DH has nut allergy. What about DS's?

[CandleQueen]

My DH has a severe peanut and tree nut allergy (thankfully last episode was 15 years ago, but he's been extra careful ever since!)
DS1 is nearly four and DS2 is 9 months.
When we saw a paediatrician with DS1 (for an unrelated condition) we asked about the likely-hood of DS1 having an allergy to nuts and he told us "He might do, but we can't test him until he's four or five. So just keep him away from nuts in the meantime."
We have followed this advice, but now would like to get an allergy confirmed (without the DIY version of feeding him a Snickers and standing back to observe results!)
Any advice/suggestions from you helpful bunch?

I don't understand why he couldn't be tested until four or five. My ds was tested at 7 months old.

I think the risk of your dc having a nut allergy is increased compared to a child without allergy in the family.

Do they have any other 'indicators' such as eczema or asthma?

You need to get an appointment with an allergy specialist for testing. I think the wait lists are long so you need to do it soon. In the mean time I would continue to avoid nuts until you get an appointment or they are older. I think 5 is the guideline in UK.

fwiw my ds had/has a peanut allergy and we have no allergies in our family and he does not suffer from eczema or asthma so we are not quite sure where it came from.

You don't inherit nut allergy, although your children will be at increased risk of allergies in general.

If the paediatrician will test ask them to do it. If you can't get them tested any other way I've posted many times about the safest way to introduce children to nuts - rub a little peanut butter on the skin of their arm or back. Observe carefully for something like 15 - 30 minutes. If OK move on to the face, observe again, then rub a little on the lip. If still OK they can eat a little. Keep a bottle of piriton handy and dose at the first sign of a reaction. Phone for an ambulance if breathing is affected.

Since your husband has a severe allergy the test would best be conducted in someone else's home.

i am not in favour of home tests.
if a allergen is suspected, esp if child has any form of atopic disease, and is from a high risk family background.

first question is, how good have you been at avoidance of nuts/peanuts in your childs diet?
because exposure to tree nuts could be in any chocolate or biscuits you give.

do you avoid food with may contian?

Lots of doctors used to suggest ( and possibly still do) this sort of test. however its not recommened now.

so think carefully before proceding with this sort of test.

its not conclusive anyway, because this could be a first exposure........?

you can have a severe reaction from this sort of test, and previous exposure can be counted from the skin, esp if have ezcema.

the good news that if the mother has no atopic disease or allergies, but the father has, they have a slightly less chance of inheriting a allergy status. But if its the other way around its slightly higher........

i suggest you push for testing if really concerned.

I take it that you let your child eat all other highly allergenic foods, as you inherit the mainly the tendancy to BE allergic, not the allergies themselves.

good luck, keep us posted.

Thanks for you advice.
DS1 isn't under the Paed team now, so I'd have to push GP for testing.
The children both have eczema, and I'm asthmatic and have hayfever/dust/fur alleriges. DH has the nut allergies and also hayfever/dust/fur.
At the moment the boys have a "normal" diet apart from things that obviously contain nuts. They eat "may contain traces of nuts" but not if it's specific "may contain traces of almond and peanut" etc.
I wouldn't be happy to do a DIY test, but thank you for your info tatt.

It can be difficult even for those who have already reacted to nut to get a referral for testing, and there is government guidance that those who have reacted should be referred. Ask your gp to refer you but if they refuse will you risk someone else giving your child nut under less controlled conditions?

In the same situation, I bided my time, got to know my local GPs and identified the one that was a mid 30s mother, like myself, and seemed to have some clue about allergies. She agreed to refer DD1 for blood testing at five.

They tested for peanuts and a range of tree nuts, also wasp and bee stings, as she'd had an odd reaction to a bee sting at two. All the results were within normal range.

The hospital were not willing to do a food challenge for us, since there was no allergy as far as they were concerned. We are in the process of gradually and carefully introducing nuts, one at a time, on days when DH is not at home, we have nothing planned and there is plenty of Piriton in the medicine cabinet.

So far, she has had no reaction to peanut, almond or hazelnut and I'm beginning to feel like there's light at the end of a worrying tunnel.

Although now we have to make sure she understands the necessity for taking extreme care that she doesn't bring nut traces into the house.

To be honest there is no poijnt in testing if they have never been exposed.
DH is allergic to brazil nuts and a few other things. DS didn't show any allergies to tree nuts until he was nearly 5 and although I think he probably had a very mild reaction to seseme when he was younger (complained of an itchy throat and I didn't realise that was an allergy. He had an unpleasant reaction to seseme seeds 2 days before he became allergic to treenuts and then couldn't eat peanuts after that either.
He grew out of the peanut allergy by 12 although he is still allergic to most treenuts and seseme seeds. He is also allergic to cats and has hayfever.
DD has never shown any signs of allergy

nut allergies are wierd - some people do react on first known exposure so testing a child who hasn't been exposed may still work. When we questioned this at our allergy clinic they went off to the labs to check and we were told blood tests would still work. They also said that by age 3 most British children had been exposed to nut traces in food.

Actually the point I was trying to make is that allergies can start at anytime. DS's allergies started when were nearly 5 and he had been eating all the things he was subsequently allergic to for years before that.

Yes - DH's allergy appeared at age 7. But we also got the same answer from the blood testing lab - that it was worth doing the tests, because it is very unlikely that a child of five had never encountered a trace of nut, and that would be enough to make the test work.

They also emphasised that the test wasn't 100% reliable - for exactly the reason you mention - and that we should proceed cautiously with introducing nuts, even though the test was negative.