How Do You Introduce Potential Allergens? UPDATED

ADDED: Saw your change to the post and am glad the doctor knows what you're trying. I would just phone their office, say she told you to try coconut milk, and ask the advice nurse how to proceed. I agree with Mynewnickname above that you might want to wait until your child is no longer coughing. You won't be able to tell if the coughs are what she's already dealing with, or something new caused by the new food. Good luck!

ORIGINAL: I know you've posted a lot lately with health concerns regarding your child. I really would not introduce potential allergens, if that's another concern, based on what laypeople say; I'd consult first with your pediatrician or even get an appointment with an allergist who specializes in working with young children. You will get a lot of different opinions from different web sites and different people posting. But this is really an issue for a professional to handle, especially as you've been very concerned and stressed lately by your child's health; you may be least stressed if you just go to a professional who can lay out steps for you, rather than asking parents--our methods and experiences may be totally different from what your child needs.

Well, I'm probably a total slacker mom in this way, but for my kids it was usually something like - hey, kid just took a shrimp off my plate and ate it. Well, I guess we'll keep an eye on him. Or, hmm, my almond hershey bar is gone. Who ate it? He ate it yesterday? Well, I guess he's not allergic to almonds.

There are probably better ways to do this though.

ETA: Mel's response prompted me to look at your previous posts. You probably shouldn't introduce potential allergens at all until your child is over whatever is making her have coughing fits. Although I was pretty lax about food allergens, a friend of mine does have a child with a nut allergy, and when he ate his first cashew, he had a coughing fit right after - which triggered her to take him to the Dr to test for the nut allergy. If your child is coughing anyway, you might not be able to sort it out.

ETA#2: When my LO was allergic to dairy, we went with rice milk instead of coconut milk. You could try that as a milk alternative that doesn't have an allergy risk.

with my son's peanut allergy, since it was induced thru overindulgence, the allergist had us try reintroducing it yearly. Just about a tsp consumed, & for years our son reacted. Sucked.

He's almost 19....& still has to watch his nuts.

I think we did the try one new food for a couple of weeks ... to see if they were ok with them.

Some foods will cause sensitivity on the skin but be ok digested. One of mine gets a red rash from ketchup on his face, but can eat ketchup. So I'm not sure that would be accurate. Better to ask.

We had eczema in our household and had allergy testing before age 2 for that - to rule out food as trigger. It was simple skin test. Not sure why they say not before 2 (I think for pollen etc. we waited till they were a bit older).

Good luck :)

I agree with the other moms who suggest waiting till your little one is feeling better, if at all possible. I do that whenever we've been given medicine to try - you won't know if it's helped otherwise if they are sick with something else that needs to clear up first.

i wouldn't do it at all until she's over whatever it is she's got. if her system is still fighting infection or allergies or whatever it's going to wonk up introducing new foods.
did the doctor not give you some suggestions as to how to introduce it?
khairete
S.

Your pediatrician will tell you how to do this once you've figured out the dairy situation. If he didn't ask you to test, don't.

One should introduce one new food at a time and feed that one food for 1-2 weeks before introducing another new food. Start with one food. If there is no reaction in a couple of weeks introduce another one while continuing the first food. This is the recommended way to introduce solid foods for all babies.

As to testing specific foods you need to have instructions from the doctor.

As to introducing coconut milk. Stop feeding all dairy and use only coconut milk. It's highly unlikely that she's allergic to coconut. Notice her reaction to the coconut milk. She will need to be using only coconut milk, no dairy or other milks, for an extended period of time to know if she's allergic. I might wait until you get the results from the tests. You can switch now if you want to. Results should be back in a week or less. My grandaughter received results in the same visit. Your clinic must have to send the tests out.

Relax, allergies are common and rarely life threatening.

Start with a very small amount, especially for the foods most likely to casue serious reactions, like nuts. I would just give a little spoonful of coconut milk and check for a reaction. Coconut is not a common allergen, so it's pretty likely that she'll be fine with it, even if she does have dairy and soy allergies.

With coconut milk, you're going to end up lacking in some of the key nutrients that cow's milk offers. Make sure you are finding good sources of calcium, protein and healthy fats.

If she does have a dairy allergy, you'll probably need to avoid it 100% for awhile. When you're ready to start introducing it, start with small amounts of dairy baked into something, like putting a small amount of real butter in cookies, muffins, etc. Baking it changes the makeup of the protein that causes the allergy, so kids are less likely to react to it when baked than they are if they eat it regularly (like butter on toast).

My son is highly allergic to dairy but fortunately is fine with soy, so we've been able to get by ok. It's a really hard adjustment in the beginning, but once you figure it all out, it's not that hard to manage. Good luck.