New to food allergies

[betherin]

Well...after months of dealing with DS2's severe eczema we finally got some answers today. We had blood drawn at his 6 month well check on Monday to have him tested for food allergies. He tested positive for wheat, egg whites, and cow's milk. I am breastfeeding and will need to adjust my diet as well as figure out how to start DS on solids now. Any advice or information you ladies have would be greatly appreciated. I have no idea where to even start. Thanks!

[deannemdm]

Many milk forms are available-- soy, rice, almond, etc
generally other flours are available for replacing wheat-- rice, potato, etc (I have a friend with severe gluten allergy)
Good luck-- sometimes kids outgrow them too

[cissy]

My now 6 yr old at the age of one had allergies to eggs, milk, soy, wheat, potatoes, and peanuts. Eggs are easy to skip no egg food, cheaper breads, same thing with milk, no dairy product, skip the cheese, butter (there is a few butter/margines that are dairy free) anything with cream in them, if it is white it probably has dairy in it, some bread does again go with the cheap stuff but not Walmart or Target brand they still have dairy in it. Wheat and Soy get a little more complicated, you would have to go with a rice milk or tapioca or even goats milk might work, wheat is in alot of things, the best is to go to a co-op and find the foods, there will be more choices but I do know you can buy things at Cub. There is White rice bread at Cub it is better to go to the Co-op and get the Light white rice bread it will taste better. THere are some chips you can have, fritos, lays plain, sour cream and onion. It will just take looking at everything to find out what you can and can not have.

What were the numbers for the allergies?

[cissy]

I was told to begin with that when an allergy to one item is big that it can have reaction to other items. We started with avoiding the wheat but gave up on that after a while. His dairy allergy was a 4 and wheat and soy were 2 with egg and peanuts a 3. He was eating wheat and soy a while after we found out about the allergies. If he had an item with egg in it he would get eczema so that was skipped until he was 5 when the testing said he no longer was allergic. That same testing also said he wasn't allergic to peanuts but he has yet to have them. His dairy was a 3 at the age of 5 and I know he is still allergic now to them because he gets hives if he has a dairy item. He is 6 and knows that he can't have dairy and peanuts.

For starting out foods it should still be pretty easy, if you make foods yourself you can still eat alot of the same stuff. Some seasons have wheat in it like the chili powder mix but if you do the seasons yourself then it won't.

[elizac]

I am so surprised that they test 6 months old babies for food allergies. I wonder if most babies would show food sensitivities to wheat, milk and eggs like your child did at this early stage and later would be fine eating such foods. As far as I know, you don't give eggs and milk until age 1 for specifically this reason that the little ones are incapable of digesting the proteins in milk and egg whites. I think it is too early to tell whether your child will have food allergies after age 1 or not. My DD reacted to eggs (egg whites) at 11 months but was just fine at 14 months In your case I would not worry too much now, as you can start feeding him lots of cereals that do not have wheat and fruits and veggies and meats.

[cissy]

I think they do not aim to check kids under the age of 1 for food allergies but with my case I breastfed my child and the dairy I ate effected him. He also broke out in hives to formula and any item that had dairy in it that he ate, it was an istant reaction. When i fed him he had really bad eczema and it finally went away after we figured out the allergies.

So yes a child can be allergic to foods before they start eating them.

[elizac]

Interesting, Cissy. Thanks

[betherin]

That's exactly why we tested him. I noticed his eczema got much worse when I ate eggs and dairy. It is likely he will outgrow these allergies, but in the meantime I want to do what I can to keep him comfortable. He scratches himself bloody if we don't put socks over his hands.

[ReneeW]

My 7-yr-old daughter is allergic to dairy, so that's my area of "expertise." We didn't realize it when I was nursing her, surprisingly, since she didn't have symptoms. BUT ... after I weaned her when she was one, my DH gave her pudding to "paint" with and she broke out in hives wherever the pudding touched her skin. We had her checked out and sure enough, she has a big-time dairy allergy. If it touches her skin, she gets a rash immediately. If she eats enough of it, she pukes. Poor kid. There's an 80% chance she'll outgrow it, but so far no luck. (Sigh.)

Here are some of the food substitutes that we have used (NOTE > I don't know if they have gluten or another allergen in them): Smart Balance LIGHT (the regular has whey so only use the "Light" version, which is vegan and dairy-free); soy milk, rice milk, and almond milk; SOME vegan cheeses (double check because a lot of the soy and rice cheeses have whey, which again is a dairy product so is NOT allergen free -- check for the word "vegan" to be sure); they have rice and soy "frozen dessert" for fake ice cream when you need an ice cream fix; there's a product called Earth Balance that is a fake butter and better for baking and is dairy-free; there is a soy cream version you can use in lieu of real cream in recipes or coffee; there's a soy pudding as well.

Many of these items can't be found at SuperTarget, Cub, etc. (alas) Since I live on the west side of the city, I shop at the Lakewinds Co-op. You may have to hunt at smaller co-ops to find all of the products, such as the Earth Balance fake butter, fake soy pudding, fake cream -- thankfully the bigger markets do have Smart Balance Light and soy/rice/almond milks.

Hope that will help you out in the dairy area ... hang in there!! For more info, this might help:
www.mayoclinic.com/health/milk-allergy/DS01008/DSECTION=prevention
and here's one about wheat:
www.mayoclinic.com/health/gluten-free-diet/MY01140

Good luck!!!

[cissy]

We have not tried the cheese, sour cream, we avoid those as I did not want my son to go somewhere and think he can have the cheese and it be the wrong kind. It is easier for us. There is a sorbet ice cream you can have that is dairy free, not sherbert, it is with the normal icecream at the store, it is actually good.

I like Valley Natural foods in Apple Valley/Burnsville, The Anoka Co-op I do not know the name, they are smaller and do not have the greatest choices. I have not been to the other Co-ops.