[urmysunshyn]

This past week I discovered that my 8 month old is allergic to:

eggs, dairy and peanuts.

She is not allergic to wheat, banana, oats, potato, and garlic.

It is difficult because I don't know what I can or cannot eat! What if she is allergic to other foods as well?

My questions are:
Are there good online resources to determine what I can or cannot eat?
Should I give formula instead? (I'd rather not if I don't have to.)
What else should I test for? (skin prick test?)

This is so frustrating because she continues to get itched red rashes and swelling. I feel so bad for her!

 

[Caden's Mom]

Should you bf: YES!

You'll learn what you have to eat if you read labels.

Ingredients that indicate the presence of egg protein include:

albumin
egg (dried, powdered, solids, white, yolks)
egg substitute
eggnog
globulin
mayonnaise
meringue
ovalbumin
ovomucin
ovomucoid
ovovitellin

Avoid baked goods with a shiny glaze or yellow color (usually from eggs).

Egg substitutes: (works up to 3 eggs in a recipe)

A) 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon water
1 Tablespoon vinegar

B)1 teaspoon yeast dissolved in
1/4 cup warm water

C) 1 Tablespoon apricot puree

D) 1-1/2 Tablespoon water
1-1/2 Tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon baking powder

E) 1 packet of plain gelatin mixed with
2 Tablespoons warm water.

Ingredients that indicate the presence of peanuts include:

beer nuts
mixed nuts
"Nu-Nuts"
peanuts
peanut butter
peanut flour
cold pressed peanut oil (usually found in gourmet or health food stores), refined peanut oils usually are OK

These foods MAY contain peanut protein:
baked goods
candy/chocolate
chili
egg rolls
Ethnic foods: African, Chinese, Thai, hydrolyzed plant or protein or vegetable protein
nougat

Ingredients that indicate dairy proteins may be present

Butters: artificial butter, artificial butter flavor, butter, butter extract, butter fat, butter flavored oil, butter solids, dairy butter, natural butter, natural butter flavor, whipped butter

Casein & caseinates: ammonium caseinate, calcium caseinate, magnesium caseinate, potassium caseinate, sodium caseinate, hydrolyzed casein, iron caseinate, zinc caseinate

Cheese: cheese (all types), cheese flavor (artificial and natural), cheese food, cottage cheese, cream cheese, imitation cheese, vegetarian cheeses with casein

Cream, whipped cream
Curds
Custard
Dairy product solids
Galactose
Ghee
Half & Half

Hydrolysates: casein hydrolysate, milk protein hydrolysate, protein hydrolysate, whey hydrolysate, whey protein hydrolysate

Ice cream, ice milk, sherbet
Lactalbumin, lactalbumin phosphate
Lactate, calcium lactate, lactate solids
Lactyc yeast
Lactilol monohydrate
Lactoglobulin
Lactose
Lactulose

Milk: Acidophilus milk, buttermilk, buttermilk blend, buttermilk solids, cultured milk, condensed milk, dried milk, dry milk solids (DMS), evaporated milk, fat-free milk, fully cream milk powder, goat’s milk, low-fat milk, malted milk, milk derivative, milk powder, milk protein, milk solids, milk solid pastes, non-fat dry milk, non-fat milk, non-fat milk solids, pasteurized milk, powdered milk, sheep’s milk, skim milk, skim milk powder, sour milk, sour milk solids, sweet cream buttermilk powder, sweetened condensed milk, sweetened condensed skim milk, whole milk, 1% milk, 2% milk.

Milk fat, anhydrous milk fat

Nougat
Pudding
Quark
Recaldent
Renned, rennet casein
Simplesse (fat replacer)
Sour cream, sour cream solids, imitation sour cream

Whey: Acid whey, cured whey, delactosed whey, demineralized whey, hydrolyzed whey, powdered whey, reduced mineral whey, sweet dairy whey, whey, whey protein, whey protein concentrate, whey powder, whey solids

Yogurt (regular or frozen), yogurt powder

Possible sources of milk:

Natural Flavoring
Flavoring
Caramel Flavoring
High Protein Flour
Lactate
Lactic Acid (usually not a problem)
“Non-Dairy†products may contain casein.
Rice cheese
Soy cheese

Milk derivatives that should be safe for most individuals with milk allergy, but check with your doctor before using:

Lactoferrin
Tagatose (Naturlose)

If something says vegan, you are safe to eat it (so long as there are no nuts) as anything that is vegan is dairy and egg free. There is a soy cheese that is vegan friendly. Soy garden spread and fleishman's unsalted sticks are safe for butter substitution. There are so many things that you can still eat.

BM is better any time and everytime than fromula. I'm nursing my 16 month old who is allergic to egg, dairy, tomato, avocado, and strawberry and trust me, I'm not withering away!

I would avoid all tree nuts. Ask your DD's allergist to do a full panel of allergy test on her. We did the skin prick test on DS.

 

[urmysunshyn]

Thanks for that info. I'll need to carry it around with me.

yesterday i ate some "Oatios" which had almond. Maybe that explains her new itching and rashes?

Or can it be that the steriod treatment ended and new reactions are occurring?

Maybe it's the salad dressing i had on the salad at a restaurant yesterday?

Or is it that the french fries contained wheat and dairy?

Or was it that the sunscreen and moisturizer i put on her skin contains dairy products or other allergens?

I guess it would be useful to start writing down all my food intake.

 

[Caden's Mom]

Dairy takes a minimum of 2 weeks to exit your system and her's. A month is a better indicator. Any of the above could be causing her itchiness.

Sunscreen and moisturizer can aggravate sensitive skin.

We just started using JASON sunscreen as DS's skin didn't like the banana boat kind.

Some other tips: do not use any soap, except something like cetaphyl. Use free and clear detergents in the wash and no fabric softeners. If you need softened laundry, do a rinse with white vinegar. Watch what moisturizers you use. Either use natural oils or eucerin or aquaphor. Be careful with the herbal kind since they usually contain potential allergens.

Are you certain the french fries had dairy?

Good luck

 

[goomjiji]

It's incredibly overwhelming at first, but yes, you should absolutely continue breastfeeding. DS has the same allergies, and avoiding tree nuts and peanuts is pretty standard advice these days because the proteins are so similar. If you haven't done so already, you should get an epi-pen. DS only got eczema from eating some nuts (before I knew) a year ago. He accidentally got a walnut a few months ago and his reaction was MUCH worse.

Expect some adjustment time. I remember wanting to cry more than once as I read ingredient labels at the grocery store, but I'm used to it now and it's just the way we live. I read every label. We eat an almost completely whole foods diet. We're not veggie, so that's a little easier. Dining out is hard, but I have found that most restaurants are really good about modifying to accommodate allergies. Remember to avoid Asian food though because they almost all use peanut oil.

I'm scattered. I'll see if I can add something useful later.

 

[urmysunshyn]

last night i had chinese. they said that they use vegetable oil, but now i'm skeptical. she red rash spread to chest and back.

i use aquaphor, vaseline, olive oil with tee tree for the itch, and calendula cream.

i use all free and clear (1/2 the amount) with baking soda.

i have cetaphyl, but it has ingredients which dry the skin, so now i'm not so sure about using it.

i don't know for sure that FF have dairy, but i read that mcdonalds fries have diary and wheat for added flavoring.

i'm ready to fast or at least really limit what i'm eating. i read that can be the fastest way to figure it out.

 

[urmysunshyn]

Check out cosmeticdatabase.com

i typed in cetaphil and found that the hazardous score was a 2 out of 10.

some of its components were a 4 out of 10.

i think i'm going to stop using it and try to find a more natural soap something very plain with glycerin and oatmeal only if that's possible.

she has so much hair too, maybe i should chop it since she itches her head so much.

 

[mclisa]

I would keep breast feeding. It will be cheaper than using alimentum or nutramigen formula.

We found out that C at 6 months was allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts. By the time she was a year old it had expanded to 16 different foods. It is hard to know what is going to get added, but I think a food journal would help you alot. Maybe not in the first day or two, but once you look at it week by week. then you might start seeing patterns. We did this and figured out bananas and such.

I would retest her when she's a year or about 6 months after this test.

The key to your diet is eating a lot of fresh foods and vegetables. Try not to eat processed foods. It sounds hard, but it is delicious. Focus on the foods you can have.

 

[elmh23]

It's hard, but yeah keep breastfeeding. You'll learn what you can and cannot eat. Stay away from Chinese because even if they use veggie oil they probably have peanut sauces on some of the food. I miss Chinese food but we just can't risk it (dd is allergic to peanuts and soy.) Read ingredients on EVERYTHING. Peanuts are found is many unexpected places like pasta sauce. Avoid tree nuts aswell because peanuts and tree nuts are usually processed on the same equipment and have a high rate of cross contamination.

 

[urmysunshyn]

What are the reasons I should keep BFing? I hate to see her so aggitated. Right now, i cannot justify continuing to BF. I have limited my diet to:

oatmeal / peach
hummus (no tahini) with garlic, lemon, olive oil
chicken breast
turkey breast
lettuce , oil, vinegar
sweet potato
brown rice
regular potato
avocado with garlic salt
rice crackers
water / seltzer with lemon.

i will try for another week and hope to see improvements in her.
also will isolate the cat to the basement possibly out of house and clean everything well.

i'm craving breads and sweets, i'm in withdrawl, but i know i need this too!

 

[MovingMomma]

Why wouldn't you continue breastfeeding? All the reasons you started breastfeeding are still valid, plus breastfeeding helps minimize allergies.

Try joining the foodlab yahoo group. It's full of mamas going through the same thing. Tons of support & info.

It sucks, but you can do it!

 

[Caden's Mom]

Why can't you have bread or sweets? We eat bread! I also eat sweets.

I'll have Jello pudding (not the sugar free kind) made with coco nut milk. Research vegan recipes for dessert on the internet. There are a ton! Your list is very short. There are tons of other foods you can eat. You can make pancakes with soy milk and ener-g egg replacer. You can eat bacon and some sausages. You can have some italian sausages. You can have some kielbasas. You can drink other pops and juices. You can have all the fruit and veggies you want. You can eat vegan sour cream or cream cheese. You can have bagels. You can eat sorbet. You can eat ritz crackers and oreos. There are so many things you can eat, unless you are eliminating other foods besides her known allergens.

BM is now doubly important to your child, since it ensures that she gets a good amount of fat. You bm also helps protect her from dev'p further allergies. It will provide her the immunities that she needs. BM is the perfect food. There is no risk of contamination from bacteria. She is less likely to have ear infections or diarrhea. With holding bm from infants is responsible for hundreds of infant deaths in the US each year.

I swear to you that the first 2 weeks are the hardest to get through. You will have other low times where it just seems too hard, but you can get through it and it will get easier. Go ahead and mourn for a few days. Its okay to feel sorry for your self. But truly, it will get easier.

Also, I have found luck with finding allergen free chocolate chips at health food stores. You can also get sun butter which tastes similar to peanut butter but is made from sunflower seeds. If you want any recipes or meal suggestions, just pm me and I'll get you some ideas!

 

[SAmama]

I would not (and having been in the same boat as you, did not) stop breastfeeding. On the contrary, for a child with allergies that is extra motivation to go as long as you can. I have spent weeks and weeks researching this allergy thing and when you go deeper into it, it is normally related to gut issues (which directly influences the immune system), even if you didn't think so at all. When you look at all the things in breast milk that helps your child deal with allergies, helps the immune system (and allergies has a lot to do with immune system issues) and helps them actually heal, then nothing can compare with breast milk. We have done more than six months of very strict elimination diets and right now I basically eat fruit, veggies and meat and some spices. And dd's eczema is not clear by any means, but at least it isn't full body eczema anymore. It is hard, but it is very worth it. Maybe it will be different for you, but many mamas have found that their children do well on formula for a while and then start to react to that as well... or if they are on solids and get weaned, they start to react to foods they never reacted to before. As one mama said, breast milk is "liquid gold" for your babe with allergies, even if you cannot figure out all the allergens. There is a lot of info on the healing the gut cheat sheet (stickied under health and healing) about this.
Have you tried supplementing with probiotics (bifido infantis for a bf babe) and essential fatty acids? Also vitamin A (natural, not synthetic), like from high vitamin cod liver oil.

 

[nataliachick7]

here is a good reason you should continue breastfeeding: the only formula that is completely free of milk product is neocate. you get this from a pharmacy. they do not sell one single formula on the shelves that is completely milk free. my son is on it because as an infant he was basically allergic to everything. it costs us $500 a month. it is $32 a can (14 oz) which lasts a max of 2.5 days. i wish so badly that i could have breastfed my son. we are so broke.
this is just one reason. bm is so good for babies....it is filled with things that formula will never have.

 

[urmysunshyn]

thanks all for your understanding and support.

i am trying to eliminate all potential allergens (soy, corn, citrus, etc) from my diet so i'm trying to keep a bland diet. this week i hope to do a better job of that. no more chinese or pizza.

i didn't realize that the peanut allergy was that sensitive. wow. i need to fill the epi pen script. it sounds like there are different levels of allergic-ness.

right now, her face is so swollen, i'm kind of scared that she might stop breathing. maybe i'm being paranoid. i'm glad that she sleeps with me, i can keep an eye on her.

i'm going to see if she can be tested for allergies to cat, we have one. my dh pointed out that her rashes started around the time our cleaning lady stopped coming to our house! of course there is more cat hair everywhere now.

also, it seems best to breastfeed. i'll share those reasons to continue with my hubbie.
thanks so much.

i'm c

 

[cat19]

I am a big believer in BFing--nursed both of mine, tandem nursed, nursed through pregnancy, extended nursed--and a mom of two kids with allergies. I still BF my younger son and avoid all his allergens plus proactively avoiding sesame fish and shellfish.

Despite all that, you shouldn't feel guilty if YOU end up deciding formula is best for YOUR family. Sometimes for kids with allergies, formula can be best, even though in those situations, formula is often quite expensive. When you can't manage healthily on the elim diet your child needs, or when your child continues to be miserable on your elimination diet, or when you can't manage to eliminate allergic reactions or to identify all the triggers, then it makes sense to me to consider formula.

I have no idea if you're at that point; how long have you been eliminating foods? It can take several weeks--especially for dairy--to clear your system and then hers of all her allergens.

(and the Neocate formula mentioned above can in some cases be covered by insurance if you have health insurance, esp if your state mandates coverage for such formulas, and your dr writes a letter of medical necessity. The site mentioned below has lots of information on that if at some point you decide to go that route.)

Our lifeline has been the forums as http://kidswithfoodallergies.org. Everyone there is dealing with food allergies, often multiple food allergies. The parents there are experts. There's a whole subforum on BFing an allergic kid (with tons of info on elimination diets of various sorts), and another on formula-only kids (whose parents decided that their kid needed hypoallergenic formula); there's a recipe database where you can specify the allergens you're avoiding and get recipes free of those allergens.

The main forum is available with a free associate membership; the subforums and recipe database is available with a paid family membership (subsidized memberships are available). It's without a doubt the best 30 dollars I every spent.

Our allergist does NOT recommened cod liver oil or any fish oil for younger allergic kids, as he recommends avoiding all fish and shellfish with a small allergic child whether or not they test allergic to it. And if you do probiotics, make sure to get one that is dairy free (Kirkman Labs makes one).

If you have not yet seen a good allergist (one that deal with lots of kids with food allergies), then I highly recommend it.

Luck--it's hard but it will get easier. Try eating mainly veggies and fruit--and add in protein and carbs in the form of whole or minimally processed foods with short ingredient lists to make your life easier.

For a beginning, if you live in the US, for most food products (not meat, but most others), the allergens you list should legally be on the label in clear english ("contains milk" for example, if casein or whey is what's listed in the ingredient list). Sometimes companies screw up, but you can start with that assumption and then purge other products gradually. I avoid anything with trace amounts of nuts but NOT "made in same facility" warnings, but that's MY comfort level with my child; you'll develop your own sense of that.

You worry that she might be allergic to other things. That is possible, or she could develop new allergies. But it makes sense to start with the ones you KNOW and develop foods you can eat based on that, then eliminate further only if you see further reactions.

If your daughter has facial swelling, I'd call an allergist ASAP and get an emergency action plan (FAAN has a good one) in place that tells you when to give epi and get that epi-pen jr prescription. Most peds can write that with documented serious allergic reactions or a documented nut allergy test results. http://foodallergy.org is the link for the site for downloading the form for the emergency action plan.

 

[urmysunshyn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cat19 I have no idea if you're at that point; how long have you been eliminating foods? It can take several weeks--especially for dairy--to clear your system and then hers of all her allergens. Our allergist does NOT recommened cod liver oil or any fish oil for younger allergic kids, as he recommends avoiding all fish and shellfish with a small allergic child whether or not they test allergic to it. And if you do probiotics, make sure to get one that is dairy free (Kirkman Labs makes one). If you have not yet seen a good allergist (one that deal with lots of kids with food allergies), then I highly recommend it. Luck--it's hard but it will get easier. Try eating mainly veggies and fruit--and add in protein and carbs in the form of whole or minimally processed foods with short ingredient lists to make your life easier. For a beginning, if you live in the US, for most food products (not meat, but most others), the allergens you list should legally be on the label in clear english ("contains milk" for example, if casein or whey is what's listed in the ingredient list). Sometimes companies screw up, but you can start with that assumption and then purge other products gradually. I avoid anything with trace amounts of nuts but NOT "made in same facility" warnings, but that's MY comfort level with my child; you'll develop your own sense of that. You worry that she might be allergic to other things. That is possible, or she could develop new allergies. But it makes sense to start with the ones you KNOW and develop foods you can eat based on that, then eliminate further only if you see further reactions.

That helps a lot. I started eliminating on June 4th. On June 18 (today) I've elminated more.

How many days or weeks should I go before I could notice a change from the eliminated food? A day ? A week?

I take chewable acidophilus bifidus by American Health. It says Milk free - vegetarian. That should be okay right? Also, take Flax oil.

I have been seeing a well respected childrens allergist who I liked very much. However today i saw the PA who I did not care for.

She told me that we could not do more allergy testing until her rashes calmed down and gave me more steroids, a prescription antihistime, two steroid creams and the bacteria destroyer (my m ind is blanking). I feel so uncomfortable giving her all this especially since i usually only give benadryl at night so she doesn't itch. i'm not sure what i'm going to do yet.

Any thoughts?

I don't understand how all of a sudden she could be reacting this way when not much has changed for her since she was born 8 months ago!

 

[Caden's Mom]

Well, most kids have to be exposed at least twice to dev'p an allergy. Some people don't dev'p food allergies until they are adults.

As an aside, has she been on any antibiotics lately?

Wait at least two weeks before deciding if the diet is succeeding or failing. It does take a full four weeks to really be able to see the difference.

 

[SAmama]

We only started to see changes after four weeks. Then things got a lot better after six weeks. Sounds long, and it is, but it is worth it.

 

[urmysunshyn]

I'll wait it out then for another 4 weeks and hope to see some improvements. She has not been on antibiotics, why do you ask?