Allergies and weaning!

[Mary9104]

My son gets a terrible and instant rash and also eczema from my breastmilk when I eat things such as dairy, eggs, soy etc (so I don’t eat any of those). As it’s time to start weaning and try different allergens I’m terrified about what reaction he might get if he would actually eat these himself since he reacts so quick from my breastmilk. Anyone has experiences from this?

I don't blame you! That sounds quite frightening.

My advice is to get proper advice.

Not from here or even from your health visitor as things can change quite quickly with allergy research and HV are not always up to date.

You could look at the anaphylaxis website.

Have you been to the GP and is he under a Paediatric Dietician? If not I'd sort that out as soon as

Yes but we need to wait 3 months to get the results from the blood tests as the doctors dont have any time to report back sooner, plus they don’t know anything about allergies. My son is old enough to eat solids now, so getting worried he isn’t getting proper nutrition and I wanted to hear real life experiences from anyone who’s gone through something similar.

Can your GP get a skin prick test instead? My DD had similar symptoms and she had a skin prick test which gives instant results.

for weaning - ask your doctor to prescribe an antihistamine so you have it on hand. An allergic reaction is both obvious and usually mild in a baby (anaphylaxis is very very rare in babies). My DD had a reaction to peanuts when first exposed (hives on face and neck) but I had pirotin on hand - gave her the recommended dose and 10 min later she was fine. It took me far longer to recover!

other tips that you may know:

• reactions may happen the second or third time an allergen is introduced. Be aware!
• allergens (the first three times) are best introduced earlier in the day (when GPs are open!) and at home

If the milk allergy continues, you can look into special oat milk for children that is fortified with vitamins. But don’t stress too much - my DD is 10 months with allergies to milk, egg and a range of nuts, and is doing just fine on solids and formula. There are some good alternatives. I often google vegan recipes for her even though she isn’t vegan!

My daughter reacted quite quickly through breastmilk but actually directly she didn't react much quicker. She has delayed allergies and could react within an hour of me eating a food and was quite similar when eating food directly

The thing with allergies is the body overreacts to tiny amounts so there's isn't necessarily always this massive dose response that you might get with intolerances where small amounts have milder reactions compared to larger amounts

We spoon fed new foods so we knew no reaction was no reaction and not she didn't eat any. After that we did a mix of purees and whole foods. She was slow to wean which was a blessing as she didn't eat a great deal. She didn't eat a meal until 13 months! She reached symptom free with allergies around 15 months as she has around 20 allergies and it took a long time to figure them all out!

I stopped giving her the same food as me after she reacted to me and her having red peppers for lunch. After this I saved my food and gave it the next day if she didn't react to me eating it the day before