Mothers are always both excited and worried about giving their babies solid food. How to cook egg for a baby is something that is well worth taking the time to learn about.
Doctors recommend infants should be fed with cereals after four months of breastfeeding or feeding with milk formulas. At about the age of one year, they can be given more chewable food like meat, eggs and vegetables.
Giving egg to a baby needs a little extra attention…
Eggs have a lot more allergens than something like chicken. These allergens could potentially harm your baby. This may be the reason why some general practitioners see it as beneficial to start feeding babies highly allergenic foods such as fish, chicken, peanuts and eggs as early as six months. This makes their fragile bodies resistant to allergens and able to rapidly detect which foods will affect them.
In this article, we will touch more on eggs and how eggs can benefit and at the same time affect our baby’s health.
Preparing Baby for Eating Eggs
When you first feed your baby with egg, you don’t need to give him too much.
As previously mentioned, eggs contain allergens that might harm the baby. In order to prevent severe allergic attacks - in case you find the baby to be allergic to egg - moms should slowly incorporate eggs into the baby’s food.
Mothers may start by including few portions of egg into the baby’s meal. Start with just the yolk. For example, when feeding your baby with mashed banana, you can add a mashed and boiled egg yolk. Skip the salt to introduce the baby to the real flavors of the food.
One reason for not including egg white at first is for safety’s sake. Egg whites (albumens) have more allergens than the yolks do. The proteins in egg yolks are rarely allergenic but some babies still exhibit allergies to it.
Our main concern here is to feed the baby a solid food packed with protein and iron while also rich in choline. It’s a simple question of trying to experiment to see if the baby will develop allergies toward the food.
To test your baby for any allergies to egg, let him eat just two teaspoons of it. Resist feeding the baby more as you don’t know yet if your baby will have a bad reaction to this food.
Allergic reactions that can be observed on a baby are rashes, itching, asthma attacks, swelling and watery eyes. Be wary of these symptoms as babies obviously cannot speak to let you know if they are feeling bad inside.
If no manifestations occur, still avoid feeding your baby with egg for the next two days to give the baby’s body time to adapt to the new food. There are also times that the allergy comes out after a day or two. Being patient will save your baby from any possible discomfort by feeding him too much of something he might not handle.
After a few attempts with egg yolks and no reactions happening, it’s now fine to proceed with egg whites.
Now, if the baby shows allergic reactions to any part of the egg, do not continue unless the doctor tells you it’s OK. Most of the time, the babies’ systems are just adjusting to the new food and the allergies tend to disappear as the baby ages. This is why most doctors now recommend introducing egg to your baby as early in life as possible.
If your baby does not present any allergic symptoms to either egg white or yolk, then it is safe to start feeding them with whole eggs.
Now, having familiarized yourself with the need for caution, it’s time to look at how you should cook egg for your baby.
How To Cook Egg For Your Baby
Starting out, it’s better to boil the egg and mash it. This is especially important if the baby is only six months old. His milk teeth are just erupting and the baby still uses his tongue for weaning.
Poaching is another alternative to boiled eggs. Poached eggs are softer and fluffier. Babies’ immune systems are relatively weak at this age so make sure the egg is well cooked, particularly the yolk. This needs a little longer to be certain of sidestepping salmonella poisoning in your baby.
As the baby ages and more teeth start to come out, you can now try to scramble the eggs, make an omelet or even fry them. If you opt for fried eggs, make sure you use healthy oils such as olive oil and palm oil. Always go steady and use minimal amounts.
It is invariably best to pop in some milk with the eggs in whatever recipe you have in mind. Babies are evidently highly attuned to the taste of the milk. Having it as part of their new diet will make them enjoy their food all the more.
It is also advisable to add eggs to other ingredients like vegetables, baked goodies and desserts.
- Note: If your baby is allergic to egg, try to avoid even mayonnaise, egg cookies and egg noodles. It is always better safe than sorry.
As a word of warning, try not to overcook the eggs even if they are fried as your baby’s tummy might not yet be able to properly digest hard food. It could also hurt his very soft and fragile palate.
Before jumping onto more solid foods like eggs, no matter how excited you are about your baby’s next chapter in life, always consider consulting your pediatrician first.
Your baby’s health is absolutely uppermost. The moment babies are born, they lose all bodily protection from their mother, their immune system is only just developing and they are therefore weak while also being prone to all sorts of diseases.
It is your job to continue protecting them now that they are no longer dependent on your body.
We hope you have found the above information about how to cook egg for your baby useful. Please get in touch if you have any questions at all.
Now we’ll leave you to get on with cooking some eggs!