DH mentioned that pediatrician said we should stop giving the babies red food.
We sometimes give the babies cherry oatmeal.
They said not to give them strawberries and such until they are a year old.
I never knew. I haven't really ventured outside of the stage 1 foods found in the grocery store.
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
Did they say why? I gave my 9 month old some strawberries at lunch.
clementine / 769 posts
I haven't heard anything about that. Maybe they meant red food coloring?
grapefruit / 4418 posts
What was the reasoning? We did BLW so anything went. I did hold on strawberries/raspberries until around 10 months because I have a slight berry allergy and they are known allergens. Pediatrician never mentioned me needing to though and DD was fine.
Are you sure she didn't mean red food coloring?
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
@FancyGem: I thought it was the red dye but then DH said we shouldn't give them strawberries. So yeah, I'm curious to hear more when I get home why they said no.
It does seem like DH or MIL brought up foods to the Dr because DH said we can start feeding them stage 2 foods. Maybe it was mentioned or maybe MIL/DH asked if there were any foods to stay away from. I know the kids love the cherry oatmeal so maybe it was mentioned and then the Dr said to stop giving it to them.
Also, we were bring DD there for a possibly allergic reaction to Amoxicillian so maybe they were just talking about allergies in general. (DH and I are not allergic to any red foods).
pomelo / 5607 posts
Yeah, never heard that before. I mean, just encase they're the same color doesn't make them that similar. Radishes, beets, tomatoes, berries?
persimmon / 1043 posts
Haven't heard of staying away from naturally red foods, just red food coloring.. Hmm!
pineapple / 12793 posts
Never heard that.
Our only restriction is no honey before one.
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
@Torchwood: True. Maybe they meant berries since it's summer time and strawberries and blueberries are in season.
Yeah, now I'm curious to hear what exactly the dr said.
Maybe it was dad speak and I'll ask my MIL and she'll say something completely different. Haha!
pomegranate / 3921 posts
@oliviaoblivia: Same here.
@bluestriped bee: Strawberries in particular are a common allergy, but our ped actually encourages giving allergens earlier rather than later these days. Seems weird to bucket all red foods together!
nectarine / 2951 posts
Never heard of this either. Our restrictions were honey and egg whites until 1.
nectarine / 2210 posts
I have heard to stay away from strawberries till a year due to allergy issues, but haven't heard anything about red food in particular.
blogger / grapefruit / 4836 posts
Ive heard strwlawberries before because they are a common allergen but never red foods in general. Though the recommendations about allergens have changed and its no longer necessary to avoid. I wouldnt worry about it at all.
pomegranate / 3127 posts
I think the reason is that these foods commonly trigger a reaction - usually not a serious allergy, more like rash or eczema. We're staying away from strawberries and tomatoes till closer to one, except that we already tried cooked tomatoes in soup and it went ok.
clementine / 756 posts
Our pedi said to do all the allergens ASAP, so we did strawberries at around seven months. Our only restriction is no honey until a year.
pomegranate / 3192 posts
That's not true at all. The old recommendations said to hold off on strawberries (because of allergies) but now they are saying to introduce those foods anytime after starting solids.
There are absolutely no issues with naturally red foods. The issues are with red dyes.
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
Asked the MIL and yeah the ped said no red foods (no cherries, strawberries, berries like blueberries-I know, it's not red...), no citrus like oranges or tomatoes. She said we should wait until they are a year old because of allergens. Apples are fine.
So this is not my regular pediatrician, but MIL (who used to work around doctors) said she liked the dr. So the MIL said there were no red flags.
I do trust doctors in general because they went to med school but I'm going to get some clarification from my own pediatrician tomorrow. I should do a search in some medical journals to see if this is based on some new research.
pomegranate / 3231 posts
I have never heard of this red rule. Also I think the "stages" schtick is just marketing. We never even used baby food; we just improvised with regular food and chose based on texture. I would question the ped's advice in this case.
kiwi / 673 posts
@JenGirl: Same here.
Our ped. said only honey was off limits and encouraged us to start common allergens early and continue giving them often. So we've done eggs, wheat, corn, peanut, and strawberry before six months. As a side note, Jif peanut powder is pretty awesome. Her recommendation was based on the New England Journal of Medicine studies. I just googled and found the studies:
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1414850
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1514209
This one's an opinion piece: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1500186
Oh and as for the stages, I agree that the stages are just marketing technique. We just got "cleared" for stage three and cut up table food at our six month appointment. The puffs are pretty awesome to work on the pincer grip and they dissolve easy if your twins are just starting to get the hang of jaw movement.
pomegranate / 3231 posts
@Hoots: Really? Doctors are on board with the "stages" thing? Our ped barely even acknowledged the existence of baby food. I don't really remember the specific advice at 5mos when we started solids, but when my son was an older infant they definitely said to just feed him whatever we are eating (as long as our diet is not too junky).
But agreed about no honey before age one.
I mixed peanut butter with breastmilk and fed it to my son in the waiting room before his 6mo checkup! We didn't specifically avoid any other allergens.
kiwi / 635 posts
My husband is allergic to strawberries and red food coloring. Our doc said no reason to avoid those things for the kids. Around 6-7 months, raspberries were on DD's favorite food list and blueberries were Ds's favorites (cut in half, not mushed).
kiwi / 673 posts
@ElbieKay: I wouldn't say onboard in general. But she acknowledges that they are an easy and viable option in addition to table food. I think her mention of it was more in the range of don't avoid just because the label says stage 3 type thing. And she did mention that the puff type things were excellent for a baby learning to chew and that has a strong gag reflex because they melt.
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
Never heard of this rule! We only limited tomato b/c she seemed to always get a diaper rash if she ate too much (acidic).
apricot / 485 posts
I didn't restrict. I know strawberries can be an allergen but mine isn't allergic to anything. She had tomatoes as well (and tomato sauce)
pomelo / 5084 posts
@bluestriped bee: Nope. Our ped said everything was absolutely fine except honey.
watermelon / 14467 posts
The only thing the ped told us was to avoid honey until she was over a year and keep an eye out for allergic reactions to foods. I think we waited until 9 months for strawberries, but that was more due to them actually being in season than a potential allergen issue.
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
@sapphire: Yeah. I'm going to call my regular pediatrician to get some clarification.
cantaloupe / 6869 posts
No one has ever said that to us. We gave lots of red foods and never had a problem.
clementine / 756 posts
@bluestriped bee: Yeah, I'd call your regular pedi. That information seems outdated. I'm sure the doc is well trained, maybe is just a little behind about this recommendation.
cantaloupe / 6017 posts
My husband is in residency for pediatrics, and he has never heard of this. He is pretty up to date on research. We only avoided honey before 1
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
Ok. My ped just called me back. I could tell she was trying to be nice about and I guess not flat out disagree with that the other dr said. She did say some providers think that and they it might be a bit conservative. She also said she didn't know what was exactly said or discussed.
Final message. Since we (the parents) don't have any red food/berry allergies, that it should be fine to give the babies red foods. I told her that I still follow the 3 day (ish) rule for giving them new foods to check for allergies. She said that's fine.
She said to wait until the babies are 1 for honey and dairy containing foods.
She said citrus foods might make the babies tummy upset so just watch out for that.
grapefruit / 4278 posts
One for dairy containing foods? or just whole milk? I think most kids eat cheese, yogurt, bread, muffins, etc. before one.
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
@kiddosc: I think whole milk. We mix food with formula.
pear / 1547 posts
I just was at a lecture on food allergies by a pediatric allergist at an AAP conference today and can confirm this is a zero evidence based suggestion and I'm not sure where it came from as I've never heard it before.
ETA: just saw your last post. Also no evidence for the 3 day rule or avoiding dairy in foods. Only rule is honey before one. Exception would be any strong family history of food allergies. Avoiding foods for prolonged periods can actually put kids at higher risk for developing allergies.
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
@MenagerieMama: really? You don't have to do 3 consecutive days of the same new food? As a scientist, it makes sense to me to introduce new foods over a few days so you can narrow down the food if there is a tummy issue.
pear / 1547 posts
@bluestriped bee: nope! You definitely can if you want. But the likelihood of any reactions in the general population is pretty small for an actual allergic reaction so if it were to happen you'd have to trial eliminate a few foods or have testing. But generally it's unlikely you would need to do that and then you don't waste all the time spacing out the foods. And a true allergic reaction to food occurs in a fairly short time window from the exposure so it's not terribly hard to narrow down.
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