Alergy obsession

[steve67bell]

As a Dad, my wife and I of course want the best start for our toddler (aged 3) - however, I am concerned that my wife is excessively worried over our son's diet and stops him from eating all sorts of food, in case eczema occurs (he did have bad eczema as a baby). I wonder if other parents have the same worries too ? - foods that are banned include: milk (we use special non dairy), white of eggs, fishcakes, fish fingers, chocolate, ice cream, cheese, honey. I have tried to introduce (secretly some of these foods, and can see no ill affect) - Is there a proper allergy test that can be taken, and f so how often should a child be tested.

Yes your child can have a skin prick test.

I worry about my childs allergies, of course. He is allergic to 30 foods (that we know of). I know this by giving him to food and he reacted, then we had skin prick tests and blood tests to confirm.

Eczema is indeed a symptom of an allergy.

Im at home all day with my son, I see how he reacts to the foods, his Dad gets told and tbh he just has to trust and believe me.

That said, he has been present at the skin and blood tests so he saw what i was saying be confirmed by medics.

Id give your wife the benefit of the doubt, especially if she is at home with him all day and sees the reactions but take your child to your GP to be referred.

If you can get a GP to listen, that can be difficult.

Has she been to a GP?

Also, if your child is reacting with eczema alone, its doubtful you will see a reaction after you fed him one of the foods. Eczema tends to be a delayed reaction, up to 4 days.

My son reacts to oats via his skin, I'll give him an oat biscuit but I wont see a reaction until the following day.

However, because eczema is a delayed reaction its difficult to know what caused it. Which means its easy to blame foods your child me be ok with and eliminating foods unnecessarily.

This is why he really should be referred to an allergist for tests.

I expect she may well have tried though. Its difficult to get listened too.

you can go to gp and ask for blood tests for ige allergies.

if your childs eczema was still and issue I would suggest this test for environmental allergies as well.

but as eczema has improved it may be worth while re introducing these foods to see if eczema is no longer a problem.

its not sensible to remove foods or food groups without good reason.

Sorry if this is contovertial but Isn't it quite irresponsible to remove foods from a growing child's diet without knowing if it truly does cause a reaction without specific guidance? That could lead to unwittingly being low in vital nutrients as some substitute food don't give like for like nutrient profiles. As said already, ezcema is a delayed reaction so yes you prob can't tell what food you give truly gives a reaction, but neither can your wife, even though she is home all the time with him - unless she only gave one food for several days to check. And if it was a milk reaction causing eczema when younger children can grow out of it so is continued restriction sensible?

I suggest you have a frank but gentle discussion suggesting that as a pair you push for formal testing, then you all know where you stand and neither of you feel your toddler is missing out! Alternatively, as you've gone down own route of restricting, reintroduce one food at a time for a month per food to check and if no reaction, all good! I'd go for the formal (home tests don't test the right antibodies so waste of money) testing however as then you both have a true understanding of the causes for your child's problems and the correct support if allergies exist. Your child deservees the best and if allergies are a problem they deserve the best medical care and support. Good luck.