Questions for moms with allergic children

[kfillmore]

I am trying to weed through heaps of contradictory advice so I thought I would go direct to mommies. I am a semi-allergic mom with a baby just starting solids. PLEASE respond.

Is there something(s) you did or didn't do that you wish you did differently and you think might have prevented food allergies in your child??

I and DD thank you

[sbgrace]

I wish I would have had vitamin D levels tested (self and child) and made sure we were in the 50's. I would have done allergen free (Klaire labs for example) probiotics from the start. We would have focused on sIgA levels (mainly via probiotics for baby and more for me). I would have done gut healing stuff from the start.

In introducing solids I would have held off on grains (no grain allergy but I think they are hard to digest). I would have spaced food introduced out to no more than every three days.

There is a lot I'd do differently really.

But....I have to take a step back and realize that I've got one allergy kid and one not. So while I wish I had known things I know now and made different choices there are major factors at play that go beyond environment.

Breastfeed as long as you can. I'd avoid nuts personally but I know some argue that's not smart (my son is anaphylactic to nuts and I wish I could take back all trace exposure for him).

[FairyRae]

Well, if I could really make some huge changes...

I would have eaten a traditional foods based diet--including lots of grass-fed/pastured meat, (wild caught) fish, poultry, eggs and good fats like coconut oil and ghee and superfoods like liver and cod-liver oil pre-conception, during pregnancy and beyond. (I was vegetarian for a very long time...)

I would have included fermented foods w/ all of my meals.

I would have made mineral rich bone broth, and only utilized raw dairy products (mostly cultured) in my diet.

I would have avoided gluten, just because I like how I feel w/out it much better. (I may have done sprouted gluten grains, like what's in ezekial bread.) Although right now I eat pretty paleo, and maybe would have done that because I LOVE how it makes me feel.

I would have made sure to get all of my nutritional needs met w/ the food I ate every day. I would have supplemented w/ whole foods based supps (as much as possible) if I didn't feel able to meet my needs w/ food.

I would have had a homebirth if possible (which I did--yay!) and as little medical intervention as was safe for myself and my babe.

During nursing, if I had troubles w/ supply, I would have utilized donor breastmilk (which I did) along w/ making my own bone-broth based WAPF style formula if needed (which I didn't do--I used commercial formula ). I would have nursed at all times, disregarding the advice of my lactation consultant to do 1/2 hour long nursing sessions every 1.5 hours. I would have laid in bed nursing all day and all night, as much as my child wanted to build my supply in the way nature intended. (BIG regret there!!!!)

I would not have used antibiotics for myself or my ds ever unless I felt it was truly medically necessary, and would have used extra probiotics during the course of antibiotics.

I would have never given my ds any vaccinations.

My ds's first foods (besides my milk) would have probably been fermented vegetable juice, fermented veggies, and bone broth, along w/ liver and other meats. I'd intro everything one at a time, doing meats and veggies and fruits first, probably waiting a week between each new food. (I too would wait on nuts till ds was older--maybe 2+.)

I would watch for any signs that many folks think are normal (baby 'acne', sleep issues, digestive upset, etc.) and change my diet accordingly while nursing to see if it changed anything.

I too would nurse as long as my ds wanted (which we are doing).

I would probably avoid introing dairy for a long time, and when I did only raw, cultured dairy. I would not even intro gluten (until my child was really wanting to try it, which I don't think would have happened until he was older), and grains I might not intro either unless my child really wanted to try them. Like I mentioned, I really like paleo eating now--ds and dh still eat some grains, but a lot less since I do all the cooking which they are ok w/! If I were doing grains, they would be sprouted or soaked as part of their preparation, and I would intro them after I'd introed most meats, veggies and fruits (the really nutrient dense stuff.) Legumes I'd sprout b/4 introing as well, and I'd do those later too. Tougher to digest for some of us.

[I just want to mention, I really believe in allowing/supporting my child to be in 'control' of his own body and choices. Unless an allergy was a true allergy, I would not *forbid* him from eating anything he wanted. BUT, I make substitutes for EVERYTHING others eat (esp. when we are around them), and he is really ok w/ this. We talk about repercussions of eating foods that he reacts to (that he could get a painful rash on his butt--the worst reaction for him in terms of how it feels, etc.) He makes his choices accordingly, and always chooses NOT to eat foods that have his triggers in them. But he almost always is able to eat something similar to what others are eating b/c I make sure to make it and bring it to every gathering we go to, which I think makes a huge difference...Willingness to make his favorites at the drop of a hat has been helpful w/ this I think--he does not feel deprived--if he wants to eat candy or cookies etc, we just make them right away for the most part if we don't have any stashed in the freezer, etc... I would not feel comfortable 'restricting' his diet in any way if he had no allergies/reactions, and I still don't see what we do now 'restriction'. I would not feel comfortable saying something like, "We don't eat that" if he was interested in a certain food etc.--Just want to clarify since I've mentioned waiting/not introing so many foods unless he really showed interest in them. I think starting off w/ a great diet as foundation, along w/ great gut flora from this diet could enable a child to much better cope w/ foods that are not so easy to digest, such as gluten, etc...]

This is so long--hope it makes sense!!!

[Kitten]

I was super careful with my first son. Waited six months, no allergrnic foods, waited before adding another food. I was mercileslly mocked and bullied by family. I was more relaxed with my second. Now he has anaphylactic corn, peanut, tree nut, and coconut allergies. And my MIL makes snide comments about how she thought bfing was supposed to prevent food allergies.

in retrospect I would have been as strict with the second as the first. I had a homebirth and we don't vax. I guess maybe some kids are just fated to have allergies. And lots of mainstream parents use formula and rice cereal at four months, eat crap during pregnancy, get the whole enchilada of pregnancy interventions, and have children who have no food allergies at all. Allergies are such a mystery. I also read that in about 30% of crashes seatbelt use makes no difference at all, but I still use seatbelts and carseats anyway.

I do wish I had been stricter with the solids. Maybe he still would have had allergies but I wouldn't feel like maybe I hadn't prevented them.

[Koalamom]

I was switching to a traditional food diet when I was feeding my dd and she has so many allergies and gut issues from me feeding her the food I "thought" were good. Just because it is what we read should be fed, it is not always what is individually right. And we over did it with foods too. LikeI was so excited about sauerkraut and then we ate tons of it. And then we were on a yogurt kick and ate tons of that.
All things in moderation and small portions too.

[WuWei]

We gave ds antibiotics at birth. But, we can't change the past. So, I try not to think about it.

Didn't do any probiotics during pregnancy. Same thing.

More nutrient dense foods and whole foods, without wheat and dairy.


Pat

[paakbaak]

i´m with kitten. allergies are a mystery. i too see my cousins, did all of the above during pregnancy and after and their kids are fine. me? we breastfed for 2 years (selfweaned) and i took great care of myself during preg and during the next 2 years, lived in the-almost-country so most foods were bio, bla bla bla... but my babe was born with very sensitive skin, so it was horrible the first year. never cortisone creams, never soaps or shampoos, only oatmeal milk on his skin.
no vax.
but we moved to mexico city...wow. asthma attacks, allergies to the air itself almost, food allergies, etc... me too.
if i´d known i´d probably never moved back so now i´m looking to leave next year.

yeah, there alot of things you can do and avoid doing...but if your kid "comes with it"
it´s there. you just do what your gut tells you is right. even if people tell you you are over doing it, you take care of you babe as your body and soul tell you too. but don´t worry, the kid´s will be fine!

[beingmommy]

Originally Posted by paakbaak

i´m with kitten. allergies are a mystery.

Me too! I had a natural childbirth with no medications. I BFed my DS for 6 months exclusively and then he had no interest in solids until well after 12 months so really he was EBF until about 14 months. He is unvaxed. Has had probiotics since he was 4.5 months old. Our doc is a naturopath so we have always made natural care choices for him when able. He DID have antibiotics once when he was 4.5 months old for a UTI that had spread to his kidneys (no choice there, he was VERY ill). He still nurses now at 2.5 years old. He is anaphylactic to peanuts and sesame. He is also gluten-intolerant.

But two of his closest toddler friends were C-section babies (supposedly a higher risk for food allergies), BFed but both were into solids at 6 months. Their parents didn't avoid anything in particular when introducing foods. Oneof the little girls has been eating nuts and peanuts since before she was two with no problem. Both are fully vaxed. And they can eat anything.

I really think most IgE allergies are genetically based and maybe triggered by environmental things. For us I think the antibiotics triggered it in DS. But if it hadn't beent he antibiotics it would've been something else. I'd love to think there was something I could do or something I could've done to prevent it (obviously it is of no use to DS now but for future kids) but honestly, I think it is just luck of the draw. Our doc said something to me yesterday at our 2.5 year visit. She said some kids just have the genetic make-up to be sensitive to stuff and the littlest thing can set it off. I think she is right.

[k9sarchik]

I would have avoided drinking so much juice. I drank a ton of pasteurized carrot juice while I was pregnant and DS is highly allergic to carrots now. Because of this it makes it very difficult to give him any kind of soup and broth, along with natural colors and flavors.