Weaning - is this an allergic reaction? What next?

[2ndDestiny]

Sorry if this has been done before, don't have much time to search before baby wakes up.

DD, 6 and half months - started baby-led weaning. All fine until I gave her a strip of cheese and mushroom omelette - she happily chomped on it but immediately came out in an angry red rash, started round the mouth and spread over cheeks, neck and torso. It settled down within a few hours and since then she's only had fruits and veg, introducing one food at a time, no reactions. I feel a bit defeated as I really wanted to give baby-led weaning a go this time. Also worried. I am going to contact my HV and/or GP but just wondered if anyone has experience of this, and what normally happens next in terms of weaning, allergy testing, etc? I'm guessing it was the egg, as she accidentally found her way into some pizza at a picnic the day before, and no reaction to the cheese she smeared on herself.

Thanks for any advice.

Most likely to be egg. My wee one had the same reaction. I contacted the GP by phone and got a prescription of piriton to keep in the house just in case. As long as breathing is not inhibited LO should recover fairly quickly.

My understanding is that babies can be allergic to the white, the yolk or both. Sometimes egg in things like cake is fine and other times not. That's why it's worth having some anti-histamine on standby.

Most grow out of it as well

Thanks crisps. Will certainly see GP. Glad to hear she may grow out of it. Were you advised about how to proceed with weaning? Did you just carry on as normal but avoid egg and eggy things, or did you have to be more cautious generally? were you able to re-introduce egg later on?
thanks again.

I know a couple of people who are allergic to mushrooms, so don't think you can assume its the egg.

Fair point ipsissima

One way of checking is to cook up some scrambled egg and rub a wee bit on your LO's inner arm. Leave it about 10 mins.

I did this prior to offering egg and it did come up red.

My DD also has CMPI so we are under dietician care. We have weaned very slowly and I was told to avoid all egg. After she turns 1 we will follow a slow process of testing.

Thanks to both of you for your replies. I think i'll avoid both for the time being and see what GP suggests. have just spotted a v similar thread in weaning!

crisps i don't know what cmpi is but hope your lo is doing well now.

we have allergies on both sides of the family but nothing too scary so far, thankfully.

go to your gp and still ask for some support for testing as allergies dont often come in ones! (egg and peanut are common combinations of food allergies for some reason)

does yr baby has asthma or ezcema?

egg white has the protein which causes the problem. its impossible to remove a yolk from an egg without leaving a trace of the white and so reactions to both happen iyswim.

cooked egg can be tolerated by some but not all at first. I would avoid all egg in any form unless medically advised.

egg allergies are more likely to be outgrown, usually by being able at first to eat well cooked egg for instance in cakes. The high heat changes the protein structure. You need some medical advice on this as your child grows older.

The antihistamine advice was good, and the quicker the prition is given the better.

Thanks eragon that's really helpful. She has very mild eczema, but a bit worse than her older brother who outgrew his before age 1. I have a sister and a cousin with eczema persisting into adulthood aggravated by dairy and other allergies, DH has various non-food allergies, and his nephew has a peanut allergy. Ugh, I so hope she is not allergic to nuts and is lucky enough to outgrow this. Will definitely seek medical advice.