Aibu To not really understand why so many children have food allergies?

[daftpunk]

Babies are weaned later ......? I didn't know anyone allergic to nuts or milk when I was at school, can someone explain it?

Litchick, daftpunk isn't taking cheap shots at the kids with allergies.

She/he is taking cheap shots at the parents who have either failed in some way and managed to give their DCs allergies or are making them up for some reason for attention or otherwise.

Message withdrawn

Well that's what daftpunk has implied. Her/His kids don't have allergies because of the parenting choices he/she made.

Those of us unlucky enough to have kids with allergies have done something fundamentally wrong and through our incorrect parenting choices have condemned them to being allergic.

Babybarrister is right about the confusion between allergies and intolerances, but would suggest that there is confusion within the medical profession. DS has a cow milk protein intolerance, but his Paediatrician wrote a letter referring to a lactose intolerance.

The suggestion as far as DS is concerned, is that his intolerance probably started around 6 weeks, as evidenced by his slow weight gain as plotted on the graph.

Can I gingerly pick my way round this one as I also wonder just when it was that SOME people took such pleasure in being allergic to stuff. I'm certainly not dissing the genuine thing here, just a culture where listing what you can't eat so often seems to be worn like a self-satisfied badge of honour.

ilovemydogandmrobama
Your paediatrician is correct,they tell us the lay people that they are intolerant to cows milk but it is actually the lactose in cows milk that causes the problem.
The carbohydrate lactose gives milk its sweet taste and contributes about 40% of whole cow milk's calories.

The doctors can do what is called a supervised "lactose challenge" and also check gut for inflammation.

Have they put DS on infasoy or pregestimil or a milk that is lactose free for now. once he has settled they can then reintroduce it in hospital.

Pikelit, I assume it's the same as the people who have flu 5 times a year instead of a cold, people who have OCD rather than funny habits (not referring to real OCD sufferers!) and those who have IBS rather than a dicky tummy about twice a year.

Why do they say these things? Who knows!!

Beachcomber I agree 100% with what you've said. I've read similar articles and am surprised that so many people don't seem to realise this.
I don't mean this in a patronising way at all.
I do think it makes total sense that if you subject a tiny developing immune system to so many vaccines (around 14 by the time they are 4 months?), some children will have adverse reactions.

I've also read articles about peanut oil, fish oil, milk, wheat and eggs all being used in the production of vaccines. All of these seem to be common allergies.

Vaccinated animals also seem to develop allergies.

i reckon we introduce too many complex proteins into their diets too early.Like peanut butter,and all these spreads. Did they have allergies like this in the 'olden days'when they were breast fed for yonks
I always remember my mum saying dont eat nuts til u r at least 10...u cant digest them..or u might choke....maybe she was right.
all the vaccines are cultured on chicken eggs so...

Ilovemydog, I know what you mean. Ds's pead recomended a dairy free diet for me as he had slow weight gain and blood tests indicated he might have milk protien intolerance. DH told everyone he was lactose intolerant and bought lactofree milk. It took weeks to drum it into him. It was a bit like the 'can she have wafer thin ham' scene from the Royle family.

Aitch "There is a few studies now showing that later weaning actually causes allergies."

There is at least one study (if not more) where a longer breastfeeding duration and a later introduction of solids were associated with increased levels of allergies.

However

Those who breastfed for longer and weaned later in this particular study had a history of allergy in the family and were breastfeeding longer and weaning later for that very reason. It is therefore highly likely that these children would have had allergies anyway. Breastfeeding although fab obviously doesnt wipe out allergy risk - nor is having an allergy dichotomous - people are usually somewhere along a scale of no allergy - strong allergy.

To throw my opinions in - I blame our clean lives, better diagnosis and more awareness

Read a post yonks ago which said a mumsnetter was worried about giving her kids peanuts. I remember reading an interview with Nigella L, who had also avoided giving her kids peanuts. In the end she took her three kids to her GPs surgery waiting room and gave them all a peanut butter sandwich....on the basis if anything did go wrong, she was in the right place. Perhaps you could try that!

Indaba

I think just that we recognise them better these days.
DD has cows milk protein allergy: comes up in hives if any even touches her skin, wheezy, horrible diarrhoea and vomiting if any consumed.
I have hayfever and pet fur allergies so I guess it comes from me.
I asked my mum if I had any allergies as a child and at 1st she said no then she admitted that I did used to get a skin rash after going to parties: 'We just put it down to excitement, dear' she told me. so not maybe foods we didn't have at home or anything!

I agree mamadoc. I think it is to with better diagnosis.

I once met a lady in her 60s who had been diagnosed with "failure to thrive" as a child. Her poor mother tried everything, buying the best food she could afford to try to help her daughter. It wasn't until she was 50 that she was diagnosed with Coeliac disease, by which time she had grown up sickly and quite a lot shorter than she ought to have been. I also know another 50 odd yr old very short lady (about 4ft 10) who is also a recently diagnosed Coeliac. I also knew of a 21 yr old (a friend's girlfriend, out celebrating her birthday in fact) in 1989 who dropped down dead from anaphylactic (sp?) shock in a restaurant 20 mins after eating a curry she'd been assured by a waiter contained no nuts. Even 20 years ago, people thought it was trivial/ were unaware of the scale of the problem, so I imagine that a number of children with severe allergies simply died or "failed to thrive".

mamadoc-agree about the preception in the past being somewhat blase.

I spent a huge part of my childhood scratching myself and rubbing my eyes until they were raw.
Nobody ever thought it was an allergy.My parents thought it was a habit like nail biting.
I now know I have quite a few minor allergies.

My mum was diagnosed as a celiac (sorry dont know how to spell it) about 4 years ago. She had been in a lot of pain and very unwell for many years...

I think that there is just a better diagnosis now adays, my mum has always had the allergy but it was not recognised earlier.....

My ds has a dairy intollerance I am allergy weaning him to ensure it isn't an allergy... Years ago he would just be seen as a sicky baby...

Of course there are children with allergies who haven't been vaccinated, others have mentioned them on this thread.

Sorry about your baby BB.

Gah, daftpunk, lay off the ellipses.

All those fucking dot dot dots make your words look even more vacuous and ill-informed that they actually are.

charitygirl...point taken about the dots dots dots.....i am trying to stop it.

LOL - and then sometimes you're reasonable to a fault!

You are a mystery, dp!

DD was a dream baby...BF for 5 months, weaned at 24 weeks, no allergies etc.

DS, nightmare baby from birth. He has been diagnosed with a milk allergy and is lactose intolerence at 7 months old (hopefully this is temporary). Has exzema from head to foot!!
No exzema in the family or allergies. 7 healthy nephews!!! Ate what I wanted when pregnant. Am not a house clean maniac.
So yes OP, YABU.....As I have no idea why DS is suffering like this !!
Please let me know if you figure it out. {smile}