I asked myself this question when Emily was born because I was worried about salmonella or the risk of developing an allergy. I wanted to use eggs as a weaning food but are they safe?

Egg allergies are reasonably common and babies can and sometimes do have an allergic reaction. An allergic reaction to eggs is down to the body’s immune system not being able to process the protein in the egg white. In some cases it will be the protein in the yolk that causes a reaction. I had a particular concern with egg allergies as my mum suffered egg allergy as a child and allergies are known to be hereditary.

The risk of salmonella was also a worry, naturally. After a bit of research I found out that children under four are at a higher risk of contracting salmonella than other age groups but, surprisingly, not necessarily contracting it from eggs but from other risks such us riding in a shopping cart next to meat or poultry.

I discovered that despite my concerns, it is generally considered safe to feed eggs to babies so long as you follow these guidelines:

• DO NOT start weaning your baby onto egg yolks until they are around 8 months old – your babies immune system may not have developed enough to recognise the proteins in the yolk until this time.
• DO NOT start weaning your baby onto egg whites until they are at least one year old – your babies immune system may not have developed enough to recognise the proteins in the white until this time.
• DO ensure your eggs are high-quality free-range and organic – The better kept the chickens are, the risk of their eggs containing salmonella drops considerably.
• DO ensure the egg is fully cooked before use – cooking the egg destroys the salmonella, if there is any.
• DO be sure you wash your hands after handling the egg and it’s shell before you touch or feed your baby.
• DO be sure you test your baby for an allergic reaction by following the four day rule – by feeding a small amount of your egg weaning recipe to your baby and waiting for around four days and seeing if they allergically react.

My conclusion is to not worry too much about feeding eggs to babies or using them as a weaning food as long as you follow the guidelines above.

There’s good reason too as eggs are packed with nutients in the form of vitamins, proteins and fats.

If you still have concerns however I would definitely recommend talking to your GP or doing some more research into this. As I state in all my articles and weaning recipes, I am not a pediatrician or a nutritionist and my information is based on personal experience and thorough research only.

Happy weaning!