Can Infants Eat Strawberries or Strawberry Flavored Food?

Strawberries can be an allergenic food but since my daughter didn't show any other signs of allergies to foods I fed her, I started giving her strawberry flavored items around 8 months.

I would suggest trying to steer clear of it until he is at least a year old. My grandmother is deathly allergic to strawberries, so we stayed away from them until my son was 2 (per drs. recommendation). I would call your peds office though and check with them...I think most recommend waiting until at least 1, but I have friends whose peds have also said 2.

Absolutely NOT! Strawberries are a high allergy food and giving these to children under 2 can greatly increase their risk of developing an allergy to it. Strawberries are difficult to digest and can cause diarrhea and diaper rash in infants. I learned this the hard way with my daughter... trust me, better not to risk it. Your son's health comes first!

Mine did. with no problems. J.

My little girl is going to be 8 months and she eats strawberries. I give her a really big berry and she just naws on it and gobbles it up. It takes her awhile and I'm there in front of her watching her and monitoring her while she does it. So far so good. My husband and I have been doing a lot of research on the subject and our conclusion is if they are allergic they are allergic. Waiting a year is not going to make that go away. I suggest trying it and seeing how it goes. Just make sure you have a plan in case they are allergic. It is better they try things with you, where you can watch them and know what is going on, than in day care, or when they are away from you.

Yes, he can have strawberries, assuming that allergies to them don't run in your family. The latest research supports exposing kids to foods that are thought to be highly allergenic earlier rather than later. They believe it actually is less likely to be a problem if you don't wait to feed food like strawberries. Our pediatrician recommended that we feed our son basically whatever we wanted, though do stay away from honey until your son is 1 year.

I don't know how true this is, but I was told to avoid whole strawberries, but strawberry flavored stuff is ok. I would suggest if you have food allergies in your family to wait to expose him to strawberries. Maybe give him a little bit and see what happens.

Strawberries is suppose to be one of the highly allergenic items. I would ask your pediatrician, mine had said wait.

I gave my son strawberries close to a year old, but he was definitely not quite a year. I made it one of the last foods I introduced him to, and since we had no food allergies and he had never had a single reaction to any foods, I went ahead with it. I made sure it was a single food and I introduced it like the other things so far- 4 day wait rule with no other new foods during that time. That was for fresh strawberries. For baby food processed strawberries, I read that the heat processing makes it less likely to be an issue. I think I gave my son processed strawberries first, and when those didn't bother him, gave him the fresh kind. Since pediatricians were now saying not to delay any foods unless there is a history of allergies, and he had no eczema or asthma issues (other reasons to delay introducing them) I saw no reason to wait. Here is the article I read about it: http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/when-can-my-bab...
but it was written before the new No-Waiting guidelines were issued by the aap.

My lactation consultant told me to avoid eating strawberries myself because sometimes they can give the baby bad diaper rash. I did read that strawberries have a lot of nitrates that immature tummies cannot tolerate as well.

The strawberry flavored yougert is fine, but i would avoid real strawberries for a few more months. They are a high allergy food. My son has no issues with allergies to anything and he is almost 3, but at the time i didnt know strawberries were a high allergy food and gave him some at around 9-10 months and he broke out with a rash around his neck. Didnt give him them for a while then and now he is fine with them. The longer you wait the less likely to have a reaction to something. I would wait a bit on the real ones but the yogurt is fine.

I somehow missed out on the "don't feed infants strawberry stuff" memo -and my kids are young -20m and 4. The first I heard of it was about 6 months ago, long after I had been feeding the youngest strawberry stuff! We've never had a problem, and I've fed both of mine strawberry yogurt, real strawberries, strawberry applesauce and strawberry smoothies since way before they were 1.

I agree with the other mamas that said if you or your husband has food allergies...wait. Otherwise I think you're okay to give them to him. I started cutting up tiny pieces of strawberries for my son at 10 months & he LOVED them! Blueberries and raspberries came soon after. Berries are his favorite fruits now.

Happy Eating!

Children shouldn't eat strawberries, egg whites, citrus or cows milk until after they turn one year.

Yes, strawberries are a high allergen food, so people do regard it as one you should stay away from until a year. However, there are people who "break" the rule and their kids turn out fine. If no one in your family is allergic to strawberries and he doesn't seem to have a reaction to anything else, it's probably fine, so really it's up to you. If you do give him stuff, just watch him and don't introduce anything new for a few days.

Check out the website wholesomebabyfood.com. I looked at it a lot when my first child was younger to see what foods you can introduce when. It was very helpful.

If you have no history of food allergies on either side of his family, go for it. Make sure you don't introduce any other new foods for four days so that if he does have a reaction, you will know what caused it. My son has been eating strawberry yogurt since he was about 9 months with no problems. We get him the cheap dannon yogurt that doesn't have pieces of fruit in it because he like his yogurt creamy without chunks in it!! He also loves the key lime and orange flavors!

I was told to just make sure it was a single food so that if there was an allergy you would know what caused it. I wasn't ever told that they couldn't have strawberries. I would go ahead and try it.

The AAP recently put out a report that babies do not need to worry about any foods/allergies except for honey until the age of 1. If you or your partner has any food allergies, I suggest waiting until age 1, but if not, you should be fine. -www.weelicious.com

Hello, My grandaughter eats the fruit flavored yogurts without a problem. However, I can't say that your baby won't have a reaction. Yes, people can be allergic to them. Gerbers has fruit flavored yogurts as well as strawberries in other mixtures. I don't know if that helps. You can always ask your pediatrician. Bridgett is correct about the honey. It can turn to botcholism in a baby.
Good luck with your precious baby.
K. K.