what foods do i have to avoid

[MummyToToby]

i know that before 6 months i should avoid -
dairy,
pasta,
bread,
nuts,
fish,
citrus fruits.

and before 12 months -
honey,
cow's milk

but i can't find information on whether i can give meat purees to a 4-6 month old baby and also when can you give soft cheeses?

oh you also can't give babies under 6 months biscuits or crackers can you, cos they have gluten?

i know cheese like stilton and brie can't be given until 12 months, but what about things like philadelphia and mascapone?

\link{http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/agesandstages/baby/weaning/\ this is a useful guide}

basically life is easier for you and baby if you start weaning around six months. Pear, carrot, baby rice, apple, banana are all useful first foods and as you are introducing them one at a time and in very small amounts these will take a little time in themselves. i think it's quite hard to puree meat but lamb and chicken are the easiest to try but not actually necessary for a baby of this age.

thanks for the link, but still couldn't find anything about mascarpone and philadelphia. could i introduce them at 6 months with other dairy stuff or do i have to wait til 12 months as with blue cheeses and brie etc ..

phialdelphia is a highly processed product which is safe but still high in fat and salt etc, mascarpone is also quite fatty but as part of a diet shouldn't be any problem ditto these Cheddar, Gruyere and Parmesan and cheeses including: feta, ricotta, mascarpone, cream cheese, mozzarella, processed cheese, cheese spread and cottage cheese

it is cheese with mould and/or unpasteurised milk which may harbour listeria eg brie, chevre, camembert

that's what i guessed as it was the same for pregnancy but wanted to make sure. thanks loads!

Fatty food is fine for a baby - they actively need cholesterol. Meat shouldn't be given until after 6 months and like Zippi says, life is a hell of a lot easier if you leave it until 6 months to wean. Straight onto proper food - no pureeing, no mashing even, no 'can I give him this', other than honey and peanuts and cow's milk to drink. Oh, and the solids-nappies are staved off too!

I just gave DS2 whatever we were having, from 6 months, including peanuts, shellfish, spicy food, whatever. But we don't have food allergies on either side of the family, as far as I know.

HI ZTT - just FYI - parmesan is actually unpasteurised but is considered safe because it's a hard cheese.

so you have to avoide shellfish before 6 months, but not normal fish - is that correct?

It's best to avoid all foods before 6 months from what I know.

I don't think regular fish are particularly allergenic, but they're still not the sort of thing you should give to a baby under 6 months.

I think you should probably, as a rule of thumb, take Zippi's suggestions of first foods and stick to those from 6 months to about 8 months - once baby is settled with the weaning you can start to indtroduce, meats, fish and other cheeses but none of those foods are really good first foods for introducing at weaning. I would say the slower, the better as there really is no rush.

Re. puréeing meat - we use the carcass of our chicken and a load of root veggies to make a broth, then take out the chicken and purée down the vegetables in the liquid stock. The resulting purée will have protein and chicken flavour but be more digestible and an easier introduction to meat for a baby over 6mths.

HTH