First Foods

            Parents are often told to start solids by trying cereals such as rice or oats. For FPIES kids, those are the worst things they can eat. So what now? How about quinoa?

            Quinoa is a pseudo-grain from South America. It’s more of a seed than a grain. It’s becoming more popular in the US so you can find it easily online. You can also find it at Whole Foods markets, at least in my city. Actually, they even have some quinoa products at my regular supermarket.

            Not all FPIES kids are okay eating quinoa, but it is easier to digest than more common grains. From what I’ve seen on unofficial survey results and from reading through FPIES forums, many FPIES kids eat it without problems. My daughter loves it, and actually I use it in several of her dishes. I make everything from pancakes to gravy using quinoa.

            To trial quinoa I recommend Ancient Harvest Quinoa Flakes, *see note on brands 10/8/2011. You can cook them like hot cereal. The package says to boil a cup of water and add 1/3 cup of flakes. For a small baby I’d go with a cup of water and maybe 2-3 tablespoons of flakes, any more and the cereal will be stiff and sticky.

            If you’re anything like me though, you might be scared to try even a pseudo-grain. I know that after watching my daughter vomit both rice and oats, I was not too keen on the idea of trying another cereal. Actually, I wasn’t too keen on trying much at all. She reacted to the first four foods she had: rice, oats, sweet potatoes and green beans. I wasn’t really sure what to do next. I decided to go with the simplest thing I could think of: applesauce. I bought organic apples, peeled them, chopped them and steamed them. Then I put them in the food processor until they were very smooth. Apples were my daughter’s first pass.

            I tried pears next and that went well also. When I decided to try quinoa, I actually cooked it with some apples in it. I didn’t think that the flakes by themselves would be appealing to a small baby. I boiled an apple in a cup of water for about 10 minutes then added a tablespoon of quinoa flakes and cooked for another two minutes. Then I used my hand blender to puree the entire thing. I started with just a tablespoon of flakes because I didn’t know whether she’d react to the quinoa and I always start a new food in small amounts. Luckily, she passed it and she also liked it! A food doesn’t do you much good if the baby won’t eat it.

            I’ve also heard of people trying buckwheat first. The brand I’ve used is Poconos. It takes a bit longer to cook than quinoa flakes and is more like grits than oatmeal.

            Whatever you decide to try first, just be sure to start slowly. For the first day of a trial give maybe a teaspoon. The next day two teaspoons, then add more as you see your baby doing well with the new food.