Can I pass my allergies on to my baby of 18 weeks? During my pregnancy I developed an allergy to peaches and apples (I’m not sure whether this is normal or not!!). My doctor told me that the allergy should disappear when I gave birth – but it hasn’t. When I eat apple, my mouth feels all tingly and my lips swell a bit. I am extremely worried that I might have passed this allergy on to my daughter, who is now 18 weeks old and I’m thinking of weaning her soon. Am I likely to I have passed the allergy on? Should I avoid apple altogether for a while?…

Is it too late to begin the routine at 4 months? My main problem is that I haven’t been following the Contented Baby routine so far. I breast fed my baby exclusively (on demand) for the first 7 weeks, when I started to give him a bottle at 7pm to go to bed with; then I breast fed him on waking through the night. He no longer seemed to be satisfied by breast milk alone, so I gradually moved over to bottles from about 3 months old. I still breast feed him if he wakes in the night or at the first feed of the day (7 am), depending on…

Why does my 5 month baby sometimes appear to have a fit when feeding? On several occasions, when feeding my baby (both on the bottle and the breast) he has begun to shake his head up and down, like he is having a fit or a convulsion. He does not blank out, or even stop feeding, and the convulsion only lasts several seconds. On one occasion, he had just finished feeding and his jaw started to shake up and down in the same way his head had on previous occasions. I mentioned the behaviour to my health visitor, who told me to see my doctor. The doctor was, however, dismissive…

I am not sure if my 5 mth old son is waking from hunger or habit at night My son is now 5 months old and has been a good sleeper up until now since he has started solids. He was sleeping through the night at 2 months thanks to you. I am confused as to whether he is waking in the night out of habit or because he is genuinely hungry. I am still breastfeeding my son so it is difficult to know how much milk he is getting but he has cut back so much on the time that he feeds especially with the 7am feed. He is…

Question – Safe level of salt intake I know there are loads of posts regarding salt but I did a search and so many came up I didn’t know where to start. So, at the risk of asking something that has already been answered, what is the safe limit of salt per day for our babies? I home cook all food so use no salt there but then there is bread, etc. which I want to keep a check on. If you are reading labels on food packages what is an acceptable level? Answer: This is such an important topic that I’m very happy for people to ask again and…

Question – Purée consistency I think I may have been making my baby’s puréed food too thick. My poor baby had a sleepless lunch-time nap followed by only 1oz of milk after I gave her a purée of sweet potato. What consistency is your purée? Is it like mashed potato, yogurt or thinner? Sorry if this seems a daft question. Answer: Weaning is often described as a learning process for babies, in which they learn to take solid food after only having a liquid diet. However, it is also a learning process for mums, so there is never a ‘daft question’. As well as learning to swallow solids after only…

Question – Yogurt Until now I have only given my daughter ‘Little Rachel’s’ or ‘Mums 4’ organic yogurts, which already have fruit juice or purée in them. In the weaning book Gina suggests offering yogurt with mixed mashed fruit for breakfast but what yogurt should I use? I’ve bought ‘Yeo Valley Organic’ bio live yogurt which has no added sugar and a tiny amount of sodium. Is this all right? I’m sure it must be but I’m just looking for some reassurance! Answer: Do be reassured that you are making a good choice, and don’t feel worried about asking questions like this. I think most of us look for some…

Question – Unusual skin colour due to diet I have a question that came up at my daughter’s doctor’s appointment today. He asked me what I was feeding her because her nose is a little yellow and her palms are pinker than they should be. He immediately asked if I was feeding her a lot of carrot, sweet potato, pumpkin, and the like. I said yes. He said it looks as though she is getting too much vitamin A. Anyone heard of this before? My daughter is exceptionally fair skinned and I can see now that her nose is a little yellowish. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Answer: It…