My breastfed baby is allergic to egg, do I need to stop eating eggs!

[StuntNun]

DS3 (6 months) shared a bit of my scrambled egg this morning and had an allergic reaction to it - hives and coughing. The GP prescribed antihistamines but didn't give me any advice on managing his allergy. He has had a rash around his mouth and on his body for weeks now and he doesn't sleep well, often waking with abdominal pain that resolves after ten minutes or so. I'm wondering whether I need to cut eggs out of my diet as well?

[blueberryupsidedown]

I think that you should speak to a specialist, or make another appointment with your GP. It's quite a serious health question and I would trust a professional to answer. You should really try to see a specialist as the advice may be to introduce some foods very carefully, such as nuts, seafood, etc.

Have you given him any cow's milk yet, maybe in your cooking? Cheese? Yogurt? That might be the cause of the tummy pains and rash.

I have two good friends who have children with severe reaction to cow's milk, eggs, nuts etc and in both cases their specialists told them not to cut the items out of their diet (they are both breastfeeding), however one of them has cut out dairy and eggs from her diet and the child's health improved, ie less wheezing. The other mum was told not to cut out dairy as she might not have enough calcium in her diet as a result.

[StuntNun]

Fortunately I am seeing the allergy specialist next week with DS1 (who is being monitored after immunotherapy for hayfever) so hopefully I can pick his brain about DS3 at the same time while I'm waiting for the official appointment. DS3 has had dairy products (formula and yoghurt) with no reaction so dairy is okay. I was planning to avoid shellfish and nuts for the first five years anyway as DH is allergic to shellfish. It may be worth me cutting out eggs for a while to see whether it makes a difference as I eat them several times a week at the moment. I was wondering whether anyone else had tried this as I can't find any concrete information on the Internet.

[blueberryupsidedown]

I don't know. One thing my friend does is put a little food on her baby's lip, and wait a few minutes to see if there's any redness, before feeding him. He is allergic to dairy, fish, shellfish, nuts, eggs. She gives a mixture of coconut milk and almond milk. She makes the most amazing coconut pancakes (looks a bit like drop scones) with raisins, and egg replacement. Her son eats lots of plain rice, rice noodles instead of pasta, and she is cooking lots of egg-free delicious cakes!

I would probably do the same as you if I was in your shoes, ie cut the egg until I get the go ahead from a specialist.