[IngaAnne]

My 8 month old son has been having varying degrees of sensitivity to different foods. For example, if I microwave raw bagged broccoli or green beans and feed it to him that day for dinner, he will wake up in the middle of the night screaming with his head broken out in an itchy rash (hives?). However, if I freeze these same foods and reheat them a few days later, he doesn't have this same violent reaction. I can't figure out why this would be. I'm not sure if it's some sort of pollen that's killed by the freezing, a preservative/chemical used with bagged veggies, something in the plastic bag, etc. I'm stumped. Anyone have a clue about this?

He's also had eczema since 3 months old and seems to react to everything with an itchy rash, mostly on his head and neck. We already know he's dairy and nut reactive with skin contact (he's broken out immediately after touching dairy and chips cooked in peanut oil). I do try to avoid these foods myself since he's still breastfeeding. My son takes Zyrtec daily, but according to the allergist it has already "failed" him, so she's concerned. Thursday, he had blood drawn for testing, but we're still waiting for results. From what I've read, the results may not be that accurate anyway. We're still trying to introduce new foods, but I'm at the point where I'm scared to feed him anything. The fact that he sometimes reacts to foods, but doesn't other times just makes everything even more confusing. Any helpful advice for us?

 

[bean-e]

Just out of curiosity, when you reheat the same foods a few days later, do you microwave it as well?

 

[changingseasons]

Do you mean you're freezing the veggies that you've cooked fresh yourself vs. bagged frozen veggies?

Frozen veggies (and/or the bags they come in) can be coated with cornstarch or something similar during processing. Because it's such a small amount, it's not going to be on the ingredient list. But it's certainly enough for a sensitive baby to react to.

For doing food trials on an atopic baby, I would suggest ONLY using fresh, organic produce (and then freezing yourself if you want to store it.) Even fresh produce can be coated with waxes containing dairy/corn, but organic is usually safe (except possibly cucumbers.)

 

[balancedmama]

I agree w/ the above info about the veggies.

Also, MOST peanut oils don't have peanut protein. So the reaction to chips might not have been from the oil, rather something else in the chip.

Why is your baby on zyrtec? Because you can't figure out the source of the reactions? If it were me...I would take him off of that and really do some serious food trials.

 

[IngaAnne]

My time is limited, so I was trying to save a few minutes by buying the precut veggies. The vegetables are raw, but bagged. I microwave them for about 5 minutes (per the instructions on the bag), then mash them into single portions. I refreeze the portions, which are eventually reheated via the microwave. We do a lot of organic, but it's limited to what is available at our grocery store. Sometimes, I drive across town to Whole Foods, but it doesn't happen every week. I didn't know frozen veggies were covered in cornstarch. Ick. My son has had organic frozen bagged blueberries without any issues.

Just some more info on what he can/cannot eat so far:

No obvious issues with Rice Cereal, Quinoa, Banana, Blueberries, Sweet Potato.

I think he's ok with Apples, Avocado, Black Beans, Butternut Squash, Carrots, Cauliflower, Kale, Oatmeal, Onion, Peas, but since his skin never completely clears up it's hard to observe minor reactions.

He's woken up screaming with a rash after eating Acorn Squash, Broccoli, Green Beans.

He's immediately broken out in a rash after eating Pear and after touching Dairy and Peanut Oil.

He's tasted Wheat and Tofu, with no apparent issue, but I'm fairly apprehensive about giving it to him on a regular basis.

Thanks for any input. I'm fairly new to all this and was very surprised at how the allergist was already puzzled.

 

[IngaAnne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by balancedmama I agree w/ the above info about the veggies. Also, MOST peanut oils don't have peanut protein. So the reaction to chips might not have been from the oil, rather something else in the chip. Why is your baby on zyrtec? Because you can't figure out the source of the reactions? If it were me...I would take him off of that and really do some serious food trials.

I think the chips were just potato, salt, and peanut oil.

He's on zyrtec because he tries to scratch off his skin whenever he gets the chance. He's had this problem since before he was on solids. I tried cutting out some of the major allergens like dairy and nuts from my own diet, which helped some. We also cut out as many potential skin irritants as possible. We use natural free and clear detergents, none of the perfumey baby products, etc. I don't even wear wool sweaters myself to keep from irritating his skin. Everything is complicated by the fact that I work and pump, so it's very hard to track allergens coming from my milk. Plus, I don't have 100% control over what his teachers wear, wash their clothes in, etc.

 

[mamafish9]

It sounds like your son is reacting to things in your diet - and that's probably going to make him more reactive and sensitive in general to solids he consumes. Taking out dairy and nuts was a good start - did you try any beyond that? (Top suspects would be gluten, corn, soy, and egg).

 

[Kailey's mom]

My advice for long term: Keep breastfeeding, and journal everything in regards to food. We had to literally start over, and start reintroducing foods *single ingredient foods* one new food/week & my dd will be 4 YEARS old in May. Journal all ingredients both you, and your ds consume, and list all symptoms of food allergy, not just the skin rash. Make sure to journal if your ds gets constipated, or has any change in pooping. Hugs!!! and please trust me, if I had the opportunity to do this over, I would have made sure to journal.

 

[IngaAnne]

We got the allergy test results back already. He tested highly positive for Dairy, Wheat, Peanuts (very high), Dogs & Cats, plus moderate for Eggs and Soy. I'm instructed to stop eating Dairy, Wheat, Nuts of any sort & Eggs. Seeing as I prefer vegetarian foods and am a bread addict, that's not going to be fun! For some reason, they didn't mention cutting out soy yet. That may just make me crazy! Hopefully, my baby will get some relief, though. He isn't eating any of those foods, beyond a random cracker or cereal o, which will be easy to cut out. I'd already made sure any packaged foods I bought for him had minimal ingredients and were free from dairy, soy, and eggs. It seems like it's all up to me changing my own diet at this point. The tests for broccoli, green beans, and pear came back negative. I realize the test isn't 100% accurate, but maybe he had been exposed to one of the major allergens at the same time, so we were mistaken about what he was responding to. We're going to start with the major stuff then come back to this other stuff. Our three dogs are no longer allowed in his room (and we removed his rug). The rest of the house has hardwoods or tile (not even a throw rug), so we will be cleaning a ton in the future, and putting down a clean blanket for floortime play. We had all the vents cleaned this fall, plus a new heat/AC system installed this winter, so there's less airborn stuff circulating around. The doctor wants me to work on cutting stuff out of my diet, and obviously not feeding them to my son, and see if there's improvement in a few weeks. I'm crossing my fingers that he'll outgrow this stuff and that it won't get any worse!

 

[Kailey's mom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IngaAnne We got the allergy test results back already. He tested highly positive for Dairy, Wheat, Peanuts (very high), Dogs & Cats, plus moderate for Eggs and Soy. I'm instructed to stop eating Dairy, Wheat, Nuts of any sort & Eggs. Seeing as I prefer vegetarian foods and am a bread addict, that's not going to be fun! For some reason, they didn't mention cutting out soy yet. That may just make me crazy! Hopefully, my baby will get some relief, though. He isn't eating any of those foods, beyond a random cracker or cereal o, which will be easy to cut out. I'd already made sure any packaged foods I bought for him had minimal ingredients and were free from dairy, soy, and eggs. It seems like it's all up to me changing my own diet at this point. The tests for broccoli, green beans, and pear came back negative. I realize the test isn't 100% accurate, but maybe he had been exposed to one of the major allergens at the same time, so we were mistaken about what he was responding to. We're going to start with the major stuff then come back to this other stuff. Our three dogs are no longer allowed in his room (and we removed his rug). The rest of the house has hardwoods or tile (not even a throw rug), so we will be cleaning a ton in the future, and putting down a clean blanket for floortime play. We had all the vents cleaned this fall, plus a new heat/AC system installed this winter, so there's less airborn stuff circulating around. The doctor wants me to work on cutting stuff out of my diet, and obviously not feeding them to my son, and see if there's improvement in a few weeks. I'm crossing my fingers that he'll outgrow this stuff and that it won't get any worse!

Hey, if you ever need support, you can always feel free to PM me. Please keep us updated. I KNOW how much of a pain food allergies can be. I hope not, but, if you lo ever develops GI issues due to allergies, I've btdt also. Good luck

 

[changingseasons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kailey's mom I hope not, but, if you lo ever develops GI issues due to allergies, I've btdt also.

Just for my curiosity- can you expand on this? What kind of GI issues were caused by the allergies? And are you sure that the allergies weren't caused by the GI issues?

 

[Kailey's mom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by changingseasons Just for my curiosity- can you expand on this? What kind of GI issues were caused by the allergies? And are you sure that the allergies weren't caused by the GI issues?

eosinophilic disorders

 

[rhesp1212]

I'm so sorry you are going through this, it's sooooooo tough!! I have also BTDT, with a son who reacts to just about everything!! We are on an extremely limited diet. You might want to seriously consider doing a rotational diet for those foods that you are allowed to eat to help keep him from building up more allergies to other foods. Also, reactions trump any test!! If your DS has reacted to broccoli and other foods but tested negative you should avoid those foods regardless. It is possible that it's not a true IgE allergy, but is a strong intolerance to those foods which can create all sorts of reactions too.

 

[LovnMyBoys]

I'm also sending hugs your way because I too have had a little one react to everything. Like Kailey's mom it was GI reactions in our case that also ended up being diagnosed as eosinophilc disease (with my older one also being diagnosed in the last year). Makes things very tough but it can be done. Sounds like you have a good place to start with the allergy testing, but remember not everything always shows up on the tests so trust your mama instinct too!