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???

I think the researchers should look at the impact of assistive deliveries on the development of food allergies.
DC1 - forceps delivery - multiple food allergies
DC2 - normal vaginal delivery - no allergies
DC3 - induced delivery - multiple food allergies

Mine was a forceps; zero allergies or intolerances

@SidraAbrahim oh right so you just wanted someone to say that their child was breastfed and had no allergies? Got to

It*

If this helps.

DC1 was combi fed and has CMPA and get noticeable hayfever. They are now 5.
DC2 was EBF and no allergies at all. She had a bit of a reaction to hummus once, but her allergy test was all clear.

DH was EBF and has mild lactose intolerance and bad hayfever. He also has alopecia so his immune system cannot be trusted.

I was EBF and no allergies at all.

We went through the allergy clinic with DC 2 and she was part of a trial giving peanut butter regularly to see if it reduced the incidents of peanut allergy. The science seemed to be showing that small regular exposure to allergens from a young age reduced sensitivity.

I was formula fed- I have a dairy allergy.
I breastfed DS1 (still am) and he has no allergies.

Totally bottle fed as a baby, I'm asthmatic and suffer with hay-fever. Daughter was only bottle fed and first bottle was a instant reaction to milk. She's 2.5 years old and allergic to milk, soya, egg and wheat. She wasn't diagnosed straight away as I was fobbed off but they assume she has allergies because allergies, asthma and eczema are all linked and there's a family history or eczema and asthma

EBF until introducing baby led weaning at 5/6 months. DD was allergic to peanut and egg, but has now outgrown the egg allergy. DH and I both have autoimmune issues.
My niece was bottled fed and has severe dust allergy and asthma.

Allergies will come from something stimulating the immune system unnaturally.
Breastfeeding is the literal opposite of that.

I am one of 8 siblings. I am the only one who was not breastfed. I don’t have any allergies. None of my siblings, all of them exclusively breastfed, have allergies.

My children were all exclusively breastfed. They do not have any allergies.

I expect the researchers have ideas where to research next based on a wider pool of information than 3 related children tbh.

Are you aware of the birth canal and vaginal fluid immunity? SOme countries will do a vaginal swab for this reason.

Now my baby missed out on these as she was C-section. She was BF, to almost full term (5 years) no allergies, nada. No illness either.

Now since we're on the subject there's one thing she also "missed out on" - she's never been vaccinated. This child has not once been sick.

My DC have cmpa and I breastfed. I'd wager that the main reason you don't see anecdotally so many formula fed babies with allergies as it's much easier to give bottle fed babies reflux meds, so their symptoms are masked far more easily. They still have the underlying allergy though.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8145659/

There are plenty of bottle fed babies with allergies.. who do you think is buying non dairy non soy formula .. spend a few hours reading the allergy board.

Look at the research.. cochrane is a good place to start. The link above states there are difficulties with the research but the conculsion is that breastfeeding is protective against developing allergies.

I have 3 children, one is dairy intolerant, was mixed fed after 4 months, had immune issues.. is OK now but better without gluten and dairy. Second child refused dairy.. apart from cheese.. is healthy as a horse, though small for her age, better without dairy and emotionally better without gluten. Third child is a freaking nightmare... allergic and intolerant to everything under the sun!! He nesrly broke me. We have had the whole family tested and it turns out DH and I have been masking food tolerance issues, have a mixed bag of genes linked to food allergies and poor DC3 got a bum combination. There are also issues with metals (amalgam fillings) and how they affect immunity and allergies.. linked to genetics too.. melisa.org/articles/.. the heavy metal load is transferred in vitro, not through breastfeeding.

I did have allergists advise me to stop but the evidence did not and does not, support this advice.

In short... while you may be the cause... it's not your milk but it could be your genes, heavy metals, other environmental factors you have been exposed to..

Of course formula fed babies also have food allergies.
Bf if anything has a protective element. But basically we do not know yet what so many more people have food allergies.

There is something along the lines of baby picking up things from the birth canal to support immunity , I read about it in a pregnancy book , and it said if you end up having a c section ( which I did) ask the doctor to take a vaginal swab to then swab your baby so they get the immunity thing. I asked about this and they looked at me like I was some crazy hippy asking to eat my placenta. My DS now 2 years old has Cmpa, egg and soya allergy, no allergies in the family, he was ebf until 21 months and I was dairy and soya free all that time from his diagnosis at 4 months. Not really getting anywhere on the milk ladder unfortunately. I really regret not pushing for that swab! If there was a chance it could have avoided all the allergy trouble then I totally would have done that

@cricketwidoww No actually its the other way round…. If bottle fed babies have allergies then I can’t say that breastfeeding could be the cause of allergies… And if even one assistive delivery does not result in a child having food allergies then it means assistive deliveries are safe…

@flutterbybabycakes There could be some link between vaccines and allergies…
My kids’ eczema and food allergies started after the 8 week vaccine.
DC1 8,12 and 16 week vaccinations done and eczema got worse with every dose…
DC2 had just 8 week vaccinations… no eczema or allergies…
DC3 also had just 8 week vaccinations… got mild eczema and food allergies that seem to be less severe than his elder brother

I've seen no link between my DC's allergies and vaccines. The rotarvirus makes symptoms more obvious as it upsets bellies but my DC were both showing signs before 8 weeks. I think people like to blame vaccines because it makes them feel it's.not their fault, which it isn't anyway of course but vaccines and evil pharma are more tangible than 'probably a combination of over clean western lifestyles and genetics'

@SmileyPiuPiu 😊😊😊

It's genetics.

I think you are right…If I think back even my kids had stuffy nose before 8 weeks.. which could be a symptom of allergies…
The only thing that I had concluded from this thread is there are many ‘ifs’ related to food allergies and that breast milk is not to be blamed which is great because I can continue breastfeeding without any worries now

Definitely don't blame breastfeeding. I exclusively bottle fed all 3 of mine and my youngest has coeliac disease and is allergic to tomatoes.
Allergies are just random, nothing you do causes them.

And this is why it's important not to draw conclusions from anecdotal experience.

For reference though, mine is the polar opposite. Both my children were exclusively breastfed for between 1 and 2 years, have no allergies and are rarely ill. A significant proportion of my friends who formula fed have children with multiple allergies who seem to get sick often. 🤷🏻