My daughter, Clara, recently turned 7 months. For the past two months, she has been eating solids like a champion –chowing down on anything we give her. Perhaps because she is my second, I am much more relaxed about the foods I allow her to eat. With my son, Liam, I strictly studied my books and food charts about how to introduce solids to a baby, religiously avoiding certain foods until he reached certain ages.

The other day, while Clara was munching happily on a bowl of kidney beans, I had a little panic attack. Am I being too lax with my food choices for Clara? Has the "second-child syndrome" gotten the better of me?

Having forgotten most of the “rules”, I immediately went back to one of my favorite sources, Wholesome Baby Food, which carefully lays out what your baby should be eating month by month and provides a list of forbidden foods. Most of these rules are based on the concerns about potential allergic reactions.

American Academy of Pediatrics Report

To my surprise, I found the following note about a recent American Academy of Pediatrics (“AAP”) report regarding introducing solids to infants:

Due to a 2008 clinical report released by the AAP in 2008, many believe that there is no longer a need to delay any foods, of any kind, when beginning to introduce solids to babies. The report notes:

”Although solid foods should not be introduced before 4 to 6 months of age, there is no current convincing evidence that delaying their introduction beyond this period has a significant effect on the development of atopic disease regardless of whether infants are fed cow milk protein, formula or human milk. This includes delaying the introduction of solid foods that are considered to be highly allergic, such as fish, eggs, and foods containing peanut protein.”

What Does This Mean?

Like so many of these medical reports, the results are inconclusive. On the one hand, the report is telling us that there is no evidence that introducing certain allergic foods will cause any harm to our babies. On the other hand, the report does not say that these foods are 100% safe. The clinical report clearly states that more studies are needed and the report itself is not definitive.

What Should We Do As Parents?

I think your decision depends on your risk tolerance. Some may decide it is “better to be safe than sorry.” Others may find the restrictions unnecessary. The best course would be to discuss this issue with a trusted pediatrician.

My Take

Personally, even before reading this policy statement, the American food charts always bothered me as most Asian families I knew did not even know about them and their kids seemed fine. For example, the charts tell us not to feed children fish until about 10 months of age. Babies in Japan, however, eat fish from the time they start solids. I see Chinese local infants munching on whole eggs all the time. The charts forbid egg whites until after 1 years old.

Despite my skepticism, with my first child, I was always too scared to deviate from the "rules". This time around, my plan is to use the food charts only as loose guides instead of hard rules. Relying on my common sense, I am just going to try to give Clara a well-rounded, healthy diet.

Any advice or comments would be appreciated.

Photo by Jencu at www.flickr.com