Care must be taken when introducing foods into your baby’s diet. Your child could react with one or more food allergies, depending on genetics and on the type and combination of food introduced. Even if you are using organic baby food your baby may have an allergic reaction.
Allergies to egg, soy, wheat, milk, peanuts, and tree nuts compose 90% of food allergies in children. Allergies tend to be genetic, rather than caused by low-allergen diets. If at least one parent has an allergy, a 20–30% chance exists that the child will have an allergy. If both parents have allergies, the chance increases to between 50 and 60%. And, if an older sibling has allergies, an 80% chance exists that the baby will have allergies, too.
Soy allergies are particularly intriguing. The body treats soy as a harmless substance which causes bad reactions. Soy is made from soybeans, which are a good source of protein, iron, and calcium. Reactions to a soy allergy in children include diarrhea, vomiting, asthma, colic-like symptoms, reflux, rhinitis, dermatitis (itchy rash), and irritability. Risk factors for infant soy allergies include having allergies to other foods, family history of soy or peanut allergies, eczema or rhinitis, asthma, or a family history of these conditions.
Children may also be allergic to eggs, although many will outgrow this allergy by age five. Unfortunately, these children are higher risk for development of asthma and nasal allergies. Also, if your child is allergic to egg, you should avoid inoculating him or her with influenza vaccine.
Due to their high acidity, citrus fruits may cause adverse reactions in infants. An infant would not react with an immune system response, but instead with either a gastrointestinal response or a skin response. Feeding a child oranges before their first birthday may cause stomach cramps or rashes around the mouth or bottom.
Babies with an allergy to one type of shellfish are at risk of being allergic to other types of shellfish, so these babies should avoid shellfish altogether. If your child has shellfish allergies, it is vital to thoroughly clean and disinfect any surface that comes into contact with shellfish to reduce cross-contamination.
Infants are generally able to digest dairy products other than whole cow’s milk, such as yogurt and cheese, as the culturing of the products are broken down into lactose.
Keeping a food diary is a good way to remember foods to avoid. This document showing your child’s medical history and food allergies will help determine what foods are causing particular symptoms. If a test is needed to diagnose allergies, a Skin Prick Test is the most commonly used. It is done by pricking the skin with a tiny needle through a small amount of food extract or by using a device that has been pre-soaked in food extract and shows signs of allergies in only 15 minutes. If an allergy exists, red bumps like mosquito bites appear on the spot pricked. Blood tests are also something done to children less than a year old because their skin does not react to the skin prick test like it does for older children.