My friend Jen is a good and impressive woman, but let's just say that she is un petit peu cautious by nature. And a teensy bit anal, as well, but in a cute way, with just a hint of Monica Geller. (Like Monica, I suspect she is secretly a flibbertigibbet of monumental proportions, but I digress…)
On the matter of allergies, however, she has good reason as her family history seems to predicate her son to having frightening allergic reactions. Maybe he'll have them, maybe he won't, but you can bet your life that Jen will make every effort possible to avoid him suffering in any way.
She has also recently discovered that she can't be bothered cooking, so she has evolved a cunning way of bulk cooking BLW foods, which is worth reading even for those of you who are intolerant of the very idea of intolerance. Here it is…
Fast-food baby-led low-allergen-risk
weaning
How’s that for a title?
On behalf of all Canadians I should come
forward as the true Canadian worrier that Aitch was referring to, and perhaps
come clean about my anxious tendencies. This, I hope, will help everyone
understand that my worrying is simply a result of being a product of a
skilfully nervy family, as opposed to being a citizen of a worrying country. Or
maybe it’s about my need to be in control?
Perhaps that’s for my therapist to sort out…
his eating has really stemmed from a legitimate source, as opposed to my own
delusions. The fact is, he has a cousin on each side with life-threatening food
allergies (egg, dairy, wheat, peanuts), and his parents have had eczema and hay
fever. So clearly Bubby is pretty darn
eligible for the food allergy award of the year.
her 18-month-old has a dairy allergy, and that her GP told her it was likely
because her child had been both (a) genetically vulnerable to developing this
allergy, and (b) introduced to milk too early. Combined, this has resulted in
the allergy, she thinks.
It seemed clear to me then that when we
began weaning, Bubby’s diet needed to be as cautious as possible when it came
to introducing foods since exposure to the food plays a significant role in the
development of an allergy.
not-planning-meals-more-than-five-minutes-in-advance, the fact that almost
every pre-prepared baby food out there contains at least dairy, if not other
potential allergens, has meant I need to find creative ways of weaning that are
both healthy and quick.
thought perhaps there might be others not so keen to sort through everything
like I have (or not so obsessive), and my discoveries might help you. Even if you’re not Canadian… I mean, a
worrier.
Here’s my combination approach:
1. Baby-led weaning
2. Introducing low allergen-risk foods at
recommended stages to minimize reaction
3. Foods pre-prepared for speedy, dash-to-the-fridge/freezer-and-grab-what-you-need delivery.
Baby-led weaning? Well, you’re on the website, and can sort
that out pretty easily. We’ve offered
Bubby a range of food options at each meal, which he feeds himself.
Introducing low allergen-risk foods? For the sequence of introducing foods,
we’ve followed the guide you can find under ‘links’ to the right of the screen:
‘Sequence of Adding Foods…’ (this by the way came thanks to my frighteningly
all-knowing paediatric physiotherapist sister—see my above reference to family
for more insight)
But what the heck kinds of foods can I give
him?
It’s one thing to know what I’m not allowed
to feed him, but what and how I can feed him is another problem altogether. I
have to recommend a great book which has helped me through all this stuff: Lucy
Burley’s ‘Optimum Nutrition for Children’ outlines best options for food
choices.
The pacing of introducing foods
Lucy Burley’s book also has a chart that
gives recommendations about the pace of the introduction food. It was her chart
I’ve used to guide us through first three months of weaning. It’s been
particularly helpful since I’ll be going back to work, have been breastfeeding
till now, and needed to plan how to wean him from breastfeeding without using
(dairy-based) formula.
course…surely you’ve read enough of this website by now to understand that BLW means
being relaxed about mess and food amounts? But I am someone who always needs to
feel some sense of control over the world (surely this is related to my great
worrying capacity?) and who needs to have some grasp of the direction we’re
moving in at all times, so this chart was a lifesaver.
teaspoon and dessertspoon bits aren’t that relevant to Baby Led Weaning but
it’s a good place to start. And it does give you a good idea of just how little
babies are supposed to be eating in the early stages.
|
|
Week 1&2 |
Week 3&4 |
Week 5&6 |
Week 7&8 |
Week 9&10 |
Week 11&12 |
|
Early Morn |
Milk |
Milk |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
Breakfast |
Milk Milk |
Milk 1-2 tsp solids Milk |
Milk 2-3 tsp solids Milk |
Milk 1-2 dsp solids Milk |
Milk 3-4 dsp solids — |
Milk |
|
Lunch |
Milk 1-2 tsp solids Milk |
Milk 3-4 tsp solids Milk |
Milk 5-6 tsp solids Milk |
— 4-5 dsp solids Milk |
— 4-5 dsp solids — |
— 4-5 dsp solids Beaker of Milk |
|
Tea |
Milk |
Milk |
Milk 2-3 tsp solids Milk |
Milk 3-4 dsp solids Milk |
— 4-5 dsp solids Milk |
— 4-5 dsp solids Beaker of Milk |
|
Bedtime |
Milk |
Milk |
Milk |
Milk |
Milk |
Milk |
Adapted from Lucy Burney, Optimum Nutrition for Babies
and Young Children
http://www.lucyburney.co.uk/books/index.html
to worry about amounts; Bubby gobbles up just about anything – even if he gets
three chews in and then suddenly remembers that he hates what I’ve sneakily
given him again (like butter/ lima beans). Aitch calls this ‘weaning groundhog
day’. Hilariously, it happened with
organic lamb’s liver again this week.
The quick and easy solution.
Remember I said I just don’t do
‘plan-in-advance’ foods very well? I used to think it’s because I work long
hours. Now I’m at home with Bubby, I
have had to face the raw truth that I simply just don’t like cooking. Not that
I don’t have great aspirations – I’ve read through the recipes on this site a
million times, thinking ‘right, next time I won’t buy the organic oat cakes,
I’ll bake them’. Hasn’t happened yet,
and I’m coming to terms with the fact it may never happen. Surely this doesn’t make me a bad mum…?
Here’s what I’ve done to make things really
easy:
1. Buy up all the vegetables and fruit for
baby in one shop. We’ve gone organic with everything.
can’t eat raw
appreciative recipients of some fantastic hand-me-down baby things, including a
‘babycook’ which has made things even easier, since it reduces the risk of over-steaming
food)
5. Let them cool
(and label and date them, if you’re OTT organized). We keep food in the freezer
for up to 1 month.
freezer and make room for these bags.
out whatever you want to feed baby.
9. Put in bowl, and pour freshly boiled water
over them.
10.
right ready for baby; a whole healthy range of colourful veggies and fruit.
kidney beans in those ice cube boxes, and toss them into separate freezer bags
too.We heat them to piping hot in the microwave then let them cool before letting the baby loose on them
foods, after all he doesn’t know that I’m limiting him. He can eat off our
plates when we’re out without having to dig into the rare prefab baby food that
doesn’t have dairy, and we’re all happy.
approach to baby-led weaning. May other
control-obsessed (and consequently control-grieving) mothers be buoyed and
encouraged: there is a way!
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Thanks Jen for a very interesting piece.
This is a subject close to my heart as, like you, we have a very allergic family. I've thought very carefully about the way in which I've introduced Minky to food.
We did mush shovelling to start with (to be honest, my pureeing was rubbish so she was dealing with chunks of vegetables quite early on!). I discovered BLW when she was 7+ months. I enjoy the control it allows her over her food, but you do have to be inventive when you can't have wheat and you can't have dairy (and all the other minor food groups we're avoiding).
Avoiding wheat has been easier, although I'd love to be able to give her a piece of bread to chew on. Avoiding dairy is a pain mainly because a lump of cheese is convenient, take anywhere, protein and we can't have it.
The order in which to introduce food is interesting. I think there is a lot of conflicting advice, so I've made up my own schedule (!). I think order is more important than age, so Minky had rice and millet before she had oats and we'll be leaving wheat for a bit longer.
The comment about the 18 month old with a dairy allergy rang very true to me. I don't know if Minky will have any allergies, or if I have any chance of preventing them, but I do feel that early exposure can cause allergy. I keep thinking that if I can wait for her gut to mature a bit then she has a better chance of being allergy free.
Anyway, thanks for writing this. I feel encouraged that allergies and BLW are compatable. I'm certainly more confident in trying BLW from the get-go with baby number two (ahem).
Come on then you two, more recipes… (actually I'm directing that at Moomin give that Jen has confessed to not cooking unless the meal can be reconstituted with boiling water. the minute that poor child is one he'll be on the Pot Noodles, I tell you…)
Just wanted to say thanks for this…Minipig has just turned 3 months and as we have THE most allergic family (I'm lactose intolerant, DH is allergic to blueberries, my sister is allergic, there's lots of asthma and hayfever…ect etc!) I'm preparing well in advance…
This has helped to reassure me..although I am forseeing problems with my MIL trying to give her things too early!
Currently hunting recipies to store in the hopes I'll have a good long list by the time she's six months!
Pinkxxx
Yes, MIL gave Minky a piece of danish pastry. Mr Moomin nearly exploded.
We've also had problems with her nursery giving her croissant, tomatoes, strawberries and cucumber in one terrible snack session. I cried. Minky reacted to something (I suspect the starwberries). She hasn't had a snack there since.
oh that is pants, Moomin, you must have been so cross.
Don't forget that you can cook with breastmilk (I presume also with formula but haven't tried it) – I have a great fishcake recipe from the Jennie Maizels book which I make with BM (since I have a freezer full!) and I use rye flour for coating instead of wheat flour. That's a brilliant freezer stand-by.
We seem to be successfully on to wheat now, introduced just before turning 12 months, but since I discovered corn pasta and rye bread we all eat a whole lot less of the darn stuff anyway.
BIL had a milk allergy up to being 20-odd and there are various other things around the family, so we've been quite cautious, mostly following the Lucy Burney book with a few adaptions (no seeds or nuts at all yet, and we avoided peas until recently as they're related to peanuts). We'll be looking at doing egg and dairy in the next month or so. Someone gave me a list of how to introduce dairy – don't have a ref for it as yet but she'd done it with her younger children after a severely allergic older child and they seem fine. I will post the ref. when I get it, but it goes: fromage frais, yoghurt, cooked cheese, cooked milk, cheese, milk, cream. It's been a long while since I graduated in biochem but I'm guessing the order is to do with how the proteins/sugars are broken down by bacteria (in yoghurt, cheese) and heat and hence are less allergenic than “raw” milk. Will let you know how it goes – and would also be interested in any other references/schema for introducing dairy, ofc!
I have made rice pudding with breastmilk when I was panicing she wasn't getting enough calcium. Unfortunately, me and the breastpump are not good friends and I left the freezer door open last month and lost the smidge of milk I did have (plus everything else – grrrrr).
Thanks for the dairy-introduction order. My sister can't eat dairy and she mentioned that there are dairy foods that some people tolerate more easily (I think she said yoghurt and butter). So, I'd been looking for an order and did ask my HV if he knew anything about it. He didn't.
Mr Moomin and I certainly rely on wheat far too much in our diet. We should follow Minky's example.
We went to see a dietician yesterday about Minky's diet. She was excellent. She's writing an allegy document for the area and is starting an MSc in allergies in January. So, I feel lucky that we got her.
She was happy that Minky was getting enough calcium from breastmilk alone – which was my main concern. She did say there was no evidence that leaving dairy longer than six months helped prevent allergies. She also didn't have an opinion on an order in which to introduce dairy (so I shall use the order above!). I'm a bit more confident about introducing Minky to dairy now. At the same time, I don't feel that there is a big rush to do, now that I know I'm not depriving her of calcium. I guess this means I can be nice and calm about it, which will be much better for her.
Wheat-wise, it was suggested I do it sooner rather than later in case Minky doesn't like it. I'm not as bothered about introducing wheat, so we'll get round to it at some point. Plus, if she doesn't like it then she doesn't have to eat it.
The other foods we're avoiding (like fish, nuts and citrus) can be left for later. She didn't feel Minky was missing out by not having them.
I was also a bit worried about protein intake given that Minky's not a big meat fan. Apparently they need 1.5g/kg, so about 12g a day if you're a tiny Mink. That'll teach me to read certain weaning books which state they have to have 50g of meat a day. Honestly, why I haven't ritually burnt that book in the garden, I'll never know…
All in all, I felt that I had made the right choices for my daughter for the right reasons – and we all want to feel like that, don't we?
It's so reassuring when you manage to find a professional who is sensible and down to earth about it all. Interesting about the amount of protein they need a day…… I was just starting to think about introducing meat and fish to the Pickle and wondering about how I was going to go about it. Being a veggie myself I'm a bit unsure – we don't often have steak or fish in the house (husband is not veggie).
I've read the posts regarding chicken and the best bit for babies to get a hold of and eat. What about fish? Does anybody have any recommendations? Or perhaps it is best just to put some in front of them and let them have a go? I'm presuming white fish (cod, plaice) is best to start with? Sorry lots of questions. I've read the bits about smoked salmon, sushi, tuna…..
The Pickle is having great fun and trying most things I put in front of her, although the poor broccoli tree went for a burton yesterday. It was briefly squashed in a little fist then flung over her shoulder and promptly forgotten about.
(Sorry if this is covered somewhere else.
Forgot to say, she also said most of that protein would come from milk, so I'm not too worried about getting meat down Minky.
If you're veggie why not try beans? We have a lot of success with a spicy chickpea ratatouille thing and also plain old kidney beans.
We've not done fish. I imagine fish fingers are an easy way to do this.
right that's IT! i am going out to buy fish fingers RIGHT NOW! (have been meaning to do this for aaaaages.)
We love fishfingers, but they get their batter peeled off and then the fish gets smooshed into her face! (And I get to eat the batter!)
We've tried trout (was that naughty of me?), it was on my plate, and he tried pinching some, so it made more sense to de-bone it and give him a piece.
The new Asda range cod (breaded and stuff) is also a great success. Seems to work better, though, if Bebe sees me eating it… Go figure.
Have I mentioned how helpful you lot have been? TA much:)
Hello all, if you look to your left you will see a fulsome account of Babybear's adventures with haddock. Might I ask you to transfer any piscine comments you have to there so that others may use our swanky search option to find them in the future?
I have an atopic family so try to avoid common problem foods for a year or so. Although Jenson decided to nick some toast and munch it last week before anybody realise (dh was “watching him”)!
Anyway I'm trying to work out if melon is ok or not. I hope it is, very handy quick snack to prepare. But I vaguely remember reading to wait. I can't find anything about melon now though.
there's a link on the right to a sequence of food introduction for allergicky babes, it says that melon is a 12-24 month thing.
Hello Aitch, Morv & fellow BLW mums/dads! I’ve been lurking & frantically reading through every single post/comment/link on this brilliant blog for the past few week as Button-nose’s 26 week birthday is rapidly approaching. I’ve actually made 17 pages of notes (LOL at self for such an anal approach to a relaxed way of weaning!!). Anyway, I have many a top tip stored in my notebook, but I now feel I need to cease with the lurking and actually post a few questions which I hope someone will be able to help with…
My hubby (there is an acronym for him isn’t there?? Not very good at those… only just learnt LOL wasn’t lots of love… he he how sad!)… Anyway, hubby has slight eczema and I have slight hayfever. The question is how cautious to be with regards allergies??? I have read the links about allergy schedules and was sent into a bit of a spin, as one of the big advantages of BLW is that you can give pretty much anything to your baby and let them give it a go. What I want to do is this…
Fruits & Veg: give any of these right from the start with possible exception of strawberries, kiwis and raw tomatoes as they seem to be the main villains of the fruit/veg world.
Meat: give any of these, rather than going down the only turkey/lamb for 6 months route.
Wheat: leave until the suggested 1 year point. Does this mean forgoing pasta/bread altogether as even corn is on the 12 month list too? Or do you think I can give corn pasta a go as wheat is the evil one here?!
Dairy & Eggs: Leave until 1 year also. BUT… and here’s the big question for me… does that mean if a recipe has eggs or butter in it (or milk, yogurt etc) you can’t have it or does it just mean in it’s pure form???? This writes off loads of recipes, i.e the veggie rosti cakes, the hummus (if tahini swapped for yogurt). Etc etc. If a recipe needs an egg to bind it is it a no-no?
Nuts: leave until the suggested 24 months.
Seeds: Yes, seeds??? No hummus? No pesto? NOOOOOOOOOO! Surely seeds can’t be as bad as nuts can they? Show me the evidence!
So, does anyone know how this sounds as a plan? Too laid back given the touch of eczema, hayfever? If I trigger an allergy by giving Button-nose something too early, will she have the allergy for life? Perhaps I should stick rigidly to the schedule… but it sounds DULL!
Anyway, hope someone can help. Looking forward to a reply.
Loubylou & Button-nose
Oh gosh, this is one of those difficult ones at the moment as guidlines are being thrown in the air, plus there's all the BLW theories on allergy that make it all difficult to know what to.
They're now saying that early exposure helps them to desensitise to the allergens – totally the opposite of the old advice! I have asked about this and no one knows how to take it.
BLW babies seem to do better with the allergy thing because they can sift their own foods.
At the end of the day, you have to do what you feel comfortable with because there doesn't seem to be any definates about it at the moment.
Personally I haven't missed anything out, she gets what we're having – mainly because no one talked to me about weaning, so I got on with it. If you want to have a look at some ideas of what Tink (and other babies) are eating, this link is to my mommyteam on babyfit and a thread where we list what our baby has eaten today. Our team is not as good as this board, but it's a nice little group!
i've lit the bat-signal for Moomin, Louby, she's the best person to speak to on this subject so hopefully she'll be along soon.
I have coeliac disease, eczema, asthma and my mum has totally minging eczema and hayfever so this is close to my heart. I phased in the major allergens such as wheat, milk, citrus and eggs, but otherwise went straight on with things. Gluten was the last to go in at 11 months, but it can be very restrictive and there is no good evidence that delaying anything past 6 months (unless there is a strong family history of a specific food allergy), does any good.
It is tricky, but I felt the advantage of DS being able to eat everything when we were out was greater than delaying introducing stuff. It also gives more nutritional range.
Sophie
Here I am!
Okay, am not expert, am mum of baby with dodgy genetics. I was also a scientist in a previous life so do trawl through papers etc… to back up my gut feelings. So:
Fruit and veg: Give any except berries, kiwi, tomatoes and citrus. We did tomatoes at 8 months, but she avoids them (not that I entirely agree that they avoid foods they are allergic to). We did strawberries at 12 months and citrus at about 18 (because I forgot).
Meat: I'd start with turkey and lamb, but would then introduce the others as you are eating them.
Wheat: I intended to leave all gluten-containing grains until 12 months. In the end, I gave oats at 8 months (as contains less % gluten than other grains). She had rye at about 10 months and wheat at 11 months. I didn't avoid corn. We used buckwheat pasta and buckwheat flakes for porridge. Also, gram flour (buckets of the stuff) and rice flakes.
Dairy: I intend to leave until a year. As it was, she had dairy at 10 months as I wanted to have an alternative to breastmilk by the time she was a year. She is/was slightly dairy intolerant…I think. It means you can't have them in cooking either. Sorry. You can find lots of alternatives eg Pure sunflower spread, rice milk, soya stuff if you want to go down that route.
Egg: Eggs we did at 12 months. She stuffed them down her with gay abandon and then has a massive allergic reaction (hence my scepticism about them avoiding food they are allergic to). Again, no eggs in cooking either. However, some children who are allergic to egg can tolerate it in baked goods (eg cake). Minky gets hives with pure egg but “only” gets a bad tummy with cake. You can get egg replacer. I have some. I have never used it.
Nuts: leave until the suggested 24 months. Or even as much as 36.
Seeds: I didn't avoid seeds. You may find some pesto has egg in it and cashew nuts. You will get to be a ace label reader.
Finally, find a good health food shop and bear in mind it is easier than it sounds. If you introduce wheat, dairy etc… and then have to take it out of your diet, it is quite hard to adjust. If they simply don't have it, it just becomes second nature to feed them “free from” foods.
Did I cover it all?
good point about the gram flour, moomin. it is really delicious and you certainly encouraged a few of us to buy a few buckets of it.
and good luck, louby, i hope it goes well.
Thank you soooooooooo much Moomin & crew! I can see a clearing in the fog….
I will let you know how things go for us over the coming months. Can't wait to get started!
Hi Moomin & other allergy gurus…
If it is not too much of a chore, could you point me in the direction of a few recipes/meal suggestions for me to start on? i.e what do you give your LO for breakfast? I'm thinking fruit would be good, but then my ideas dry up. Lunch/dinner… veggies etc will be easy, but what about meals? are there any particularly good recipes on this site or books that you've come across that tick all the allergy boxes (i.e no eggs, dairy, wheat etc)? Out & about snacks… mmm, rice cakes?? I'd love a bank of ideas to fix to the fridge to keep things varied.
Any help/suggestions gratefully received…
Cheers!
Loubylou x
Right, in the early days breakfast was fruit and/or buckwheat porridge until 8 months and then oat porridge. Oh, I appeared to have given her millet as well.
Lunch was casserole-y things like chicken, potato, carrot and parsnip. Or lamb tagine. Or cottage pie (messy!). Made for all the family. Thicken casseroles with with rice flour. Bit of veg. Then fruit.
Tea was things like veg and fruit. Perhaps buckwheat pasta or rice cakes or oat cakes.
Out and about: rice cakes, Organix corn snacks, dried fruit, fruit.
There was a reliance on fruit!
You will find recipes for chickpea burgers and onion bhajis on this site (and many, many more things that can easily be adapted). My sister uses “Gluten, Wheat and Dairy Free Cookbook: Over 200 Allergy-free Recipes from the Sensitive Gourmet”. You may find the original chickpea burger recipe in there!
Can I admit now how I remember all this? whispers I have a spreadsheet of everything she until she was 11 months old. I had to force myself to go cold turkey at that point.
ROFL. Cold organic turkey i hope.
I totally approve of the fact that you had a spreadsheet (there's a little bit of Monica in me too!). Incidentally had to look up ROFL in my online urban dictionary (!)…
Fab ideas thank you.
ironically enough, Moomin isn't even the Canadian chum who wrote the piece above. i guess you just have to be a bit organised if you're dealing with allergies and reading labels all the time so that you can identify what might have caused a reaction? Thank god I'm in a position to generally neglect Babybear and get away with it.
Hi
Does anyone know much about potato flour as a replacement for egg when using egg to bind something e.g. a burger? I wasn't sure how much to use and whether it actually works!?
Cheers!
i don't know anythign about egg replacements, i'm afraid, i hope someone will be along soon to help, but i know i never put egg in burgers (because i find the idea of raw egg and raw meat squished together kinda icky) and mine never fall apart. I think if you use the extra lean stuff that mostly everyone buys now, you don't need a binder, it was just back in the 70s when the meat was fattier that it fell apart. i put cheese in these because i like it, but they are lovely without.
I don't know about potato flour as egg replacer, but would agree with aitch about it not being necessary in burgers. Let us know if it does work though, as that sounds nice and simple.
The commercial egg replacers work quite well, such as the imaginatively named “Egg Replacer”, but there are others that we have used successfully when baking for example. And I know we have a recipe somewhere for a home-made egg replacing concoction that you can make out of ingredients you are likely to have in your cupboard. Will try to dig it out.
2 tablespoons of potato flour are equal to one egg, as is 50g of silken tofu (mashed), or 1/2 a banana. I've only used tofu or banana, and they work quite well.
ooh useful tips. will try these things out.
Do you think the same applies to beany/pulsey type burgers/patties too? Has anyone left the eggs out of these with good results? (I suppose i could make them without and see what happens, but if someone else has already discovered a culinary disaster I may as well learn from them!).
i wonder if mashing them well and adding a good slug of olive oil would work? i rarely add eggs to things, as i said, they kinda give me the willies unless presented as egg, if you know what i mean? egg mayo sandwiches… bleurgh.
Yes, you can make bean/lentil/chickpea/millet burgers and veg fritters without egg (and I never bother putting egg in meat burgers either). Breadcrumbs or flour are good for binding, or gram [chickpea] flour if you're wheat-avoiding. Plus some olive oil or just water if the mixture needs more stickiness as opposed to more density. It is all a bit trial and error I'm afraid, but you'll get there!
Thank you for the tips! Kidney bean kievs here we come…
Hello,
I'm new to this blog (and I'm Italian). My baby is almost 6 months old (and I am still breastfeeding him) and I was thinking of doing BLW. I didn't understand – about the last comment- at 8 month you already give the baby a solid food breakfast instead of the breast milk? I thought breakfast and the after dinner meal should be milk for a long time..
Thank you
Apparantly a banana can replace and egg in any baking recipe so why not foor? WHolesome too ;)