ALLERGY BABYCARE\HOW TO WEAN: KIND OF WEANING DIET
After the filling fruit, vegetable and unusual grains, you can then try other fruit and vegetables, such as apples, pears, courgettes, tomato. After nine months, you can try the less allergenic grains -rice, oats, rye and millet. Save the highly allergenic foods – wheat, cow’s milk, eggs, etc. -until babies are at least 12 months old and for as long as you can thereafter.
If your baby runs into problems on the suggested weaning programme, and starts reacting to the less troublesome foods, or else is very hungry, then you may be obliged to bring forward some of the more troublesome foods earlier than you would like. If you do this, then leave foods such as wheat, eggs, cow’s milk, yeast and corn to the very end of those you try. Try lentils, soya, meat, poultry, fish and nuts before the others, and maybe sheep’s milk, unless your doctor advises strongly against it.
Never overload a potentially food-sensitive baby with too many new foods at once, or too many allergenic foods. Keep to a varied, spaced out and simple diet. Babies’ digestions can usually cope better with simple demands.
Most babies are extremely happy on this kind of weaning diet, having known no different, until they are 12-15 months old. You need not worry, provided they are still getting plenty of breastmilk or bottle formula milk, are generally well and healthy, are keeping to their projected height and growth charts, and your doctor has given you any vitamin and mineral supplements that are necessary.
Do not be tempted, if you have very few foods that baby tolerates, or if baby shows a particular liking for something, to allow the baby to eat lots of that food every day. This can pre-dispose a food-sensitive baby to develop allergy or intolerance of that food. Craving and addiction can also be a symptom of food sensitivity. Keep the diet spaced out and varied.
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