Introducing Solids (Including Allergens) To Babies
Diana and Elio's journey...
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Introducing Solids To Babies
When it came time to introduce Elio to solids, I was both excited and nervous. I had done the research, talked with experts, and wanted to follow a baby-led weaning approach. But, as with many things in parenthood, once we were actually in it, things shifted for me a bit.
Before starting solids, I spoke with an integrative pediatric immunologist named Gary Soffer (whom I deeply admire) about allergen introduction. He strongly recommended introducing common allergens early to babies around 4–6 months, so that’s what we did. Elio’s very first food was peanut butter, followed closely by the other high-allergen foods. Which I’ll admit was a bit scary! We introduced them one at a time, repeated exposure over several days, and once we had “cleared” that food, we moved on to the next. The key with allergens is not only introducing them early, but continuing to offer them regularly.
Early allergy introduction has been a game changer and is now backed by a lot of research. It’s been shown to significantly reduce the risk of developing food allergies, and is one of the big reasons peanut allergies are declining. For years, the advice was to delay introducing allergen foods, but we now know that waiting actually increased allergy rates.
We introduced allergens around 4 months, and didn’t introduce anything else until closer to 6 months. Food before one is really just about exposure and learning, not for nutrition. We’d sit together at dinner and let Elio explore the textures, flavors, which meant that he mostly threw it on the floor (our dogs consider this the highlight of their lives and are now on a diet).
We did begin with a baby-led weaning approach, which is done by giving babies large, graspable pieces of food that they can eat and explore at their own pace. I used the Solid Starts app, which I do find helpful and do recommend. I made a point to include lots of herbs, spices, and even some heat so he could get used to a variety of flavors, and mostly just tried to give him what we were eating. My hope is that this sets the stage for a more adventurous eater as he grows!
Unfortunately, we had two scary moments where Elio choked (not just gagged). After that, I was really anxious every time I went to feed him, and noticed I was avoiding it. So we shifted to more of a “mixed” approach. For foods that felt riskier, I mashed or finely chopped them. For foods that felt safer, I gave them to him in the baby-led weaning style. That balance has worked really well for us.
There are so many “right” ways to feed a baby and every child is different, so I’d love to hear, how did you introduce solids to your baby? Share in the comments.