You’ve probably noticed that I am new to the baby blog! I am still writing over at the pregnancy blog, but since my life is monopolized by a cute little 17-month-old who has recently learned to climb just about every piece of furniture, I thought I would share my experiences, advice and know-how over here as well.
While my son is healthy, there is one issue which has a huge impact on our day to day life: he has food allergies. Ever since he was diagnosed just shortly after his first birthday, the way we eat and how we handle ourselves at parties and restaurants has changed quite a bit. Looking back, the red flags were there all along during his babyhood, we just didn’t recognize them.
When you think of food allergies, you probably think of epi pens and severe reactions involving throat swelling and difficulty breathing. This is a reality for people with severe, life threatening reactions to foods like peanuts. First reactions, however, are rarely this extreme. Often times, a milder reaction to a food serves as a warning. Those are the reactions you should be watching for when introducing your baby to solid foods.
If you are concerned that food allergies might be an issue, especially if there is a family history, you may want to do more than just wait a few days before introducing a new food. I would encourage any parent to keep a detailed food and symptoms diary, just until baby has tried just about every basic food. Record what the baby eats and what time. Then record any and every possible symptom you observe over the next 12 hours, including but not exclusive to: hives on the hands or mouth, scratching the ears, tugging at the abdominal area, a red rash around the anus, sneezing, running nose, hives or rash anywhere on the body, coughing or wheezing. Use your best judgment. If the reaction is obvious, do not give that food to your baby again. If you are unsure if it was an allergic reaction, try the food again and look closely for identical symptoms. Look for a pattern. Make sure you record when symptoms occur because timing is key.
Check labels for items like mixed baby cereals. Some of them contain so many ingredients, it becomes impossible to tell which ingredient caused the reaction if there is one. Make sure your baby has successfully tried each of the foods listed in the mixed cereal before eating the cereal.
The top eight allergens are milk, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, fish and wheat. If you are nervous about letting your baby try food from the list of the top eight allergens, try a skin test first. Put a small amount of food on your baby’s back and place a bandage over it before bed. Check the skin for irritation in the morning. If you observe any rash, welt or hives, do not feed the baby the food before talking to your pediatrician first. She may refer you to an allergist for testing if she believes there might be a severe enough problem.