Eggs - Halethorpe,MD

Hi P.~My pediatrician said that I could start feeding my daughter eggs when she was 9 months old. She didn't have any problems with them allergy wise, but she doesn't seem to care too much for them taste wise!

I gave my daughter them well before 16 months without any issues.

My son's pediatrician 'oked' whole eggs (yolks and whites) when he was a year old. Prior to that we'd only been giving him the yolks. But, your doctor might have specific reasons why s/he wants your son to wait, like possible allergies? When all else fails I go with what the doctor says but that's just me. Good luck!

I gave all 3 of my girls eggs at 1. The middle one loves them anyway cooked, boiled or deviled. The last one just started to like them at 17 months. I think whatever you do has to make you comfortable. When I was kid they didn't worry about this stuff and barely any adult I know only has allergies. Personally I think it is all a guessing game and follow what I can live with.
Enjoy your son. They grow so fast.

I started giving the yellow part of the egg to both my kids and moved gradually. I didn't have a problem at all. My son is 20 months and my daughter 5 years old. Maybe your doctor is afraid of any allergic reaction? Is your son allergic to anything that you're aware of? i know some kids are allergic to it, but this is an easy one, because they outgrow it by the age of 3.

Take his advice... it's a small price - for no alergic reactions. A local doctor swears that because he was given eggs too early he developed an alergy to eggs. It so bad that before he eats anything he has to put the food on his lip. If his lip swells it has eggs. I would hate to think what would happen to this doctor if he ate eggs... it's just a few months.

Enjoy your baby every moment of your baby... they won't be a baby forever..

Do you have egg allergies in your family? If so, proceed carefully. Eggs are up there on the allergic reaction list. If not, then it's not really an issue. Still, it's probably good to stay away from the egg whites until 12 months of age. I started feeding my daughters egg yolk from a dippy egg at 6 months old and they LOVED it. I started out w/it in their cereal, then progressed to little bits of toast w/yolk. It's the whites that are supposed to cause an allergic reaction. I know, the dippy is raw. I cheat because we have our own chickens.

Listen to your pediatrician. Many children have reactions to eggs especially with early exposure. Also make sure you avoid nut products until age 2. I've read other posts that say you'll know right away if your child has a problem...WRONG. There could be just a sensitivity which will manifest itself in other ways, like it looks like your child has a cold, or asthma, eczema, etc. My son has severe asthma issues (hospitalized twice) from 1-2 and it turned out he was sensitive to eggs and garlic! You can still give products produced with eggs just wait on the whole egg exposure. Four months is really not that long.

I had my daughter eating eggs when she was 8 months old - before the doctor told me at her 9 month appointment NOT to give them to her. I kept feeding them to her because she is obviously not allergic, she LOVES them, and eggs are SO EXTREMELY healthy. The yolks are chock full of vitamins, and the white is pure protein! I sometimes joke that my daughter is made out of eggs. I wouldn't waste one more minute on an egg-free diet. Just be careful. Try your son on a little bit of egg yolk first and be sure he doesn't have an allergic reaction, then try egg white, and then just make sure you don't give him any undercooked yolk.

One year and we haven't had any problems :)

Don't you love pediatricians! Ours said don't worry about seperating the egg yolk from the white- just wait till 9 months to give her eggs. So our girls has been eating then for 2 months. Good luck. Jenn

Well in my opinion if you don't have any family members who have an allergy to eggs you could start giving him eggs. That pretty much goes for most allergy things like peanut butter. You can give them as soon as you don't think they will choke. Some children can eat just about anything at that ages it all depends one how they use there mouth. If they chew well you can start small pieces of meat as well like ground hamburger. As long as you don't believe it will get Stuck they can try it. I mean they can't learn to chew or eat different if they never get it. The will choke from time to time but that's how they learn as long as its small enough to not get stuck they are fine. good luck

I gave the yolk to her before age 1 and once she turned 1 I gave her the whole thing...she loves them!!
I looked it up, the suggested age is 12 months.

Does your son have any allergies? My son, who's now 15 months, has been eating eggs since about 8 months. But he eats anything - from fish to meats to peanut butter, which we were told to avoid until 2.

Each practice has its own philosophy. Before giving him eggs, I'd ask the pediatrician the reasoning behind waiting another 4 months.

I guess the answer to that questions depends on how you eat, too. I take a holistic/"all natural" view. I've read several books on the subject and feel that the benefits of trying eggs early far outweigh the risks. If your child is allergic, you will know right away (start by just giving one bite). Eggs are extremely important for brain developement. I started my kids on eggs at 6 months. I also paid a little extra and got the brown cage-free eggs. They even seemed to like the taste of those better. Starting them early also increases the chances that they will continue to like eggs as they get older. Hope this helps!

I think I sit with most of the Moms here. I gave DD egg yolks IN products (i.e., chicken and stars with egg noodles) at 9 months or so of age), then regular eggs at a year. Our pediatrician was fine with that. Another pediatrician in the practice yelled at me for giving her the yolks before a year (again, not straight yolks). The egg whites are definitely NOT recommended before one year.

Unless you have a family history of food allergies, or you've seen allergy issues with your son, I think that you should be fine to give him eggs at this point. If you have a history of allergies, then you might want to wait. They should be able to test him at 16 months for egg allergies.

my son didn't have eggs until he was 3 because he had other food allergies. A friend of my just posted on his facebook 2-3wks ago that his 15month old is doing well after being released from intensive care to the regular peds floor after eating eggs and have an anaphlaytic shock response from them. The older the child is the smaller the chance they'll have the reaction, many kids have common food allergies they out grow by 2 (eggs, milk, soy, etc) and it's easier to see the response, because the older child can tell you they don't feel well. If your doctor said 16months you can try them then, but I've mostly heard 2.

After reading the rest of the response I will tell you they are wrong...my son had an allergic reaction to soy. He was given 5 oz at 11 months old because my pumped milk at the babysitters was bad (first ever formula). He got that at 4:45 pm on the day Hurricane Katrina struck, I remember everthing about that day because I randomly went to check him in bed at 8:15pm (he went down at 7:45pm) to find that he had started vomiting, I never even heard it because he was unconscious. We rushed him to the hospital, and thankfully didn't choke on the vomit. He had NO response before that, no lips swelling, no nothing. My friend I mentioned above, fed his daughter, put her down for her nap like normal and checked on her when her nap was longer than normal, found her not really waking up, by the time they got to the doctor they were flown to the nearest childrens hospital (not the nearest hospital), so no you may no know right away.

My kids both ate eggs young-well before 12 mo. I know some people go crazy about allergies, and I will say that neither has had shellfish yet-the one food allergy that anyone in my family has. We monitered them-made sure they were healthy already (no fever, no recent illness) and did it on days that we knew we'd be fine going to the hospital. My parents were told to start us on eggs at 3 mo, and we did fine, and my kids didn't get them that early. I think my son was 6 mo (he was on mostly table food by then anyways-he simply wouldn't eat babyfood and wasn't gaining enough by nursing and formula). My daughter had eggs when she was 9 or 10 mo I think.

I agree with Rachel H. Unless you have a history of food allergies in your family, or your son has some specific digestive issues, there's no reason to wait. I would ask your pediatrician the reasoning for waiting. Remember that your pediatrician is an adviser but YOU are in charge of your child. So, you educate yourself, take in others opinions and then make the decision that makes sense to you for your child and family. Good luck!

Trena D and I have the same opinion. My daughter had a milk/soy gluten allergy. We proceeded with caution with eggs, by one she was eating scrambled egg. Is there a reason why your doctor wants you to wait?