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As a parent, you know when something is up.
Things don’t seem to be as you know they should be. You put on your detective hat and focus on getting to the bottom of what is happening.
If you are suspicious your baby has allergies these are the signs you should be watching for and steps you should start taking.
First Signs
Pretty quickly you start to learn your baby.
You learn how frequently they spit up, how often they eat, and the lovely but real knowledge of what their poos look like. When things are off you know it.
First signs can include abnormal spitting up, itchy skin, eczema, swelling, and rashes. Always talk to your doctor about anything concerning. If you are here reading this post today you are at least suspicious your baby has allergies.
If you haven’t introduced solid food yet focus on the milk baby is receiving. If your baby is formula-fed maybe try switching types. If you are breastfeeding try cutting different foods out of your diet like dairy.
Just remember, when trying new things you need to do them for a long enough time to see results. You can’t go dairy-free for two days and see if it makes a difference. Patience is key.
The main focus of this article is detecting allergies with the introduction of food. So let’s move on to that!
Solid Food
The next phase of allergies is more complicated with the introduction of solids. There are many resources you can find telling you what order to introduce foods. Another frequently taught method is to introduce only one food at a time. This is important. Especially if you think your baby has allergies.
Give them a single food for multiple days. Once you see that they are handling it without a reaction, consider it a “safe food”.
Over time you will start to establish a list of safe foods. On a day you introduce something new you can do so along with safe foods.
For example, if you know applesauce is safe for your child you can give them that the same day you are introducing peanut butter. Do your peanut butter introduction, see what comes of that, and then later that day for another meal give them applesauce.
Ideally, you introduce the new food first during the day. That way you are starting with a clean slate.
Slowly you build up what they can eat. If it helps, make an introduction plan or schedule. Right out what foods will be offered and when. It is basically a meal plan for baby.
Puree vs. Finger Foods
Pureed baby food is one very common way to feed babies. Another way is the baby feeding themselves. This could be food prepared based on baby-led weaning or chopped up into bite-sized pieces.
The tricky part here is recognizing the difference between a skin reaction and an allergic reaction from ingesting the food. One could argue that they are the same thing, but it really isn’t. There are also foods your baby may have a sensitivity towards. So are they allergic or just sensitive? It’s hard to know.
Our daughter, “H,” for example got a horrible rash when she fed herself bananas. I marked it down as a reaction. However, when we fed it to her as a puree she did just fine.
Even though we wanted H to have the ability to feed herself we went to 90% purees for a while. We wanted to cut out skin exposure. She didn’t love purees, but she got used to them. During this time she tried many new foods.
Reactions
Reactions to food can come in many forms. Some common examples are rash, itching, vomiting, and swelling.
Reactions can range from mildly irritating to the severity of an emergency room visit. They can be distressing and scary.
Start documenting these reactions by taking pictures and videos. I would take a picture of what H ate then take a picture of whatever part of her body was reacting. If it was an item with an ingredient list take a picture of that as well.
If you are in this phase of life and your baby is having reactions expect more to happen. Don’t get worked up about them. Just handle them in the best way you can in that moment.
Give yourself a break when you mess up.
We took our daughter to a restaurant that serves buttery rolls with the meal. Guess what? We gave her a reaction by caring for her and touching her with our buttery hands. You can probably guess she is allergic to dairy.
This happened early on when we were still figuring things out. We didn’t even think about a reaction from contact with us would be a problem. It wasn’t on our radar.
Give yourself grace. You will learn along the way.
Our child’s reactions were mild. She was irritated and experiencing an itchy rash. We were fortunate here.
If any reaction is causing your baby serious distress, take them to the emergency room. Anaphylactic shock is life-threatening.
If you would like to read more click to learn about handling Fear, Future, and Failure that Come with Your Child’s Food Allergies.
Food Journaling
At this point, with the introduction of new foods and potential reactions, it is time to start tracking everything. Track the foods, reactions, medications given, and time it took for medications to calm the reaction down.
If your baby has an extremely irritable day or night after a new food was introduced track it. Do you have suspicions their gut was hurting or notice their bowel movements were off?
Track everything.
Talk to Your Pediatrician
Take the information you have gathered and present it to your pediatrician. Show them the photos and videos of your baby’s reactions. Specifically list out the foods you have determined are causing the reactions.
Ask them what their recommendations are and if you should get in touch with an allergist at this point.
Safe Food Testing
Often you can do food trials in the allergist’s office if you fear a reaction. My husband and I did food tests at home, but that was a choice we made based on my husband’s medical knowledge and our proximity to a hospital (3 minutes).
We only introduced risky foods when both of us were home. We knew if a serious reaction occurred we would want one of us to drive and the other to be in the back with H monitoring her. An emergency is much scarier when alone.
Come up with a plan for your own home.
Emergency Plan
If you are to the point you know your infant has allergies you need to put a plan in place for how you address emergencies. You need to know medications, dosages, and any other information that is essential for an emergency visit.
I recommend keeping track of how much your baby weighs in the event of an emergency where drugs would need to be administered.
During our first visit with our allergist, they set us up with an epi-pen. We got two pins, plus a practice one to familiarize ourselves and any other caretakers with how to administer it.
We were also given a prescription for an oral medication that can be administered for mild reactions such as rash and itching. We have used this medication a hand full of times.
Our Journey
Looking back now, eczema should have been our first sign…or at that point a potential sign that H has allergies. We always chalked it up to H simply having dry skin like her momma.
At six months we just barely started introducing food with a combination of puree and baby-led weaning style foods. She wasn’t great at either method, which I suppose is to be expected.
Around month 7 we started to pick up the pace and made a stronger effort to be consistent at serving baby H food. We started noticing she would get red on her hands and forearms.
We started paying attention, trying to notice connections. We contemplated going to strictly purees thinking maybe the rash was moisture-based. H wasn’t doing well with puree at all though. We had a few weeks of frustration trying to get her to eat more so we could notice a trend. Finally, we saw some progress in her eating.
As she started getting the hang of eating we continued to introduce foods. We kept seeing different reactions and started tracking the trends.
We gave her different crackers and baby puff type foods to try as well.
Various things were causing reactions. It was at times hard to tell what was causing them.
Something told me one day, just try eggs. That will tell you what you need to know. And boy it did.
Eggs were her worst reaction up to that point. There was no denying she reacted to the food. It was not a random coincidence. It was not moisture. It was not a rug burn from scooting around on the carpet.
Her arms and hands broke out in red hives. Her face broke out not only around her mouth but up to her eyes this time. I changed her outfit, washed her hands, and face and tried to comfort her. At the time I didn’t have anything to give her to help her.
This was when we decided it is time to go to an allergist.
I did not want to put her through another reaction without having some sort of medication on hand to help her. I was ready to confidently say my baby has allergies and I need help getting educated.
We contacted our pediatrician and told her we were having issues and asked her for a recommendation for an allergist. We just sort of made the jump. And here starts our food allergy journey.
Update: It has been over a year since I wrote this article. Check out an update with this article, Is there a Chance my Baby Could Outgrow Their Food Allergies One Day?
Conclusion
Just know others are struggling with food allergies. Find resources and groups for support.
When you are exhausted it is ok to go back to the basics. Your baby needs to discover and try new foods, but some days you may not have it in you to read the labels and figure it all out. Some days it may just be applesauce again. Have that list of “safe foods” handy.
You will get through this. You will figure it out. You will keep learning through this process.
Give yourself time and patience.
Check Out My Articles
How to Comfort Your Baby During a Blood Draw: Expert Tips and Tricks
Fear, Future, and Failure that Come with Your Child’s Food Allergies
How Food Journaling Can Help Determine if Your Baby has Allergies
How to Safely Introduce New Foods to Your Child with Allergies
