You may have seen reference to the four day rule littered around my blog or in parenting forums. If you don’t know what it refers to, i’m here to tell you right now.

edit: It has been noted in the comments below that four days is quite a long time to wait for allergies to emerge, suggesting that even hospitals only wait a maximum of two days, usually 24 hours. Please make up your own mind as, although I try to provide the most accurate information on this website, I am not a professional. Just a parent like you!

The four day rule is simply this:

When introducing new foods to your baby, you should do so by only giving them a small amount and then waiting four days to see if you baby reacts to that food.

When I use the word react I mean to say, your baby’s skin may become blotchy in areas or come up in a rash, signifying a sensitivity or an allergy to that food.

If your baby does negatively react to any food item, please make a note of it and do not feed him that food anymore.

If your baby does not react in any way then feel free tofeed your baby that food with confidence.

If you have any concerns at all about your baby’s welfare or diet then you should talk to your GP. 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.

All the best.

1. Christine Says:
   September 15th, 2011 at 2:17 pm

   You may wish to review your information regarding potentially allergenic foods, in view of changes in current thinking. You may well be aware already, just thought I’d give you a heads up as we’re taking part in trials involving early introduction of allergenic foods so may be more aware than most.

   Under hospital recommendations and even with very young babies the maximum wait between such foods is two days. Most allergies, particularly where baby comes out in hives/rashes/skin swelling will show within 30 mins. The remainder within 24 hrs, where the symptoms are more digestive. Two days and it’s completely clear.

   Testing into the early introduction of such foods is going on because the one clear thing that has come from current advice (ie. to wait till baby is older) has NOT reduced the number of children developing such allergies. The WHO are awaiting trial outcomes before issuing new advice, but the current advice has been disproven through experience in the general population.

2. admin Says:
   October 19th, 2011 at 7:19 pm

   Christine, thanks for your response. It shows that misinformation can easily persist in this case. probably for the best in safety terms. However I will update the post to reflect your advice. thanks again.