"When your baby is ready for weaning you will need to decide what type of food you wish to give your baby. Many babies in the UK start off with bought baby rice, which is ground rice with some added vitamins and minerals. It has a bland taste which most babies seem to like and can be mixed with boiled, cooled water, formula milk or breast milk. Babies should not be given cow's milk at this stage
You could also start by pureeing some of the foods below with some baby rice, or try them by themselves...
soft pear
eating apple
potato or parsnip
cauliflower
carrot
sweet potato
green peas
broccoli
mashed ripe banana
mashed ripe avocado
It is usually best to offer one taste at a time. It will help you to identify any reaction to a new food, such as a rash or a tummy ache. Stick to fruits, vegetables and baby rice when you first begin to introduce solid foods.
ALLERGIES
A food allergy is an allergic reaction to a specific food. Your baby may also experience a food intolerance, this is not an allergic reaction, but an unpleasant reaction to eating a particular food.
Signs and symptoms of food allergies or intolerance
Mouth or face swelling
Itchy mouth and throat
Rash or cramping
Nausea or vomiting
Runny nose (with clear secretions), watery eyes, seasonal sneezing and wheezing
Chronic cough
Circles under eyes
Frequent colds and/or ear infections
Frequent skin rashes, such as eczema or hives
Night coughs and a stuffy nose in the morning
Diarrhoea, abdominal pain and bloating
Lots of intestinal gas
Fatigue, behaviour problems, headaches
The above symptoms may be caused by other causes than food allergies and should be referred to a doctor.
A reaction to a food allergy will look different in each child. In an extreme case a child may develop a life threatening condition called anaphylactic shock. This will require immediate medical attention.
The most common causes of food allergies
Cow's milk
Soya
Egg whites
Wheat
Shellfish
Nuts (particularly peanuts)
Citrus fruits
Tomatoes
Yeast
Berries
Chocolate
There are two things you can do as a parent to reduce your child's susceptibility to food allergies and reduce the severity of food allergies:
Wait until your baby is 6 months old to introduce solids.
Wait 4 days between introducing a new food to your baby.
When you begin to wean your baby you need to be absolutely sure that the foods you are introducing her to are not causing a reaction. It can take three or four days for a reaction to show up. If you feed your baby one food at a time and wait four days before introducing a new food, you will instantly know the food your baby is having a reaction to and can stop immediately.
If you feed your baby several new foods at a time and she develops a reaction to one of them, you will not know which food she may be allergic to. You will have to experiment to get the reaction again which is not ideal if the reactions were severe.
Be particularly careful when introducing seafood, peanuts and honey. Peanuts and seafood are likely to cause the most severe reactions, whilst honey is dangerous for children under the age of one because of the danger of botulism poisoning.
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