Hellobee Boards

This explains why my doctor's office is doing a food allergy seminar this week!

My oldest son, Xander (2 years), is allergic to dairy and has had an anaphylaxic reaction to his first taste of it. He's been dairy-free since 8 months and it's definitely a challenge keeping him safe and ensuring that the people in his life take his allergy seriously (a dairy allergy is NOT the same as being lactose intolerant, people!). We also always have Benadryl and an EpiPen with us.

My youngest, Logan, is only 5 months and hasn't had solids yet, but I'm sure he'll be allergic to something...

Happy Food Allergy Awareness Week!

My DD is 6 and has a peanut allergy. She also has a host of environmental allergies which increases her sensitivity due to her general "allergic-ness".

We have almost made it through her first year in public school reaction free (knock on wood). We developed an Individual Health Care Plan with the school administration and communicate regularly with the teacher, nurse, and room mom about parties, field trips, hygiene, and any food related topics. I have pretty much taken charge of all baked goods for events. But so far I've been really happy with the support we have received this year. She is definitely seen as the "allergic kid" in class, but frankly, I could care less if she is safe.

Tidbit: It's a misnomer to say a person is "mildly allergic" to peanuts and other allergens that can cause anaphylaxis just because he/she has never experienced anaphylaxis before. The type of reaction can change with each exposure. Some parents think that just because their child has only had hives, that they don't need to carry an epi pen (e.g. a boy in my DD's class). This is simply not true. Even blood tests and skin prick tests cannot fully predict the type of reaction someone can have.

I know we are lucky to have only one allergen to be dealing with. I can't imagine having to be aware of even one more! Hugs to all the allergy moms and thanks to all those who support us!

I think Awareness Week is great!! So many parents complain about restrictions at daycare/schools, not truly understanding how life threatening some of these allergies are. I have to give huge kidos to you@yin: and all the other parents who have been able to figure out ways to get creative with their cooking and provide their kids with safe meals and snacks.

I am lucky that my DD doesn't have any allergies, and not sure if DS will but i learned a lot from some Hellobee mamas and try to be more supportive and aware!

I also didn't know this was a week!

LO is allergic to eggs. We discovered this when I gave him a piece of my scrambled egg just before he turned one that landed him in the ER. We carry Benadryl and an Epi pen wherever we go.

I find the biggest challenge is educating my parents on the fact that they could kill him if he has something with egg in it. They seem to think that this allergy is all in my head

We, thank goodness, have not had a hives or anaphylactic reaction to anything yet, but my 11 month old daughter is most definitely intolerant of, if not allergic to, dairy and wheat. We also found out over the weekend that she cannot handle corn (and she's on Nutramigen so I'm nervous). We also suspect intolerances or allergies to legumes and oats and it would not surprise me if she couldn't handle soy either. We stopped breastfeeding at 5 months because she kept reacting after I had eliminated all the major suspects. Thankfully, she did ok with eggs when we tried them a couple of weeks ago and we haven't tried any of the other major allergens yet. Her daddy is intolerant of fish and shellfish and I am not eager to find out if that is a shared trait.

Honestly, her reactions have all been stool and minor facial rash related, so I feel so lucky that it isn't worse, but I still worry about her food constantly. They told us to start trying diary and wheat again when she was one, but based on her reaction to corn three weeks before she turns one, I have zero desire to do that.

Happy Allergy Awareness Week!

Thanks for starting this! DD has a peanut and walnut allergy. The peanut allergy is severe and landed her in the ER twice. Really scary seeing her go through that. The first time it was when I gave her a bite of PBJ to try as a solid when she was a little over a year. She immediately started throwing up, got hives over her entire body, and had trouble breathing. The 2nd time, a teacher at her old preschool gave her straight up peanut butter on a cracker as a snack, and I was pretty upset.

Thankfully, she is a really cautious child and will now question anything that even resembles a nut or seed. Any kind of chocolate, she will ask me first before eating... so she is really good about monitoring herself.

Her preschool now is nut free, but I worry about when she enters public school and how we will handle her allergy there. I haven't even attempted to give DS nuts.

When there are events going on at school, I'm hyper sensitive to all the kids and what kinds of allergy they might be dealing with... so I try my best to bring in allergen-free snacks that all the kids can enjoy. I would hate for one of them to miss out when they already have to miss out on so much.

Hi everyone! Happy Allergy awareness week. I have a 2 year old who is allergic to avocados and eggs. We found out about the avocados early on at around 6 months old when I fed her mashed up avocados. She broke out in hives all over about 45 minutes later but luckily I had children's Benadryl and was given instructions on the dosage to give her. We noticed the egg allergy at around 15 months when I fed her spam fried rice. I didn't know if it was the spam or the eggs at the time so about a week later I fed her pieces of my breakfast burrito. It just had egg and cheese and she broke out in hives about 30 minutes later so it confirmed that it was an egg allergy. She's one of those kids that doesn't like cake or cupcakes so I don't know about baked goods yet. She just spits it out. A friend told me try testing just the yolk to see if she can eat the yolk only and it appears that she isn't allergic to the yolk. So friend rice for DD is always a special one made with the yolk only for now. I have given her peanut butter and it seems that there is no reaction but she isn't a fan of it so she hasn't really eaten much of it.

@charlotte: Good note about the allergies, eczema, and asthma going hand-in-hand. My eldest has all three! Although his eczema hasn't been as bad since he's been dairy-free. My youngest (5 months) also has eczema, so I'm sure allergies and asthma are in his future too.

My little guy is intolerant to soy protein. So far little girl hasn't shown any issues (yay for yellow poop) but I am soy and dairy free anyway. My son also has a different allergy each time we do allergy testing. So right now he is peanut free since it came up on his last test.

I am that mom who always overthinks food for my kids and the class. I make top 8 allergen free cookies and cupcakes (side story: I made top 8 allergen free cupcakes on purpose for my sons birthday. My cousins girlfriend is vegan but I didn't know and so she didn't eat my safe cupcakes. Makes me sad because I know she doesn't often get to indulge). This week for school snack I am making and bringing hummus quesadillas (no cheese that's just the name) and salsa for the kids (no wheat or gluten issues at school).

My step mom spent two weeks with us after baby girls birth and I got to teach her about her gluten and tree nut (excluding coconut) allergies. We made cupcakes and cookies that she could eat and I introduced her to sunbutter.

@teamjse: Please forgive my ignorance, but even as the mom of a kid with food allergies, I don't understand the airplane thing. Is the issue with nuts on planes that the dust in the packet gets in the air and is recirculated? Or am I missing something?

@teamjse: OK, thank you for the clarification.

@yin: yeah, unfortunately my state, TX, is not one of those states. There was supposed to be a bill introduced on this matter to the state senate recently, but I don't know what the result was. My school nurse says that they have looked into epi pens for the school district, but right now they are not allowed to have it unless prescribed by a doctor, and the school district did away with doctor supervision a few years ago.

@Mrs. High Heels: @yin: I've read some articles/studies recently that propose that the increase in food allergies (as well as the increase in auto-immune diseases and hormone issues like PCOS) is related to the changes in our gut bacteria.

Thread crashing here... What was your doctor's position on consuming the Big 8 during pregnancy, especially if there is family history of allergy? For example, DH has a currently-moderate peanut allergy (can be around but not consume), BIL1 has no allergy, but BIL2 is severely allergic... His allergist said that his next time will be his last time . So my SIL is hyper vigilant and did not consume most of the Big 8, bc the allergist told her its a no no, will cause allergies, and even that fetuses can have allergic reactions in the womb! These recommendations seem outdated, but her pregnancies were only 3 & 5 years ago, and she insists that the new recommendations are bogus, according to her allergist, the "top in the state."

My OB and DH's allergists say it is no big deal at all.

@yin: your comment "even doctors aren't always up to date" reminded me.... always keep your epi pen twin pack together! You may need both doses. Our regular ped told me to split them up and keep one in diaper bag and one at home. NO!!!! We actually didn't know any better and did what he said for a few months until the allergist said um no, you need to carry both, that's why they come as a twin pack!!

I have so much to say on this topic but I'll keep it short. My almost four year old has almost outgrown his egg white allergy. We've essentially been doing exposure therapy with our doc's blessing and it has been a long journey but happy to be where we are. My two year old is currently soy/dairy/wheat free. In addition to the physical reactions- predominantly vomiting and rashes- we have behavioral symptoms directly related so I am led to believe this is going to be a long-term issue.
I am absolutely of the mind that it has to do with changes in our gut- so much of our immune system is- the question is why. There is also obviously a genetic component. The big thing for me personally is the change in our food system since the 90s.