Advice from mums of allergicky babes
Hi. Have been reading through this site & found it so interesting. SweetPea is 6 months old now and we’re wanting to go for BLW. I did try her on babyrice last week (she’s quite sicky and I was hoping it would do the job of gaviscon without resorting to gaviscon) but she wasn’t having any of it (whereas quite happily sucks away on apple/pear segments).
She’s got quite nasty eczema, which seems to have improved a fair amount since I cut dairy out of my diet a couple of weeks ago (she’s exclusively breastfed) – so I’m guessing that she has a dairy intolerance at the very least – and possibly other sensitivities/allergies (my sis is very allergic).
I’ve read the info on here about allergies, but was wondering how it worked in practise – if we were going down the puree route then we’d offer the same new food in isolation for 3 days before moving onto the next new one. Does the same go for BLW (ie I offer her sweet potato chips for the next 3 days then try something else) or is that not proper BLW? Would be interested to know what others have done in a similar situation.
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Hi, we used BLW to introduce solids, on a background of a family with every type of intolerance, allergy and anaphylaxis. We introduced food off our plate, making sure that if we were eating anything with a ‘high risk’ of allergy we would monitor Miss M, and then ensure we ‘exposed’ her again for the next 3 days to then be able to cross the allergy off our list. The most recent information I had found about allergies included http://www.allergy.org.au/content/view/350/287/ (yes I am Australian, apologies for the messages about pureed food on the site) and http://www.mcri.edu.au/pages/research/news/2010/10/early-exposure-could-prevent-egg-allergy-in-babies.asp?TID=2. I had also read somewhere that there was a key period in gut development that a child was less likely to develop allergies if exposed to high allergenic foods, from 6-9 months, although sorry – can’t find the reference. We experienced a rash on her face from tomatoes directly after eating for the first 3 days, so we left it for a fortnight and tried again. The next time we tried it for 3 days she had a rash for the first day, and it was not present for day 2-3. She also seemed to have increased runny poo after trialling dairy, so again we left it for 2 weeks, more runny poo, left another 2 weeks and then no problems from then on. We had trialled her on all known (to us) allergens by the time she was 9 months, including peanuts, wheat, yeast, milk, soy and eggs, although not shellfish because we are vegetarian. I’m not saying that all people will have our success, but this is the way we did it, and it was relatively low stress. I will definitely repeat this procedure if we are lucky enough to have another child.
We have started Sam on some fairly “safe” foods but using blw method ie. offer a selection of finger food for him to self feed. We’ve given him potato, pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, pears (loves them), apple, bananas, rice cakes and toast. We offer pieces of food plus a mashed version on toast (as it can be a bit less slippery for I’m to handle). Have also given rice cereal mixed with breast milk (and mix in something to hide the rice cereal flavour like puréed apple) on a preloaded spoon so he can practice that too. After two weeks of this we then tried pineapple which he loved sucking on. Day one of pineapple he had a little rash n one cheek. By day three its now all around his mouth and chin. Some can be pretty sure he has had a reaction to pineapple. I wasn’t sure what to do so am seeing the GP today but I might ask about whether we can retry it again in a few weeks as Chi has done with their LO.
I can’t wait until he can just eat what we’re eating, hook into some pasta or a casserole but with some allergies in the family (including asthma and eczema) will keep doing it gradually for the next few weeks. Hope this helps?
Hi there
Recently I learned that allergy comes from a leaky gut! It is so simple, you can’t get allergic if your gut is in top shape. If you have too much candida and lack of the healthy bacteria in your gut, the candida will make small holes in the surface where waste product can pass out in the body. You can remedy this with fresh aloe vera, garlic, and the best fish oils you can get (maybe raw fish like sushi is the best, since it is hard to know which fish oils are actually good enough). Somehow the leaky gut must pass on from mother to child when babies get allergic.
:) Anne Sofie -Denmark
Ups, forgot to say that aloe vera, garlic and fish oil is for mums I don’t know how babies react to that…! It might be good though ;)
Anne Sofie
I’m not sure that the leaky gut material is entirely proven, so it’s not that simple, but it certainly bears more scrutiny, that’s for sure.
I have candida issues and a yeast sensitivity. A sensitivity and an allergy are 2 different things. both are unpleasant. one is potentially life threatening. I am wanting to take the scenic route to food introduction, based on GP’s recommendations, but I am struggling with integrating BLW into our life when most of the recommendations and recipes involve foods we’re not ready to try yet.
Ah, but this is the good thing about BLW, really. The recipes on these pages come from real parents living in real homes, so they will reflect their food choices (or indeed limitations) for the whole family. With BLW, thankfully, there aren’t really special recipes, there are just family meals, so can you take your meals and adapt them a little? I found just not chopping veggies as much as i might otherwise have done left me with very BLW-friendly pieces to pull out for my baby. What do you eat yourself?
The leaky gut allergy thing sounds a very dangerous theory. Our DD has milk and dairy allergies and comes up in hives if it’s dabbed on her skin anywhere, but especailly if it comes into contact with her face. So, it’s nothing to do with her gut. She’s even been to A&E once with anaphalactic reaction, so if you think your child is allergic, tread with caution and PLEASE speak to a dietician.
Ok so in the leaky gut issue…which I have. I have never heard of allergies being caused by a leaky gut but rather the opposite, one gets a leaky gut from consuming allergens. That is why it is so important to be attentive to your child and their reactions. It’s not just eczema rather eczema it the skin reaction that is seen and the gut is having a similar reaction only more severe. Thus leading to the break down and weakening if the gut which leads to lg syndrome.
On the topic of introducing foods the best way is to keep a food diary write down what the child eats and any reaction everyday. I use a weekly planner that way it’s always with me. Keeping this log allows me look and see if my child is reacting to a certain food say peas I can look and see if the last time my lo had peas did the same thing happen or a different reaction but to the same food.
I’m about to start blw with my 3rd baby and we have severe allergies in our family this is the method that has been most helpful to me :) hope this helps someone