Strawberries for 6 month old?

[HeidiKat]

Looking for a bit of advice, my DD is almost 6 months old and we have been doing weaning with purees for a few weeks now. There seems to be a lot of good deals on strawberries at the moment and I would like to try her with them but another website I have been on says that they should be avoided until 12 months old as a potential allergen. Has anyone tried them as a weaning food once pureed or a finger food in the anti-choking fruit net thing?

[mousesma]

I've given DD strawberries since 6 months with no problems. She used to have them mashed but from 8 months has been having them either whole or cut in half. They are her favourite food!

[roundandroundincircles]

I've used the cow and gate apple and strawberry fruit pot for my 6mo so assuming if big companies can sell it it must be ok (or I may just be very naive!!)

[HeidiKat]

Thanks, I will give them a try then.

[JennyPiccolo]

i just gave a whole one to my daughter and she loved it! ate it like i would eat an apple. I think the advice is to introduce these foods one at a time so you can keep an eye on any reactions that might occur. Unless you've a family history of allergies though, its pretty unlikely.

Strawberries are a messy business though!

[IAmTheCookieMonster]

i've not heard of strawberries as an allergen, my ds loved them at 6 months, i gave him a punnet of very ripe ones and he squished them everywhere!

[MrsHerculePoirot]

I gave them to my DD when she was 6.5 months old as a finger food. I just washed them, cut the leaves off and gave them to her whole to suck/chew on. They are still one of her favourite foods now at 18 months.

I think the only things they are supposed to avoid are..

• salt
  
• sugar
  
• honey
  
• whole nuts (smooth peanut butter for example though is OK)
  
• certain fish (marlin, swordfish and shark due to high mercury levels)
  
• raw shellfish
  
• raw and lightly cooked eggs
  

Other than that, you can introduce pretty much anything you like from 6 months. If you or the father have allergies then I think the advice is to be more careful when introducing stuff.

[Seona1973]

they can be allergenic but you can still give them from 6 months

[gourd]

I thought the whole point about potential allergens was to give these foods as early as possible to avoid the child developing an allergy! The reasons to avoid shark etc are not to do with allergies but heavy metals. The reason to avoid honey is botchulism spores. The reason for avoiding nuts is choking and the reason to avoid shellfish/prawns is food poisoning - though if you cook your own rather than eating at dodgy places this is less of a risk. Our LO had whole strawberries as soon as they were in season - she was about 7 months. She is now 8.5 months and has also eaten ground nuts, small pieces of nuts in cakes and ice creams, soft boiled egg, blue cheeses, washed rind cheeses, shellfish and prawns, all with no ill effects.

[cardamomginger]

Yup - introducing allergens early (one at a time and watching carefully for any effects) is the advice DD's consultant allergist has given us. I have severe nut allergy and we are feeding DD different nut butters every day. So far so good. And she LOVES them!

[cardamomginger]

meant possible or potential allergens....

[kimberlina]

They are my DD's most favourite food. She can eat 10 in a day (cut into quarters)

[TittyBojangles]

A whole strawberry was my DS's first food at 24 weeks. He loves them.

[pookamoo]

We did BLW and DD LOVED strawberries, they were the first thing she really chomped on. Now she's 2.5 and has her own strawberry patch in the garden! DH and I don't get to eat any of the ones she picks, they go in her tummy before they reach the back door!

We just gave her whole ones as a finger food, with the leaves removed. It's very messy though! I think the fruit net thing isn't necessary.

Hope your DD likes her strawberries!

[VeronicaCake]

DD loves strawberries so much that if she manages to get hold of them before me she will eat them stalks and all! Strawberries are, however, a gateway drug to blueberries which are baby crack. Be warned.

[SharkSkinThing]

My 10 month DS loves these too - but he did then develop and allergy after eating them with no worried for a few months (rash all over, looked like he had some sort of weird chicken-pox/hand foot and mouth hybrid of a thing).

So, go for it - but if she does suddenly develop a rash around her mouth and hands, cut them out and see if she's having a temporary blip!

[Scaredycat3000]

I was happily giving my LO strawberries as a first food, whole with the hulls removed, and told one of the HV. She looked slightly shocked and said, not strawberries, try pear. It turns out his Uncle is allergic to them and had ended up in hospital after eating loads as a child, I then spoke to a couple of other people who said they where allergic to. I'd never heard of anything about strawberries like this before. I'd try one and keep an eye if no history in your family, my LO still eats them and is fine.
I would give them whole as finger food. Isn't NHS weaning advise a mixture of purée and finger food from 6 months anyway? I have some fab photos of my LO naked, except nappy, in his high chair covered in strawberry

[TheSnickeringFox]

:o VeronicaCake.

My ds is doomed.

[MockingbirdsNotForSale]

I bought some strawberries today, specifically finding ones nice and big for DD to hold like an apple...except I've nearly eaten them all myself . Veronica!