While your family may not consume common allergens for personal or health-related reasons, find out why it’s important to explore the research behind early allergen introduction and why medical guidelines recommend introducing top allergens into your baby’s diet early and often.
For personal or health-related reasons, your family might not be consuming common food allergens like peanuts, egg, or milk on a consistent basis. If this is the case, it’s important to explore the research behind early allergen introduction and why medical guidelines recommend introducing top allergens into your baby’s diet early and often to help them achieve a healthier outcome where they can enjoy a variety of foods. Read this blog to find out more about the importance of early allergen introduction and how you can safely and easily incorporate allergens into your little one’s diet.
Why Do Some Families Not Consume Top Allergens?
Some families choose not to eat allergens like peanut, egg, and milk (along with other top allergens) for personal or health-related reasons. This might include dietary preferences (vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian) where families avoid eating foods like eggs, milk, and fish which are top allergens. However, some vegan families make the decision to introduce their kids to non-vegan food allergens in case their child is ever exposed to eggs, milk, and other allergens later on in life.
In other instances, there might be family members at home with a food allergy so those allergens are not kept in the pantry in order to avoid any “cross-contamination.” In any circumstance, if allergens aren’t included in the dishes you serve at home, they might not make their way onto your little one’s plate.
While these are all valid reasons to not serve food allergens at home, if your child is at high risk for a food allergy due to eczema or a family history of food allergies, be sure to speak to your pediatrician about whether you should incorporate these foods into your little one’s diet.
Why Should You Introduce Allergens to Your Baby If You Don’t Eat Them?
1 in 13 children will develop a food allergy, and all babies are at risk for developing a food allergy. Landmark studies and medical guidelines recommend introducing common allergens to your baby, early and often. Introducing these allergens and maintaining exposure to them in your baby's first year of life can lead to healthier outcomes for your child.
While you might be deciding if you want to introduce these allergens based on your current lifestyle choices, it is important to consider that your child will be in situations later on in life where they’ll be exposed to these food allergens. Since they’ve never been exposed to those allergens before, they won’t know whether or not they will be allergic to them. Or, your child might one day decide that they want to enjoy foods made with dairy and they’ll be more likely to have an allergic reaction since they didn’t eat milk or eggs at a younger age.
If you have a family history of food allergies or if your baby has eczema, it’s even more crucial to introduce allergens to your baby since they have an increased chance of developing a food allergy. So if there’s a family member at home with a food allergy, early allergen introduction is more important than ever! But how can you safely introduce these foods in a controlled environment to keep your family member safe?
How Can I Introduce Allergenic Foods Into My Baby’s Diet?
For Families Who Don’t Regularly Eat Common Food Allergens
- Add thinned out, unsalted peanut butter to baby’s breakfast of choice
- Swap plant-based yogurt for whole milk yogurt
- Feed scrambled eggs or pancakes made with eggs
- When cooking at home, put baby’s food in a separate dish and easily add a Ready. Set. Food! Mix-In packet to a meal you’ve prepared for the family
- Incorporate Ready. Set. Food! snacks into your little one’s diet for optimal convenience
For Families with Food Allergies
- Ready. Set. Food! Mix-Ins come in pre-measured packets to ensure less cross-contamination
- Ready. Set. Food! snacks like Organic Puree, Organic Puffs, and Organic Oat & Fruit Bars can be served outside the home
- Read our blog to learn more tips on how to introduce allergens using Ready. Set. Food! in a food allergy home
How Does Ready. Set. Food! Make Early Allergen Introduction Safe and Easy?
It’s a safe option for your baby and food allergy families
- Pre-measured doses of each allergen ensure you’re giving the right amount of allergens at the right time
- Stage 1, Stage 2, and Stage 3 Mix-Ins come in pre-measured packets to ensure less cross-contamination
- Stage 1 Mix-Ins allow you to add the top 3 allergens to a bottle or solid food so you can begin introducing allergens at the recommended age of 4-6 months
We make it easy to introduce at home or on-the-go
- Mix-Ins, purees, puffs, and bars make it easy to introduce allergens on-the-go
- When cooking at home, put baby’s food in a separate dish and easily add a Mix-In to a meal you’ve prepared for the family
- Organic Baby Oatmeal is a quick breakfast that maintains exposure to the 3 top allergens or 9 top allergens depending on where your baby is at in their feeding journey
- Our purees, puffs, and bars are easy snacks to feed your baby or toddler to help maintain exposure to top allergens
Early allergen introduction is an important process that all families should consider. Be sure to do your research on the topic and speak to your pediatrician about the best plan of action for your family.
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All health-related content on this website is for informational purposes only and does not create a doctor-patient relationship. Always seek the advice of your own pediatrician in connection with any questions regarding your baby’s health.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If your infant has severe eczema, check with your infant’s healthcare provider before feeding foods containing ground peanuts.