Testing possible egg and milk allergies in a 6 month old

[Stacks]

Can I ask for some advice on allergies? My refluxy DS has been ebf till 6m, but while doing BLW he's had a reaction to margarine (very little, I scraped off as much as I could from a bit of bread while out) and mayo - I'm assuming its the dairy and eggs that was the problem.

Do I try giving him some 'pure' egg and milk? Rub it on his skin? See if he reacts to them?

His reaction to the unknown brand margarine was red lumps round his mouth with lots of attempts at rubbing/scratching the area. The mayo was the same, though more noticeable including his eye swelling up slightly (where he rubbed it in with his hand I think), plus hiccups. I've noticed before his reflux used to be much worse after I had milk, so I've been on a reduced dairy diet since.

He's on max dose of ranitidine and domperidone and has been for a month or so. Still has reflux though, I can hear him swallowing back down acid often, though he's not often sick. His sleep is terrible, waking every 2 hours usually. Oh, and he has eczema too, though only mild.

I've not seen anyone about the allergies, making an appointment on Monday. However a quick phone chat with his reflux consultant she said for me to keep eating dairy to keep him exposed and maybe build up a tolerance. I don't know if I'm being too quick to assume an allergy. He's been fine with tomato, strawberries and bread.

Thank you for reading all this, and any advice you can maybe give.

He's only had the reactions once, and recently. I've not tried either since and have avoided giving him other foods containing eggs or milk.

He's swallowing very little of his food still, but there's been no obvious D/V after the reactions.

Have you been to see your GP about these reactions?

I would explain the reactions your wee one has already had.

Ask for allergy testing.

Don't do a DIY 'rub some egg on the skin' type of test, my DD had her first egg reaction at about 7 months and it was very frightening for all concerned. Go to the GP and ask to be referred for tests.

stacks I wouldn't do any diy testing. My son us similar in that he has silent reflux and on Max of ranitidine now and will be on omeprazole from Mon. We seen paeds about a fortnight ago and he was skin prick tested that day and so far us allergic to milk, egg and peanuts.He also had been diagnosed with eczema by gp but his skin has cleared completely with me cutting dairy egg and peanuts on advice of the consultant. I cannot imagine continuing the allergic foods would help allergy, possibly would even worsen them. I recommend you contact gp to get a referral to paeds ASAP. We have major sleep, naps for twenty mins max twice a day on a good day and will wake st worst every 40mins. Thus is probably part reflux and part three fact my son will not take solids as he gas developed an oral aversion and the consultant as very helpful and we've now git children's nurses coming to our home to encourage eating solids and a dietician referral too. If you want to know more just ask.

Sorry for typos, feeding and tired!

I've got a doctors appointment today at 3:20. Hopefully they'll offer some kind of allergy testing. Are there any guidelines for this sort of thing?

We have lots of allergies in our family, asthma, eczema, hay fever and food allergies.

Totally useless appointment. I've been told to do nothing, keep eating dairy and egg, and feed it to DS. While I wait for my reflux appointment at the end of the month.

Sorry to hear that, gps can be useless where allergies are concerned. There are NICE guidelines you can refer to. Also take a photo if there is another reaction. I would make an appointment with another gp straight away though.

I would call back and see another gp to be honest. I can't see how, constant exposure is s good idea if he's swelling up and getting hives. The next reaction could be worse.

You need to stop dairy and eggs totally for you.

At 6 months my sons reflux completely went after I gave up milk (he had an allergic reaction to yoghurt).

Once I stopped it he no longer needed ranitadine.

What you ingest will effect him.. Even small amounts.

Ive just seen you had an appointment. Please, for goodness sake dont feed him dairy and eggs.

Some (many!) doctors dont believe in baby allergies.

You need to see a different doctor, I found the younger the doctor the more they listened to the allergy issue. He needs to be referred to an allergy specialist.

I think this says for me not to give up dairy without advice from a dietician:

"NICE CG116 recommends the use of trial elimination of the suspected allergen for children and young people with suspected non-IgE-mediated food allergy. The risk of conversion to IgE-mediated allergy on reintroduction of cow?s milk in some children with FPIES demonstrates the importance of the NICE CG116 recommendation for primary and community healthcare professionals to seek advice from a dietitian with appropriate competencies when commencing an elimination diet. The evidence from Katz et al. (2011) also suggests that conducting allergy tests for IgE-mediated allergy after long-term food exclusion in non-IgE-mediated reactions, to minimise the risk of subsequent IgE-mediated reactions, may be a consideration for future guidance reviews."

So I'm going to stay dairy reduced, but not go dairy free yet. I have a peads appointment for relfux at the end of July. I'll not be giving my ds milk or eggs though, that seems like silly advice, if not a little dangerous.

Stacks, my sons allergies are so severe we have to go to a top allergy specialist hospital in London, we see one of the top allergy specialist and the his dietician.

There is absolutely nothing wrong woth giving up dairy. The only thing you have to make sure, is that you get your calcium from somewhere else as it will weaken youe bones.

You need the equivilant of two cups Koko (coconut milk) or calcium fortified oat milk or calcium supplements (that do not contain milk!).

That advice I got from possibly the best dietician out there.

Milk is crap. It gives us calcium yes, but it does a whole lot of other crap that we dont need. It totally inhibits iron absorbtion, most cows milk loving toddlers will have low ferritin levels or be anemic for this very reason.

You do not need milk.

If your child has a milk allergy, which he does, and you are choosing to breastfeed you need to either give up milk and its products totally, or give him an alternative formula, if you want him well and not reacting.

Duck what was your sons reaction if you don't mind me asking? Was it mild or serious initially?

I am worried about my son, the reactions he's had have beed to foods which contain a small amount of potential allergens, not a pure reaction. I don't know of this means his allergy could be more serious than it seems, or if it doesn't mean anything at all.

I drink koko milk on my cereal every morning, and take breastfeeding vitamins which contain calcium etc. so in not worried about my diet really. Just DS.

My 6 m old (EBF) gets redness around the mouth and I think itchy too based on her behaviour with any cows milk, fromage frais etc. I dabbed a bit on her leg and that came out red too after about ten minutes.

HV said its normal to have some 'sensitivity' on introducing new stuff and to keep giving it?starting to doubt this now!

Adagio I wouldn't listen to that HV, that doesn't sound right to me at all.

Stacks he was 5 months old and went into full anaphylactic shock. Called an ambulance and had to administer adrenalin.

Adagio your HV's advise is frightening. Your child has an allergy, and can get worse with exposure.

I'm not telling you this to frighten you, Im telling you because allergies can be mild, and they can be serious but what they cannot be is ignored or dismissed. X

To add, stacks you absolutely do not need to worry about taking things out of your diet for your son. Our bodies are clever, whatever it needs it will steal from our bodies to give to our babies. They dont suffer, they get everything they need and more. We suffer, thats why we need extra calcium.

What would make your child unwell is to continue to ingest the very allergen that his body is reacting to.

NO to DIY testing. I honestly would cut out dairy. My DS was diagnosed with reflux, but they were wrong. All symptoms disappeared on cutting out dairy, soya and egg.

Adagio, I was told to keep giving DS stuff he was reacting to. Cue terrifying trip to A&E.

Hmm, what to do with 5 petit filous and most of a pint of full fat milk??!

Thanks for your comments all, taken on board. I will cut out completely, at least for a few months.

One question, can I use non cow milk on my little one? i.e. rice, coconut etc? not sure how to administer breakfast (porridge, cereals etc) without something runny!

Also, I thought dairy helped give essential fat soluble vitamins. Do I need to worry about this? What do you all do with dairy allergic nippers?

From six months you can use alpro 1+ soya milk. Koko is also good. Just don't use rice milk :)

Thanks caffeine

Back to the supermarket I go!

With regards to fat if you are worried, the alpro is closer to full fat milk than koko. Koko is around 2% I think. But there are soya and oat creams available. And coconut products are very good for fat. As she's only six months and your still breast feeding , then it shouldn't be a major worry as that's the main source of nutrition. You can always add extra margarine or olive oil or coconut oil to things. You can of course express milk and use that :)

I would go back to see a different GP and ask to be referred to the allergy clinic. In the meantime keep a diary of everything your LO (and you) eats and list any potential allergic reactions, including photos. In such a small baby you don't yet need to worry about them having a balanced diet because they will still be getting all the nutrients they need in their milk but YOU should not cut out foods long term without seeing a dietician. The allergy clinic should refer you to a dietician if they recommend you avoid a major foodstuff.

If you want to do a short exclusion test then cut out a SINGLE foodstuff from your diet for just two weeks then reintroduce and see if it affects your DS. That will not be harmful for you and should give useful results for the allergy clinic. If you just exclude several different foods (e.g.eggs and dairy) it doesn't tell them anything and you might be excluding foods unnecessarily.

Remember MOST children don't have allergies, but quite a few have occasional skin sensitivity to certain foods. That's not to say your LO doesn't have an allergy but hassle the GP to refer you to the experts rather than putting yourself through the hassle of excluding foods from your own diet.