Hives in toddler after eating Thanksgiving food.

[alicewyf]

We have had two Thanksgiving meals in the past two days (one at her "school" (church's Kids Day Out program) and one at my husband's office Thanksgiving) and both days got hives on her face after eating Thanksgiving food. I can't figure out what might be causing this and it is driving me insane.

Day 1 she ate (at least one bite of each):

Brisket

Chicken nuggets

Turkey

Bread stuffing

grapes

strawberries

dinner rolls

Mashed potatoes

Day 2 she ate:

salad with ranch dressing

cornbread stuffing

turkey

mashed potatoes

corn

deviled eggs (without paprika)

dinner rolls

The first day, I thought she was having a skin reaction to the cinnamon in the apple pie she had for dessert, but today, the hives appeared before she even started dessert, so that ruled that out. All of these things are things she's had before. The only thing I can think of is that other people use a different ingredient than we do, or perhaps some of it wasn't homemade and contains loads of preservatives.

So far she has been confirmed sensitive to cow's milk protein, but her ped says cooked milk, yogurt, and certain cheeses should be fine. She didn't have anything with cheese on it to my knowledge.

I am allergic to shellfish. I am also sensitive to nitrates in preserved meats, but that always results in an itchy rash for me, not hives.

I am going to be calling an allergist for testing on Monday, but I'd like to come in with some sort of idea of what we're looking for. The hives really are starting to scare me!

Thanks for any input you can suggest.

[scsigrl]

Has she been sick? Could be viral hives/rash.  There was a lot of food over these two days.  Was any of it new? If not, I wouldn't think allergy.  Also, catch all allergy testing may turn up a lot of false +s.  I would not do testing unless you have seen a reaction to a specific thing. Also,if it is an intolerance (as you said she had a milk intolerance) it won't show up on an allergy test anyway.

Good luck!

[alicewyf]

No, she hasn't been sick. She is teething, though. I am kind of thinking now that it might have been the milk in the mashed potatoes, which some people add. From what I've seen people add it towards the end so it doesn't cook for very long. The only other thing she ate both days were turkey (not likely an allergen from what I've read) stuffing (the first day of which I cooked myself and I know there was nothing weird in that stuffing) and dinner rolls, which obviously we would have noticed by now if she was allergic to wheat or eggs. I am thinking it is probably the milk in the mashed potatoes. Ugh. I did just go out and get some Benadryl in case this happens again, or gets worse before we can see a doc.

[SweetSilver]

If turkey is not something she has had before (????) then she could easily have taken several servings to have a reaction.  It really could be anything on the list.  Hives that come and go (???) speak of an allergy to me.  If this happens, go ahead and give her the Benadryl (we prefer Zyrtec, it has less of a "trainwreck" side effect) and see what happens.  If you do think it's the milk, I would strongly advise to cut dairy out completely.  Yes, whole milk does bring a stronger reaction, but if she's getting hives then it really needs to go, all of it.  

[alicewyf]

She has had turkey before, even gross lunch meat that my husband eats full of nitrates and what not. We had turkey sausage last night for dinner. We've never noticed a reaction to it. The hives only lasted for about an hour after each time she was exposed to whatever it was in the Thanksgiving food. I do intend to cut out all milk until we can see an allergist. Will definitely update when we find something out. I also have Claritin which I know she reacts fine too. I'm keeping both in my purse until we know what we're dealing with.

[scsigrl]

Originally Posted by SweetSilver 

 if she's getting hives then it really needs to go, all of it.  

Many allergists have kids on baked milk or egg.  It is even hinted at that it can help get them over the "uncooked" allergy, so while it may be dairy, if she has been cleared for baked milk, taking it away may lead to actually being more sensitive.