Help! New to this allergy business and getting stressed!

[MyAngels]

Hi all

I'm just starting to wean DS (he's 27 weeks) and its all going horribly wrong! Bananas seemed to give him a rash a few weeks ago (Could be a coincidence as teething was starting too?) and once he hit the 6 months, its been downhill all the way to nasty nettle rash from dairy, egg and possibly fish (which seemed to just flare up the ezcema whose arrival coincided with the banana incident).

I feel like I am poisoning him with each new (second?) exposure to food. To make matters worse we are off to Greece on holiday on Thursday for 2 weeks and I have no idea what I'll be able to feed him there. RIce seems to be OK and pasta so far, but that has egg in it doesn't it?

He is exclusively BF which is a blessing I suppose as I can carry on with that, but am feeling very overwhelmed. The GP was less than helpful, the HV not much better, but I do have some creams they gave me to help with the ezcema.

Does anyone have any advice, tips, books etc so I can clue myself up? I am starting to write down everything he eats and the reaction (or lack of one). I have a 3year old DD who never had a reaction to anything so its all a bit new and scary.

Thanks
x

hi MyAngels

Sorry to hear your DS is reacting - allergies can be very stressful indeed. My DD is allergic to milk protein, egg and fish and has eczema so I know where you're at.

You need to insist that your GP refers you to a paediatric allergist. Where in the country are you? In London, St Thomas's is the leading clinic. My daughter is under the care of Dr Gideon Lack who is a world expert. Get to him if you can. He does private work too if you have health cover.

Excellent idea to write everything down in the meantime.

In terms of safe foods - the good thing about Greece is they tend to use olive oil rather than butter to cook things in, so you should be able to find him things to eat. Be wary of anything processed or in a packet - even crisps and sausages contain milk sometimes.

But things like cous cous, grilled meat, roasted veggies are all good. Most breads (but not cakes or pastries) are safe. And dried pasta does not contain egg - only fresh pasta does. So if he eats pasta and tomato sauce and grilled veggies for two weeks that'll be just fine!

Take some infant piriton with you to administer in case he has a reaction to anything while you're away. I think it's called Allereze. The pharmacist will know.

Most children outgrow their allergies I'm told so hopefully this won't be forever, but in the meantime it will immeasurably relieve your stress to get him seen by a specialist and properly tested.

MyAngels- You have my sympathies. Weaning is such a stressful business when allergies are involved!

I would echo CrazyCatLady and say that it really does help to get him under a specialist. As you have found GPs and HVs do not generally offer much in the way of help/support. A specialist will be able to do skin-prick tests or RAST tests to identify things your ds is allergic to in a safe and controlled way so that you don't have to continue with the trial and error approach.

Another important thing is that in the absence of dairy, a dietician (who your specialist can refer you to) can help you to make sure that you meet your ds's calcium needs (welcome to the world of sardines and spinach!!)

I don't know if you are aware but there are certain foods that dcs are most likely to react to so I would aim to avoid those for now. They are soya, sesame, kiwi, peanut, other nuts.

I have reproduced a list I was given on another thread about dairy allergy (its called something like 'Dairy Allergy, HV seemed unconcerened' so you might find that helpful in terms of future weaning.

About your holiday, make sure you learn the Greek for milk/dairy/egg and aim for the plainest food you can (e.g meat and veg!) Chips are often a winner too!. Can you take some baby food with you (e.g Ella's Kitchen stuff) so that you've got that if all else fails?

Definitely take the Piriton with you!

It is stressful but this board is a source of support. There are sadly lots of us in the same boat!

Poor you, and poor DS. Good that he's bf, keep doing that and if he doesn't eat much, he'll get all that he needs from milk. TBH I am surprised you have already tried him on so many foods at his age! Can you go back to the very basics and maybe take some jars / pouches of pureed veg, chicken etc. that you know he's okay with? Boiled rice should always be okay and that should be easy enough to get in Greece, and you could mix it with some ready made puree. You can get lovely water melons in Greece and he may be fine eating those. But if he only has milk for a couple of weeks, he won't starve either. Enjoy your holiday!

Hi

Thanks for the advice - I am already stocking up on Ella's pouches and packets which seem to be going down OK. I have tried him on quite a bit of food as DD was BLW and very adventurous so I thought he might be the same - how wrong...

I wasn't sure he could have Piriton as he is not yet 1, but haven't talked to the pharmacist, so will do that this morning.

I will push for a referral once back from holiday, the HV did mutter something about a dietician as they will need to confirm the egg allergy in time for him to have his MMR vaccine apparently (he hasn't had his 3rd imms yet anyway, Bristol are slooooooooow).

PITA describes it all perfectly.

Thanks to all - I'm sure I'll be a regular feature around here for a while...

xx