Preventing food allergy in your baby

By Heidi Young
Founder & CEO The Nest, Kids CPR and Allergy

We now know that the best way to prevent allergies in our children is to give them the common allergy causing foods before they turn one. Delaying the introduction of the common allergy causing foods does not prevent food allergy.

Research has shown that giving your babies these common allergenic foods before they turn one, can greatly reduce their risk of developing an allergy to it.

When you feel your child is ready, around 6 months (but not before 4 months), and they are taking an interest in food, watching you eat, they have good head control and are sitting up unaided, you can introduce these first common allergenic foods, in the form of smooth good quality peanut butter and well cooked egg.

It is also recomended by the National Allergy Strategy that ALL babies, should be introduced to common allergy causing foods despite family history or other factors like eczema.

If you have tried these foods and your baby has reacted in any way, you should see an allergy specialist as soon as you can, so as not to delay any further feeding and get the proper advice.

Common allergy causing foods are as follows –

• egg
• wheat
• cow’s milk
• soy
• peanut
• fish
• shellfish
• sesame
• tree nuts

Here is a really great resource for advice on why we should feed our babies these foods as soon as possible – https://preventallergies.org.au/and the Australian Society of Clinical Immunology & Allergy (ASCIA) is the go to for the most up to date information on anything allergy related. Here are their guidelines on infant feeding and allergy prevention

I hope you have enjoyed this blog post, please share it with any of your fellow parent friends who have questions about allergies!

And remember if you book into a Calmbirth course you will receive a 10% discount on The Nest, CPR Kids and Allergy course.To BOOK a class withme go to: https://www.thenestcpr.com