On Mon, 18 Aug 1997 09:43:15 -0600 Laurie Carson <[log in to unmask]>
writes:
>Beth - I think this is excellent advice, although I'd add avoidance of
all common
>food allergens, not just the ones already present in the family.
However, it
>is also possible (and maybe even common) for food allergies to come from
nowhere!
>My doctor didn't tell me anything about food allergies/infant feeding,
because
>we had no reason to suspect that Alyssa would have any at all!

We don't have a history of food allergies either.  We do, however have a
strong family history of other allergies which puts us in a higher risk
bracket.  It was recommended to avoid the common allergens - milk, eggs,
peanuts, and seafood while I was nursing.  This came from MY allergist,
not the pediatrician.

>The hardest part about all the advice & information, is that it's
difficult to
>predict who will develop the allergies, and it's very difficult to
maintain
>a diet avoiding allergens - who should, who doesn't need to... being a
new mother
>is stressful anyway, and adding severe dietary restrictions when there's
no
>"risk factors"...

That's true.  It was recommended that I "AVOID" the above substances.
Some are easier to completely eliminate than other - I've had little
problem with seafood or peanuts.  I did try to avoid milk, but did not
eliminate it completely.  I wasn't drinking the stuff, not eating ice
cream, avoiding cheese, no yoghurt, etc.

>And my still unanswered question - will it really matter?

I beat myself up daily with this same question.  If I had eliminated milk
earlier on, would Alyssa (mine, not yours :-) still be allergic to milk
when we went to introduce it after 1 year?  If I keep this elimination
diet, will she outgrow the milk allergy?  Are there other foods I'm
introducing now that are going to cause problems?  What other foods
should I be careful with?  Wheat, eggs, corn?  I'm in a panic over what
to feed my kid!  I can't tell if I'm just being paranoid or not.

Incidently, I found milk ingredients on the label of some baby food
combinations that I did not expect.

>  If the first exposure
>is delayed until age 3 instead of 9 months, does that really help?  Has
anyone
>seen a study of kids who got peanut butter at age 3 vs. kids who got
peanut
>butter at age 9 months?  Are there more allergies in one group vs the
other?

I don't have the studies, but I went to a presentation done by my
allergiest in which I got quite a bit of information.  He said that there
was a higher incidence of  food allergies in formula fed babies than in
breastfed babies.  Also, soy formula was not any better at preventing or
lowering the incidence.  The hypoallergenic (hydrolized protien) formulas
were better than the regular soy or milk based formulas.  He said that if
there was a family history of alleriges (any kind) and especially food
allergies, that the mother should avoid the highly allergic foods while
nursing.  Elimination was best, but this was not generally recommended
because the mothers tended to have an inadequate diet and it didn't seem
to make that much difference.  I got this response after asking the
question several time and he kind of hedged the answer about complete
elimination.  There was apparently a movement to recommend elimination
while pregnant also, but the dietary results in the pregnant women
weren't safe for the baby.

As for inhaled allergies, they are greatly influenced by exposure between
the ages of 1 and 3.  The studies showed higher incidence of childhood
asthma in children exposed to dust/dust mites, cockroach droppings, and
animal dander during these years.  Before one year, the immune system
apparently hasn't really kicked into gear fully with regard to this
stuff.  I don't know why food allergies tend to be different.  The only
other piece that really fit with this was that food allergies developed
before one year were more likely to be transient than ones developed
after one year.

One other tip he gave me was that initial, one time exposure as an infant
with later introduction after one year was far worse than continual
exposure during the first year.  This was especially important with
giving formula.  He found out that his own kid was given formua by the
nurses in the hospital and nearly had a fit and told me to make very sure
the baby was not given any regular formula.

Sorry if some of this is a bit off topic for the list, but I thought some
might be interested.
Kathy