Lamb shank

Lamb shank can start when your baby is ready for solids, usually around 6 months, as long as it is well cooked. A lamb is a young domestic sheep. Shank comes from the lower leg, and it takes slow cooking before it turns tender. You will find it in braises worldwide, like Moroccan tagine, kleftiko from Greece and stews across South Asia. Slow cooking gives it a rich taste and soft texture that many cuisines love.

Along with protein and fat, it provides iron, choline, selenium, zinc, and vitamins B6 and B12. These support growth, brain development, energy for play, healthy red blood cells, immunity and hormone function. A baby's iron stores run low after month 6, and lamb is a good source at that stage.

Why slow cooking

The shank comes from the leg, so it has a lot of connective tissue. It needs long, slow cooking to turn tender. Cooking in sauce or stew keeps the meat soft and juicy.

On the bone

A bone-in shank is a good shape for a young baby to hold and suck. Remove loose bits of meat and fat around the bone first. Check that no bone fragments have broken off.

Sauce

Serving the meat in sauce, or dipping it, helps swallowing. Add no salt, or keep it low.

Lamb can be firm and hard to chew. These traits raise the choking risk. Do not cut the meat into chunks or cubes. Serve it as shreds or strips that suit your child's age. Do not overcook it, because dry meat is harder to swallow. Stay close at meals, within arm's reach.

Lamb rarely causes allergy. Reports of lamb and mutton allergy do exist, though. Cooking the meat lowers this risk. Some tick bites (the Lone Star tick in the US, other ticks elsewhere) are linked to alpha-gal allergy. Alpha-gal is a sugar found in the meat of all non-primate mammals. A delayed allergic reaction appears 3 to 8 hours after eating red meat. Some people with alpha-gal allergy also react to the small amount of this sugar in dairy, gelatin, or organ meats like liver.

A few people with lamb allergy are also sensitive to wool or lanolin (wool grease) on contact. Most people with wool or lanolin sensitivity eat lamb without trouble.