Foods that babies with allergies should avoid

Whether milk and dairy products, eggs, nuts, seafood, soybeans, wheat, peanuts, mango/pineapple and other photosensitive tropical fruits need to be avoided depends on the individual.

Don’t believe it, my best friend’s baby was diagnosed with milk protein allergy when he was 1 year old. She was so panicked that she stopped eating all eight major food categories for her baby and gave her plain porridge and vegetables every day. The baby lost 1 pound in half a month. When she went to child care for a review, she was scolded by the doctor for a long time: “You are not preventing allergies, you are causing malnutrition! ”

When it comes to this, I have to mention two opinions that are currently very controversial in the parent circle. In fact, there is no absolute right or wrong, but the adaptation situation is different.

One group is the "no-all" group, which advocates that as long as the allergy is detected, no matter what the allergy is, all highly allergenic foods should be banned. It is best to wait until the age of 3 before trying it slowly. The logic of this group is that the immune system of children with allergies is inherently unstable, and exposure to highly allergenic foods can easily induce new allergies. In severe cases, it may even cause anaphylactic shock. The risk is too high, so it is better to completely ban it.； The other school is the "precise food taboo school", which only bans foods that are known to cause allergic reactions. Other high-risk foods are tried at small doses. As long as there is no reaction after eating, add them normally. They believe that excessive food taboos will lead to insufficient nutritional intake of the baby, and the immunity will not be improved, and the allergy will be healed slowly.

I asked a friend from the allergy department of the Beijing Institute of Pediatrics myself, and he said that both views are reasonable. If the baby has severe allergies and has experienced acute allergic reactions such as asthma and laryngeal edema, he should be stricter and temporarily stop high-risk foods.； If it is just mild eczema, rubbing your nose and eyes, etc., there is no need to completely ban it. Just try it slowly.

Many parents especially believe in the "list of foods that children with allergies must avoid" listed on the Internet. They even avoid the "favorable foods" mentioned by the elderly. Beef and mutton are not allowed to be touched. In fact, it is really unnecessary. My colleague’s child is allergic to eggs and dust mites, but eating salmon and shrimp has no problem at all. She cooks salmon for the child twice a week. The child’s DHA supplement is sufficient, and the child’s physical condition is slowly improving. Now he rarely gets eczema. I also chatted with a pediatric nurse before, and she said that she had seen the most exaggerated parents who even cooked apples before eating them because their children were allergic. In fact, as long as the children did not suffer from diarrhea or rash after eating cold apples, there was no need to do anything extra. Cooking them would cause a lot of vitamin losses.

Another very common pitfall is that many parents do food intolerance tests that cost thousands of dollars for their children. If a lot of IgG positives are found, they will be banned. In fact, this rumor has long been refuted. IgG positive only means that the baby has been exposed to this kind of food. The immune system has memory, but it does not mean allergies. As long as the baby eats it and has no reaction, it can be eaten normally. If you really want to check for allergens, IgE-mediated ones are enough, and there is no need to waste money.

Oh, by the way, there is no unified conclusion in the academic community on the timing of adding highly allergenic foods. The American Allergy Society recommends that after adding complementary foods for 6 months, you can try highly allergenic foods in small doses, which can actually reduce the probability of allergies. However, many domestic pediatricians will recommend adding them after 1 year old. This can actually be based on your own situation. If your parents have severe allergies, add them later. If there is no history of allergies in the family, it is okay to try them earlier in small doses.

Of course, this does not mean that there is no need to avoid it at all. If your child is experiencing an allergy attack, such as when he or she has large areas of urticaria, coughing, or severe diarrhea, you should temporarily stop eating high-risk foods that you have not tried before, and wait for the symptoms to subside for 1-2 weeks before trying them slowly, otherwise it will easily aggravate the allergy symptoms.

To put it bluntly, allergies are a baby's immune system mistaking normal foods for invading bad guys. The things that each baby's immune system "mistakes" for are different, and you really can't copy someone else's taboo list. Parents around me who have raised children with allergies have a small notebook in their pocket. They clearly remember what new foods they ate today and whether their children rubbed their eyes, had rashes, or had diarrhea. For two months, they recorded what their children can and cannot eat. They are more accurate than what any expert says.

There is no standard answer to raising a baby. Don't be bound by various rules on the Internet. It is better to observe your own baby's reaction more than anything else.