Hellobee Boards

@ineebee: I think most EBF moms who had to alter their diet was due to their child's intolerances, which are different than allergies. The most common being MSPI (milk soy protein intolerance). I'm not an allergist, but it's my understanding that someone with a milk allergy is reacting to something DIFFERENT in milk than someone with a milk intolerance (milk protein vs. lactose for example). One is probably more commonly passed through in breast milk, while the other isn't (or is such a small amount that it shows up as mild eczema).

Both my kids have food allergies (milk, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame) and I ate all those foods and breastfed them without issue (besides also mild eczema).

I obviously don't totally understand it either, but my kids have had anaphylaxis after consuming their allergens, but no issues consuming my breast milk. I suspect whatever it is they are allergic to is either altered enough in breast milk to not cause an issue, or is not passed on through the breast milk.

If you don't have to change your diet, don't. But don't think that just because YOU can consume their allergen, they can consume it too.

Also, I'm sorry you're dealing with food allergies! They suck! I'm here if you have questions. And FARE is a great resource.

@ineebee: Oral Immuno Therapy! She started at 8 months (with like a tiny peanut powder flake) and she is currently 1 year old. She's been a trooper. It's time consuming, but has been worth it for our family.

The advice he gave is 100% accurate. My daughter has to eat tree nut butter (Trader Joes FTW) every day as they say that early and consistent exposure is really important. I know tons of kids (at least 5+) who tested negative for tree nut allergies originally, but are now facing them 6+ months later due to not following our doctor's advice to consistently dose tree nut butter. Any of the top allergens our daughter has tested negative for we have aggressively incorporated into her diet.

ETA: Eggs feels like a huge deal, but depending on level of allergy you can potentially do baked eggs. I found that really freed us up! I know it sounds impossible right now, but our daughter really lives a fairly normal life. We all still eat peanut butter (and eggs) and she's happy, thriving.

@ineebee: Question: why did she get tested for peanuts and eggs? Did she have reactions to them?

Our allergist only does testing after a reaction (minor exception: peanuts and tree nuts will be tested together, regardless of which one you reacted to). So my son had a reaction to peanuts and we did the skin prick test to confirm the allergy. The blood test was really just to get the severity so we have a baseline for whether he's outgrowing it or not in the future (he's not - he's getting worse).

@ineebee: Oh, and related to that, there seems to be a link between eczema, food allergies, and asthma, so just keep that in mind! Both my kids suffer from asthma and it's probably been the hardest for us to deal with.

If you're already dealing with food allergies and eczema, I just wanted you to be aware that you might also have to deal with asthma. Keep an eye out for coughing/wheezing (if you want specifics on what to look for, let me know) and don't worry about being overly cautious!