Introducing Sesame

First serve

One teaspoon of smooth tahini (sesame seed paste) thinned with 2–3 teaspoons of warm water, breast milk, or formula until it drizzles, then stirred into a puree the baby already knows.

Build up like this:

Day 1: a small taste (about ¼ teaspoon of the thinned tahini mixture) mixed into a familiar food, early in the day; watch for 2 hours.
If no reaction, repeat over the next several days, working up to the full thinned teaspoon.
Build to a regular serving — tahini stirred into yogurt or oatmeal, or spread paper-thin on soft toast strips.

Then keep it going: Once tolerated, keep sesame in the diet about twice a week — tahini mix-ins and hummus make this easy to sustain.

What a reaction can look like

• Hives or raised welts, often around the mouth or face
• Redness or rash where tahini touched the skin
• Vomiting within about 2 hours
• Swelling of the lips, face, or eyes
• Coughing or wheezing — treat as an emergency

Trouble breathing, tongue or lip swelling, widespread hives with vomiting, or a pale, floppy baby means call 911 now. See the emergency guide.

Good to know

• Like nut butters, tahini is thick and sticky — always thin it to a drizzle or spread it paper-thin; never serve it by the spoonful. A sprinkle of whole sesame seeds delivers too little protein to count as a real exposure.
• Serve every new allergen early in the day so you can observe for the next 2 hours, and introduce one new allergen at a time with about 3 days before the next one.

Foods that deliver it

Tahini →