Stock cube & nut question

[valerie28966]

When cooking for a 18mth old can I now add a small amount of stock cube 2 stews and soups. I feel now that the foods I make for her are pretty bland and she is getting bored. I never add salt 2 anything as totally paranoid. Also are all nuts a defo no no for under 3 years? Gran makes a fab pasta sauce using finely crushed walnuts and she says that she feed this 2 her kids when they were young. Thanks

[Kelly1978]

I give it, but it isn't recomended.

[jellyjelly]

Remember that there taste buds taste more ie if you give a korma it is ament to feel like a madras to them but not to use. (I wouldnt give a korma as it does have nuts in it)

The other thing about nuts is what was good in our parents day isnt so much now because people are learning more each day about development.

Do you have any allergies in your family or do you as child parents suffer from excema/hayfever or rhinitus? If so dont give nuts till later. Any other questions about allergies you can leave them here.

[Seona1973]

If there is no family history of allergic disease, food allergies, etc then peanuts are considered ok to give from 6 months. It is only if you have a family history of the above that the advice is to wait until 3 years. My dd loves her peanut butter and jam sandwiches!!

Babycentre says the following

The government's COT report (Committee on the Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment) recommends that women who have a family history of allergic disease (or who have a partner who does) may wish to avoid peanuts and peanut products while pregnant and breastfeeding to reduce the risk of their baby developing a peanut allergy. Allergic diseases include asthma, eczema, hay fever and food allergies. It also recommends that babies from families with a history of allergic disease stay on a peanut-free diet until the age of three years.

If you have a family history of allergic disease, you may also choose to exclude all nuts from your baby's diet, not just peanuts. The reason for this is that, if a child is allergic to peanuts, they may be allergic to some other nuts. This is because the proteins found in peanuts and other nuts have a very similar structure.

If you have no family history of allergic disease, these recommendations do not apply and peanuts can be included in both your own and your baby's diet. In fact, peanut butter can be a useful weaning food. It is highly nutritious, and a good source of protein, particularly for vegetarian and vegan babies.

If you are using nuts in your baby's or toddler's diet, do make sure they are ground or processed into small pieces, so that your baby can't choke on them. (Children under five should not be given any whole nuts because of the risk of choking.)

Also says

It's true that you shouldn't give whole nuts to children who are under five years old, because of the risk of choking. But nut butters and ground nuts are fine for babies over six months old and children who do not have a family history of allergies.

Serious allergies to nuts and nut products and some seeds affect less than one per cent of the population. Your baby may be at higher risk if you, your baby's father, brothers or sisters have certain allergic conditions such as hayfever, asthma and/or eczema.

If your baby is in this higher-risk group, avoid eating peanuts and peanut products while pregnant, during breastfeeding and during the introduction of solid foods. Until your child is at least three years old, peanuts and peanut products should be avoided.

[compo]

What about a neice with a nut allergy? Do you think that would count as a family history or is it just parents and siblings?

[Seona1973]

dont know - they just seemed to mention immediate family rather than cousins, neices, etc. You could try a small amount a couple of times and see if there is any reaction. (your lo may have already been exposed to nuts anyway as a lot of foods carry warnings saying 'may contain nut traces' which you would normally need to avoid if you had a nut allergy)

[Mercy]

Valerie, stock cubes are chock full of salt!!
A tiny bit every so often should be ok.

You can get reduced salt stock by Marigold (??)

[jellyjelly]

Dont think i have said it here but the first time is ok but when a child has something a second time is normally when the reaction starts as the first time the body doesnt like ti but then the next time it has antibodies and then goes to fight the iritant.

[zippitippitoes]

herbs are good for adding flavour

[glassofwine]

Boots used to do a baby stock powder when DS now 3 1/2 was a baby - no salt. Don't know if they still do, it was hard to find even then. Comes in a tub

[Mercy]

Cow&Gate used to do a 'baby gravy' which could also be used as stock - is that the one you mean, glassofwine? That seems to have completely disappeared now

[Valery]

Will try 2 get my family 2 look out for salt free or baby stock and send it over 2 me as living n Italy and salt free and baby foods seem 2 be V limited over here. Mind u I havent had a look n any health food stores (which also seem 2 be few and far between). My gut feeling is not to give her normal stock or nuts so think I will just plod along as I have been doing so. Total paranoid about what I feed her. Thanks everone for there comments and suggestions so far. By the way changed my NN.

[Mercy]

Oooh, whereabouts in Italy are you?

(don't get paranoid, everything in moderation)

[Valery]

Been living in Tuscany for just over 2 years so DD was born here. Hubby is half italian hence the reason for the move.

[zippitippitoes]

you can make your own by cooking up onion root veg herbs and chicken carcase for example, reduce down and then freeze in ice cube trays

[Kathy1972]

I just googled recommendations on this and it said you should not add salt up to 1 year of age. From 1-3 years the max daily amount is 2g (ie a third of an adult's). A whole stock cube seems to be about 4g.
Obviously you will want to keep the salt intake down as low as possible because of not encouraging your child to develop a taste for salty foods, and as jellyjelly said, children taste it much more than us so they don't need that much to get the same effect, but tbh I don't think you would do any harm by using a tiny bit of stock cube, made up much more dilute than it says on the packet - you just need to be sensible about it.

I am posting this because I got v stressed when dh came home with the wrong rice cakes once - slightly salted instead of unsalted - until we actually did the sums and worked out that she would have to eat over a packet (compared to her likely serving of half a rice cake!) to reach her max daily allowance! I think sometimes the guidelines lead people to think of certain foods as absolutely forbidden when it's really more of a case of using them in moderation.

[zippitippitoes]

or garlic, black pepper