How did you discover your kids' FA?

[123LuckyMom]

Forgive my ignorance, but I'm curious about this. DH and I were having a discussion about this last night after DS let DD get into his yogurt. She's not supposed to have dairy yet, and DH was worried she might have a reaction. He asked whether we should have an epi pen in the house as she tries new foods just in case she has a reaction. There are no serious food allergies in our families, so I'm not terribly worried, and we won't be getting an epi pen! Still, it got me wondering. There must be kids with potentially fatal nut allergies, for example, who had a reaction at one time, but not a bad enough one to kill them, thank God. Is the first reaction just always far lesser than subsequent reactions? Why do all of us not live in fear? I'd love to know more about this.

[mommylamb]

I don't have children with food allergies, but just wanted to say that my ped totally changed advice between when DS1 was a baby and now with DS2 (they're 4.5 years apart). With Ds1 we were told not to try PB until he was 2 years. With DS2, the ped told me to give him PB at his 9 month appointment. I think having an epi pen in the house just in case when there are no food allergies in the family is overkill, but maybe I'm too lax.

[crl]

Well, ds's milk allergy was very mild. We discovered it because he persistently complained of stomach pain (he also had eczema) with no apparent cause. His doctors and i chalkedit up to an anxious kid and a Curious George story about a tummy ache. But ds continued to complain. So at my request, his ped did a shotgun approach of testing to make sure we weren't missing anything. Turned out we were missing a milk allergy and constipation.

I did have an acquaintance who found her son's peanut allergy when their very responsible nanny used a washcloth to clean peanut butter off her older daughter's face and then cleaned her baby boy's face with the same rag. He had an anaphylactic reaction and went to the ER. Scary as hell.

But I think FA's are still rare enough that with no family history I would not worry. If you are very worried, I'd suggest just keeping Benadryl handy.

Catherine

ETA. I think an epi would be total overkill and can't imagine you could get a script for one anyway.

[michlyn]

Eczema and hives

[mackmama]

I can understand being concerned about a potential FA even without a family history. Allergies can be scary and unprecedented. Before starting DC on solids, we asked our pedi what to look for in terms of a potential allergic response since we weren't clear how it might present. We also asked the pedi what the Benadryl dosage would be and had Benadryl on hand in our medicine cabinet just in case.

(I agree with PP about just keeping Benadryl handy. I also think an epi pen would be overkill, and I also don't think you'd get an epi pen prescription without a known FA.)

I had a friend who had no FA family history but still sat outside an ER in her car the first time she gave her son peanut butter. I think her approach was overkill, but it made her feel better. I told my pedi about this who said she's actually seen a few parents do something similar, also without a FA family history.

FWIW - Our pedi did say that, if there is a FA, the first allergic response is usually much less severe during the first exposure than after subsequent exposures. She said the first exposure will usually result in a red rash around the mouth area.

[vonfirmath]

Forgive my ignorance, but I'm curious about this. DH and I were having a discussion about this last night after DS let DD get into his yogurt. She's not supposed to have dairy yet, and DH was worried she might have a reaction. He asked whether we should have an epi pen in the house as she tries new foods just in case she has a reaction. There are no serious food allergies in our families, so I'm not terribly worried, and we won't be getting an epi pen! Still, it got me wondering. There must be kids with potentially fatal nut allergies, for example, who had a reaction at one time, but not a bad enough one to kill them, thank God. Is the first reaction just always far lesser than subsequent reactions? Why do all of us not live in fear? I'd love to know more about this.

A friend of mine suggested testing peanuts in front of/near a hospital. I've taken that suggestion for both of my kids (first two times). Other allergies are not near as likely to have a life threatening reaction right away so I've been more casual. (And its not that easy to tell why on delayed reactions either)

[AnnieW625]

is there a reason she can't have dairy? We tried yogurt at 7 months with both of my girls. No reaction to either. They started eating cheese at about 10 months old, maybe a little younger. For allergies in general I am in the camp that you need to introduce the foods as soon as possible. No flames, but I really think all of this delaying in foods like peanut butter especially causing the numbers of allergies to rise because you are just witholding the foods longer. We did peanut butter with both girls by 9 months. I tested tree nuts (by buying Nutella) with DD2 when she was about 16 months old or so. Don't recall when I did it with DD1, but I think DH casually gave her some chopped up nuts around the time she was 1 yrs. old.

With DD2 I think there is something going on with her. Her poop has been nasty since day one (she had breast fed poop well after I weaned her when she was 4 mos. old), and she had reflux (she spit up everything) from birth until she was 15 months old. It got slightly better when she was about 9 months old I started using the Playtex Drop Ins bottles because they helped cause less gas. We had her on cows milk from 12 months to just over 2 yrs. old and then she ended up with rotovirus so I took her off milk for a while till it calmed down and then she has been on Lactaid ever since. She goes through phases where her poop is somewhat normal and not smelly, but other times it stinks and is runny and soft so honestly I have no clue.

We will most likely be getting her tested this year although she never complains about being in pain after she eats dairy.

DD1 is not allergic to anything, but prefers soy milk to cows milk because when she was 16 months old and she kept getting runny noses so we switched her to soy and the congestion stopped. She has never had an allergy test.

Both of my girls have mild eczema, but sensitive skin is very common in my family.

[Mikey0709]

I also think an epipen is overkill - -

BUT I RECOMMEND keeping a bottle on children's liquid benedryl in the house!!!

Egg allergy here - and the first time I gave him a scrambled egg we ended up with hives. Quick dose of benedryl cleared it up and we did end up seeing an allergiest.

In fact - - i never had to use it - but i also keep one of the single serve benedryl packets in my purse or diaper bag... thinking if we don't need it maybe one day it could help someone else who does!

[fedoragirl]

We are in a similar phase as OP. I just don't know what to look for. We've had blood tests and nothing has come up. However, DD gets loose stools (not frequent) every now and then, and I can't figure out what it could be other than milk. Pediatrician told us to try lactose free milk but as it's so expensive, I was hoping for a more conclusive answer to these strange BMs before I put her on lactose free milk. She has been on cow's milk since she was 7 months old (formula and then, cow's milk). And her poops have always been like that. 4-5 months ago, she started complaining of a stomachache and that's when we did the testing, and celiac etc. was ruled out.
I give her probiotics almost every day.

[MSWR0319]

We have no history of food allergies, but I have severe seasonal allergies. DS1 has a severe peanut allergy. He stuck his finger in my PB toast and I let him lick it. It was a tiny tiny amount. I noticed a red spot near his mouth a half hour later. I couldn't be sure he hadn't gotten into something or rubbed his mouth, bu did ask my allergist about it at my appt that week. He said to avoid peanuts for a year just in case, then try again and we could do it in his office. That weekend DH woke me up and DS was covered in hives on his trunk. He was itching something fierce. I asked DH what he had ate and he (DH) had PB toast for breakfast. He must have had some on his hands when he pulled DS out of the highchair. The only reason I put two and two together was because I had just seen the red spot that week. I gave him Benedryl and made an appt that week for a test. sure enough, positive without a doubt. Looking back we had had another incident with the hives but I didn't know what had caused them. I took DS into the DR right away the first time and they said it was a case of random hives and gave me the proper Benedryl dose in case it happened again. I'm sure it was another contact reaction from DH's hands because PB was his favorite food and he often ate it for breakfast. He's never ingested peanuts, other than the tiny lick which was so small I'm sure it never made it past his tongue. I'm sure it wouldn't be pretty if he did.

ETA DS was about 18 mo I think when this happened.

[ang79]

My girls don't have any diagnosed allergies, though I am wondering if milk or wheat may be a problem, as they both complain frequently of tummy aches and I have noticed that the less wheat/gluten I have in my diet, the more regular my digestion is. But, a mom that used to be in my mom's group gave her son kiwi one morning for breakfast and he broke out in hives and was having trouble breathing. The doctor at the ER told her if she hadn't given him liquid benadryl before rushing to the ER, he may not have made it, the reaction was that strong. Ever since then, I make sure we have a bottle of liquid benadryl in the house and I also carry the little benadryl melts in my purse, just in case they have a reaction to something when we are out of the house.

[BabbyO]

Well, not all reactions lead to anaphylaxis. Both my boys are allergic to Dairy Protein. It was green, distinct smelly poop that was the first indicator. With DS1 I knew there was a problem but was told I probably had more spinach or something else in my diet that caused the green poop. A few days later there was blood in his stool. That's when I knew it was something more (and wasn't a fissure from straining).

Anyway...with DS2 the minute I saw the green poop (I can't explain it, but it is not normal green and has a distinct green smell. I knew right away something was not right) I knew to cut dairy...and we were all set.

My kids also get eczema on their face when they have a reaction.

[123LuckyMom]

Thanks for your stories! I really appreciate the information. We do have Benedryl in the house, though I don't carry doses in the diaper bag. That's not a bad idea, though. I'm really not the alarmist in the family. I'm very low key about these things, but DH, who used to be an EMT, is far more concerned. He was the one who thought about the epi pen.

DD has actually had dairy before the yogurt. I fed her an Ella chicken meal where milk was the second ingredient. She was fine. Our ped still recommends no dairy until-- I don't know. I'll ask tomorrow at DD's 9 month appointment. With DS, egg and dairy were 12 months. Nuts and honey were two years. The recommendations may have changed, though.

[flashy09]

I am totally paranoid about food allergies ever since my baby's MPSI (I know, totally different breed of allergy, but it's made me nervous anyway) and since life threatening reactions can happen at any time even after lots of exposure, I would love more than anything to have an Epi pen just in case. You never know when a bee sting or PBJ is suddenly going to cause a problem for anyone. I don't know why those things are not handed out like candy to be honest!

[MamaMolly]

Lula had blood in her diapers as an infant, her ped suspected dairy and had me cut it out of my diet. Total PITA but necessary.

Skip forward many many more months and she was tolerating dairy in my diet ok (but in hindsight there were things I should have seen, but no bloody diapers, so I ignorantly thought she was ok) and when her ped suggested trying dairy I gave her yogurt. She got hives around her mouth and one eye swollen shut. Buh-bye dairy.

Skip forward to when ever pediatricians recommend trying egg, and she had a couple of pinprick hives around her mouth when she tasted scrambled egg. Then about 20 minutes later projectile vomiting. In the car. Good times!!!!!!! Buh-bye egg.

Then somewhere in there we went to my mom's house and she reacted to touching the cat.

At that point the ped suggested doing a blood (Cap-Rast) test and we found out about the peanut. I'd seriously hoped for a false positive on that one but she's had a reaction to an accidental ingestion plus tested positive to the skin prick test.

It sucks.

I'm personally in favor of having an Epi in everyone's medicine cabinet ;) but they are $$$ and expire fairly quickly. I think your best bet would be to have children's Benedryl in liquid form on hand. One call to the nurse line at your ped and they can tell you the correct dose, as can any pharmacist. ;) Guess how I know that one...

Hope this helps.

[flashy09]

Lula had blood in her diapers as an infant, her ped suspected dairy and had me cut it out of my diet. Total PITA but necessary.

Skip forward many many more months and she was tolerating dairy in my diet ok (but in hindsight there were things I should have seen, but no bloody diapers, so I ignorantly thought she was ok) and when her ped suggested trying dairy I gave her yogurt. She got hives around her mouth and one eye swollen shut. Buh-bye dairy.

Skip forward to when ever pediatricians recommend trying egg, and she had a couple of pinprick hives around her mouth when she tasted scrambled egg. Then about 20 minutes later projectile vomiting. In the car. Good times!!!!!!! Buh-bye egg.

Then somewhere in there we went to my mom's house and she reacted to touching the cat.

At that point the ped suggested doing a blood (Cap-Rast) test and we found out about the peanut. I'd seriously hoped for a false positive on that one but she's had a reaction to an accidental ingestion plus tested positive to the skin prick test.

It sucks.

I'm personally in favor of having an Epi in everyone's medicine cabinet ;) but they are $$$ and expire fairly quickly. I think your best bet would be to have children's Benedryl in liquid form on hand. One call to the nurse line at your ped and they can tell you the correct dose, as can any pharmacist. ;) Guess how I know that one...

Hope this helps.

Definitely getting some children's Benedryl! I would also love to do the blood tests. I seriously am avoiding the known serious allergenic foods and can't keep doing that forever for no reason. I can't shake feeling that if she is intolerant to milk and soy, which is not a problem on either side of the family, how is she going to be ok with peanuts? I just have it in my head that she is allergy prone now and it's really scaring me.

[tribe pride]

DS1 has a lot of FA. DH is allergic to shellfish, so I should have put two and two together and figured DS1 might have one. He had severe eczema as an infant and spit up frequently. When he was 11 months I gave him dairy (yogurt) for the first time. He loved it. 10 minutes later he had hives all over his body, an alternating between a hacking cough and very raspy breathing. I truly believe that God protected him at that point, because I was home alone with him and FA still weren't on my radar. I sat there with him kind of panicked (it was nighttime, so the doctor's office was closed), and waited a few minutes for it to subside. After about 20 minutes his breathing was normal and the hives went away, so I just put him to bed. Stupid, stupid mother!!!! Like I said, I am convinced that God protected him, because I did everything wrong in that situation- no benadryl, no 911, no ER. Uggh, I still can't believe it.

The dr tested him for dairy and other FA using the skin prick test. But his skin was so sensitive he reacted positively to everything, including the controls. So they did a blood test, but only for the dairy, so we didn't know at that point if he was allergic to anything else. The allergist told us to hold off on introducing other major allergens.

Fast forward 1 year, we gave DS eggs, and he broke out in hives. We were waiting until he was 3 to introduce nuts, but he accidentally got a trace amount of PB (like miniscule amount) on his sunbutter sandwich. He broke out in hives across his face, his eye swelled shut, and he sat there screaming. Thankfully the benadryl worked, and he didn't need his epi pen. Since then, he has tested positive for all tree nuts, shellfish, and sesame.

DS2 is not allergic to dairy, peanuts, eggs, or sesame. He has not yet been exposed to tree nuts or shellfish. I'm fairly nervous about introducing them, and I think I may very well introduce them in the parking lot of the ER. I'm fairly certain he will be allergic to shellfish, as DH, DS1, MIL, and SIL are also allergic.

[almostamom]

DS has had a lot of food allergies. He's outgrown most of them that resulted in rashes (strawberries, fish, shellfish, mustard), but his allergy to nuts and tree nuts is life threatening. When he was 14 mos old I gave him a tiny piece of a cookie from a bakery at the mall. We were in the food court with my grandmother. She noticed that he was pulling at his sweater. When I lifted his sweater up, he was covered in hives. Then he started scratching at his throat. My friend is a school nurse down the street from the mall, so I took him to her and she gave him Benadryl and watched him for an hour or so. The cookie I gave him was NOT a peanut butter cookie and did not contain nuts. It was a cross-contamination reaction. I am grateful every day that we never tried peanut butter at home. He went into anaphylaxis on step 1 of a peanut butter food challenge - the amount of peanut butter he consumed was smaller than a grain of rice. I would never question anyone who sat outside a hospital when giving their child peanut butter/nuts for the first time. No one in either of our families has any history of nut allergies.

[MSWR0319]

Definitely getting some children's Benedryl! I would also love to do the blood tests. I seriously am avoiding the known serious allergenic foods and can't keep doing that forever for no reason. I can't shake feeling that if she is intolerant to milk and soy, which is not a problem on either side of the family, how is she going to be ok with peanuts? I just have it in my head that she is allergy prone now and it's really scaring me.

Have you asked for allergy tests? What's your DS's plan for her MSPI? I don't know if it's because DS2 has MSPI or because of DS1's peanut allergy, but our allergist told me not to try milk, soy, or eggs until he tests DS when he's a year. I'm scared of what we may find, but I want to know before I even attempt nuts if he's allergic or not.

[barkley1]

I have an eczema question for you all...DD has had a sandpaper like rash on her tummy that just comes and goes for about 10 months now. I do think it was there even back when she was exclusively breastfed. It seems to get better when I use Aveeno lotion on it, but I'm questioning whether it shows up due to something she's eaten, or lack of lotion. When it goes away, I wonder was it because I put lotion on it, or because whatever she ate left her system? How do you know?

She loves to eat, is a healthy weight, and never shows any discomfort after eating...Also, we only bathe her as needed/about 2-3 times per week.

[megs4413]

my DS has a life-threatening latex allergy, so not food. Our first sign was a reaction to bandaids when he was a baby, though at the time we just decided we would use different bandaids. It got progressively worse as he got older (more exposures). The reaction that sent us to the ER and landed us with the epi-pens was hives/swollen mouth. We had no idea what he was reacting to at the time. We had gotten a balloon from a restaurant and he had hives for 3 straight days. on the 3rd day he was lethargic and his mouth started to swell. The balloon was just in the house, he wasn't even touching it. At the time we knew he'd been allergic to adhesives, but we didn't know that was a precursor for latex allergy. I wish we would have.

Like a PP, we had several unexplained instances of hives. It was very frustrating for me at the time to have him miserable and itchy and covered in spots and just have my pediatrician shrug. They thought it was "stress." I should have been on the lookout for latex allergy since DS has been through so many surgeries/hospitalizations. I would have put it together sooner.

ETA: just a word of caution on allergy testing with the blood tests...they won't always catch an allergy.

[megs4413]

I have an eczema question for you all...DD has had a sandpaper like rash on her tummy that just comes and goes for about 10 months now. I do think it was there even back when she was exclusively breastfed. It seems to get better when I use Aveeno lotion on it, but I'm questioning whether it shows up due to something she's eaten, or lack of lotion. When it goes away, I wonder was it because I put lotion on it, or because whatever she ate left her system? How do you know?

She loves to eat, is a healthy weight, and never shows any discomfort after eating...Also, we only bathe her as needed/about 2-3 times per week.

both of my kids have eczema. i don't always know what causes the patches. sometimes they seem quite random. If your DD is consistently having them on her tummy, maybe it's from contact of some kind....dunno. does she sleep on her tummy?

to manage my kids' eczema, we bathe every other day instead of every day. we use unscented lotions/soaps/shampoos. I wash and dry their clothes without scents/dyes/perfumes. they have been mostly patch free since I adopted stricter perfume laws around my house and made sure to carefully launder their stuff. I think they only get patches now when their skin is too dry.

[AshleyAnn]

DD ate lasagna and her face turned immediately had a red rash around her face. It was made from scratch so I just wrote everything in it down and crossed off anything she had eaten in the past. It was pretty easy to declare it the egg. I avoided egg til 2 (my pedi said avoid since it was clear and not submit her to allergy testing), she's now 3 and i do not think she's eaten it again but I'd be leary to risk it without some benedryl handy.

You need a script for an epipen, its unlikely you will get one without already having a known allergy. Its a huge over reaction to the risk IMO.

[bigsis]

We found out about DS' food allergy when he was 9 mos old. I gave him YoBaby yogurt. He loved it and asked for more. I gave him the 2nd cup (he was inhaling the stuff), then all of a sudden, he violently threw up and half his body was covered with hives. No anaphylactic reactions though. I called the Dr and they said (as I've suspected) dairy allergy. We brought him in to the Drs office and they did an allergy test and found out about the other allergies.

FWIW, my DH has some mild food allergies and so does my Dad. So we definitely have family history of that. I agree with keeping Benadryl, not epipen, if you feel you need to be prepared.

[ladysoapmaker]

DS#2 has a soy allergy. When he was about 2 months, he was given formula (prior to that he had been EBF). He broke out with hives. I took him to the ER and they asked what he had I said formula and they asked history of food allergies in the family, I said bio-dad has several including soy. It was the soy in the formula. And since all formula except (at the time) 2 had soy in them I went back to EBF. And I stopped eating soy. After that the rash/excema on his stomach went away.

We have since reintroduced soy into his diet but it was a small amount and he no longer gets hives, he just gets hyper and excema on his hands.

Jen

[MamaMolly]

Definitely getting some children's Benedryl! I would also love to do the blood tests. I seriously am avoiding the known serious allergenic foods and can't keep doing that forever for no reason. I can't shake feeling that if she is intolerant to milk and soy, which is not a problem on either side of the family, how is she going to be ok with peanuts? I just have it in my head that she is allergy prone now and it's really scaring me.

I'm not up on the latest research, but back when Lula was being tested the recommendation was that the child be over a year old.

And Megs4413 is absolutely right, there is no 100% accurate test for food allergies. There are false positives and false negatives with both the blood and skin prick tests. It is maddening.

[MamaMolly]

my DS has a life-threatening latex allergy, so not food. Our first sign was a reaction to bandaids when he was a baby, though at the time we just decided we would use different bandaids. It got progressively worse as he got older (more exposures). The reaction that sent us to the ER and landed us with the epi-pens was hives/swollen mouth. We had no idea what he was reacting to at the time. We had gotten a balloon from a restaurant and he had hives for 3 straight days. on the 3rd day he was lethargic and his mouth started to swell. The balloon was just in the house, he wasn't even touching it. At the time we knew he'd been allergic to adhesives, but we didn't know that was a precursor for latex allergy. I wish we would have.

Like a PP, we had several unexplained instances of hives. It was very frustrating for me at the time to have him miserable and itchy and covered in spots and just have my pediatrician shrug. They thought it was "stress." I should have been on the lookout for latex allergy since DS has been through so many surgeries/hospitalizations. I would have put it together sooner.

ETA: just a word of caution on allergy testing with the blood tests...they won't always catch an allergy.

Oh my gosh, Megs! I didn't know PC had a latex allergy. I'm really sorry! :(

[MamaMolly]

With DS, egg and dairy were 12 months. Nuts and honey were two years. The recommendations may have changed, though.

That is interesting. Just idle curiosity on my part, but Do you know if the honey is about possible allergies? I always thought it was the botulism thing, and it was safe after one year old. I am so out of touch with the research and recommendations!

[123LuckyMom]

As far as I know the honey is not about allergies.

[megs4413]

Oh my gosh, Megs! I didn't know PC had a latex allergy. I'm really sorry! :(

aww, thank you. it's been really hard putting him in school this year. very, very stressful. You know all about that!

[Simon]

Ds3 had the blood (RAST) test at 9 mo so it is posisble to test before age 1. We used those results to guide a skin test when he was about 10 mo. It was very helpful to learn that his dairy intolerance is just that, an intolerance, but his reactions to soy are a real allergy. Also, his peanut numbers were so high (RAST*), that they won't even do a skin test unless the number comes down (we'll re-test blood) in another year.

My understanding is that they won't do any allergy testing, even for the top 8 or just peanuts/treenuts, unless you have a reason to suspect an allergy. The reason is that there are false positive results and they don't want kids needlessly avoiding allergens since there is some evidence that strict avoidance can make allergies worse in some kids.

*High RAST numbers don't always mean a worse/bad reaction and its possible to have very strong reactions with low RAST numbers. But because Ds3 is so young they wouldn't risk the skin test because of how high the number was.

[Melbel]

Blood tests as part of the kids Lyme work up. All three kids tested positive for casein and gluten sensitivity, at ages 12, 10 and 4. We did not realize they had FA before this testing. FA are common with Lyme (part of the inflammatory cascade).

[123LuckyMom]

I just got back from the ped for DD's 9 mo. check up. He said she shouldn't be drinking cow's milk at this stage, but that dairy like cheese, yogurt, and foods with milk in them are totally fine. He said eggs are fine now, too. He advised us to continue to wait on honey and peanuts, but otherwise, she can have anything.

[justlearning]

Interesting question. If I had been more aware of food allergies 9 years ago, I probably would have been more concerned about the first time I gave my son nuts.

As it were, I wasn't concerned and gave my 11-month-old a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He took one little bite, spit it all out, and started developing hives all over his face. Fortunately, he did OK with me just giving him Benadryl immediately, but it may have turned out worse, I guess.

[tny915]

FWIW - Our pedi did say that, if there is a FA, the first allergic response is usually much less severe during the first exposure than after subsequent exposures. She said the first exposure will usually result in a red rash around the mouth area.

DD2 has a peanut allergy. Her first small taste resulted in redness around her mouth, and she did not want any more PB. Ped told us if she reacted to a 2nd exposure, she'd need to be evaluated for FA. I remember that she had redness around her mouth after having strawberries for the first time too, but with her 2nd exposure to that she was totally fine.

Anyway, while on vacation, DH forgot about the potential nut allergy and gave DD2 a peanut. She hated the taste and spit it out immediately. Over the next couple hours, it affected her throat or airway because she started to cough a lot. Then she developed hives all over her body. She recovered after a dose of Benedryl and hours and hours of sleep, but it was scary.

DD actually ate almonds, cashews, and walnuts for months with no reactions, so the allergist did not test for the safe nuts that she'd eaten, since tests can show false positives and ingestion is the best test for allergic reaction. DD has always hated the smell of PB, and the allergist told us that kids sometimes know what their bodies need to avoid.