How to introduce your child to allergens with Cathy Ferraro

If you have started or are about to start the weaning process, you may have food allergies on your mind. Since many people have severe reactions to common foods like milk, eggs, shrimp, and peanuts, you may find that you want to hold off on these foods for your baby. But is it a good idea? And even if you’re willing to try these foods, you may wonder how it’s safe to give a choking hazard like peanut butter to your baby.
In today’s episode Yoga Birth babies we’re going to talk about introducing allergenic foods to your baby through weaning. For this conversation, I invited Kathy Ferraro, registered dietitian specializing in weaning and podcast host Weaning the baby from the breast became easy. We will talk about when it is better to introduce allergens to a child, nine products that account for ninety percent of food allergies, how to introduce these products and what to pay attention to in case of an allergic reaction.
If you are going to start introducing your child to food, take a pen and paper or a computer. Kathy offers some great tips for introducing these foods and even gives us suggestions on how to introduce these foods to your baby. I think her approach is incredibly smart and I think it’s a reassuring way to deal with a phase of parenting that many worry about. Katie will put your mind at ease with her research, advice, and first-hand experience as a mom of 7!
In this episode you will learn:
- Learn about Kathy and what inspired her to become a registered dietitian specializing in weaning.
- What is child weaning?
- New and updated guidelines for early introduction of allergenic foods to infants.
- Some of the most significant changes in these new allergy guidelines.
- Age range to start introducing food allergy risks.
- How early food introduction helps prevent food allergies and subsequent risks.
- 9 foods that account for 90% of food allergies and how to introduce them.
- How can someone prepare for a common allergy risk?
- What parents and guardians pay attention to regarding food allergy reactions.
- The best advice for parents who are very concerned about the risk of food allergies.
- One last tip/advice Kathy would like to give to new and expectant parents.
- Where to find Katie’s work.
About Katie:
Kathy Ferraro, MPH, RDN, CDE, Registered Dietitian specializing in Baby Weaning (BLW) @babyledweanteam and mom of 7. She teaches nutrition at San Diego State University and hosts the most popular parenting podcast, BABY-LED WEANING MADE EASY. Cathy runs the largest digital community dedicated to BLW, and she helps parents, caregivers, and healthcare professionals ensure their babies have a safe start to solids through baby-led weaning.
Contact Katie:
Instagram: @babyledweanteam
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