introducing fish

I think we waited until 4 with my PA son who is allergic to just about everything! literally. By 12 months I had clued into how to better handle allergy situation and decided to wait until 4 to introduce fish, if ever as it can be very allergenic. Am very glad I did as he can eat all the fish I've ever given him. Still holding off on shellfish though and he's 7 now. And he loves his fresh fish and his canned tuna though I give that sparingly due to concerns about mercury. I still only give fresh fish once a week and tuna once a week as I don't want to give him too much exposure as he tends to start reacting to things that can be allergenic if he eats them too often.

I'd say go for it. We've never had any issues with the fishmonger and shellfish contamination (or maybe he's just not allergic to shellfish - all his RASTs have been negative). The fishmonger knows me and always washes his hands before serving me. You can also ask them to do this at your shop. Explain about allergies.

Good luck
Barb

Our allergist would not allow us to introduce fish to our DD's diet until she turned 4 (and literally not even a day before). Also, he wants us to introduce it in stages, culminating with her actually eating the fish (first step, put some on her lip and see if she reacts; second step, on her tongue but no swallowing and see if she reacts; etc.). To be honest, it's so involved that I've not introduced fish to her diet yet, and she'll be 5 on May 22.

Edited for double post.

[This message has been edited by ceross (edited April 17, 2006).]

My allergist never said anything about fish. He tested negastive to blood test for tuna, shell fish... the only fish he has had is mcdonald fish sandwich and fish sticks. He is PA and never had a problem. Should I stop giving it to him or now that he has had it several times is it ok?

My son will be six in July and I have yet to let him try fish. I don't like it, so I guess it hasn't been a big deal for us.

We introduced fish when our youngest was 6. Our oldest (who is the PA/TNA child) had tuna when she was about a year old with no trouble. We wanted to avoid problems with the other two so we waited (even though our allergist didn't say to). I read that canned tuna and canned salmon are the least allergenic so we just tried canned tuna so far. None had a problem with it. I might try canned salmon soon. We really don't eat much fish anyway, other than during lent, and even then we don't make the kids avoid meat on fridays.

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[b]~Gale~[/b]

Well, we didn't know DD was allergic to peanuts when she was one, so at that age we introduced fish. We probably gave her shellfish when she was 2 (figured out that she was allergic to peanuts at age 3). She's not allergic to either. We introduced fish to our 2nd DD at age 1, also, and I'd guess it was probably age 2 on the shellfish for her, too, though I remember being a little more nervous about it, having had a BIT more education about food allergies. She's not allergic to those, either, but we suspect a peanut or tree nut allergy for her, also. So we followed the guidelines I'd seen for the general population on introducing fish, not for the allergy-prone population, and it happened to work out fine for us. It's lucky, because our family adores fresh fish and shellfish!

I wonder how many of you ate fish, etc while pg, so maybe they already has some exposure? I don 't eat ANY seafood, so I am curious about this. I would love my son to eat it, for I know it is good for him, and don't want it to be a lifelong, like me, I don't eat seafood. I gave him organic fishsticks once, but I want him to try lobster, or something that could potentially casue a reaction, so we know. Should I wait until he is 4? I kept reading that age in this post.
Therese

I ate tuna, other fish and shrimp while pregnant and breastfeeding.

We haven't introduced fish or shellfish yet, except for tuna. I had a babysitter come to my house, and I forgot that I had not marked the tuna cans as off-limits. (After all, everyone knew we were avoiding fish and shellfish, right? WRONG!) She did not have a reaction, but I haven't given her any more.

I hope we can introduce fish and shellfish, because I adore crabs and shrimp. One of my DS is extremely picky eater, due to sensory issues, and he could live off of shrimp. It's been very tough avoiding fish and shellfish.

I'm going to ask the allergist when we can introduce it.

Anne

I did eat fish and shellfish occasionally while pregnant and breast-feeding. I ate fish less than I had before because of mercury and PCB concerns (once or twice a month, I suppose), but I usually eat shellfish about 5-6 times a year and that stayed the same during those times. So not a lot of early exposure, but some.