Baby led weaning and allergies?

[themissheather]

So I've been reading a lot about baby led weaning and the concept makes a lot of sense to me. I do have a question, however, that I can't seem to figure out. The traditional advice seems to be to wait three days between introducing new foods to check for an allergic reaction, but BLW doesn't seem to account for that if it suggests to just feed LO whatever I'm eating. Is this because you're not forcing them to swallow the way you would be with spoon feeding or is the advice the same and I'm just missing it? There are no allergies in our family and I'm opening to just feeding her a variety, but DH is hesitant. I would appreciate your thoughts. :-)

[jellyphish]

I err on the side of caution and do one food at a time three days between and wait at least a year to introduce citrus and common allergy foods even though there are none in my fam.
Just this am I gave hera her first food! A chunk of avocado. I don't necessarily think it's a good idea just to feed her whatever I'm eating so soon because her body is soooo different than mine. Isis had reacted to kiwi, and she was over a year when I introduced it to her. If I had given her more than one new food at a time, I would not have guessed it was the kiwi. And of course she grew out of it as her body matured, but that just stuck to me that it's important to be careful.

But these are just my rambling thoughts.

[themissheather]

Your rambling thoughts are typically spot on, so thank you. That makes sense. There was some grey area between modes of advice and, as this is my first baby, I want to make sure I'm feeding her safely.

I hope Hera liked the avocado more than Sophia liked the butternut squash I gave her. :-)

Quoting jellyphish:

I err on the side of caution and do one food at a time three days between and wait at least a year to introduce citrus and common allergy foods even though there are none in my fam.

Just this am I gave hera her first food! A chunk of avocado. I don't necessarily think it's a good idea just to feed her whatever I'm eating so soon because her body is soooo different than mine. Isis had reacted to kiwi, and she was over a year when I introduced it to her. If I had given her more than one new food at a time, I would not have guessed it was the kiwi. And of course she grew out of it as her body matured, but that just stuck to me that it's important to be careful.



But these are just my rambling thoughts.

[louzannalady]

I do BLW in the way that we do not spoon feed (a lot) and we give table foods. We avoid feeding baby shell fish and peanuts and such. We also "test" each food before it becomes a staple in baby's diet because we have a LOT of allergies and celiac in our family.

[themissheather]

I understand you needing to be cautious. By test, you mean offer new foods slowly to feel them out? I guess that's what I was asking - if I needed to wait a few days in between foods, and it appears that I do. Thanks for the input.

Quoting louzannalady:

I do BLW in the way that we do not spoon feed (a lot) and we give table foods. We avoid feeding baby shell fish and peanuts and such. We also "test" each food before it becomes a staple in baby's diet because we have a LOT of allergies and celiac in our family.

[louzannalady]

Yep. Sorry I wasn't clear. I meant I wait a few days between new foods. I usually do one a week, to make sure.

Quoting themissheather:

I understand you needing to be cautious. By test, you mean offer new foods slowly to feel them out? I guess that's what I was asking - if I needed to wait a few days in between foods, and it appears that I do. Thanks for the input.

Quoting louzannalady:

I do BLW in the way that we do not spoon feed (a lot) and we give table foods. We avoid feeding baby shell fish and peanuts and such. We also "test" each food before it becomes a staple in baby's diet because we have a LOT of allergies and celiac in our family.

[themissheather]

Thanks. I like that stratedgy. Sounds like a good plan.

Quoting louzannalady:

Yep. Sorry I wasn't clear. I meant I wait a few days between new foods. I usually do one a week, to make sure.

Quoting themissheather:

I understand you needing to be cautious. By test, you mean offer new foods slowly to feel them out? I guess that's what I was asking - if I needed to wait a few days in between foods, and it appears that I do. Thanks for the input.

Quoting louzannalady:

I do BLW in the way that we do not spoon feed (a lot) and we give table foods. We avoid feeding baby shell fish and peanuts and such. We also "test" each food before it becomes a staple in baby's diet because we have a LOT of allergies and celiac in our family.