Complementary food Allergy-prone foods

Milk and dairy products, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (walnuts, cashews, almonds, etc.), wheat, soybeans, fish, crustacean seafood (shrimp, crab, shellfish, etc.), more than 90% of children's food allergies are caused by these types of ingredients.

Not long ago, my best friend's baby, who had just turned 7 months old, ate two mouthfuls of steamed whole eggs for the first time. After a while, her mouth turned red and she broke out in a small rash. She was so scared that she ran to the emergency room with her baby in her arms in the middle of the night. The doctor said it was an egg white allergy and asked her to temporarily stop feeding eggs and wait until 10 months before trying a small amount again.

In fact, the previous feeding concepts of many older generations always said that highly allergenic foods should be introduced after the age of 1 or even 3 years old. However, the new nutrition guidelines in recent years have a different view: as long as the child does not have a serious family history of allergies and does not have recurring eczema, these highly allergenic foods can be gradually introduced after 6 months of complementary feeding. On the contrary, early exposure makes it easier to establish immune tolerance, and the risk of long-term allergies is lower. There is no completely unified conclusion on this controversy yet. Parents can make a choice based on their children’s situation. If they are really unsure, just ask the child care doctor. There is no need to follow the online tutorials.

Let’s talk about the categories that are most likely to be pitted. Many parents always think about nutritional supplements for their babies when they first add complementary foods. The first thing that comes to mind is eggs. Many people feed egg yolks just two weeks after adding complementary foods. In fact, egg yolks are indeed much less allergenic than egg whites, but there are also a few babies who are allergic to egg yolks. I once met a mother who said that her baby had rashes all over his face after eating 1/8 of an egg yolk, and had diarrhea for two days. Then he stopped slowly adding it back for almost two months. There are also soybean tofu and soy milk, which have a relatively low allergy rate, but there are also a few children who develop rashes after taking two sips of warm soy milk, so just be careful when adding them.

Wheat allergy is easily confused with drool rash by many people. The first teething stick many parents buy for their children is made of wheat. After the baby chews, the mouth becomes red and they always think it is drooling. In fact, if the rash disappears in a day or two after stopping feeding, it is most likely a mild allergy to wheat. Just wait a month or two and try again. Don't be too nervous.

As for nuts, the incidence of peanut allergy in Europe and the United States is much higher than in China, so foreign guidelines have stricter requirements for the introduction of nuts. In China, there are relatively few children with nut allergies, but they should not be careless. Do not feed whole nuts to children under 3 years old. Firstly, it is easy to choke, and secondly, allergic reactions are often more serious than other foods. If you want to add them, grind them into fine powder and mix them into rice noodles and porridge. For the first time, add as much as a small fingernail, and wait for three days before adding more.

As for seafood, crustacean shrimps, crabs, and shellfish are much more allergenic than ordinary freshwater fish. Many parents think that shrimp is a calcium supplement, and they should add whole shrimp to their babies when they are 8 months old. Many people will develop red rashes after eating it. If someone in the family is allergic to seafood, it is best to wait until the baby is 10 months old before adding it.

There is another point that many people tend to overlook. When adding new foods to your baby, add only one kind at a time and observe for 3 days. If there is no rash, vomiting, diarrhea, or abnormal crying, add the next kind. If an allergic reaction does occur, you can quickly locate the food problem. If the child's allergic reaction is relatively mild, with only a slight redness around the mouth and no other discomfort, there is no need to completely avoid the food immediately. You can stop eating it for 3 months and then try a small amount. As the immunity of many children develops, they will gradually tolerate the food they were previously allergic to. If you have difficulty breathing, large rashes all over your body, or persistent vomiting, you must be sent to the hospital immediately without delay.

Nowadays, many maternal and infant institutions frequently test for food intolerance. In fact, this test is not currently used as a diagnostic basis for food allergy. In many cases, dozens of intolerances are detected, but in fact, nothing has happened to the baby. It is purely IQ tax. If you really suspect that your baby is allergic, just go to the pediatrics or allergy department of a regular hospital for an examination. Don't waste money.

In fact, there is really no need to be too anxious about raising a baby. I have seen many parents delay the introduction of all highly allergenic foods until after 1 year old. As a result, the baby is still allergic to the food for the first time. There are also parents who added a small amount of diluted whole egg liquid to the baby at 6 and a half months old.