When can my baby eat honey?

Q: When can my baby start eating eat honey?

A: Unlike many of the other food restrictions during infancy, allergies and choking are not the issue here. Pediatricians recommend waiting until your baby is at least 12 months before introducing honey because it may contain spores of bacteria that can cause botulism. This doesn't mean our honey supply is contaminated -- these bacteria are harmless to adults and children over 1. But it can make babies, whose digestive and immune systems are less developed, seriously (and possibly fatally) sick. For this reason, it's best to avoid all honey for the first year -- even jars that claim to have been pasteurized, since this process still can't reliably remove all the bacteria.

Copyright 2009 Meredith Corporation.

Answered by Parents.com-Team