So – when you are introducing new foods to your baby, it’s important to follow the ‘four day rule’. This means giving your baby the new food, then waiting for AT LEAST four days before giving him another new food.
Why is this important?
Well, if your little one has a bad reaction to peaches, for example, and you introduce peaches and pears at the same time, you’ll have no way of knowing which of the two fruits was responsible. This means that you either need to avoid BOTH fruits for now, or risk the reaction occurring again.
Spacing the introduction of every food for at least four days gives you time to gauge your baby’s reaction to each food, so that you can be sure he’s entirely happy before moving on to something new. And don’t forget that it’s not just allergic reactions you may need to identify – some foods may cause your baby to become gassy (windy), constipated – or could even trigger diarrhea.
Last week, however, we received two messages regarding foods such as onions, garlic, celery, mushrooms, or herbs & spices. With the possible exception of the mushrooms, these are not foods that you would typically puree and serve to your baby by themselves – so how do you apply the four day rule to them?
The simple trick is to serve them mixed with foods to which your baby has already been safely introduced. So if your baby is enjoying mashed potato with broccoli, for instance, then you can try adding one of these ‘extra’ ingredients and – again – waiting four days before introducing anything new. You’ll then be able to link any resulting digestive problems or reactions with that ‘extra’ ingredient.
Not sure about adding garlic, herbs and other highly flavoured ingredients to your baby’s food?
If he is at least 6 months of age, you may be surprised by just how much he enjoys these stronger flavours! Whilst adding salt to baby food is NOT recommended due to the excessive strain it places on baby’s kidneys, the addition of herbs and aromatic spices is a great way to enhance the flavour of your little one’s meals and sometimes add a little extra nutritional value, too! Read more in our article – Can Babies Eat Spicy Food?
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