Dal often had eczema as a baby. I don't remember the first time he broke out with it, but we have pictures from about 5 months old where his red, bumpy face is obvious in the photos. He usually got it on his face, the bends of his elbows, and on his legs. I used lotion and diapering creams on it and it usually cleared up a few days after a break out and then he would break out again in a few days or a couple of weeks. I had no idea at the time that eczema is related to allergies.
I was breastfeeding, so his eczema break outs probably correlated with what I ate. Unfortunately, I didn't begin to figure this out until he was a year old. Since I had become a "stay-at-home" mom and because we were having trouble with introducing foods, I continued to dutifully breastfeed. I wish I had known that I should have been avoiding the top food allergens myself.
Dairy, egg, and peanut allergies are the most common in children. Tree nut allergy is also fairly prevalent. Some other top food allergens are shellfish, soy,and gluten. But sometimes it seems that people can be allergic to almost anything these days; like red food dye, blue toothpaste, water, broccoli - just kidding on the last two- mostly.
If I had to do it all over again, I suppose I would try to avoid the most common food allergens as much as possible during the first 6 months. And, as a breastfeeding mom, I would try not to overindulge in any of the less common allergenic foods like shellfish and gluten.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that if there is a family history of food allergies certain foods should be introduced later:
Cow's milk and dairy products should be delayed until age 1.
Eggs should not be introduced before 2 years of age.
Hold off on peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish until age 3.
Even though I would take all these precautions including waiting until 6 months to introduce solids, as far as I can discover, there have been no conclusive studies or evidence that eliminating common allergens during pregnancy or while breastfeeding reduces the chance of a child developing food allergies. But serious food allergies are scary enough that I wouldn't take chances.
One thing I do know is that eating foods my baby was allergic to and then nursing him caused him to break out with eczema. I finally figured this out the weekend of his first birthday. His skin was nice and clear and had been for days. He had just started taking his first steps about a week or so earlier. We went to spend the weekend at my grandmother's house and celebrate his birthday there with other family members.
The evening we arrived, my grandmother brought out some boiled peanuts - a southern favorite. I happen to like boiled peanuts despite not being a big fan of peanut butter, roasted peanuts or other forms of peanut foods. I ate a few, just a few, that evening. I nursed Dal and put him to bed in his pack-n-play in the guest room. He slept through the night, but rather fitfully. At first light I heard him waking up and I got out of the bed and picked him up. He felt sort of hot and sticky. I took a good look at him in the dim morning light and saw that he was covered with irritating, red eczema scales and bumps! I was horrified. It had popped up overnight and it was the worst case EVER! I immediately suspected the peanuts.
When we got back home I decided that I had to get to the bottom of this and find out what to do.
I was breastfeeding, so his eczema break outs probably correlated with what I ate. Unfortunately, I didn't begin to figure this out until he was a year old. Since I had become a "stay-at-home" mom and because we were having trouble with introducing foods, I continued to dutifully breastfeed. I wish I had known that I should have been avoiding the top food allergens myself.
Dairy, egg, and peanut allergies are the most common in children. Tree nut allergy is also fairly prevalent. Some other top food allergens are shellfish, soy,and gluten. But sometimes it seems that people can be allergic to almost anything these days; like red food dye, blue toothpaste, water, broccoli - just kidding on the last two- mostly.
If I had to do it all over again, I suppose I would try to avoid the most common food allergens as much as possible during the first 6 months. And, as a breastfeeding mom, I would try not to overindulge in any of the less common allergenic foods like shellfish and gluten.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that if there is a family history of food allergies certain foods should be introduced later:
Cow's milk and dairy products should be delayed until age 1.
Eggs should not be introduced before 2 years of age.
Hold off on peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish until age 3.
Even though I would take all these precautions including waiting until 6 months to introduce solids, as far as I can discover, there have been no conclusive studies or evidence that eliminating common allergens during pregnancy or while breastfeeding reduces the chance of a child developing food allergies. But serious food allergies are scary enough that I wouldn't take chances.
One thing I do know is that eating foods my baby was allergic to and then nursing him caused him to break out with eczema. I finally figured this out the weekend of his first birthday. His skin was nice and clear and had been for days. He had just started taking his first steps about a week or so earlier. We went to spend the weekend at my grandmother's house and celebrate his birthday there with other family members.
The evening we arrived, my grandmother brought out some boiled peanuts - a southern favorite. I happen to like boiled peanuts despite not being a big fan of peanut butter, roasted peanuts or other forms of peanut foods. I ate a few, just a few, that evening. I nursed Dal and put him to bed in his pack-n-play in the guest room. He slept through the night, but rather fitfully. At first light I heard him waking up and I got out of the bed and picked him up. He felt sort of hot and sticky. I took a good look at him in the dim morning light and saw that he was covered with irritating, red eczema scales and bumps! I was horrified. It had popped up overnight and it was the worst case EVER! I immediately suspected the peanuts.
When we got back home I decided that I had to get to the bottom of this and find out what to do.
Hi - I'm so glad you reached out and it's so bizarre how many of us have similar stories and the hurdles we have to go through to get help. I was very lucky to have a Pediatrician who recognized what was going on at 3 months old and tested RAST at 4 months, but it wasn't until 6-7 months when E had her first couple (gulp!) reactions that I made an allergist appt. That is when we found out about the severity of all her allergies and that was just the beginning. It's been a long road, but somehow we've found our new normal. I'm going to keep in touch. I posted a comment in response to yours recently on my blog about exclusion at your school. It's crazy, but all you can do is try to educate one day at a time.
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