Yet another question about starting solids

[Lala]

I think this is like my third post about introducing solid foods, but there is just so much to know! So, you know how you have to wait a few days between introducing new foods? Well, I'm just wondering how that is possible to do with every little ingredient found in every food. I mean, when you read a list of ingredients (even in something like bread), there can be so many little things in it that if you introduced every thing separately waiting 3 or more days in between, they'd be like 20 years old by the time they'd tried everything!

I understand that fruits, veggies, meats etc need to be introduced on their own or with something they've already tried, but what about things like margarine, vegetable oil, spices etc? Do I need to introduce these separately too eg. make something with vegetable oil with foods that baby has already tried and dedicate 3 days to vegetable oil? I know nobody did this back in the day, but it seems like that's what you're supposed to do nowadays, and it seems kind of excessive. Just curious what you did/are doing.

[ladymoreta]

I started with plain vegetables and fruits, then yogurt, then meats. When DS didn't have any allergic reactions to any of those, I backed off on the waiting several days in between, and I also started adding spices and butter to his purées. (I made his food.)

I think the main thing is just to note what they've eaten once you move past the introductory foods (and waiting period). I used to keep track using the Total Baby app on my phone. If he'd had any adverse reactions, I could narrow it down and retest.

[BonBon]

I would substitute a natural fat for the vegetable oil, ie butter, ghee, coconut oil, olive oil. What I ended up doing with my kids was cut up what we were eating in teeny weenie bits so they could gum them. I completely ignored the advice to introduce one food at a time.

[Michele]

I also ignored the introduce one at a time. We don't have food allergies in my family so I wasn't really worried.

[scrub-jay]

We don't have food allergies in my family so I wasn't really worried.

Don't count on that though... we have no allergies AT ALL on either side of our family (not food, not seasonal, not even sensitivities) ... and dd has to have an epi pen for food allergies due to anaphylaxis. Out.of.the.blue. Between 1997 and 2002, there was a 20% increase in the prevalence of food allergies in young children (I have the citation if anyone is curious), so always always be diligent.

[Bittersweet]

I followed the introduce one at a time rules until I exhausted nearly all fruit and veggie options (although I did use olive oil to roast his veggies). Since about 7.5 months its been a free for all and he just eats what we're eating. Oh, except we don't delay the introduction of common allergens, so I was still super careful when I introduced eggs, milk, nuts, etc.

[Pollyanna]

We pretty much followed the food introduction rules. Started with breast milk, then rice cereal mixed with breast milk or formula, then sweet potatoes, carrots, pears, applesauce, etc. I never did a mixed food unless baby had already tried both foods. I didn't introduce cheese, yogurt, or whole milk until a year. No strawberries until after a year (although I have recently seen it in step 2 baby foods which I find odd). No peanut butter until after two but really much closer to three (mostly because I am a spaz about choking but also concerned about food allergies). Like Scrub-jay said, allergies can show up completely out of the blue and you typically cannot predict them. None of our children have food allergies but I am still super careful when introducing foods. It really doesn't take any effort at all to introduce foods one at a time.

[ladymoreta]

Oh, and no honey until after one year! (Sorry if that's common knowledge, but a few of my mom friends didn't know that.)

[JC76]

Not saying this to be at all dismissive of those who were cautious... but just for comparison's sake, we are also in the camp of those who introduced without worrying too much about allergies. Had no issues (fortunately). We've always struggled to get Zoe to gain weight, so I was just relieved whenever she happily ate something. I think we started out with rice cereal mixed with breast milk/formula, for about a week, and then started mixing in fruits and veggies. My mother in law (who's from India) was very excited to start making homemade babyfood for her and finally at about 8 months I gave in and said we'd give it a shot. She made her a puree which I think had... turkey, edamame, carrots, garlic, ginger, green beans, and potato, cinnamon, and cardamom... and Zoe LOVED it. It was the first time I could get her to eat any protein other than yogurt. I never imagined that she would eat it and it was literally her favorite food.

[GreyhoundsRUs]

Reviving this with a couple questions:
A is 9 months old (how?), and loves food. She hasn't had any issues with anything we've introduced her to. I feel like she isn't getting enough protein in her diet (she gets 1-2 meals per day with chicken usually). I would like to introduce eggs and strawberries (not a protein, I know), but am unsure how/when/how long an allergic reaction takes to develop/what to do if it does. She's eaten things with egg like bread, and she's had strawberry yogurt, and strawberry yogurt "puffs". Any advice?

[Deebs]

If she's already on some foods, I'd start with one new food a week. You can introduce foods four days apart, but I found it easy (once they had a basic diet in place) to give them a new food, wait a day, give the new food again. We also started yogurt, beans, and tofu at that age. My kids always took to those much more quickly than meat.

[Urowife]

What makes you think she's not getting enough protein? I think 1-2 meals a day with chicken is great! My DD barely ate any solids until well past a year. I've always heard that solids before a year are just for practice anyway since breast milk or formula still provides the majority of calories.

I'm not sure about the most recent recommendations on introducing eggs and strawberries. I held off until 1 year for both. Maybe ask the ped?

[Deebs]

Eggs used to be one year for whites, 8 months for yolks, but the latest guidelines say you can start them together. From personal experience, I'd wait on strawberries but more because of their high histamine level than a true allergy concern. Before a year, food introduction is more developmental than nutritional, so I do agree that protein shouldn't be a huge concern for kids at this point, other than being worried she won't eat protein later.

[scrub-jay]

I would like to just toss in my two cents here. Please be very cautious about food allergies, always be aware of what symptoms look like and have some children's Benadryl in the house. An anecdote for you (and if you want more robust, peer reviewed statistical data, I can provide that as well) my dd did just fine with yogurt SEVERAL times over the course of a few months before her cow milk allergy emerged, now we have multisystem involvement on contact or ingestion (think Epi-Pen). We have NO family history of any type of allergy (no food, environmental, seasonal... nothing on either side), breastfed exclusively, and had such a low risk that our allergist bet me that my dd didn't really have an allergy - he lost $5 post-scratch and challenge test. I tell you this because childhood food allergies can emerge at any time and even if you think you are "good"... stay alert. Deebs is spot-on with her advice as well.

[GreyhoundsRUs]

What makes you think she's not getting enough protein? I've always heard that solids before a year are just for practice...

I'm just going to respond to this because everything else is being discussed in the kick-a$$ allergy thread!!

Probably because I'm a new mom and *must* be doing something wrong I think my mind is stuck in this "1 meat, 1 fruit, 1 veggie" mentality even though she is a peanut and doesn't eat like a grown-up (obviously)!

As far as the "just for practice", that's what our ped said, too, but girlfriend is pissed-off (and I mean pissed) if you try to give her a bottle instead of "real" food. I mean, she is usually super easy-going and happy unless she is hungry (must get that from her dad!). She still has about 24-32 oz of formula a day, but will eat a handful or two of Cheerios for breakfast (my handful), 1/4 cup green beans and 1/4 chicken for lunch, and about the same for dinner. Obviously, this is all met with a 75% success rate of actually getting it in the mouth

This is probably part of what lead me to think she wasn't getting enough protein - protein keeps you feeling full for longer than carbs Maybe I'm also projecting since I can't seem to eat a balanced meal myself...