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Shellfish is one of the Big 8 allergenic foods (...the 8 foods that account for about 90% of food allergy) and even though it is one of the more common pediatric food allergies, it’s the one that I find parents are the most hesitant about introducing to their babies. That may be because we are less inclined to be making shrimp and crab and scallops at home than some of the allergenic foods, but it’s still a category of food we should introduce to baby early and often to help prevent shellfish allergy down the road.

In this episode we’re looking at a few easy ways to introduce babies to shellfish. You can do pieces of shrimp or some of the more rubbery mollusks, but I prefer to wait until baby has at least 1 tooth and has tried some trickier textured foods out before diving right into the rubbery pieces of shellfish. Making shrimp into shrimp cakes or patties is a really easy way to offer shellfish in a baby-led weaning form that is easy and safe for babies to self-feed.

SHOW NOTES

SUMMARY of episode

In this episode, I’m covering:

• Why shellfish is one of the more common pediatric food allergies but one of the ones parents are least inclined to offer to babies

• How to prepare shellfish safely - mostly shrimp - in patties or fritters that babies can self-feed

• What to look out for if your baby has an allergic reaction to shellfish, keeping in mind that the reaction may occur on the second or subsequent exposure and won’t always be the first time the baby tries a food like shrimp or scallops

LINKS from episode

• Check out my instagram highlights on Food 39 - Shrimp with more ideas on how to safely prepare Shrimp for babies.

• Register for my free online workshop “BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS: How to get your baby to try 100 foods before turning 1 without you having to spoon-feed purees or buy pouches”. Everyone on this free workshop gets a copy of my 100 First Foods List so you can start knocking these foods out for YOUR baby...including all of the Big 8 allergenic foods too!

TRANSCRIPT of episode

RESEARCH links from episode

• Gupta RS, Warren CM, Smith BM, Blumenstock JA, Jiang J, Davis MM, Nadeau KC. The Public Health Impact of Parent-Reported Childhood Food Allergies in the United States. Pediatrics 2018; 142(6):e20181235

• https://www.allergicliving.com/2018/11/21/allergy-to-peanut-milk-and-shellfish-the-most-common-in-american-kids/

WANT MORE BLW INFO?!

• SUBSCRIBE to the Baby-Led Weaning Made Easy Podcast here - new episodes are released on Monday and Thursday and subscribing means you’ll never miss what’s new (+ you’ll get notified about special bonus episodes too!)

• FOLLOW my baby-led weaning Instagram page @babyledweanteam for daily video trainings - lots of great info on introducing all of the allergenic foods, including shellfish

• REGISTER for my free online workshop “BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS: How to get your baby to try 100 foods before turning 1 without you having to spoon-feed purees or buy pouches”. Everyone on this free workshop gets a copy of my 100 First Foods List so you can start knocking these foods out for YOUR baby...including all of the Big 8 allergenic foods too!