Allergies & Cures

The greatest resource any parent can have in helping their child through a health issue is information.  When it comes to food allergies, it is easy to feel overwhelmed.  But there is plenty of information available to help parents sort out what they need to know about food allergies that may become a health issue for their infants.  Some of the frequently asked questions about food allergies in babies are…

Is an Allergy an Illness?

No.  An allergy occurs when the immune system begins to react to a substance that it thinks is a threat to your health.  One reason that babies commonly experience food allergies is that their immune systems are young and they have to "learn" what an illness is and what is not.  

It might be surprising to learn that babies get food allergies just as often as adults get them.  In a way, an allergy is actually the immune system trying to do its job.  An allergy is not the flu, a cold or a sickness.  As such, an allergy is treated much differently as well.

Are Food Allergies that Babies Get Hereditary?

There is a direct correlation between food allergies in parents and allergic reactions to food that your infants may go through.  But that doesn't meant that it is a hard and fast rule that your offspring will get the same food allergies as you have or that they won't become allergic to foods that neither mom or dad have a problem with.

How Can Parents Figure Out What Foods May Be Triggering an Allergy in the Baby?

There are certain food groups that are most likely to cause food allergies in babies that you should target first.  Those include eggs, nuts, citrus fruits, milk or other daily products and shellfish.  If you suspect your child is having an allergic reaction to something in his or her diet, the best approach is to take it slow and eliminate one of these suspect foods from the little one's diet.  

That way, when you remove the one that is causing the problem, you will have a specific diagnosis that you can work with.  But if you determine that a certain type of food is not causing the allergic reaction, you can introduce it to the baby's diet again so the child can get the good nutrition from that food group.

Once you have pinpointed the food that your infant is allergic too, it is simply a process of keeping that type of food out of the baby's diet to eliminate the allergic problem completely.  But keep in mind that most infant food allergies go away after the first few years of life so the allergy may not be a problem once your son or daughter gets a little older.  

What Can We Do to Prevent Food Allergies in Our Newborn?

As a rule, if you plan to breastfeed the child, that can go a long way toward reducing the incidence of food allergies in infants.  But keep in mind that the diet of the mother has an impact on the child.  So look at what mom consumes from that suspect list of foods we listed above and keep the intensity of potential allergens at a minimum.

It is also smart to give your baby natural and fresh foods in the first year rather than packaged foods that may have preservatives or dyes in them.  You can buy baby foods that contain no such substances and that is another precaution you can take.

Keep in mind that allergies in young children are not a health failing, an illness or a disability.  They are a natural result of the baby's immune system beginning to mature.  Baby allergies are quite common and in most cases, the child outgrows them by the time she is two or three.  The important thing is to reduce their impact as much as possible during these tender years until the little one's immune system learns how to handle all of the good foods you have to give to your child.