When do you stop introducing one food at a time and waiting several days?

[LucyG]

I know the rationale behind this is the watch for allergic reactions, and it makes sense. But, it's impractical to think that you will wait three days after every new food your child ever eats! So, at what age is it OK to offer some mixed foods? I am thinking in terms of table foods, as DD is nearly 9 months and has done well with the individual foods we have tried (no reactions, good with texture). DH and I were having chicken casserole last night, and it struck me that DD could probably have eaten a few bites of the mushier parts (no meats yet). When did you ease up on the "introduce and wait" rule? I'll keep watching for reactions, of course, when any new food is given.

[flagger]

Last week, we did a sample of two foods she had eaten with no reaction. Sweet potatoes and applesauce. I think it is fine to do combos of foods you know that she has not had a reaction too.

I always think of foods right now just as practice and to get use to textures. No reason to offer a five course meal, but if you are having something that you have known she had no reaction to then why not. If she had a reaction to the mushier parts of the casserole then you could say chicken was the cause since invariable some of the juices from the meat get infused into the mushy part.

Does that make sense?

[JElaineB]

You can offer foods in combination when you know they haven't caused a reaction, or offer known foods with a new food at any time. In general I do think it is best to wait 3 days between new foods even when you move on to table foods, but sometimes it is not practical. I wasn't giving much texture to DS at 9 months and his doc told me to start immediately, so I panicked for a few days and started throwing new chunky foods at him left and right. Luckily we didn't have any reactions, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend that strategy! Go with your gut if you aren't highly worried about allergies (no family history etc.) Unless you are really vigilant it seems hard to avoid introducing two or more new foods at once sometimes when they move on to table foods.

I still do try and wait a few days between new foods that are considered highly allergenic, but that doesn't always happen! I was waiting until after 1 year for fish and was going to wait longer for strawberries, but a couple of weeks ago I gave DS fish sticks for the first time one night and MIL gave him a strawberry yogurt for the first time the next day! ACK! I'm lucky we have no major family history and DS hasn't shown any allergies yet. If he had, I would be MUCH more careful!

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

[cinrein]

I think I would wait until DD is a bit older before giving up on the 3 day rule. Even then, I would still use it for foods that are potentially highly allergenic, like nuts.

For Gerber and Beechnut brands, but my ped said that once you've introduced all the stage 1 foods, the stage 2 foods that have combo ingredients only have 1 new food that wasn't already introduced in stage 1. That way when you give a combo food, there should be only 1 new food in the mix that the baby didn't already have. I hope I explained that in a way that makes sense. We pretty much make our own babyfood here, but I try to follow the same idea.

Cindy and Anna 2/11/03

[mom2kandj]

Talk about waiting...we had to wait SEVEN days between new introductions! We also have a family history of allergies, eczema, and asthma which all increase your odds of having an allergic child. ITA with the other posters regarding giving combo foods and just watching for the ingredient that is new. HTH!


Rose
mom 2 Katie (34 months)
& Jack (18 months)

[Momof3Labs]

By 9 months we stopped waiting 3 days between introductions but still stayed away from the highly allergenic foods. If we had an allergic reaction, we would have had to back way off and go back to the gradual introduction, but it was a chance we were willing to take at that point (Colin was already eating a lot of table foods by then)!

[kaitlinsmommy]

We stopped the 3-day waiting by 9 months and started giving dd lots of table food (she's had plenty of meat, casseroles, guacamole, soup, etc). However, I did wait when I introduced milk last week. Kaitlin really only wants to eat what we eat now.

[Sarah1]

I also stopped waiting around 9-10 mos...she was eating so many new things and seemed to be doing fine with everything.

But like others said, with certain foods, you should be careful--for example, this morning I gave Audrey peanut butter for the first time, so I will definitely be watching for a reaction within the next few days. Same with eggs.

[LucyG]

Thanks for all of the helpful responses! I think we will start to offer her mixed things when it seems prudent, and go from there. She is clearly interested in what we are eating, and I think will adapt well to table foods.