Food Allergies - Spotting Their Warning Signs and Options For Living With Them

My first child was colicky, miserable. I became a vegan while breastfeeding trying to curb the chronic condition. As for formula, we tried them all until settling on Alimentum, which worked until we introduced food. Then things took a terrible two year turn. Everything we fed the child caused diarrhea. My doctors, overwhelmed with new mom syndrome, patted me head and sent me along not so concerned. In fairness to them, they couldn't have known how big a deal it was until we had what I refer to as a month from hell. The child was going over ten times a day and couldn't seem to process anything and was losing weight. The doctors perked up and realized something wasn't right. From there it was visits to the gastroenterologist that finally yielded the fact that our first born was allergic to: wheat, nuts, soy, milk protein, egg whites, dog dander, and a few insects. So keep these things in mind if you're dealing with this type of child:

• Obviously the most terrifying sign of a food allergy is anaphylactic shock. It's also the rarest form but be informed of some of it's signs: itchy, hives, difficulty breathing, vomit, coughing. Call for help immediately - this is not the time to home remedy. I know, my first child went into it after getting peanuts. It's terrifying.


• Many food allergies are outgrown over time. These days we only have to worry about very extreme nut allergies with our first born. Not great, I know but it could be worse. It could be very extreme allergies of that entire list.


• Colic isn't some magic aliment that cannot be explained. I get so angry when I read it has nothing to do with the digestive process or stomach area. My child would let out adult style gas or poop at the end of every colic session. Every one I've ever known with a colicky baby has said as much. Babies have never eaten any of the things we're giving them. No matter how mild, it's a shock to their bodies. And just like adults, some of them handle it better than others. And those with allergies can't handle it at all. More often than not, it most certainly is digestive.


• Eczema is sign number one. Now eczema can be triggered by many things so confer with your doctor but with both of my kids it started with their formula intolerance. Don't even start foods until you've found a formula they can tolerate. My second is on soy, but my first was an Alimentum baby. Both started on milk formula. As hard as it is to waste expensive formula, if the child isn't tolerating it, check with your pediatrician and determine a new formula course and start it immediately.


• Introduce foods slowly. I know it's exciting and fun to bring new tastes and smells into their worlds, but you have all the time in the world to do this. Take more than a week between foods. Even with my second child, when I tried to introduce peas I got the tell tale signs of diarrhea. Then it happened again when I tried garlic. So I've shelved both of those for now and will try again in 6 months. Had I been moving faster than a week I might have blurred together the introductions and not been sure what caused the change in him.


• Diarrhea. Listen to it. It's real and it's their bodies trying to tell you something. Sometimes it might just be a cold or illness. But run through the list. If it's chronic make that call to your doctor.


• There are no dumb questions. Call the doctor if you're unsure or need some answers. And be the squeaky wheel. By continuing to raise the point with my first child we finally did get answers and were able to form a course for a better eating life for the child.


• Once you get to table foods, go easy on hard to digest foods like fried food, spicy foods, red meats even some veggies like broccoli. White flakey fish (like tilapia) are a great protein and much blander than most meats.

And remember they may just outgrow these allergies. But if not, arm yourself with information.