Can I prevent allergies with #3?

[crystalkr]

I'm pregnant with my third and am interested in doing everything I can to prevent allergies with this one.  Both of my first 2 kiddos had some dairy issues as babies that they grew out of and my oldest developed asthma at age 5.  I discovered that his asthma is mostly due to gluten sensativities which also seem to be lessening.  I myself have gluten issues.  A little more background info: both kids had GERD for the first 4-6 months, the oldest was c-sec, the youngest VBAC and I nursed both for 2+ years.  Now I am looking at everything I put into my mouth.  Should I avoid dairy and gluten the whole time?  Any thoughts would be appreciated!!

[scsigrl]

There is no proof of anything in prevention while pregnant for allergies or Celiac (I know it isn't the same but that is where my knowledge base is at).  *They* use to day stop allergenic food in the last trimester and then realized that was bunk.  

I just had this discussion with our allergist as I am in the same boat.  He said there is no proof that limiting in pregnancy or breastfeeding is necessary UNLESS you see an issue with foods in the breastfed baby and eliminate if that's an issue.  In speaking with the top US Celiac researcher, he also said not to limit gluten (unless you need to for your own reasons) as it isn't thought to help either.

I have read a lot about gut health and that being passed from Mom to baby.  My DS have many food allergies and Celiac.  With my second pregnancy I did 6 weeks of a good strong probiotic to boost my gut health.  DD had issues with dairy and egg till about 14 months and while we still don't feed her anything DS is allergic to (for safety and sanity reasons) she has tested negative to all 16 foods we looked at for her.  She can't be tested for Celiac because she's never had gluten in her diet.  I am planning on doing the same probiotic thing this time around.  It can't hurt and if it helps, that's great!

I know, no real answers.  Allergies are like that though :(

[dulce_mami]

One case is no proof to anything, but *I am sure* that giving my third baby probiotics after birth helped tremendously. My first son had some food intolerances, my DD had true allergies and a lot of food intolerances, so I knew that I had to avoid stuff with my third one. I did not do anything during pgcy (in fact I started eating everything, including dairy and gluten, since I stopped BFing my DD as I felt really malnourished). When my third kid was born and his stools looked green and smelled like vinegar, he was always fussy, some eczema etc., I knew that I had a long road ahead of me again. I started eliminating everything from my diet, but after weeks on TED and no ``normal" stools, I reached the conclusion that this was not helping. What I did from the time he was about 4-5 weeks old (I wish I started earlier!) was to give him an allergen free probiotic (don't remember the name, was in a blue glass container, the doctor/lactation consultant that I saw recommended it). I gave him many times the recommended dose, I would just put it on the spoon and feed it to him, as much as he would take, then give him water (or I would mix it with water and give it with a dropper). I am still BF-ing him (he is 20+ months), and we are still mostly GF free, but we do eat butter, mozarella cheese, and in small amounts he is ok with these. On rare occasions I have other stuff, he usually waked up more and he is more fussy/clingy when I step off the safe route, but this way I do not feel like I am restricting myself too much. He is gaining weight *very well*, he is mostly very healthy, we had few episodes of ear infections but they always came after me eating gluten or dairy (traveling for conferences etc.).

It may not be much that you can do during pgcy, but I definitely recommend probiotics as soon after birth as you feel comfortable doing it. Body Ecology has a nice cocobiotic - a liquid that contains a very good probiotic, you can try that too (they say it is safe to give it to the baby from a couple of weeks old).

Good health to your babies!

[subtlycrunchy]

Well, you can try to provide the healthiest "environment" possible by taking excellent care of your health. Lately, I am really loving the work of Dr. Dorris Rapp, kind of the grandmother of today's healthy kids, no to toxins movement. Check out her article on raising an allergy-free kid (starting before the kid is born): Healthy foundations for children