Baby reacted to egg - next steps?

[Shmerlock]

Hello all! After some advice regarding allergies and people's experiences with egg in particular. I'll try and give some back story and hopefully it makes sense!

My little girl is just over 6 months and we've been weaning for coming up to 2 weeks. So far I've been giving her mashed veggies and some fingers of cooked veggies too. This morning I decided to try her with some scrambled egg, mixed with a bit of my breast milk. Within 5 minutes she came out in a red, nettle-like rash all over the parts of her skin the egg had touched! Even her little fingers where she'd held it! The rash didn't appear anywhere else of her body though, and so far today her nappies have been normal and she's been her usual self. Is this signs of it being a skin allergy or a full blown egg allergy!?

She's had terrible silent reflux since birth, it has steadily got better but she still has flare ups every now and then - and is always gulping/swallowing throughout the day. Our GP initially said it was CMPA, so I've been dairy free for over 5 weeks now. But I was always skeptical, now I'm wondering if it's egg and not dairy!?

We're booked in with a dietician but not until mid-Feb. My question is - do I now also remove all egg from my diet as well as dairy? Or do I carry on as normal for now and wait until I see the dietician? This rash is the first time we've seen any sort of reaction like this.

Thanks for reading! Xx

Picture of the rash for context!

I'd say don't give her egg and wait until you see the dietitian for further advice.

I think you need proper medical advice, but in the meantime, I would act as if she has a serious allergy because if it is a proper allergy it might be a worse reaction next time.

My dd has an egg allergy, first reacted to egg when she was weaning at 6 months old. You need a referral to an allergy clinic as they can do skin prick test to find out exactly what she is allergic to. I don't think a dietician will be able to make a diagnosis. In the meantime I'd cut out egg completely from her diet as reactions can be different every time so could be more serious next time

@Tuesday598 thank you, can I ask how you got a referral to the allergy clinic?

My dd had a reaction at a similar age, the gp referred her for allergy testing. The tests showed she had a ‘moderate to severe’ allergy to eggs. She had grown out of it by the time she was 5 as we discovered when she ate cake batter 🤷‍♀️

@Tuesday598 sorry another question! Does your DD react to egg on its own or also when it's in other things as an ingredient? My DD has been EBF up to now and I've never seen this reaction in her before. Finding it all so daunting at the moment, frightened me so much when it happened!

I agree with the above, don't give egg anymore until you speak to a dietician or allergy consultant. A reaction can be worse the second time you are exposed and looks like quite a bad 1st reaction from that photo.

Babies with dairy allergy can sometimes also be allergic to egg, so it's quite possible there is something going on with both of these things, I would cut both out from your diet for now. Sometimes it takes a few weeks for it to work out of your system so don't expect your baby to be more settled overnight, more likely that it will be gradual over a month or so.

What you need is a referral to an allergy clinic, not just a dietician. You could go private or ask your GP to refer you. Sometimes a dietician will work at a clinic where there is an allergy consultant working in another room at the same clinic, who can sign off a skin prick test, but it varies depending on which hospital you go to.

Would you say which part of the county you are in then perhaps you could get some specific advice about who to see?

@Jenniferturkington thank you for your reply! That's really good to know, I'm really hoping this is something she grows out of - it's in so much!

@SouthOfFrance thank you! I know it really was a nasty skin reaction - and happened so quickly. Luckily it seemed to only have been her skin this time, but I'll definitely be avoiding it going forward. I'm going to request an allergy referral tomorrow, the GP referred us to a dietician based on the assumption that she had a dairy allergy - but this was never confirmed. Now that this has happened today we really need to know what allergies we're dealing with and how severe they are.

Of course! I'm based in Manchester :)

Agree absolutely stop all egg until you have been seen. I would send these pics to your GP and see if they make a referral to an allergist. Hope she’s ok little cutie 🥰

We went through our GP, they referred us to the allergy clinic. Skin prick test done. Said it's really common for babies who can't tolerate pure egg. Then started the egg ladder such as starting with baked egg such as cake etc then moving onto Yorkshire puddings etc.

Also now at 2.5 she can tolerate whole eggs

@ClemDanFango thank you so much! She's such a happy little girl - I felt awful afterwards!! She's been fine today so far though thank god!! I'll get the picture sent over tomorrow!

My son is under an allergy nurse due to cows milk allergy. Please dont give your little one anymore egg until seen by dietician or referred to paediatrician for skin prick test where they can do it in a controlled environment.

My sons allergy nurse told me children with dairy allergy are more prone to egg allergy and each time you give it after a reaction like your little ones it can potentially become worse until it turns into anaphylaxis. Not to scare you but dont give anything with egg in it or on its own before speaking with a medical professional.

For other foods like nut butters, spreads etc my allergy nurse said to rub a pea sized amount on babys arm and wait 24hours. If no reaction then pea size amount on outside of lip. If no reaction 24hours later pea size inside lip. If no reaction continue every other day and build up amount intil tsp-tbsp amount given at once.

I hope you get some answers soon.

Take a look at the Anaphylaxis Campaign and Allergy UK websites, these are really useful sources of information. You must get an appointment with the GP and ask for a referral to a paediatric allergy specialist asap - but waits are quite long so if you have the option to go privately I'd do that. Allergy to egg is not uncommon. In the meantime, get all the eggs out of the house asap - my DD had egg allergy and she was so allergic she was not supposed to be in the same room as a raw, cracked egg, as the proteins from the white get in to the air very easily. She just projectile vomited if she ate egg in cakes etc and would also come up in a horrendous rash if she touched egg at all. Get used to checking labels for egg. They do grow out of egg allergy quite often, usually around 7/8. Does she have eczema at all? If she has you must must must control this properly. I'd also be quite careful around nuts although not sure what the latest advice on this is now - the allergy specialist will be able to advise you on introducing nuts. Sometimes allergic reactions get worse so you must keep her away from eggs. This can be quite tricky at first but you soon get used to it. There are also some useful Facebook groups you can look at but choose with care and find a supportive one.

@Metallicalover thanks so much, I'll do that first thing tomorrow. Attempted today but our GP practice was chaos with staff absence due to covid and her usual doctor being off until next Monday. Going to try again tomorrow and just request a different doc to hopefully make a referral for us! And I'm so relieved to hear your daughter has overcome her allergy! Egg must be hard as it's in so much!

@abbs1 that's brilliant advice, thank you! She is suspected to have a milk allergy so it wouldn't surprise me! I'm going to get straight on to the GP tomorrow and request a referral for her.

Hi, yes I agree with the above, avoid all egg for her and yourself ideally too, and yes hidden egg you need to cut out as well until you have medical advice.

I EBF my DS and I cut out dairy to try to help his reflux, it's only after I gave him egg I realised that was the problem (along with sesame and nuts...) your GP would need to refer you for allergy testing and dietician advice, if you have private medical insurance then definitely use that.

Having avoided egg for years and years for my DS it's really not that hard to avoid once you get your head around it. There are lots more vegan alternatives now as well as loads of recipes online that are eggless.

She tolerated baked egg really well and when they done her skin prick she did have a reaction but it wasn't major. They told us that she'd probably grow out of it by the time she was 2.
She went to hospital for an egg challenge when you take in some scrambled egg and give her bits starting with a small amount and increasing. She was fine. (Although she wouldn't eat it and it had to be given in yoghurts etc) but she does quite like an omelette now.

@Epwell your poor little girl that must have been so tough and frightening for you both!! My DD has never had eczema, or even any signs of it. Her skin is usually always very clear, so when this happened it was all the more shocking! I've been eating eggs, and products with egg in, since she was born so I think this may now explain her silent reflux. I'm going to get straight on to the GP again tomorrow and ask for an allergy referral, fingers crossed it's not too long a wait!

If you need recipes try the Allergy Cookbook by Alice Sherwood, it's great.

Thank you all for your advice and experiences, I'm going to get straight on to the GP tomorrow and go from there 🤞🏻

You must have been frightened at the time, not knowing how much the rash would progress possibly into a worse reaction, I know from experience how scary it is, my child did the same when I was weaning them to a different food and it really shock me up.

You definitely need to know what you are dealing with while you are weaning etc, esp if you are going back to work at some point and need to leave him with others. Chances are he will only be allergic to a couple of things, and likely grow out of it by the time he starts school, but you need to get proper diagnosis and advice.

Unfortunately I'm the other end of the country so don't know how things work in your area, but at our local hospital (which has a big childrens allergy unit) one of my children sees a dietician but on a date the consultant is also working, so she gets the skin prick test signed off by him and then the nurse does it. My other child is more serious (anaphylaxis) so she sees a doctor directly then gets a nurse to do the skin prick tests at the same appointment.
Have a look at the hospitals near you to see if any have a bigger/better allergy unit, then ask your GP to refer you to that one, you don't just have to go to the one closest to you.

When you get seen they can test for a few different things, so if you suspect any other foods it's worth mentioning. They won't do loads as your baby only has small arms to do the tests on and no point in distressing them too much but worth having a think about any other food you think they react to.

There are also blood tests but I doubt with such a young baby they will do them, I think possibly they are not so reliable for babies and they can probably give you the right advice just based on your experiences & a skin prick test.

Keep a food diary between now & when you get seen so you can show them if needed, it's easy to forget timings and things a couple of months down the line.

Trying to think if there's anything else to think about... I guess I wish I'd had some practical advice when I was in your shoes so will have a think. It is scary when this happens when weaning your baby, but you aren't alone and it will get easier once you figure out what you are dealing with!

It's also a good idea to speak with your GP about keeping a liquid antihistamine with you. We've used cetirizine on DD since she was 7 months but do check with your GP.

Our allergy consultants have all strenuously recommended getting all the major allergens into a baby's diet as soon as possible to help prevent further allergies. Allergy UK are a good resource for information on this.

DD has been anaphylactic to dairy, egg, soya and peanut but at 9 she is no longer allergic to soya, can eat cheese and is up to meringue on the egg reintroduction ladder. Peanut remains. This is all SO much better than we first expected.