Whole eggs before one year?
My daughter is ten months old and is eating a variety of solids. Is it wise to feed her products which contain whole eggs? (If I am just giving her eggs alone I give her the yolk only.) Does avoiding egg white mean searching prepared foods for them and omitting them completely from her diet until after she is 12 months old? e.g.muffins, puddings, breads, etc.
Question:Sue Gilbert
Sue Gilbert works as a consulting nutritionist. For many years she worked with Earth's Best Organic Baby Food, integrating nutrition and... Read more
Dear Dawn,
The advice to avoid egg whites until the age of 12 months is due to their high potential to cause an allergic reaction in infants. The older the baby the less the likelihood for an adverse response. It doesn't hurt to wait until 12 months, but if it makes life more difficult to do so because your daughter is ready to move on to table foods, then you can try serving her egg white (as an ingredient or with the whole scrambled egg, etc.) and then wait a couple of days to determine if there is any reaction before offering her more. Most likely she will be just fine with them. I know that when my kids were both 10 months old they were eating muffins and scrambled eggs made from the whole egg. The case in which you may want to wait is if there is a history of allergies in your family, or if your daughter has had allergic reactions to other foods.
Thank you for writing.
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