It is important to introduce allergens to your baby when they are weaning onto solids to find out if they have any allergies. Food allergies are somewhat common in babies, and around 5% of children under the age of five will have at least one form.
But with the right treatment and management, you can minimise their impact on your child’s life.
In this article, we’ll talk about food allergies and why they occur, the importance of introducing allergens to your baby, what to do if your baby has an allergic reaction and diagnosing and treating allergies.
What Is A Food Allergy?
A food allergy is a condition which occurs when your child’s immune system has an adverse response to a protein in a particular food.
This leads to an inflammatory reaction that can take on a number of different forms, from skin rashes and upset stomachs to more severe reactions such as anaphylaxis.
Sometimes, babies will grow out of food allergies – many children grow out of milk allergies by the time they are five – but some allergies will stay with them for life.
What Are The 14 Major Allergenic Foods?
There are 14 common food allergens that need to be declared by food businesses by law in the UK and EU.
They are:
- Celery (and celeriac)
- Cereals containing gluten (oats and barley)
- Crustaceans (prawns, lobsters, and crabs)
- Eggs
- Fish
- Lupin
- Milk
- Molluscs (oysters and mussels)
- Mustard
- Peanuts
- Sesame
- Soybeans
- Sulphur dioxide and sulphites (if the concentration is more than ten parts per million)
- Tree nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios, macadamia nuts, cashews, Brazil nuts and almonds)
While food allergies can appear for any foods the 14 listed are a starting point when thinking about potential triggers for your child. The most common to appear in young children are:
- Eggs
- Milk
- Peanuts
Food Allergy Symptoms
Generally speaking, you will notice an allergic reaction in your child within a matter of minutes. Symptoms can include:
- An itchy red rash
- Coughing and wheezing
- Sneezing
- A blocked or runny nose
- Itchy, red, or watery eyes
Other food allergies, such as milk allergy, can cause digestive issues such as diarrhoea, wind, or constipation. For the most part, food allergies in babies produce mild symptoms, but sometimes a severe reaction can take place.
This is called anaphylaxis, or anaphylactic shock, which means that your baby may be struggling to breathe, wheezing, or losing consciousness. If this occurs, you need to call an ambulance immediately as it is a medical emergency. For more information on what to do if your baby is having a severe allergic reaction, please follow these steps.
Introducing Allergens To Your Baby
It is generally advised that you start introducing solid foods to your baby’s diet alongside breastfeeding or formula feeding at around 4 to 6 months. Introduction to allergens at this point minimises the risk of them developing an allergy. It will also identify any allergies early on.
Pick one allergen (cooked egg is recommended) to start with and use a very small amount at first. Use less than half a teaspoon, to begin with, and then increase the amount after a few days. A lion-stamped, hard boiled egg, pureed and mixed with vegetables is the best option as a smooth paste is your best option. If your baby is older then scrambled egg or a plain omelette works well. You could also try including eggs in foods like meatballs and potato cakes if they don’t like the texture.
Next, it’s peanuts. Try mixing a little salt-free smooth peanut butter with porridge or yoghurt, fruit or vegetables. After this we recommend cow’s milk, usually as full fat greek yoghurt. After this, tahini paste, wheat, fish, cashew and walnut.
Only try allergens when your baby is healthy and when their skin is in good condition so that you can easily identify any reactions. It is very important that once an allergen is introduced that it is given at least once a week in decent quantities (rule of thumb is a tablespoon per week).
It is important to remember that there are two types of allergic reactions: IgE mediated allergic reactions and Non-IgE mediated allergic reactions.
IgE mediated allergic reactions will occur quickly, generally within 10-15 minutes. Non-IgE mediated allergic reactions can take a couple of days to appear and are most common for cow’s milk and egg, which is why it is important to make sure that you pace these allergens samples carefully and that you monitor the results closely.
What Should You Do If Your Baby Has An Allergic Reaction?
If your baby has a mild allergic reaction to any of the foods that you have been introducing them to, then you should immediately stop giving them that food. Most mild symptoms will go away fairly quickly, and if they don’t, then you should contact your pharmacist or GP for treatment to alleviate symptoms more quickly.
However, if they have a severe reaction such as anaphylaxis, then you need to seek urgent medical attention. If you think that they have had an allergic reaction, it is important to arrange for food allergy testing.
Food Allergy Testing
If your baby is showing signs of a food allergy, it is very important that you get them seen by a GP or paediatrician or you can directly contact Children’s Allergy Doctors. A common food allergy test is the skin prick test, where a small amount of the purified allergen is placed on the baby’s arm and a tiny sterile metal lancet is used to scratch the skin surface. If the skin reacts, then there is an allergy. A blood test can also be useful to determine what the body is reacting to in the case of an IgE-mediated reaction.
There is also the food elimination test, where the suspected allergen is removed from the baby’s diet, and their health is carefully monitored. A skin patch test (where a small amount of the allergen is placed on a patch for the baby to wear for 48 hours) can also be a way to test for a non-IgE mediated reaction as those symptoms take longer to appear.
Food Allergy Treatment
Sadly, there is no cure for food allergies, but there are a lot of ways that we can treat and manage food allergies. As a parent, you can make sure that you are avoiding triggers, know how to recognise an allergic reaction, and how to treat this effectively with antihistamines and if necessary their EpiPens (important if your baby has a nut allergy). If early introduction of allergenic foods does not work to prevent food allergies, as the child is already allergic to this food, then at Children’s Allergy Doctors, we offer early oral food immunotherapy to common allergenic foods. trying .
At Children’s Allergy Doctors, we work closely with parents to create a detailed plan of action. We can provide you with helpful information on how to prevent food allergies, how to safely introduce food allergens and what to do in case your baby has an allergic reaction.
This will help you to ensure that your child can live an unhindered life that is not defined by their food allergy. The more you know, the better you will be able to help your child handle their allergies.
For further information on introducing allergens to your baby or to book an appointment, please contact us.
What parents say:
“She is very kind, very informative about the whole process through the allergies of my baby. Very supportive and had answered all my questions. Feeling more confident about feeding my baby now. Recommended 100%”