At about six months, babies can be offered foods which commonly cause allergies. These foods can be introduced in any order. Waiting past six months does not help prevent allergies. If there is a history of food allergy in your family, talk to your doctor about introducing foods to your baby.
Only about 6% of Canadian children will have a food allergy, so this is not an issue for most children. But it is important to watch for symptoms of an allergic reaction the first few times you offer any new food. An allergic reaction can happen within a few minutes, or up to six hours or more after being exposed to the food. Symptoms of a reaction may change quickly from mild to severe. Symptoms can include:
- flushed face
- hives or a rash
- red and itchy skin
- stuffy or runny nose
- itchy watery eyes
- diarrhea
- vomiting
If your baby shows any of these symptoms or any other reaction while eating or after eating a food:
- Stop the feeding right away
- Talk with your doctor
The most severe form of an allergic reaction is called an anaphylactic reaction. Symptoms of an anaphylactic reaction may include:
- swelling of the lips, mouth, tongue, throat, eyes and face
- hives that are spreading
- trouble breathing, swallowing, or speaking
- hoarse voice
- pale or blue colour of the face or lips
- faintness, weakness or passing out
Call 911 and get medical help right away if your baby has any of these symptoms.
Some foods are more likely to cause an allergic reaction than others. The table below lists the foods which most commonly cause an allergic reaction. You can introduce these foods to your baby at six months (except for whole cow milk, which should not be introduced until 9-12 months).
- Read the ingredients list on food labels to check for these foods. The ingredients that most commonly cause allergy will be shown in the list if they are in the food.
- When you introduce any of these foods, introduce only one per day and wait two days before you introduce another food in the table below. If your baby has a reaction, this makes it easier to know which food may have caused it.
- Once you know that your baby is okay with these foods, continue to offer them regularly in order to keep your baby’s tolerance for them.
| Foods that Most Commonly Cause Allergy | Some Examples |
| Peanuts * | peanut butter |
| Tree nuts * such as almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts (filberts), macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts (pignolias), pistachio nuts, and walnuts | nut butters |
| Sesame Seeds * | seed spreads, such as tahini (found in some types of hummus) |
| Seafood | fish, shellfish |
| Wheat and triticale | toast, pasta, iron-fortified infant cereal containing wheat or triticale |
| Milk and milk products | cheese, yogurt, foods containing milk (for example, some infant cereals contain milk powder). Whole cow milk should not be introduced until 9-12 months. |
| Soy | tofu (bean curd), cooked soy beans. Fortified soy beverages should not be given in place of whole milk in the first two years. |
| Eggs | eggs, foods containing eggs |
| Sulphites
|
Companies may add these to foods like dried fruits, coleslaw mix/kit, and tomato paste. Read the ingredients list on packaged food products to see if they contain sulphites. |
| Mustard | mustard, foods containing mustard |
* Whole nuts and seeds should not be given at this age because they are a choking hazard.
• When you introduce other new foods that are not in the table, you do not need to wait two days before you introduce the next new food.
• Continue to introduce new foods so your baby will have tried a wide variety of family foods by 12 months of age.