Quick Answer
For most babies, peanut and well-cooked egg can be introduced when they are developmentally ready for solids, usually around 6 months. Offer each allergen separately at first, in a small amount and a safe texture, when your baby is well and you can watch them closely. Once tolerated, keep including it regularly in their diet.
If your baby has severe eczema, a known egg allergy, or a previous reaction to food, speak with their healthcare professional before introducing peanut. Some higher-risk babies benefit from a clinician-guided peanut introduction as early as 4 to 6 months, once ready for solids. Do not introduce solids before 4 months or attempt a home food challenge after a suspected reaction.
Why Introduce These Foods During Infancy?
Delaying common allergens simply to prevent allergy is not generally recommended. Introducing peanut during infancy and continuing to offer it can reduce the risk of peanut allergy, particularly when higher-risk babies follow an appropriate medical plan. Introducing well-cooked egg during complementary feeding may also help reduce egg allergy risk.
Early introduction is not a guarantee that an allergy will not develop. Safe textures, developmental readiness, and your baby's individual medical history still matter.
How Do I Know My Baby Is Ready?
Look for good head and neck control, the ability to sit upright with support, and the ability to swallow food rather than consistently push it out. Your baby should already be able to manage a few familiar solid foods before a first peanut introduction.
Breast milk or infant formula remains the main drink during the first year. Peanut and egg are complementary foods, not replacements for milk feeds.
Which Babies Need Advice Before Starting?
Babies with severe eczema or an established egg allergy have a higher risk of peanut allergy. Their healthcare professional may recommend an allergy assessment, testing, or supervised introduction. Arrange this discussion early rather than delaying peanut for months without a plan.
For mild to moderate eczema, peanut is often introduced around 6 months, but ask for advice if you are uncertain about the severity or your baby's feeding readiness. A previous reaction to peanut, egg, or another food also needs individualized guidance. Do not re-offer a suspected trigger to test whether the reaction happens again.
How Can I Serve Peanut Safely?
Use smooth peanut butter thinned with warm water and cooled before serving, or mix it into a familiar purée until it is smooth and easy to swallow. Peanut powder intended for food use can also be mixed thoroughly into a familiar food according to the product instructions. Never offer dry powder directly.
Do not give whole peanuts, pieces of nuts, crunchy peanut butter, or a thick spoonful of peanut butter. These can be choking hazards. Do not add peanut to a bottle, and do not rub it on your baby's skin as an allergy test.
How Can I Serve Egg Safely?
Offer fully cooked egg, including both white and yolk, in a texture your baby can manage. You can mash hard-boiled egg with a little suitable liquid or familiar purée, or offer soft, fully cooked scrambled egg mashed into small, manageable pieces.
Avoid raw or undercooked egg for this introduction. Egg yolk alone is not the same as introducing whole egg. Keep the first serving simple so you are not introducing several new allergens at once.
What Should the First Introduction Look Like?
- Choose a calm time. Offer the food at home during the day, when your baby is well and an adult can observe them for about 2 hours afterward. Avoid starting just before bedtime, daycare, or travel.
- Introduce one allergen at a time. Give peanut and egg on separate occasions, using foods your baby already tolerates as the base.
- Start with a small taste. If there are no symptoms after about 10 minutes, offer a little more slowly, following your baby's interest and any clinician-provided plan.
- Stay nearby. Seat your baby upright and supervise throughout the meal. Watch for symptoms while feeding and afterward.
- Keep it in the routine if tolerated. Continue offering age-appropriate portions regularly, such as several times each week. If your clinician prescribed a particular amount or schedule, follow that plan.
Do not force your baby to finish a portion. If they refuse because of taste or texture and show no reaction, you can try again another day in a different safe preparation. If symptoms occur, stop and get medical advice instead.
What Does an Allergic Reaction Look Like?
Possible symptoms include hives, swelling of the lips or face, vomiting, coughing, wheezing, or a sudden change in behaviour. Many immediate food-allergy reactions occur within minutes to 2 hours, but some reactions can be delayed.
Stop feeding the food if a reaction is suspected. For mild symptoms without breathing or circulation problems, contact a healthcare professional promptly and do not offer the food again until you have advice. A small patch of redness around the mouth can sometimes be irritation, but do not assume that explains a new reaction.
Call emergency services immediately for trouble breathing, wheezing, tongue or throat swelling, a hoarse cry, collapse, marked paleness, or a baby who becomes floppy or difficult to wake. Symptoms affecting more than one body system, such as hives together with repeated vomiting, can also indicate a serious allergic reaction. Anaphylaxis can occur without a rash.
If your baby has a prescribed adrenaline (epinephrine) auto-injector and these symptoms occur, use it immediately according to their emergency plan and call emergency services. Do not rely on an antihistamine to treat anaphylaxis or wait to see whether severe symptoms settle.
Repeated vomiting 1 to 4 hours after eating, especially with pallor or lethargy, can be a different type of food reaction and also needs urgent assessment. Seek emergency care if your baby looks very unwell.
What Parents Can Try
- Write down the food, preparation, amount, and time of the first introduction.
- Check labels for other allergens so you know exactly what your baby is trying.
- Use a familiar food as a base for thinned peanut butter or mashed cooked egg.
- Share tolerated foods and any allergy plan with other caregivers.
- Keep tolerated allergens in the routine rather than treating one taste as the end of introduction.
When Should I Seek Help?
Ask your GP, paediatrician, or allergy specialist for a plan before peanut introduction if your baby has severe eczema or egg allergy, or before reintroducing any food that may have caused a reaction. They can advise whether testing or supervised feeding is needed.
Seek feeding advice if your baby repeatedly coughs or struggles with suitable textures. Choking and allergy are different emergencies: if your baby cannot breathe, cry, or cough effectively while eating, call emergency services and begin age-appropriate choking first aid if you know how.
Key Takeaway
Introduce peanut and well-cooked egg in safe textures when your baby is ready, usually around 6 months, and continue offering them regularly if tolerated. Higher-risk babies need an individualized plan, sometimes including earlier peanut introduction. Stop for suspected reactions and seek emergency help for breathing difficulty, collapse, or other severe symptoms.
Parents Also Ask
When Can Babies Start Eating Solid Foods?
How Do I Know If My Baby Is Ready for Solids?
What Foods Should I Avoid Giving My Baby in the First Year?
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. If you have concerns about your baby's health, consult your GP or paediatrician promptly.