Week 25

Days 169 to 175 · 24 weeks 0 days to 24 weeks 6 days old · about 5½ months This week your baby is, on average, about 66 cm (26 in) long and weighs around 7.4 kg (16.4 lb). Babies vary widely, and steady growth along their own curve matters more than any single number. Many babies now pass toys from one hand to the other, turn to look for sounds and voices, and babble with growing enthusiasm. Some have already tried their first foods, others are still watching from the sidelines, and both are fine. For you, the half-year is in sight, a good moment to check in with yourself as well as your baby. This week focuses on common food allergens: why offering them early helps, how to do it, which signs of a reaction to watch for and when it is an emergency. It also covers water in an open cup.

Day 169 · 24 weeks 0 days old

Offering allergens early can help prevent allergies

For years, parents were told to delay foods such as peanut and egg in the hope of preventing allergies. The evidence has turned that advice around. Large studies have shown that offering these foods early, once a baby is ready for solids, and then keeping them in the diet regularly, lowers the chance of developing an allergy to them.

The foods responsible for most allergic reactions in children are often called common allergens. They include peanut, egg, cow's milk products, tree nuts, sesame, soy, wheat, fish and shellfish. Current advice in most places is to introduce them at around 6 months, not before 4 months, alongside other first foods, rather than holding them back until later.

Babies with severe eczema, or who already have a known food allergy, are at higher risk. For them, early introduction matters even more, and some guidance suggests starting peanut and egg a little sooner, from around 4 to 6 months, once they show signs of readiness. If that describes your baby, talk to their doctor before you start. Many babies at higher risk can still begin at home, but some may be advised to have the first taste under medical supervision.

Most babies, including most with mild eczema, can simply start at home. Try this: If your baby has eczema or a known allergy, book a conversation with their doctor or nurse now, so you have a plan before solids begin.

Day 170 · 24 weeks 1 day old

Peanut and egg, step by step

Once your baby has managed a few first foods, you can introduce common allergens one at a time. Offer each new allergen at home, earlier in the day, when your baby is well and an adult can watch them for a couple of hours afterward. Wait a day or two before trying the next new allergen, so that if there is a reaction you know what caused it.

For peanut, never offer whole or chopped nuts or a lump of peanut butter, which are choking risks. Instead, stir a small amount of smooth peanut butter into warm water, breast milk or formula until it is thin and runny, or mix it into a food your baby already eats, such as cereal or mashed fruit. Peanut powder or softened peanut puffs also work. Start with a small taste, and if all is well, offer a little more next time.

For egg, cook it well. Mash a hard-boiled egg with a little milk, offer soft strips of well-cooked omelette, or stir well-cooked egg into other foods. Raw or lightly cooked egg is not recommended for babies.

The step people most often miss is keeping it going. Once your baby tolerates a food, offer it regularly, ideally a few times a week. Stopping for months can allow an allergy to develop later.

Try this: Plan which day your baby will try egg and which day peanut, and write them on the calendar so the follow-up servings happen too.

Day 171 · 24 weeks 2 days old

Know the signs of an allergic reaction

Most babies eat common allergens with no trouble. Knowing what a reaction looks like helps you act quickly if one happens. Reactions usually start within minutes to two hours of eating.

Milder signs include a few hives (raised, itchy, red welts, like mosquito bites) around the mouth or on the face, some swelling of the lips or around the eyes, or a single bout of vomiting. If you see these, stop giving the food. Call your baby's doctor if your baby has hives or swelling without any breathing trouble, and do not offer that food again until you have spoken to them.

Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that affects the breathing or circulation, and it is an emergency. Get help right away if your baby has any of these after eating: difficulty breathing, wheezing, noisy breathing or persistent coughing; swelling of the tongue or throat; a hoarse cry or change in voice; hives spreading over the body; repeated vomiting; or becoming pale, floppy or unusually sleepy. Call your local emergency number. If your baby has been prescribed an epinephrine (adrenaline) auto-injector, use it straight away.

Not every red mark is an allergy. A blotchy rash where acidic foods such as tomato or berries touch the skin is common and usually fades quickly. Try this: Save your local emergency number in your phone under a clear name, and read this entry aloud to anyone who will be feeding your baby.

Day 172 · 24 weeks 3 days old

The other common allergens have a place too

The other common allergens deserve a spot on the plate as well. You can work through them one at a time in the same careful way.

Cow's milk products can be offered as plain, full-fat pasteurized yogurt or grated or soft cheese, or used in cooking. Wheat can come from infant cereal, soft toast fingers or small pasta. Soy is easy to offer as soft tofu. Sesame can be introduced as a little tahini, thinned or stirred into food, often as part of hummus. Tree nuts, such as almond, cashew or hazelnut, can be given as a smooth nut butter, thinned or mixed in, or as finely ground nuts in food, never whole. Fish such as salmon or cod can be flaked and checked carefully for bones, and well-cooked shellfish such as shrimp can be chopped finely.

You do not need to introduce every allergen in the first week or even the first month. Aim to include them over the first few months of eating, between other new foods. As with peanut and egg, once a food is part of your baby's diet, keep offering it regularly.

If anyone in your family has a food allergy, you can still introduce that food to your baby.

Try this: Make a simple chart on the fridge listing the common allergens, and tick each one off as your baby tries it and then eats it again.

Day 173 · 24 weeks 4 days old

A first open cup, a few sips at a time

Babies under 6 months who are breastfed or formula fed do not need extra water. Milk gives them all the fluid they need, even in hot weather. Once solids begin, though, you can offer small sips of water with meals. An open cup is the best choice from the start. It builds sipping skills and is kinder to developing teeth than a bottle or spouted cup used all day. A small cup or even a shot-glass sized one is easier for little hands. Hold it to your baby's lips, tip it just enough for a small sip, and let them take the lead. Expect spills.

Plain tap water is fine for babies from 6 months in most places. If your water comes from a private well or you are not sure it is safe, ask your public health nurse or local health authority whether to boil or test it. Juice, sweet drinks and tea are not needed. Cow's milk can be used in food, but not as the main drink before 12 months.

At this age, think of water as practice rather than hydration. A few mouthfuls with meals is enough, and it should not fill your baby up instead of breast milk or formula.

Try this: Put a small open cup with a little water on the high chair tray at your baby's next meal, and let them grab it, splash it and try a sip.

Day 174 · 24 weeks 5 days old

Two hands are learning to work together

Watch your baby with a toy this week. Many babies around 5 to 7 months begin to pass an object from one hand to the other, turn it over, look at it, bang it on the floor and then bring it to their mouth. It looks like simple fiddling, but it is a big step. The two sides of the body and brain are starting to coordinate.

Babies also start to use their whole hand in a raking motion to drag things closer, and they may hold one toy in each hand and bang them together with delight. This is the beginning of understanding cause and effect: when I do this, that happens. The neat pincer grasp, using thumb and forefinger, comes later, often around 8 to 10 months.

These skills will help at mealtimes, as your baby learns to pick up food and bring it to their mouth. They also mean that small objects, coins and button batteries become even more of a danger, so keep checking the floor at baby height.

The best toys for this stage are simple: rattles, soft blocks, rings, wooden spoons, a plastic cup or a scrunchy cloth. Two of something is often more interesting than one.

Try this: Offer your baby a toy in one hand, then hold a second toy out to the same hand and see whether they pass the first one across to free it up.

Day 175 · 24 weeks 6 days old

Check in with yourself before the half-year

Next week your baby turns six months old. It is easy to track every inch of their progress and forget your own. Take a moment to ask how you are really doing.

Are you sleeping enough to function, or running on empty? Are you eating proper meals, or finishing your baby's leftovers standing up? Do you still have aches, leaking, pain with sex or other physical problems from the birth that you have been putting up with? These are common at six months, and most can be helped. A visit to your doctor or a pelvic health physiotherapist is worth making if anything is still bothering you.

Your mood matters just as much. Postpartum depression and anxiety can begin any time in the first year, not only in the early weeks, and they can affect partners too. If you have been feeling low, flat, irritable, constantly worried or unlike yourself for more than two weeks, talk to your doctor, midwife or public health nurse. Call your care provider if you feel unable to cope, and get help right away if you have thoughts of harming yourself or your baby.

There is no prize for struggling through alone. Looking after yourself is part of looking after your baby.

For your partner: Ask the birth parent directly how they are feeling, physically and emotionally, then listen without trying to fix anything. Offer to book or cover the time for any appointment they need.