuna can have a lot of mercury, especially if you get the white albacore and not the light. A little every once-in-a-while should be fine. But try other small fish as well. The ones with least mercury are those that are small, those that don't eat other fish, and those that are wild-caught.
Do not give him white tuna, ever. Chunk light has far less mercury, so it is safer. But if he'll eat canned fish, I too would try to sneak some salmon in.
I gave it to my son too, but I followed the rule of pregnancy, and only give it to him like once every week, or even two. You don't want to give him too much mercury. (interesting about the white albacore vs light tuna- I didn't know that).
*edit*
So I had to go and look it up after reading the other's answers, and found some good info. I read it in a few different places, but this article sums it all up pretty good. The gist of it is: an ounce a week for a one year old is considered safe, two ounces of the chunk light. I never fed my son even an ounce a week of tuna, and he was older than a year, so I just never really thought about it. But if you are doing more, then you should limit it. I also saw on some articles that you should limit how much you eat if you are breastfeeding. So if you are nursing and feeding him tuna also, he is probably getting too much. He is still pretty little. Anyway, here is the article so you can read it for yourself.
http://www.babycenter.com/0_should-your-kids-eat-fish-how...
I won't let my 5 and 10 year olds have tuna due to mercury content, especially since they're both on the autistic spectrum. Try canned salmon instead.
I would only do small amounts at this time. It is an excellent source of Omega, but also contains mercury.
