In article , Phoebe & Allyson wrote:
Yes! That's exactly my problem. I could have a darn good
shot at guaranteeing hypothetical Baby#2 a food allergy-free
existence by starting it on elemental formula from birth,
and never ever introducing solids.

Actually, I don't know that's true. Alimentum contains
tapioca starch, which I react to. Nutramigen has corn
syrup, which lots of people are ending up allergic to
now, along with corn starch. I react to both of those.
Pregestimil has the same problems as Nutramigen. Neocate,
for those who can't handly protein hydrolysates *also*
has corn in it, although the lack of dairy/soy proteins
makes it a better choice than some of the others.

You'd just end up with a baby that was allergic to your
elemental formula. It does happen, which is why adult
TPN is almost always a custom blend.

Not to say that PB&J and
chocolate milk are good first foods for 2-week olds, but
there must be some happy medium. Unfortunately, it's hard
to know what will turn out to have been the right decision.

I've been doing the research for more than a year now. Even
with having read it all - it's impossible to create a
reasonable plan that has a good chance of being "right".

For example, extended breastfeeding has been found to
increase atopy. Apparently some kids have IgE reactions
to human milk. About the only thing that the studies
agree on is that introducing foods before 4 months
is probably a really bad idea. 6 months is encouraged,
but no one really seems to know if it's better than 4
months.

Introducing foods too late causes problems too. For
example, waiting until after 2 to introduce gluten
containing foods (wheat, rye, oats(controversial),
barley) is supposed to increase your risk of celiac
disease. CD is significantly more stringent than your
average allergy. In addition, if you are exposed to
gluten after 2, it makes you nearly impossible to
diagnose. You'll just get sick, and no one will
know why.

As much as I would like my kids not to have any
allergies - I don't know that I really belive
that any of the food introduction schedules have
much science behind them. They seem to have about
as much science as studies on how to get your kids
to sleep through the night. Genes, unfortunately,
tend to win out.

Elaine