What medicine should babies take for food allergies?

First of all, I need to make it clear to everyone. There is no miracle drug that can “eradicate” food allergy in babies. Currently, there are two types of symptomatic drugs recognized in pediatric clinical practice. One is epinephrine hydrochloride auto-injection pens used to save lives from fatal severe allergies, and the other is second-generation antihistamines in children’s dosage forms used to relieve symptoms of mild to moderate allergies. The remaining so-called conditioning products are not first-line drugs, so don’t buy them randomly.

A while ago, I accompanied my mother downstairs to take her 1-year-old baby to the allergist. The last time the baby ate a bite of boiled egg, a red rash appeared around her mouth and she kept scratching it. She hurriedly fed the baby half a bag of adult loratadine, but the doctor scolded her and said that babies over 1 year old can only use cetirizine drops, and the dosage must be calculated based on body weight. The adult dosage is not accurate and can easily increase the metabolic burden. At that time, the doctor also specifically emphasized that if the allergic reaction was accompanied by breathlessness, hoarseness, and mental weakness, just taking antihistamines would be useless. Adrenaline must be administered as soon as possible, otherwise the child would be prone to laryngeal edema and fatal risks of shock.

Speaking of this, many people may ask, are the anti-allergic probiotics and allergy-modifying peptides recommended every day in maternal and child stores useful? I also specifically asked the pediatric allergist who was attending the consultation. He said that there are currently not enough large-sample studies to prove that this type of product has a clear therapeutic effect on food allergies. At most, it may have an auxiliary effect on children with certain constitutions, and it is absolutely impossible to replace regular drugs. Don't believe the propaganda that "taking 3 courses of treatment can cure milk protein allergy." There are indeed mothers around me who said that after giving their children a certain probiotic, the rashes became less severe, but there are also mothers who spent nearly ten thousand yuan to buy this kind of product, but in the end their children still got hives after touching milk. To put it bluntly, it is an optional supplement. Whether you want to buy it or not depends on your own budget. Just don't treat it as a medicine.

There are also many parents who apply hormonal ointments and take cephalosporins when their children see allergies. This is really a huge misunderstanding. Antibiotics kill bacteria and are of no use against abnormal immune reactions such as allergies. If the child's allergy symptoms are very mild, just a small local rash, and he doesn't cry or scratch, he doesn't even need to take antihistamines. Stop the allergenic food immediately, drink more warm water, and it will basically disappear on his own after a long period of observation. If you need to use antihistamines, remember to ask your doctor about the dosage first. Don’t just read the instructions and feed them blindly. After all, every baby’s weight and allergies are different.

If your child has a history of severe allergies before, such as difficulty breathing or confusion after touching allergenic foods, be sure to ask a doctor to prescribe an epinephrine pen to keep at home and carry with you when you go out to play with your child. In an emergency, just stick a needle into the outer thigh and send him directly to the emergency room. This thing can really save your baby's life at a critical moment. Oh, by the way, one more thing, all medicines are only symptomatic relief. If you want to avoid suffering from allergies, the most effective way is to avoid the identified allergens honestly. Don’t think that you can just touch the food you are allergic to by taking medicine to "block" it. It is really easy to cause accidents.