Food allergies in breastfed babies

[SidraAbrahim]

Hi,
This is the first time I am asking a question here but I think this is the best place to ask.
I am a mum of three. I breastfed the older two for almost 2 years each. Now I am breastfeeding my 6 month old.

But I have now started to doubt if breastfeeding could be a reason for my kids’ food allergies (my diet or lifestyle being the cause).

Whenever I look threads on mumsnet I find most of the mums whose kids have allergies have breastfed their kids.
I do not see mums of bottle fed kids saying their kids have allergies.
So if someone can clear my doubts about it, that would be great.
Are their any mums who exclusively bottle fed their kids but the kids still developed food allergies???

Following with interest.

DS is 2.5yo and has multiple severe food allergies. I only recently stopped BFing.

The consultant told me she suspects giving him a one off bottle of formula when he was 3 days old (and none after that) could have been the trigger as it sensitised him to dairy. Due to the dairy sensitization, he developed severe eczema and was then exposed to his other allergens through his skin (thinks like nuts, fish and eggs that would have been in the house) before he ever ate them.

This is her theory at least.

I know of two from my generation (where breastfeeding was not encouraged and not done in either case). One is very seriously affected by allergies to eggs and nuts and dairy. The other gets a reaction to peanuts (and cat hair - even if not eaten :) )

My eldest one had to be on bottle for a little while, while I was learning how to breastfeed. Very hard to do the first time. He got severe eczema and then food allergies to dairy, eggs, nuts, lentils and legumes.
But the little one who is 6 months old now has never had even a drop of formula. Still got allergies.

Thank you so much… Your reply has cleared my doubts .. very grateful… 😀

I think it’s largely genetic. Bf child here with allergy that runs in the family (but not me or dh). Also I wonder if later weaning in breastfed infants is to blame. A lot of breastfeeding mums I know are very much in the ‘food before 1 is just for fun’ camp and also waited until 6 months or later to wean. Look up the LEAP and EAT studies. I weaned dc2 at 17 weeks onto lots of allergens (under advice f allergy consultant) no known allergies so far.

@LiesDoNotBecomeUs The thank you message was for you… I am new on mumsnet and do not really use social media …

Bf has been linked to allergies. And it’s purely anecdotal but all the bf people I know have some kind of issue, usually autoimmune - eczema, type 1 diabetes, celiac. Lots with asthma and intolerances. The bottle fed people are all healthy as horses.

Breastfeeding is protective. It is not the cause of a food allergy. The food is the cause.

Interesting about the weaning Dingley

@DingleyDel I tried doing that and got a very bad reaction to eggs (hives all over the body) and a mild reaction to wheat…

I think you are right about genetics.
Its just that in my home country breast milk is not regarded a liquid gold as some call it here in the developed countries…

So I keep getting things like ‘maybe there is a problem with your milk’ from friends and family. Which put me in doubt.

Nobody knows that though. Why people some have allergies is still unknown scientifically.

It's an interesting question, but I don't think how you were fed as a baby is the only factor.

I was bf, DH was ff and neither of us have any allergies though DH has had eczema in the past. DD was combi fed and has no known allergies. FIL is coeliac but other than that there are no allergies on either side - probably luck/genetics rather than how we were fed.

@DelosParks breastfeeding lessens a baby's chance of becoming sensitized to an allergen. It is definitely protective. This has looooonnnngggg been scientifically proven.

I doubt there is a ‘problem’ with your milk! But neither do I think breastmilk is really that much more beneficial than (safely made) formula. I have a little personal theory that formula results in less allergies etc because it gets babies’ systems used to man-made food from the get-go. Rather than introducing it at 6 months.

@Wouldloveanother I have not got any autoimmune issues really .. Only dandruff on head if that counts as an autoimmune disease… But husband has got hay fever.

And about people who are bottle feeding I can’t tell anything about their health but they sure look more relaxed and happy 😃

Has it? I’ve not heard that. I know one study showed a higher incidence of asthma in bf babies but clearly you can’t attribute that to bf specifically as I think it was a fairly small study.

Interestingly there is no decent evidence that purely b/fed babies suffer from allergy from allergens getting through breastmilk, including cow milk. Yet it has become completely accepted and almost every other baby has CMPA now. I believe the most recent study found that such a tiny (and I mean tiny) amount of what a mum eats actually got through to breastmilk they concluded it was highly unlikely to cause any reaction in most infants. Every baby I know who has allergy now never reacted through breastmilk, despite mum eating plenty of that allergen (inc. me). You’d also assume that if allergens were able to get through breastmilk in any significant amount then breastfed babies would have hardly any rates of allergy, as they would have had been sensitised from birth.

Not disputing that parents have seen a difference in symptoms from cutting dairy etc, just interesting that it doesn’t seem to be backed up by any science. I was told even by our allergy doctor that basically allergy is not well understood at all. Also people can develop them at any time in their lives….quite scary really!

My son only was bf for 48 hours as I couldn't bf. So he was ff from then on. He had CMPA, lactose allergy, soya allergy and nut allergy. Hes nearly conquered the milk ladder. Still cant tolerate cream, chocolate and full fat cows milk.
He was on prescription milk from 10 weeks after begging for help during the first big lockdown for weeks and weeks and him failing to thrive.

I now have a 4 month old who've ive exclusively bf and she also has CMPA, lactose allergy, soya, oats and egg.

So it can be both ff and bf.

I breastfed (and still do) my baby who is now 22m. She has many allergies, as do I! I was not breastfed past 3 weeks, I was bottle fed.

I very much went full in on weaning to try and discourage allergies but she still ended up with them.

@Wouldloveanother oh actually you were talking about bottle fed people and not their mums … hahaha … sorry got it all wrong…

This is what I have started to think…but I do not know much people here… So I thought I should ask for opinions on mumsnet.

But maybe its just the environment or sunshine factor as well that also counts. We spent 3 months in a hot climate country after my second baby was born. He was 2 and a half months old when we left and came back when he was 6 months old. Got lots of sunshine and fresh air there. He has got no eczema nor food allergies.

Generally it seems unlikely that breastfeeding is strongly related to allergies, just because aren't allergies increasing, while rates of breastfeeding are decreasing? Wouldn't you expect allergies to fall as breastfeeding rates fall if there was a strong link?

I was bf for 6 months and am allergic to peanuts, my son was bf for 2 weeks and on formula for the rest and is allergic to wheat! Allergies are such a crapshoot, you'll drive yourself mad trying to find out why

I would like to see a peer reviewed study showing a link between allergens and breastfeeding. Seems improbable.
I have 2DCs, 7 year old girl was born vaginally, breastfed for over a year, healthy as a horse. 11mo boy born via c sec, spent two weeks in an incubator, first food was glucose, was given steroids, formula and breastmilk while in hospital - he's now allergic to eggs and sesame. I definitely blame his start in life because there are no other allergies in the family

Do not rely on this threat for an answer - you don't know who is replying and if you really want to know you need to look for scientific advice/evidence. A few anecdotes but my daughter was exclusively breastfed - carried on until 17 months - no allergies at all. I was breast fed so was my sister - only till 6 & 4 months - no allergies. My nephew exclusively breastfed until 18 months - no allergies.

@PrincessesRUs The thing is if I can find even one exclusively formula fed baby (which I did through this thread) who has got allergies then my idea that breastfeeding has something to do with allergies becomes totally invalid.