Big Sis has allergies - what to do with Baby Bro?

[azzeps]

Hi all,

My daughter is allergic to eggs (whites and whole egg) and mildly allergic to peanuts.  How should I be handling introducing new foods, particularly the allergenic ones, to her baby brother?  Is he more at risk for allergies because she has some?  Should I have him tested before introducing the big ones (dairy, eggs, nuts, etc.)?  We have a pediatrician's visit on Thursday so it would be good if I were prepared with some questions.

On a side note... my mom fed him Cream of Wheat (made with milk) the other day, and he had a reaction to it - turned red everywhere it touched him - around the outside of his mouth, his hands... so should I be figuring he's either allergic to the wheat or the milk or both?  This is the same kind of reaction that alerted me to my daughter's egg allergy.  My poor mom... her Dad died two weeks ago, and she just wasn't thinking when she gave it to him... said he really, really wanted a bite....

Thanks for any words of wisdom!

[scsigrl]

A child with a parent/sib with allergies (environmental or food) has a 50% chance of having an allergy (to one or the other or both).  We have chosen not to introduce allergens to the younger ones till they were old enough to tell us if something was going on AND after they were tested. Part of this was for safety reasons.  I don't want #2 leaving traces of #1's allergens around the house.

Every house does it differently.  It's all about comfort and what you are comfortable with really.

As for his reaction, I would not be giving him either for those foods for a while and when you do, one at a time.  I don't give my kids "mixed" food till I know they tolerate each ingredient separately.

Good luck!  I know it's so hard to navigate this stuff.

[azzeps]

Thanks for the reply.  I think your approach makes sense.  We are already avoiding eggs and peanuts for DD, so it shouldn't be that hard to keep DS off those things for a little longer than we would perhaps if we did not have allergy issues.  Of course, he could be allergic to something else entirely (like dairy, or gluten) but I guess we won't know that until we try it.

When can he get tested?  DD was tested at 2 years old.  They drew blood and tested a dozen or so things.  I had never noticed a reaction to peanuts in her, like I did with the egg, it just popped up on the test.

Thank you!