When to wean - potentially allergenic foods

[heliotrope]

Hello, Wondered if anyone knows up to date advice on when to introduce wheat,dairy,egg,nut,fish, soya in baby weaning. I know it should be after 6 mo, but is there any benefit in waiting until 9/12 mo for any of these, or am I better to try out a small amount of these now and find out.
Baby (6mo) has only had breastmilk and some rice / fruit and veg so far.

Most parents seem to do all of these from 7mo or so but I want to be careful because of a sibling with allergies / eczema. This baby seems to have the itchy skin too although not as bad.

I will try to contact the allergy clinic my older son goes to for advice as well and if I get any joy will share advice on here.

Thanks

Just to add I found some advice here: www.askbaby.com/when-can-my-baby-eat.htm
It seems to say that wheat, dairy and egg OK from six months but fish and nuts should be avoided until age 3 if e.g. siblings have shellfish allergy/eczema asthma, which would apply to us.
Sounds sensible to me but interested to know whether others have been advised differently. I have other books which suggest different ages for wheat, dairy and egg.
I know I'll have to try these 3 at some point and would really rather know asap for these, unless the actual introduction of them is likely to sensitise him - this is what I haven't found any good evidence on.

Bump for you, as I am currently battling the very same dilema.

DD1 (4) has multiple, severe (anaphylactic) allergies. DS is 8 months and I haven't given him any of the things DD is allergic to. I realise this may be counter productive. Thing is, I am a HUGE coward now, as DD has had some very frightening reactions, and I am terrified of feeding something to DS that may cause similar reactions. Part of me does realise how ridiculous I am being, as at some point I will, of course, have to.

Getting absolutely no help from DD's consultant, who initially (while pregnant with DS) said that my baby would be offered RAST tests as a matter of course at 6 months, has since changed his mind. At DD's last appointment, he sent us home with the advise that I "give him a bit of cheese and see what happens, you have epi-pens for DD anyway..."

Sorry to hi-jack your post, but I was wondering how many parents on here have more than one child with severe allergies? If so, do they have the same allergies as each other?

Thank you nelly.

Our consultant just said breast feed the new baby until 6 months and don't restrict my diet, but they seem open to being contacted for advice, so I hope I'll get a reply back from the dietician there, who I've emailed.
My understanding was that although the tendency to allergies is higher risk for the siblings, they won't necessarily be same allergies. Would be interesting to know how this has turned out for other families - I have a feeling that my little one is reacting (just wind and sore tummy) to eggs and maybe cows milk in my milk, which are the same foods that his brother can't have. I could be being paranoid though.
I probably will try wheat at least and then maybe butter / yog / cheese in a couple of months, but will do tiny amount and on arm / face first before it goes into mouth.

Just posting our dietician's advice for the benefit of any other parents wondering how carefully to go with weaning babies who are potentially at risk for allergy.

• There is no evidence that withholding potential allergens reduces the risk of allergy.
• There is a theory that withholding might increase risk, but this is still being investigated.
• Current advice is to introduce carefully from 6mo onwards as usual, but taking precautions as follows:

* Wait 2/3 days between introducing new foods (not all veg etc but the potential allergens) * Give new food in the morning, on a weekday - ie when you will be able to monitor baby and get help if you need it. * You can rub a bit of food on skin or lip to check for reaction before going ahead and feeding it to them. * Keep piriton handy. * When you give a new food, watch carefully both for immediate reaction and also for reactions later e.g. eczema flare / diarrhoea etc. * If any of these occur get baby referred for allergy testing etc. NO point getting baby tested unless something has actually happened, as there are frequently borderline results which aren't that much help.

The above advice was given for our 6mo old baby who has mild eczema, has only has breastmilk so far (so don't know if formula ok or not) and whose brother has allergies to milk, eggs and fish. BUt I think it is the generic advice for babies that are likely to have allergies but haven't shown up any reactions so far, so hope it is of use to others too.

I'm v impressed that the nhs dietician was able / made the effort to call me back with this advice even though the baby isn't 'in the system'.

Happy weaning everyone!