Bit at sea... conflicting advice on allergies/dairy/gluten

[BraveNewWorld]

I'm enjoying giving DD1 (six months) first fruit and veg purees which she wolfs when well, turns her nose up at when sick or teething (fair enough!) But I've noticed her night time sleeping has gone out the window since we started 4 weeks ago. V tempted to fill her up with more carbs but she has a tendency towards constipation and too much baby rice has blocked her up a couple of times so looking for other cereals to try.

BUT lots of asthma/allergies in family (I have asthma mildly, sibling and cousins have it more severely)... wonder is it really worth delaying dairy/gluten? Health Advisors have told me all sorts - wait 7/12 months for dairy/egg/gluten - while GP said assume baby is well and give her everything, only remove if there's a problem.

I'm worried that introducing these foods too early could prompt an allergy/asthma later - does anyone know of any research into this or have any direct experience? Does cutting out dairy mean baby risks calcium and calorie deficieny? And on a more practical note, are there any non-gluten cereals babies actually like?

Sorry for long post but I'm sick of the professionals contradicting each other!

bumping for you - also you might like to try the Allergies topic for like-minded parents.

Other non gluten cereals are millet and quinoa, both of which can be bought in flake form. As for dairy, if you're bfing there is really very little need for dairy and calcium is available from other sources, notably green veg and later on nuts and seeds. If you're worried about lack of calories add a teaspoonful of extra virgin olive oil (or other cold pressed oil) to the veg purees or savoury cereal. You can also make up cereal using veg stock by the way, no need to make a "sweet" cereal using dairy products.

I'm not sure how much delaying gluten helps allergy wise, I know I delayed introduction till 7mo but not for any tanglible reason and we're not an allergic family anyway.

One more great non-gluten cereal is buckwheat. It has nothing to do with wheat and can often be found in gluten-free bread, cakes, etc.
Unfortunately it's not too common in the UK, but you can still find it as flour (DovesFarm make some for sure) and make porridge, pancakes etc.
As for early introduction - yes, they say it increases risk of developing allergy later on.

according to this you should introduce gluten as normal from 6 months. I imagine the same would be true for dairy.

you could always use vegetables which are higher in carbs,
e.g. potatoes, sweet potatoes, swede, turnip, parsnips etc,

and then mix these with a little baby rice to thicken but not overwhelm.

and then try porridge with fruit puree in it for breakfast this is still a big favourite with my ds.

I think standard advice is that 6 months is ok. I'd also recommend oats - they are v low in gluten so a gentle start. I think baby rice is like glue, so not surprising it blocked up your DD!
Maybe stick to baby milk for a bit though. Cows milk is more often linked to respiratory stuff.

thanks v much everyone and sorry to go silent, been wrestling with a tummy bug this week so not much, gluten or otherwise, going down! Am off in search of millet, quinoa, oats and buckwheat!