Q&A: What are the signs a baby has food allergies?
26
May
Question by ♥Adrianna’s Mommy♥: What are the signs a baby has food allergies?
I’m just starting my daughter on solids and my doctor told me to feed her only one new food a weeks and watch for food allergies, but she didn’t specify exactly what symptoms I should be watching for.
Best answer:
Answer by Sexy Mama
Trust me you will know right away that something is wrong. Rash is the 1st thing.
Give your answer to this question below!
most common are skin rashes, breathing difficulties in severe cases swelling of the lips or other parts of the body (go to hospital if that happens).
He will cry and cry and cry. Babies only cry for a reason. If its not the nappy, then its food allergy.
You may need to change the milk
My niece was allergic to cow’s milk since she was a newborn. My sis discovered that she kept vomiting terribly — the projectile kind, crying, and just allover sick. The doctor diagnosed her as milk allergic — and while my sis was nursing, she couldn’t eat any dairy herself, because it was getting into her milk.
So if your baby had any severe allergies as my niece had from the start, you may have noticed it right away through your diet, if you nursed.
As far as watching now for symptoms as you introduce her to foods, look for swollen lips (you’ll notice it, believe me), wheezing, difficulty breathing (she’ll be fussy most likely as well), rash – itchy hives.
If you’re still nervous and unsure, don’t hesitate to call the doctor and ask specifically what symptoms to look for and any other questions you might have.
Just keep an eye on her skin and her nappies – if she has an allergy, she will develop a rash and probably have diaorreah. If it is really bad, she may start to have difficulty breathing but this is very unlikely if you are only just trying things like fruit and veg rather than peanuts! A new food may take a few days to work through her system, and thats why you should leave a few days between introducing new foods, so that you know if she gets ill what has caused it.
Wow, reading some of these responses, I learned a lot–and I have four kids.
Anyway, I noticed a sensitivity to certain foods by their poop. If it was runny and they developed a diaper rash, then I knew the newest food was the culprit. My daughters outgrew the allergies after a while, but the milk allergy is still apparent in two of them.
Are you breastfeeding? If so, it is possible that foods from your diet will also affect her. But, there is no reason to adjust your diet unless you have noticed symptoms.
Do you have allergies (food or otherwise) or a history of allergies and asthma in your family? For infants not genetically predisposed to having allergies, waiting at least 3-5 days gives time for increased exposure to the food to show common issues. Sometimes it can take awhile for a tolerance level to be hit, which is why infants that are genetically predisposed to wait at least a week or more. Eating the food once may not cause any noticeable problem but eating that food many times might. Foods can take days or weeks to completely leave the body (dairy is especially slow to leave the body – it can take a week or two to see improvement and a month or two for it to completely leave your system, most other foods, a few days to a week may do fine), so if you do see reactions, it is preferable to let the food causing the reaction to completely leave the body before trying a new food. If your daughter is predisposed, you probably should hold off the more allergenic foods for the proposed timeline – You can look this up – things like peanuts/tree nuts, fish, shellfish and eggs have stamps for not trying them before a year – for the predisposed it can be several years, especially for nuts and shellfish.
The most common allergic symptoms are eczema, hives, anal ring diaper rash (red area focused around the anus), unusual stools (could affect color, texture and smell – fluorescent green, uncharacteristically gassy/smelly, bloody, black (could indicate occult blood meaning bleeding coming from the gastric tract), diarrhea too often). Trouble breathing is generally a more dangerous symptom. Sometimes things like asthma, constant congestion/runny nose could be a hint, depending. Allergy shiners, where the kids have puffy under-eyes, could be a hint. Refusal to eat certain foods may or not mean anything. Stomachaches and general crankiness could be a hint or mean other issues. Some immunologic reactions to foods don’t include the rashes or breathing issues, but instead manifest in other ways (celiac, gluten intolerance, gastrointestinal issues, eosinophilic diseases, even behavioral issues)
Anaphylactic reactions are those where more than one body system is affected, i.e. breathing issues in addition to hives. In these cases, you need to bring the infant to the ER or call 911. Talk to your doctor and get epinephrine injectors to keep at home in case of emergency. These will speed up your child’s systems to help her process the allergen faster and could save her life. If you use epinephrine, you need to go to the ER (or call 911) afterwards.
Be aware of changes in your daughter – allergies can even cause behavioral reactions (and nothing else!) or symptoms that develop slowly or worsen over time. Sometimes kids with less usual symptoms are diagnosed later, because doctors do not identify food allergies as the cause. Although food allergies are being diagnosed more frequently, sometimes the only indication is reactions, and allergy tests are negative or falsely positive. Pay attention to reactions. If you notice issues, you should keep a food diary for what you and your child eat on a daily basis. It can help to show patterns of reaction that you might not notice otherwise.
In our case, our son was growing fine, and then started to fall off the growth curve. He tested positive to many foods before he was on solids, and it turns out he was very sensitive to food proteins in my milk. I went on a strict elimination diet and he improved, slowly but surely. He is now 4 1/2 and is still off of peanuts/all tree nuts, fish and shellfish, eggs, wheat, dairy, soy and oats. He has had reactions to many more foods in the past but is able to have those now in moderation. Myself, I was never able to really go back to eating the foods I had to get off of, so now nursing my daughter (15 months), I am still off more foods than my son. My daughter has reacted to dairy and spices (as well as potentially other unknowns) via breastmilk also, so I have to be careful with cheating on my diet. She has never had any of those foods I have trouble with as solid intake, except for oats, which we have also pulled after some reactions.
Hopefully you will see no issues. There’s no need to worry either, just because your doctor gave this precaution. Just take the foods slowly and go with your gut. My son wasn’t ready for solids until 9 months.
Good luck! Hope your baby enjoys solids
Remember that breast milk and formula are primary caloric intake for the first year and solids are for fun 