Egg allergy questions

[daisymommy]

This question is for a friend. 20 month old baby throws up every time she eats eggs. Sometimes she gets hives. No other symptoms noticed. Mother just recently figured out the connection, that it was the eggs.
Mom is going to stop feeding babe eggs, but wants to know if she (mother) needs to stop eating them too since she is still breastfeeding?
Mother doesn't really want to go through all the painful allergy testing if she can just eliminate the eggs.

Thanks!


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[MSWR0319]

This question is for a friend. 20 month old baby throws up every time she eats eggs. Sometimes she gets hives. No other symptoms noticed. Mother just recently figured out the connection, that it was the eggs.
Mom is going to stop feeding babe eggs, but wants to know if she (mother) needs to stop eating them too since she is still breastfeeding?
Mother doesn't really want to go through all the painful allergy testing if she can just eliminate the eggs.

Thanks!


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Does she have symptoms after she nurses and mom has had eggs? DS2 would get nasty smelling diapers, mucus in the stool, and eventually blood about 4 days after I ate egg. So I obviously had to eliminate it. Some kids don't get symptoms from breast milk exposure. If she's not getting symptoms I'm not sure I'd eliminate, but then again maybe she is having symptoms and it's just not as recognizable since it's a lower exposure amount. Allergy testing isn't really painful. It actually might help confirm if she needs to totally eliminate. All they really need right now is a blood test and they just put numbing cream on her arm. They don't have to do the prick test. Not that she needs to test, just letting her know that it doesn't hurt if she decides she wants to know for sure.

DS actually tested negative but because we've had a reaction we are keeping him off egg per the allergist. He can have baked egg though because he gets no reaction. So if she's not reacting to the BM it may be fine to continue eating eggs.

[mctlaw]

I knew that DS2 was allergic to eggs via his reaction to my breast milk before he was on solids. I cut them out but was later able to reintroduce them to my diet once DS2 was eating a significant amount of solids, without ill effect on DS2. We later did confirm the allergy with IGe testing. A single blood draw, not a big deal.

[ShanaMama]

Allergy testing isn't painful, if that's really what's concerning her. (Eta: its either a blood test or a skin teat which does not hurt. Throat cultures are worse than allergy testing.) But what would be the purpose of testing her if she sees that the baby is vomiting? There is no test that tells you 'baby can handle egg via breast milk but not orally.' It's really more of a trial & error thing. I think she can ask this question to any number of parents & doctors & she'll get a different answer from each one.
My advice as a FA parent who has nursed on the allergy diet is to eliminate the eggs in the baby's diet first. If the baby is completely fine with no changes to the mom's diet then I wouldn't initiate them. Signs that show the baby is disturbed by mom's diet can be colicky type crankiness, eczema, irritable stomach & maybe some diaper symptoms with which I am not familiar.
I think its worth mentioning that the severity of the child's allergy doesn't necessarily correlate to in/tolerance to the allergen in breast milk. I know I'm not saying it clearly so here's my example: DD2 cannot tolerate any eggs in any form. I nursed her for 2 years keeping to the same allergy diet that she did. Her egg allergy is considered severe based on her reaction (severe vomiting) but she has never needed an Epipen for any of her reactions.
DS is allergic to a whole host of foods which I never eliminated from my diet. He was fine with me eating them. But when he ingests them his reaction is bad.

Last point is that she may want to get under the care of an allergist because vomiting every time you eat something really is a pretty strong reaction. There's no knowing what the next exposure can bring, & anaphylaxis can result from a future exposure even if it didn't happen the first handful of times.

[JBaxter]

She should confirm the egg allergy Many vaccines are made w/ egg products. It would be good to avoid reactions with those

[KpbS]

I would avoid eating eggs and all foods with egg as an ingredient while breast feeding. DS1 had an egg allergy (still does) and had very strong reactions to foods he ate while I was nursing him. Egg is a common ingredient in many salad dressings, cakes, some breads, sauces, and even some candies. Definitely read the labels and avoid all egg. I would have him allergy tested after age two, maybe 2.5. After that, the allergist may do a food challenge.

My DS is still allergic to egg and while he has never eaten any egg and now tests negative to egg, he has anaphylatic symptoms when exposed to cooked eggs in the same room. Scary stuff!

[MSWR0319]

She should confirm the egg allergy Many vaccines are made w/ egg products. It would be good to avoid reactions with those

They now allow most children with egg allergies to get vaccines, so I wouldn't worry too much about that specific aspect.

[daisymommy]

You gals are awesome! I knew you all would be able to answer this! Thanks!


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[LMPC]

DD had an egg allergy (figured it out at 10 or 11 mo). Her ped didn't recommend allergy testing, just to stay away from eggs. I didn't stop eating them, and her vaccine schedule wasn't altered because of it. The peds office did have us wait for about a half hour IIRC after one shot to make sure she didn't have a reaction (she didn't).

[nfceagles]

If the child reacts when she eats them, yes. If not, no.

[justlearning]

If I were in your friend's shoes, I would stop eating eggs. Her daughter is already 20 months old so she likely won't be breastfeeding that much longer. My older son is severely allergic to nuts but we didn't know that until after I was done breastfeeding due to him not eating nuts until later. I felt HORRIBLE when I realized that the nuts in my diet likely contributed to him having terrible diaper rashes and excema. For my next son, I wanted to reduce his chances of developing a nut allergy and avoided all nuts during my pregnancy and during the year of breastfeeding. In my opinion, giving up something in your diet is a worthwhile sacrifice if it could help your child avoid a problem.

[justlearning]

My DS is still allergic to egg and while he has never eaten any egg and now tests negative to egg, he has anaphylatic symptoms when exposed to cooked eggs in the same room. Scary stuff!

That is really scary! Is he in school? Have they made it egg-free?

[ShanaMama]

I would avoid eating eggs and all foods with egg as an ingredient while breast feeding. DS1 had an egg allergy (still does) and had very strong reactions to foods he ate while I was nursing him. Egg is a common ingredient in many salad dressings, cakes, some breads, sauces, and even some candies. Definitely read the labels and avoid all egg. I would have him allergy tested after age two, maybe 2.5. After that, the allergist may do a food challenge.

My DS is still allergic to egg and while he has never eaten any egg and now tests negative to egg, he has anaphylatic symptoms when exposed to cooked eggs in the same room. Scary stuff!
Can you elaborate what you mean by anaphylactic symptoms? My allergist maintains that people don't react (anaphylaxis) unless they ingest the food. I have heard many stories to the contrary but no concrete evidence. I'd like to hear more about this. Thanks!

[ShanaMama]

She should confirm the egg allergy Many vaccines are made w/ egg products. It would be good to avoid reactions with those


They now allow most children with egg allergies to get vaccines, so I wouldn't worry too much about that specific aspect.

Most vaccines are no longer made using eggs but many pediatricians are unaware of this. MMR no longer uses eggs. The only other one that used to have eggs is the flu shot. I don't know about special order vaccines that some BBBers use (preservative free, etc. )

[bigsis]

If the child reacts when she eats them, yes. If not, no.
This is what my DS's ped told me too.

[rin]

Can you elaborate what you mean by anaphylactic symptoms? My allergist maintains that people don't react (anaphylaxis) unless they ingest the food. I have heard many stories to the contrary but no concrete evidence. I'd like to hear more about this. Thanks!

I have seen my SIL go into anaphylaxis from airborne bananas (my other SIL's husband didn't realize the severity of SIL's banana allergy and had baked banana bread at our shared vacation rental a few years ago) and coffee when I idiotically forgot that our local gelato shop is also an espresso bar and took her there. My SIL has very severe food and environmental allergies, and I don't know how common those kinds of reactions are, but I have personally seen it happen.

[KpbS]

If I were in your friend's shoes, I would stop eating eggs. Her daughter is already 20 months old so she likely won't be breastfeeding that much longer. My older son is severely allergic to nuts but we didn't know that until after I was done breastfeeding due to him not eating nuts until later. I felt HORRIBLE when I realized that the nuts in my diet likely contributed to him having terrible diaper rashes and excema. For my next son, I wanted to reduce his chances of developing a nut allergy and avoided all nuts during my pregnancy and during the year of breastfeeding. In my opinion, giving up something in your diet is a worthwhile sacrifice if it could help your child avoid a problem.

I totally agree with this.

[KpbS]

That is really scary! Is he in school? Have they made it egg-free?


Can you elaborate what you mean by anaphylactic symptoms? My allergist maintains that people don't react (anaphylaxis) unless they ingest the food. I have heard many stories to the contrary but no concrete evidence. I'd like to hear more about this. Thanks!


Yes, he is in school. It is not egg free but a very small school and very accommodating. He has had to take some lunchtime precautions and is unable to eat in the cafeteria certain days.

He has had eye swelling, external throat irritation, and internal throat irritation, itchiness, and breathing difficulties, simply from being in the same room as cooked eggs. I too would be skeptical but I have seen him react when cooked eggs had been present hours earlier and he had no idea. Really sensitive.