Chocolate

[Elizabeth410]

I baked a banana bread loaf and it has chocolate chips in it. I give tiny pieces of the loaf to Sebastien who is 9 months old, and I always make sure that there is no chocolate chips in the piece I give him. I also don't give him pieces that were around a chocolate chip because there is always a little bit of melted chocolate on those pieces and I'm afraid of allergens.

So I'm wondering; is chocolate an allergen like peanuts? Or is it just a matter of not feeding chocolate to your baby just like you wouldn't feed your baby candy? Basically, I would never feed chocolate to Sebastien at his age, but what if there are trace amounts in something?

Thanks!

[Samuel's mum]

I wouldn't worry too much. The concerns about chocolate are mainly centred around its caffeine content. But also trying not to introduce processed sugar and overly sweet things and empty calories that are damaging to teeth too early on - like you wouldn't give them candy as you say.

Once Sam had his first chocolate it was a bit of a struggle trying to encourage the view that carrots and blueberries were really just as nice.  He could smell it in the house over Christmas like some kind of narcotics police dog.

[Elizabeth410]

Thank you Emma!

[MomofLuka]

Actually, as the mother of a child with a peanut allergy, the concern with chocolate is that almost all chocolate is processed with peanuts. So in giving your child chocolate, you may be introducing peanut protein without knowing it. There is some possibility that this could trigger an allergy. I'd avoid it if the child has a history of nut allergies.