Everyone wants to introduce foods to their baby in such a way that they’ll avoid allergies. This is perhaps the single one “holy grail” for allergic families.
Most experts in the area of infant nutrition still recommend that a baby starts cereal as their first food. This includes the well-respected Mayo Clinic.
For those who are concerned about allergies, however, cereals could be the wrong place to start for a couple of reasons. First of all, cereals are a “low nutrition” food, replacing a high nutrition food – breastmilk (or formula). Second, cereals can be higher allergenic foods than either fruits or vegetables.
Canadian breastfeeding expert, Dr Jack Newman, told me that the best food to start a baby on when they are ready for solids is ripe avocado. The reason that Dr Newman recommended mashed / blended avocado is that it is full of essential fatty acids (perfect for growing a health brain and body), protein (but not too much) and excellent nutrition.
It is also a food which is very rarely an allergen.
So, this was the first food for both my children. It’s easy to prepare yourself and doesn’t require special equipment. It also ensured that I wasn’t dealing with an allergic reaction on our first introduced solid!
Be sure when starting any solids to add lots of breastmilk or water to thin them to a very runny consistency. Learning how to eat is hard work. If your baby is thrusting their tongue, instead of pulling the food into their mouth, it’s a sign that the child may not be ready. If your child is having real difficulty, don’t worry: you can stop solids and try again in a couple of weeks.
If you are worried about allergens, move from avocado (once baby has been eating it for a number of days without a reaction) to foods with low allergenic potential. Low risk foods include:
- apples
- applesauce
- apricots
- asparagus (tips only)
- bananas
- squash
- sweet potatoes
- carrots
- peaches
- pears
- plums
- millet
- oats
- barley
- rice
Stick with high nutrition foods first. This could mean that after avocado, you move to pear or apple sauce. Then add some of the root vegetables like sweet potatoes or squash.
It’s an old wives’ tale that children who eat fruit first will not eat vegetables. It is true that you may have to introduce a new taste or texture as many as 10 times before your child readily accepts it.
Which brings us to taste preferences: my daughter’s first food combination was avocado and pear sauce. She wasn’t a fan of avocado on its own (although she would eat it). Adding some pear sauce made a yummy combination – I know because I tried it myself – and it also ensured that bite for bite, she was getting great value for each calorie.
Once your child is tolerating low allergenic fruits and veggies, move onto the lower allergenic cereals, but go slowly. Always mix cereals with breastmilk to increase their protein and nutrition.
Keep in mind that there are many theories regarding food introduction. Recent research does show that in some cases, early introduction of highly allergenic foods like peanuts actually appeared to reduce allergy rates. However, there is still much research to be done in this area.
