Guidance needed on intorducing new foods

[squeaky's mum]

Hi There,

DD is nearly a year old and has a milk allergy. To date I have not given her eggs, seeds, nuts, some fruits and dairy products. When she gets to a year I want to try and start expanding her diet by introducing some of these foods but I am having trouble finding a definitive answer as to when the best time to introduce these foods to a child that has an allergy already. Any advice you can give me would be greatly received.

Also I have a question about the 3 day rule when introducing these foods. Do you give the new food every day of the 3 days or give it once and then wait 3 days to see if they have a reaction?

Thanks

Claire

[Mom to M&M]

Does she have a milk allergy or intolerance? How was this confirmed? Let me know please as my answers will depend upon that information. Has she had any other food reactions or only to dairy?

BTW, I do new foods for 5 days (recommended by our dietician/allergist). We give one tsp of the new food on day one (breakfast or lunch), two teaspoons on day two, 4 tsp on day 3, 2 tbsp on day 4 and up a full jar (if commercial) on day 5.

[squeaky's mum]

Thanks for your response. Sophie has eczema which has responded really well to a dairy free diet for both her and me. She is still bf. So to start with we weren't sure whether this was an allergy or an intolerance. Then she got some milk on her hands then rubbed her eyes and legs. All areas where the milk touched came up in an itchy red ratch very quickly but disappeared fairly quickly once the rash was wiped with water. The doctor told me this was an allergic reaction. She has not been allergy tested. We have put yoghurt on her skin and it has NOT had this reaction. I have tried introducing yoghurt into her diet at 9 months but will hold off until she is a year as it was difficult to tell whether her skin reacted or not.

I eat all other foods (except meat and fish, I am a veggie) and I can't detect any other reaction to anything through my milk and recently I have been eating a little cheese and this doesn't seem to affect Sophie's skin.

Now Sophie is nearly a year I really want to start expanding her diet, your advice will be so welcome as I find there are so many conflicting sources of information out there.

Thanks

Claire

[Mom to M&M]

IMO you can try yogurt or a small amount of cheese to see what happens. Some babies who cannot handle whole milk can handle other forms of dairy. Also, it's possible that she just has really sensitive skin and the milk irritated it because of that. I'd try as with any other new food - outlined below.

I also think you can certainly give her eggs - starting with yolks before a year and whites after. From what I've learned, eggs are not truly dairy - but more poultry. So if your LO is OK with chicken, she may well be OK with eggs. If she eats bread, maybe start by dipping egg in yolk and frying it up - like french toast. Or you can make a scrambled egg omelette or give a mashed up hard boiled yolk.

I would hold off on nuts and seeds for now - better off seeing with the dairy, eggs and other foods.

What fruits haven't you given?

How long do you plain to BF for? If she can't handle whole milk, you might try 2% milk at first (easier to digest). If that's no good, soy milk and rice milk are options.

[squeaky's mum]

Hi There,

I have started giving her a little egg yolk and am keeping a close eye on her. I will take one food at a time and leave it a while between introducing new foods.

She has had most fruits. I have given her a small amount of strawberries and raspberries before I realised there were more likely to produce an allergic reaction. I have also used fresh orange juice in cooking but she has not had any raw citrus fruit yet. I regularly give her mango, pear, apple, nectarine, cherries, bananas and kiwi. She doesn't have any reaction to any of these that I can tell.

As far as breastfeeding goes I will feed her as long as she wants it (within reason!). I am going to try to become much more relaxed about it when she gets to a year and feed her more when she wants it.  At some point I will try her on cow's milk again but for now we are happy bf.

Thanks for you advice

Claire

[squeaky's mum]

Can I just ask another question, although it does sound a little dumb?

Is it safe to assume that an allergic reaction would be obvious? I have introduced egg yolk to dd this week and her eczema has been a little unstable (not dramatically worse, but is a little worse) and it fluctuates during the day. My guess is that it is due to the really hot weather we have in the UK but it has coincided with giving her egg yolks too.

Thanks,

Claire

[Mom to M&M]

If only excema, it's likely not an allergic reaction. If it were me I'd keep up with the yolks and see what happens. It could likely be related to the weather and/or could be an adjustment period. Often when my DD tries a new food she has a few days of a rash or gas but it goes away.