7 month old with hives and swelling after eating egg today

[JodieG1]

I'm assuming he had an allergic reaction to the scrambled egg he had for breakfast but he's had egg about 4 times before in the past week or so and had no reaction to it. Is this usual? Is it wise to avoid egg altogether from now on including products with egg in them? It was at 7am at breakfast in the hotel (we were visiting legoland) and a few mintues after eating scrambled egg he started getting hives around his mouth. He also had some sausage but I'm assuming in wasn't that. We're BLW by the way. The hives spread to his cheek and above his eys (I think where he rubbed the egg into his face) and by the time we were back at the hotel room his lips started to swell.

I gave him a breastfeed and watched him but although I was worried he seemed fine and had no trouble breathing. About an hour later all the hives had gone and he was completely fine.

Any advice and do I need to take him to the drs?

Yes take him to the docs when you get back, and I'd avoid egg until he's been tested. Allegic reactions get worse each time you have one, it doesn;t always show on first exposure- perhaps buy some piriton as well.

DD gets this whenever we give her Benylin so she doesn't get that anymore. It came on quite suddenly because she had the benylin lots of times before. Anyway, took her to A&E and was told it was an urticaria rash (allergic reaction) and to give piriton and douse her in calamine lotion. it went away after a week and she hasn't had it since.

If you're concerned, I would take your lo to the drs just to get checked out.

Thank you all. I do have some puriton in the house so will have a look at it and see what age to give from. I'll also call the dr and get an emergency appt for Monday. I was worried at the time but it happened and went so fast and, thankfully, he was still breathing fine. I was going to call an ambulence if he had shown any signs at all of not being able to breathe.

I'll ask about an appt with a pediatric allergist as well. In the meantime I'll avoid everything with egg in it as I don't want to cause any more reactions in him.

Don't rule out the sausages either though - my niece is allergic to sulphites, which are used in quite a few foods including most sausages.

Thanks, I didn't think it would be the sausage as egg is more allergic I think but will mention that too at the drs.

Do I have to watch what I eat as well as I'm breastfeeding or will this not make any difference? Does this mean avoiding bread too (I'm not sure if it has egg in it ) as he's had lots of toast and been fine.

Anyone else know about bf and if I should avoid egg for now too?

bump

Was it cooked by the hotel? can't quite figure it out. It might be worth ringin and asking if they use any oil when they do scrambled egg. it may be the oil he is allergic too esp if he has had egg and been fine before.
Or was anything added to the egg when it was being cooked? milk for eg

i would ring the hotel as wierd as it sounds.

Bread doesn't contain egg.

Bread can be glazed with egg though.

DD1 was allergic to eggs as an infant (grew out of it by age 2). I was able to eat eggs and breastfeed, but its worth checking with your dr first.

I will call the hotel and check how they cooked the egg. I'll make sure I buy bread without glaze on then, thanks. So I need to not eat anything with egg in as well then? I'll avoid eggs but does that mean anything at all with eggs in for me as well?

Thanks for all the help

MSG in sausage could be the reason - if you normally buy nice ones you would be amazed what is in hotel ones.

I would suspect the sausage simply because they are a mixture of so many things.

If it was me I would avoid egg in my diet. As kerrymumbledore says here is evidence that allergens can be passed in breastmilk. If you search on the internet lots of allergy sites suggest eliminating major allergens from your diet if breastfeeding - both for children who already have the allergy and for children who are in families with lots of allergies but have not yet developed one themselves.

e.g. www.kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/nutrition/food_allergies.html

The Australian National Asthma Council also points out the allergens in breastmilk.

"Common allergenic food proteins are present in human milk and sensitisation may occur through breastfeeding."

www.nationalasthma.org.au/HTML/management/infopapers/health_professionals/ 7005.asp

My son has multiple food allergies but luckily these did not appear when he was a baby - though I am convinced the terrible colic he had was an indication of him developing sensitivity to what I was eating while breastfeeding. Good luck.

Ok I'll avoid all egg as well then. Thanks for those links I'm having a look at them now. I've called the hotel and am waiting for them to call back with how the foods were cooked and what the ingredients are. I usually only buy nice sausages so I suppose I can't rule out either yet.

Anyone know how they'll determine what he is allergic to?

Do you think I should also avoid eating the major allergens? I'mm a vegetarian so could prove difficult as I eat a lot of dairy. He's eaten cheese a number of times with no reaction, what do you think? I'll ask to be referred to a specialist tomorrow and go through it all with them but I'm guessing the appointment will take a while?

Hi Jodie,
My 10 month DD is allergic to egg. We had skin prick tests after she reacted to egg in a similar way to your DS.
My advice is for your DS to avoid all egg and egg containing products. This is very easy as packaging now clearly labels if there is egg in something.
Get an appointment with an allergist. They will test for all common allergies (milk, fish, soya, peanut and egg).
Don't worry about your DS avoing any other allergens. You will know if he develops an allergy to something else.
I can't advise about breastfeeding but I do know that there is a big difference between you easting runny fried eggs and eating a piece of cake which has a very small amount of very well cooked egg. So just see how it goes.

You'll find you will get a quick appointment because of MMR - as it contains egg white. My DD had a similar reaction off to the hospital on Tuesday only 3 weeks after seeing the GP which is not bad for the NHS. I decided not to cut out the major allergens in my diet and I'm BFing only.

Regarding avoiding other allergens apart of egg...

You don't need to avoid all major allergens although it would be worth it to be very organised about introducing them so you can identify if he is reacting to something(like always knowing what and when your DS had, and possibly just offering things that respect the guidelines for weaning allergic children -you can find those in the allergies topic, they have been posted there in many ocassions).

Jodie - if you want to test if it is egg that he has a problem with, then you could rub some egg on his arm or face and see if he comes up in hives. I know it sounds a bit weird, but dd's paed told me to put cows milk on her lips to test her allergy. If he doesn't come up in a rash then it doesn't guarantee that he doesn't have a problem with it, but if he does then you know that he does straight away.

Unfortunately, allergy testing is not always conclusive, and even less so if it's an intolerance rather than a full blown allergy.

here Thread about guidelines.

CantSleep, I think the paediatriacias are no longer advising that rubbing substances in the arm, as you are likely to be making the child more sensitive with each contact.

This advice was only given to me last year Isabel.