Food Allergies in your baby or child
By Sallyanne Boore - Our Silly Billyz Naturopath
Sallyanne is a Sydney-based Naturopath and Counsellor with 14 years experience. Her special interests are in digestive disorders, womens & children’s health, fertility, mental health and chronic fatigue.
Food allergies occur for various reasons and it's often difficult to target the cause. In children, food allergies and sensitivities can be the underlying cause to illnesses and symptoms such as eczema.
It's possible that your baby or child is eating the wrong food for their system. It's important to remember that all people (including kids) are biochemically different. While Child A can eat dairy with no side effects, Child B may develop an ear infection as an allergic response. The key to alleviating symptoms is to pinpoint the sensitive or allergic food and eliminate it from the diet, either completely or for a period of time.
Symptoms of food allergies
- Un-consolable crying in babies and an unsettled baby
- Colic windy and crampy tummy especially in infants (often seen as painful looking jerks)
- Spitting up or reflux in infants
- Constipation or diarrhea
- Recurrent ear infections or children with grommets
- Chronic swollen glands
- Eczema or rashes
- Frequent bronchitis, colds or influenza
- Frequent runny nose
- Puffiness or dark circles under the eyes
- Anxiety
- Behavioural or learning problems and hyperactivity
- Attention-deficit disorder
- Bed-wetting
- Crohn’s disease or colitis
- Irritable bowel syndrome
What is a Food allergy?
An allergic response occurs when the body, for various reasons, identifies an otherwise harmless food item as a dangerous invader. When this happens, the body creates an outpouring of antibodies to eliminate the invader. Allergic reactions fall into two categories: immediate and delayed reactions.
Immediate reactions occur in minutes of eating suspect foods. Symptoms can include wheezing, skin rashes and excess mucous production.
In rare situations, immediate reactions can be life threatening due to the constriction of airways which results in an anaphylactic reaction. For example, an anaphylactic allergic response is when a child’s throat begins to close following consumption of a peanut. This type of allergic response is fixed and can never be challenged – the food item must be strictly avoided.
Parents of children who suffer from anaphylactic reactions should always carry an EpiPen (a shot of epinephrine injected into the skin) in case of emergency situations. Only 1% of all children have anaphylactic reactions.
Delayed reactions are the case for most food sensitivities and intolerances. Due to the delayed appearance of symptoms (from one hour to days), these food allergies are more difficult to detect. For example, a child allergic to wheat may react one or two days later with eczema. When food sensitivities go undetected, often other symptoms can begin to appear elsewhere in the body.
How to Detect a Food Allergy
Common food allergies are dairy products, wheat, gluten, corn, soy, eggs, citrus fruits, chocolate and tomatoes.
The most effective way to detect food allergies is for your child to follow an elimination or rotation diet, eliminating potential allergens one at a time. This should be under the guidance of a naturopath, who will make sure your child is getting adequate and varied nutrition while on the diet.
This diet eliminates the food in question for a recommended period of time (three to four weeks) while symptoms are monitored. Before commencing, it's ideal to strengthen your child’s system with supportive supplements and nourishing food. Often a child’s symptoms may temporarily worsen during the initial stages. To help alleviate this, be sure to flush your child’s system with fresh filtered, clean, room temperature (not cold) water.
After an elimination diet, once symptoms have reduced, you may be able to reintegrate the suspect food in small amounts into your child’s diet on a rotational basis (once every four days). Eg: If your child consumes dairy on Monday, he should not consume it again until Friday. If a reaction occurs following the reintroduction of a food, it's possible that you may have to eliminate the food entirely or wait longer prior to re-test (to allow de-sensitisation in the body). Although rotation and elimination diets are tedious and take dedication on behalf of parent and child, they are worth the effort.
Supplement Solutions and Tips
Consider the following additional tips to help prevent allergic responses:
- If pregnant or planning to become pregnant, have a nutritious diet and include appropriate supplements.
- Naturopath preferably 3 months prior to conception and aim to get your own allergies calmed down with herbs and dietary support.
- Probiotics reduce allergies in infants (available from Naturopaths or health food stores).
- Babies who are breastfed have far greater protection against allergies. If you're unable to breastfeed, wean your baby carefully and gradually, avoiding wheat, gluten, dairy and sugar preferably after 2 years of age.
- If you choose to include dairy after 2yrs, start with a high quality yogurt.
- Incorporate dairy-free milk (avoid soy) and cheese into your child’s diet.
- If symptoms appear after including a new food in your child’s diet, such as runny nose, ear infections or eczema, remove the food from the diet to see if symptoms subside.
- Supplement fish oils daily for breast feeding mums and children on solids.
- Include a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables in your child’s diet and pay attention to your child’s digestive health. Digestion and a poor immune/allergic response can go hand in hand.
- Avoid refined sugars and foods with “numbers” until after the age of 2yrs ideally – especially in babes breast fed under 12 months
- If you're not breastfeeding or if baby/ toddler is experiencing symptoms, support with a specialist probiotic (Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain GG), available from health food stores or Naturopaths. This reduces allergic responses by supporting baby's digestive and immune systems.
- Homoeopathy, supplements and herbs are useful for balancing and treating allergies - Perilla frutescens or Albizzia lebbeck.
Useful Resources
"Recipes to the Rescue” by Jann Bonner, Lindy Kingsmill and Susanne Morrow;
"The Gluten Free Lunch Book” and “Going Gluten Free” - www.doctorgluten.com
