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Top parenting stories this week
Your Top Five Food Questions Answered
Worried about when to start solids or how to prevent allergies? We have the answers.
by: Sydney Loney
In This Article
- 1. I gave my baby strawberry purée–could she have an allergic reaction?
- 2. If I feed my baby solids, will he sleep through the night?
- 3. If I give my baby fruit purees first, does that mean he won’t eat vegetables?
- 4. Is homemade food healthier than jarred?
- 5. Why does my baby always choke when I give him table food?
Busting Baby Food Myths
- Studies show waiting to expose infants to allergenic foods may not reduce their risk of developing an allergy.
- Starting solids earlier than six months could be harmful to your baby, whose body may not be ready to break down the food.
- When it comes to fruit and vegetables, there’s no right or wrong way to start.
- Gagging is a natural part of learning how to eat and most babies gag at some point as they try more textured foods.
hen it comes to what to feed babies and when, a lot of parents worry about doing the wrong thing. “It’s not an intuitive process,” says Dr. Jeremey Friedman, chief of Paediatric Medicine at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Here are his answers to five of the most common questions about babies and food.
1. I gave my baby strawberry purée–could she have an allergic reaction?
The latest studies show exposing infants to potentially allergenic foods doesn’t actually affect the likelihood of their becoming allergic, says Dr. Friedman. “It could delay the onset of the allergy because they’re not exposed to it, but it won’t change the outcome. So if your baby is allergic to strawberries and eats her first strawberry at 10 months, she will just get symptoms at 10 months instead of at two years.”
As for when to introduce other allergenic foods, including peanuts, the latest research also shows you don’t necessarily need to wait longer than a year, unless you have a family history of severe food allergies.
Until recently, the recommendation was to wait to start peanut products until two to three years of age, but now the theory is that if your baby is going to get an allergy, she’s going to get it no matter what, says Friedman.
So, if your baby's not at high-risk for food allergies, talk to your pediatrician about introducing foods such as peanut butter, seafood and milk when she hits the one-year mark.
