Solid Foods: Delaying Them May Cause Allergies

on December 10, 2009 at 12:43 PM

When to start baby on solid foods is one of those topics where you'll never get just one or two opinions.

A lot of CafeMoms, especially those in the breastfeeding groups, strongly believe it's better to nurse your baby without any type of supplementation for at least one year.

Some say any time is the right time -- to let your baby tell you when she's ready, by looking for the signs.

But by en large the most popular pediatric recommendation is to wait at least six months before introducing solids, up to which time it's best if you breastfeed exclusively. This is largely to prevent allergic diseases. An infant's immune system is immature, and introducing solid foods solid foods early may instigate sensitization to foods and inhaled allergens.

Now research is throwing that in reverse. MedPage Today reports a new Finnish study that found delaying solid foods may actually be linked to food allergies later on in life.

The researchers looked at the data of nearly 1,000 children and found that late introduction of potatoes, oats, rye, wheat, meat, fish, and eggs was significantly associated with a sensitization for food allergy, albeit after different time periods: 4 months for potatoes, 5 months for oats, 7 months for rye, 6 months for wheat, 5.5 months for meat, 8.2 months for fish, and 10.5 months for eggs.

What age did you introduce solids to your baby? Did you break any of the food "rules" outlined by your child's pediatrician or care provider?

Giving Your Baby Grown-Up Food

About the author Cynthia Dermody

is The Stir's Managing Editor who has trophies in her home for her skills at the Irish Jig. She makes cupcakes with as many fattening ingredients as possible, doesn't comb her hair for months at a time, and was probably a faerie in a former life.

Filed Under: health, in the news, solid food

Comments (9)

krystel.justice

on Dec 10, 2009 at 1:10 PM

I started Carter on rice cereal when he was 6 months old, but didn't really start giving him solid food on a regular basis until he was at least 9 months old.

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justanotherjen

on Dec 10, 2009 at 3:51 PM

I didn't follow the "rules." I just winged it with the kids. We started at different times for the different kids. I think it was around 5 months that we started introducing solid food. We started with cereal with the older 2 but skipped it completely with the younger two.

The youngest really didn't get much solids until she was 6 months old because I hate feeding baby food. We did the whole one food at a time thing for 3 days. By the time she was 7 1/2 months old she was feeding herself table food and was off of baby food completely by 9 months. And she was eating everything. She's 3 now and has no food allergies. None of my kids do. The only allergies are seasonal and my son has cat/dog allergies.

amw529

on Dec 10, 2009 at 4:22 PM

4 months he was ready - we started with rice cereal and oatmeal and now we've gone through all the stage 1 fruits and veggies and are rounding into stage 2 combinations - he loves to eat his solids and still gets plenty of formula as well.

nikki_novocaine

on Dec 10, 2009 at 7:23 PM

im just confused about this in general. my son is 3 months, some say start on solids at 4 months, and now the DR's are telling us 6 months...i will probably just watch him and see how it goes...

amybuddy45

on Dec 10, 2009 at 10:06 PM

I have started my kids with cereal at 4 months and then by 6 months they had stage 1 foods-I always started out with carrots. I now have a baby girl who is 4 months and I just started her with cereal, she has been on it for about 2 weeks and I am getting ready to try out oatmeal and then barley. Once she is good with them, then I will start baby foods. She will still have formula too!

RanaAurora

on Dec 10, 2009 at 10:12 PM

Cynthia, you have it wrong. We don't believe in delaying solids until the baby is one. We believe that they can START anywhere in the second half of their first year, in otherwords, BETWEEN 6 months to their first birthday. No one I know makes a POINT to wait until the first birthday. Instead, we wait for biological milestones that show readiness, such as having teeth, being able to SIT by one's self, loss of the tongue thrust reflex, and the ability to feed one's self. Things that all OTHER mammals wait for before babies eat.

mommytobobby

on Dec 11, 2009 at 7:02 PM

i introduced solids at 4 mo per my dr's request, and quickly held him back after that. he had a reaction to one of the cereals at around 5 1/2 months. so, i delayed solids until about 8 months and he's done fine ever since then. he was bfed until 13 mo when he weaned himself.

Nonmember comment from forex robot

on Dec 21, 2009 at 4:05 AM

Thank you for the very interesting post !

kjbugsmom1517

on Dec 19, 2010 at 7:20 PM

My youngest was eating just about everything by 1. We waited on peanut butter and eggs were sparingly but she has no allergies. my oldest was one who wasn't interested and she has an allergy to cashews (possibly others so we avoid nuts) and seasonal and cats. I've seen more exclusivly breastfed babies have more allergies.