Is Shrimp Safe for Toddlers?

My kiddos have always eaten whatever I have made, prepared, eaten myself. That said, my kiddos eat salad, sushi, and just about everything else. Yes, shrimp is okay. My children are 11, 8 and 4 and they eat whatever I eat. Never gave them jarred baby food...all pureed right from my plate. Kudos to you for exploring food with your child.

2 moms found this helpful

It's fine as long as she does not have any other food allergies if she does it's recommended to hold off on shellfish and nuts a little longer. I only buy seafood from big Y I think they are just ma and ct or from whole foods. Never been to a shop rite so I can't say.
http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/guide.asp

I would have benadryl handy just in case. No fishor shellfish allergies in my family but my little one is allergic to it.

I'm not exactly sure what this means, but I was told that you need to be careful with shrimp allergies because there is no allergy test for the iodine. Don't know if anyone can explain that one further...

We have a shellfish allergy in our family, and even then, we were told by our pediatrician that my son could eat them once he turned 2. Now it's one of his favorite foods! :)

My mum's allergic to shrimp, so we were careful introducing it... but after no reaction kiddo probably has eaten shrimp 3-4 x per week since he was about 1 year old. ((If I listed out all the different ways from dim sum to salad to ebizushi to seared I'd sound like Bubba Gump))

Shrimp is fine. For a good resource on safe and sustainable seafood look at the Monterey Aquarium's website. They also have little pocket guides so you can take them with you to restaurants and when you are shopping. We only buy shrimp from American waters (not Asia) and wild caught Pacific salmon.

YAY SHOP RITE! That's where my mom used to shop when I was a kid still living in Ringwood :)

Great question, I'm curious myself. I do know that tuna (canned) can contain mercury and I give my 13 month old bites off my plate all the time and really hadn't given it a second thought... oops ;)

I think they rec waiting til 18 mos just because of allergies.
My son regularly eats it, and has since he was about 3, thanks to his uncle who bought him his first shrimp dinner!

I think it is "officially" safe. However i don't feed it to my kids because shrimp are the creatures that clean the scum, filth, and pollution out of our oceans. Not only do I not want my kids eating that, I'd rather we kept these cockroaches of the sea where they belong: filtering our ocean.

Here's some info:

http://www.kidsafeseafood.org/home.php

i hope it is because i feed it to my children a couple of times a month

If no history of allergies then you are AOK. My daughter has a fish allergy and my dad (her grandpa) has shellfish and fish, so we do not let the kids eat fish or shellfish (though we eat it). -- they are 3.5 and 2 yo. Best wishes! I LOVE shrimp :)

If you are concerned about mercury, take a look at these pocket guides. They are reliable, free and informative!

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/dow...

Per our pediatrician - nuts and shellfish are fine after 2 assuming there isn't a history of allergies.

I hope so b/c my 2.5 yr old LOVES shrimp! We don't serve it often, but when we do he gobbles it up. I asked his dr who "okayed" it in moderation.

Whole Foods-I would wait on the shellfish

After two, shrimp is ok. It is a low mercury "fish" but I would not buy the kind they farm in Asia. They don't have as high standards as here and do pick up pesticides and other nasty stuff. I would buy the kind caught in North America, wild caught is best I think.