After starting to add complementary foods to their babies, many parents are most worried about the problem of food allergies. When you see a rash on your baby's body, or have symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting, you are worried about whether you have eaten something that you should not eat.
Today, I will give you a science popularization of the relevant knowledge of infant food allergies.
Why are babies prone to food allergies?
The immune system bears the responsibility of resisting the invasion of external harmful substances, and when the immune system perceives harmful substances entering the body, it will secrete various immune factors and produce an immune response.
But sometimes, the immune system will also overreact and attack harmless substances as harmful substances, at which time, the body will have an allergic reaction.
The immune system of infants and young children aged 0-2 years is not yet mature, so they are more likely to develop allergies than adults.
The illustration is original from the designer of Chiyu Senri A crotch
What are the symptoms of food allergies in babies?
When your baby has the following symptoms, it may be a food allergy:
1. Itchy skin, wheal-like rash.
2. Eyes are red and swollen and tearful.
3. Poor appetite, refusal to drink milk, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, mucus in the stool, blood in the stool.
4. Nasal congestion, sneezing, coughing and wheezing.
If you suspect that your baby has a food allergy, you can recall whether you have recently given your baby food that he has not eaten before. First stop this new food, if you no longer eat this food, the baby's previous symptoms have been significantly alleviated, you can stop eating for a period of time, a week later to give the baby to eat this food, observe whether the symptoms of allergies appear again, if the baby has symptoms of allergies again, it is likely that the baby is allergic to this food.
You can also go to the hospital for allergen screening to further clarify the diagnosis.
How to prevent food allergies?
1. Breastfeeding
Breast milk contains the immune proteins that babies need, and insisting on breastfeeding is conducive to the development of the baby's immune system and can reduce the risk of allergies in the baby.
2. Add complementary foods reasonably
The correct time to add complementary foods to your baby is 5-6 months. Do not add complementary foods too early, and do not take it too late.
When adding complementary foods to your baby, do not add multiple new foods at once, but add them the same way. Each time you give your baby a new food, you should wait 3-5 days to confirm that your baby is not allergic, and then add another new food.
3. Pay attention to foods that are prone to allergies
The following are easy to cause allergies of food, when the baby to eat these foods, pay attention to observation, see if the baby has an allergic reaction, if there is an allergic phenomenon, should be stopped in time.
(1) Milk
(2) Eggs
(3) Peanuts, cashews, almonds, hazelnuts and other nuts
(4) Soybeans, tofu and other soy products
(5) Shrimp, crab, shellfish, cod and other seafood
(6) Peaches, mangoes, strawberries
(7) Wheat products: including bread, biscuits, wheat bran, etc
When purchasing finished food supplements, it is also necessary to pay attention to the ingredient list and look forward to whether it contains foods that are easy to cause allergies.
If there is a history of inherited food allergies in the family, you should also pay attention to see if your child is also allergic to this food.
4. Rational use of disinfectants
Parents want to make the baby's living environment cleaner, afraid of pathogenic bacteria close to the baby. Many people use disinfectants to treat the environment and clothing used by the baby.
But in fact, proper exposure to bacteria helps the normal development of the infant's immune system. If your child has been in an overly clean environment, it is easy for the immune system to overreact and develop allergies when it comes into contact with some foreign objects.
Therefore, we should use disinfectants reasonably to avoid excessive disinfection.
One allergy ≠ lifelong allergy
As the immune system matures, some foods that were previously allergic may no longer be allergic to your baby when they grow up. After the baby is 3 years old, you can try to give him food that was previously allergic, add a small amount first, observe whether there is an allergic reaction, if there is no allergic reaction for 1 week, you can continue to give the baby this food with confidence.
Can my baby get vaccinated against food allergies?
In the past, due to problems with the production process, some vaccines would have proteins left in the cells used to culture the vaccine. Egg protein may remain in vaccines using chicken embryo cell culture, so these vaccines are not recommended for people who are allergic to eggs. But now that the vaccine production process has been improved, this situation has basically disappeared.
If your child has food allergies, you can also go to the vaccine with confidence.
However, if the child is still in the acute reaction period of allergies, such as urticaria on the body, and allergy-related symptoms, it is best to wait 1-2 weeks, and then go to the vaccine after the allergy symptoms subside.
Food allergies are more common in infants and young children under 2 years of age, when children have food allergies, parents do not have to be too nervous, as long as they avoid allergic foods in their daily diet and replace them with other foods containing similar nutrients. Most food allergies do not affect your child's normal growth and development.
bibliography:
American Academy of Pediatrics Practical Feeding Guide
Food Allergies and Food Intolerances