Detecting Food Allergies
Food allergies have exploded in the last decade, and the child with no food allergies at all may be the minority someday soon. All of my children have food allergies, which most may consider an unlucky occurrence. I do, however, consider myself lucky. I know exactly what they are allergic to and I can avoid those foods.
To isolate any potential food allergies, try new foods very slowly with your baby. This may be especially important if there is a history of food allergies in the family. Each food should be tried one at a time, with each being eaten for several days before a new food is introduced. If you watch for reactions during those three or four days and see none, it?s safe to start a new food. I found allergies to five separate foods among my kids by doing just that.
One of the problems with trying only one food at a time is that most of the stage two and three foods are mixtures of several different foods. By trying most of the stage one foods on the market, and keeping track of the results, we could try stage two and three foods that consisted only of those ingredients. Most of the foods for older babies have the kind of ingredients that can be bought separately. And if not, we just couldn?t buy them.
Allergies can manifest themselves in a number of ways. The most common effects we found were red blotches on the skin or an itchy rash on the face, but there were others. My youngest?s feet turned purple after the first taste of apples. My oldest?s entire head turned bright red after trying peaches. Sometimes the only effect was diarrhea. But, by keeping a record of it all, I know exactly what to avoid- and so do they. Talking about the allergies at an early age can help kids to communicate them to others before an allergen is ingested.
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