Baby's First Foods, Food Intolerance and Introduction

So after 5 plus years I am back into the world of baby food. Wow, things have changed.  Once our little guy was about 5 months we noticed he started having a keen interested in our food.  He would watch us eat and try to grab at our plates.

I decided to take him to our pediatric naturopath to talk about food introduction.  I am glad I did, as I had done things quite differently with my girls.  Theories seemed to have changed.  Do talk with your own health care provider about what foods to introduce to your baby but this is what I learned.

To start off I will mention that I have an intolerance to egg whites and dairy.  I had been still eating these in moderation in his early months of breast feeding and it resulted in eczema over pretty much his whole body :(  Thankfully he didn't seem bothered by it, but I definitely was.  I cut out all eggs and dairy and his skin healed in about 3-4 weeks.

The naturopath explained that our bodies are working as one so what bothers me can be transferred to him.  It didn't necessarily mean that he was intolerant to those foods.  So this is where the food introduction becomes so important.

I was told to start him with some fruits and vegetables, one at a time for the typical three days each to monitor any allergies/intolerance.  I will be honest I didn't do these each separate for three days as I really wasn't concerned about them being an issue.  She said after about a week or two pick, to pick one of the common food allergen groups and introduce one for three days and monitor his body's reaction.  If there is a reaction to just hold off for about 3-4 weeks and then introduce again. Here is a list of the top food allergen groups:

• dairy
• eggs
• gluten
• Fish/shellfish
• soy
• citrus
• tree nuts/peanuts

I was told since I am intolerant to eggs and dairy that I should make sure he gets them sooner and more frequent as long as no reactions are observed.  From what I understand, babies bodies should be introduced to these foods soon so that their systems will accept them as food.  The idea is that they are taken in internally before environmentally/through the skin and as a result the body will then fight them off, thinking they are foreign or "not" food.  I hope I am making sense here.

Since he is only just passed 6 months we have not yet gotten to all of the allergen foods but are almost there.  We have definitely given him eggs (scrambled) and organic Greek yogurt on several occasions and so far, he has not shown any reaction to them.  He has also enjoyed nuts, peanuts, and citrus.

I have been enjoying cooking for him.  I am definitely giving him way more spices then I have with the girls. I seem to use a little more creativity but am also known to just forage through the garden, add some bone broth and puree.   Here are some of the food combinations he has eaten:

• sweet potatoes
• avocado
• fruits (banana, pears, berries, melons, pineapple, lemon)
• zucchini, green beans, kale and potato
• cabbage, mushrooms, carrots
• beef and chicken bone broths
• almond butter
• peanut butter
• fish, chicken, beef
• Greek yogurt
• scrambled eggs
• pea soup
• roasted vegetable soup
• homemade apple sauce
• pureed prunes
• pureed coconut, curry soup
• cream of rice cereal with fruit
• pureed shepherd's pie
• pieces of gluten free homemade pancake