Babies & Food Allergy Q&A
This is not a sponsored post. This post does contain affiliate links.
If there’s an area of infant feeding I get asked about daily, it’s how to safely introduce potentially allergenic foods to babies. You guys sent me ALL of your questions, and I sat down with Dr. Ron Sunog - pediatrician and author of “Eat the Eight” - for a live Babies & Food Allergy Q&A video, featured here.
Why “Eat the Eight”?
If you’re new to this baby feeding business the “Big 8” are the 8 foods responsible for about 90% of food allergy in N. America. Dr. Sunog is a pediatrician and self-described “infant food allergy enthusiast”. His book “EAT THE EIGHT: Preventing Food Allergy with Food and the Imperfect Art of Medicine” is a must read for any parent or healthcare professional involved in feeding babies.
I recently did a whole book review post on Dr. Sunog’s book Eat the Eight and you can read that here.
Dr. Sunog’s book is a great read if you want a summary of current research and evidence-based guidelines surrounding the introduction of potentially allergenic foods for your baby.
What Are the Big 8?
The Big 8 allergenic foods are:
Milk
Peanut
Fish
Tree nuts
Egg
Wheat
Shellfish
Soy
Sesame is sometimes also lumped in as a “9th” food. Although sesame is not required to be listed as a potentially allergenic food on food labels, sesame allergy is on the rise.
Baby & Food Allergy Q&A
I surveyed my @babyledweanteam instagram audience about what they wanted to ask Dr. Sunog when it comes to food allergy and babies. And you guys sent me SO many great questions…almost 200 of them!
We dove right into the interview and Dr. Sunog was mowing through all of these questions rapid-fire, it was amazing!
Some of the topics we covered were:
Why does allergic reaction often occur on second or subsequent exposure of food to baby?
What if my baby has a rash, eczema or sensitivity to a certain food, is allergy risk higher?
When do babies grow out of food allergies, and which ones are going to be lifelong allergies?
Dr. Sunog was also gracious enough to giveaway a few signed copies of his book EAT THE EIGHT. You can pick that up on Amazon.
For the full livestream video with Dr. Sunog, click here. (The Facebook Live version of the Babies & Food Allergy Q&A video can be found here.)
Thanks again to all of you for your great questions and to Dr. Sunog for sharing his time and talents with this audience. Check out the livestream video for all of the great babies & food allergy questions he cleared up - and visit his website www.eattheeight.com to learn more about his book and other resources.
Research Review of Introducing Allergenic Foods
Dr. Sunog also recently published an article in Contemporary Pediatrics that is a brief synopsis of the history of the old, discredited recommendations and the reasoning and evidence that supports his “Eat the Eight” philosophy and approach to introducing potentially allergenic foods to babies.
Safe Introduction of Peanut Protein
As Dr. Sunog disclosed in our Q&A video interview, he is a medical advisor to the Puffworks brand. I am also an affiliate for Puffworks. Puffworks makes Puffworks Baby peanut puffs. These are peanut puffs that can be safely fed to babies who are eating solid foods as a way to introduce them to the potentially allergenic peanut protein.
Because intact nuts and globs of peanut butter are choking hazards for babies, parents and caregivers sometimes struggle with how to safely introduce peanuts to their babies. This puff is unique in that it is easily dissolved in the baby’s mouth, it contains no GMO ingredients and there is only a smidge of salt (35 mg sodium per serving) - whereas some competitive products have significantly more sodium and amounts that are not appropriate for babies.
You can get Puffworks Baby puffs 15% off with the code BABYLED. Click here to see Puffworks Baby on Amazon.
