I found this and thought I'd post it. It talks about how to introduce foods, when it's best not to, useful tips, etc.
DISA Guidelines on introducing foods to food intolerant infants.
1. Basically if your baby is on something like Neocate you are dealing with a baby that is likely to be sensitive to protein
and possibly food chemicals, so playing it safe is the key.
2. You will need help don't start foods until given the all clear and then in the order as advised by your specialist. Discuss
with your specialists guidelines for doing so
.
3. Don't use commercial products as there is always more than one factor, IE Even the plainest rice cereal has rosemary
in it, so that in order to know what is the problem
- You buy fresh,
- You cook it,
- You prepare it
- And you don't add anything
- Besides boiled water,
- Or water if you know waters okay!
4. If introducing a food for the first time and your baby has had severe or allergic reactions, try the food first on their finger, wait a while (I.e. a couple of hours), their cheek, and then their lip. If no sign of a reaction, you can try giving the child a quarter of a teaspoon.
5. You may have thought a food diary was for Neurotics but not any more. Use a calendar, a scrap of paper, but you write down every time you introduce a food and watch for any reaction.
6. Any change is a reaction, miserable behaviour, distress, constipation, diarrhea, pain, rash swelling etc Rashes, swelling
or any reaction involving breathing needs to be reported to your specialist immediately.
7. Start small and introduce the one food for a week, starting of with a quarter of a teaspoon and doubling the amount once a day over the week. If at the end of the week it's okay it can be included in the Childs diet if not, mark it according.
1 for not to bad
2 for bad reaction
3 for absolute hell!
This will help you later on!
8. Introduce foods in the following order
1. Rice
2. Fruit (Excluding citrus/berry & kiwi fruits) & Vegetables(excluding onions, tomatoes, mushrooms)
3. Cereals(one at a time I.e. wheat/oats/rye
4. Meats(starting of with white meat excluding fish)
5. Other (sees your specialist in regards to soy/ milk/ nut/ fish and egg products).
9. Generally with soy milk nut and eggs you introduce them in things first like milk in baking etc once well established and
generally not within the first year and certainly not until your specialist tells you to.
10. Once you feel your Childs reacting you stop the food, if unsure you keep going and if still unsure cease it and see if
there's an improvement on ceasing the food. You then mark the food according and give the child a break before trialling
the next food.
11. A break between trials of different food ranges from a week or more, depending on the child and the reaction.
12. Once you've gone through a variety of foods you can go back and try foods that scored low on the initial trial. We've
found 2 months at least for foods rating 1, 4 months for foods rating 2 and 6 months for foods rating 3, was a good guide
for our children. If your child rates higher on retrial we found it best not to retry that food within 6 months.
13. We found it impossible to determine everything on labels due to all the names given to soy, milk nut and egg
products I.e. Vegetable oil has soy in it as soy's a vegetable, Lecithin and Emulsifier is often soy, also we found numerous
cases of cross contamination, I.e. a child had a reaction to nuts from rice bubbles because of cross contamination, the
company used the same machinery to make a cereal with nuts as they did the rice bubbles, so found it best if you stick
to the general rule that you don't buy commercial or manufactured products in sensitive infants until that infant is well
established on foods..
14. We also found all takeaway and deli foods, especially hot chips to be a problem because of the above! It's not only
what they've used in the cooking process but what they've cooked before, i.e. fish in the oil, before cooking your chips
in it! So again we found it best to go by the general rule of no take away until the infant is well established on foods.
15. Many mums where told if their child couldn't have one food that means they couldn't have another, I.e. pear then
they couldn't have apple, we have found this not to be the case, it is much of a much ness and unless you are talking
dairy foods which all have milk in them, then we found no rhyme or reason to the foods.
16. We found that the following where best avoided until the child was over twelve months and well established on foods
1. Spices, herbs, sauces, stock
2. Fizzy, alcoholic drinks and commercial cordials
3. Commercial and Manufactured Foods
4. Deli and all Take Away/Restaurant Food
5. High Protein Foods (dairy, soy, nut, egg, fish)
TIPS
The more a food is cooked or prepared the more protein your child will ingest, so try steaming the food so they just lose
their crispness instead of boiling it and offering as a finger food instead of pureeing it when introducing for a trial. Fruit is
often best offered as a finger food for the same reason when introducing it.
Sandwich bags are invaluable for these children
If you weren't organized before now you will need to be, try not to leave the house without a meal packed for
emergencies, including a treat bag, it will stop you from being tempted to take a risk on foods whilst you're out.
Don't trial foods if there teething or sick
We found they recover quicker from a reaction on straight Neocate, even if for just 24 hours.
Don't have untolerated food out unless necessary, as they will find it.
Explain to visitors the situation before they come or on arrival, as being a good host may cost you three days of their life
A badge that clearly states NO FOOD PLEASE can stop many frustrating situations for both you and your infant when out.
