Hooray - NO food allergies!!

[Mama2Athena]

My 2 year old DD has really sensitive skin and often breaks out.  She also has eczema that flares up really badly at times.  Both my brother and I have nut/chocolate/shellfish/milk allergies growing up.  So I've been very scared to give her any foods that might trigger allergies.  I've visited this board several times for support because I was so anxious about giving her peanuts... LOL. 

At her two year checkup, her doctor had to treat a lingering rash that turned into a skin infection.  So a RAST test was ordered to test for food allergies.  Basically they draw blood and send it to the lab for analysis - much easier than the skin prick test that I went through.  Within a few days, we got the results.  If I had known it was that simple, I would have done it much earlier.  She still gets plenty of rashes, but we notice it happening whenever she "paints" at daycare, so paint might be our culprit.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Umm, not to burst your bubble or anything but sometimes the blood tests can have false positives and negatives - more so the younger a child is. Plus allergies can crop up at any age, even to a food previously eaten. Sheesh I'm just a regular pessimist today, sorry    Our allergist only considers something an allergy if it has been eaten and reacted to no matter what a blood or skinprick test shows.

[Mama2Athena]

Thanks for your honest feedback.  From personal experience I know we may not be in the clear just yet.  Both my brother and I developed allergies to nuts/chocolate/shellfish/milk at an older age (7 and 9).  Nothing life threatening, just major rashes every time those foods were eaten.  And my best friend ended up in the ER for a major shellfish allergic reaction on my wedding day. 

I have health anxiety issues so prior to the allergy test, I was extremely scared and anxious about giving my DD anything that might trigger a severe allergic reaction.  The test has somewhat eased my mind, but like you, my DH is still cautious about trying new foods on DD because he's read that there are false positives and negatives.

Since the allergy test, I've given DD a small amount of peanut butter and chocolate.  And so far, so good.  She seems to react to paint, but how do you stop a 2 year old from painting at daycare?  That's how they learn, right?

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

3 of my kids 7 first cousins have anaphylactic allergies, so I totally know what you mean regarding anxiety around feeding allergenic foods. The recs here where I am are to feed every food from 6 months but I still cannot bring myself to feed DD3 any nut butters yet!

I wonder, could it be the dye in the paint she is reacting too?