I have 20 mo. old twins, a boy and a girl. A few months back we noticed whenever our little boy ate tomato sauce or pizza, he would get a red rash-type marking around his mouth. He doesn't have trouble breathing, doesn't get sick..his face just turns red. Just to be on the safe side we don't give him processed tomatoes very often.
More recently ( a few weeks ago), this happened when he tried (and loved) tartar sauce.
His sister had never had an issue with it until today, when I gave them each a hard peppermint candy. Her mouth-redness wasn't as bad, but it was definitely there.
I might mention that my MIL has mentioned that their Dad had a history of this when he was younger, and never had any serious complications for it, and that I do fully intend to follow through with a doctor about this.
I am just wondering if any other moms might have experience with them, and what it amounted to. I am not truly concerned as serious food allergies don't run in our families, and it seems to be more of a sensitivity to foods. I am considering doing allergy testing, but I am not sure if it is necessary or not.
Thanks everyone. It seems to be the general concensus that it's a sensitivity and they will outgrow it. After a lengthy conversation with my MIL, I found their dad has exactly the same issue, only he had problems with more foods. I don't think I will entirely stop giving them the irritating foods, just not nearly as often. And I do intend to call the doctor just to be sure. Even though the chances are good they aren't having any allergies, I think it will be a good idea to get them tested if the benefit is worth the costs.
My daughter had the same issue for about a year when she was about that age. Anytime she ate any sort of tomato product, she would get red splotches on her face, mostly right around her mouth. We asked the dr about it and she told us that if it didn't seem to bother her, just keep an eye on it. Like I said, after about a year it didn't happen anymore.
i have a BIL when he eats certain food it makes his mouth all red and it will swell up. I think they may be allergic to certain foods. Until you go to the doctors i wouldnt let them have the foods that irritate there mouth.
This happened to my daughter and will still sometimes if she doesn't wipe her face well. I always thought it was the acid in the tomatos and that if we as adults left the sauce on our face to dry that it would do the same thing. I never tried it though.
This happened to both of my kids at some point or another. For my oldest it was ranch dressing and my youngest it can be many things. It only lasts for about an hour and then goes away. It's just the acid in the foods that cause this, not an allergy.
Food allergies don't have to run in families, to have them. I am the only one in my family with any food allergies. I know many people who have allergies and they don't run in families. They CAN and sometimes do run in families, but it's a myth they have to. The fact that they are having a reaction means it is at the very lease a sensitivity and needs to be looked into. I would definitely take them to an allergist, to rule out an allergy. That is the only way to know for sure, if there is a more serious underlying issue. Keep in mind...with food allergies reactions typically get progressively worse. While it might seem minor now, there is no way of knowing how serious it could get.
You've already gotten a lot of responses about this that say the same thing that I was going to. Most salad dressing and other condiments (all types and brands) do this to my son. His twin sister doesn't get the redness, but he sure does. It goes away faster if you wipe with a cold wet washcloth right after eating. Other than that, if you feel that you want to take him in to get tested for allergies (if that is something that your insurance covers) I would do it. It's better to know than not to, right? Hopefully he will grow out of it.
My kids ( all three of them) did this when they were very little it would happen with Ranch, cinnamon sugar and anything tomato based. They outgrew it.
I have this issue with both my kids. Tomato sauce (anything tomato based) and ranch dressing (MIL insisted on giving ranch with veggies even though my daughter loved them plain)...
Our pediatrician said that there is something in it that they are sensitive too, so stop giving it to them...I did and they eventually out grew it...
Oh yeah-that always happened with my youngest with pizza (and a couple other things) He is fine now. Worth mentioning that he also has asthma and he did have eczema when this was going on.
I think (of course, I am not a doctor) that it is not an allergy but a sensitivity to elements in the food (i.e. acid in tomatoes and tartar sauce). As for the hard candy - not really sure why you would give 20 month old children a hard candy - it is a serious choking hazard! My daughter gets redness when she eats hummus, but she is not allergic to it. My recommendation would be to wash their faces well after they eat and don't worry about it unless you see other symptoms.
Since it is only around the mouth, maybe it is a skin sensitivity to the acids in the food. This has happened to my daughter before and it is only in the places the food touched. It there is no problem other than the skin the food touched, I wouldn't worry too much.
i dont know if its really an allergy - i think it might be skin sensitivity to acids in the food. try wiping their mouth area as soon as you see some on their skin with a wet paper towel and see if the blotches still come up. my niece had this and we would just wipe the ranch off her mouth as soon as we saw it and she didnt get the irritation - but if we left it - she would get the red blotches around her mouth.
Inflammation. What a bummer. Someone commented on asthma and eczema, and yes, that is more common as well with all these inflammatory processes. I did not outgrow some mild food sensitivities - what happened was I kept accumulating more, and more severe, over the years. The asthma came later, hives and even ending up in the emergency room in my late 40s. It was only after my kids were found to have issues with gluten and dairy did I get tested (not the scratch test) that I found I did, too. I feel so much better, and now I also avoid the foods I had more mild reactions to (like pineapple which causes a mouth reaction).
Before you send him into full blown allergies stop feeding him those foods. In six months you can try a small amount again.
Peppermint allergy is famous. Everyone thinks it is a benign plant but it can close your throat or make you puke if you are allergic to it.
My first born son had this same thing and I couldn't figure out which foods were causing it...I ended up taking a picture of his mouth and showing it to the Dr. next time i went in, Dr. had him give a blood sample and they ran an allergy test and thankfully all came back good...sensitivity to certain foods usually does just go away with time an more exposure to that certain food.
Hidden Valley Ranch & tomato sauces do this same thing to both of my boys...I switched to Kraft Ranch no problems-- and I just wipe the tomato sauce off the face as soon as possible and it helps. I've heard it stops when they're older--We're just not there yet. My two are 15 months & 3 yrs :)
yep, it's mustard with my 5y old. We found out when she was little, shirtless, and had a red handprint on her belly! I think it's the vinegar...both girls will ge a bit red w/ some tomato sauces, never real bad and we just mostly avoid things that may induce the reaction, but whenever they do come in contact it's not a real big deal.
I know you already updated, and while it could simply be a sensitivity, I would still hace the child tested for allergies if it persists. My poor daughter went almost 4 years of being told she was sensitive to certain foods, and I finally got a referall to a pediatric allergist. She's allergic to EVERYTHING. The funny thing is, NO ONE ELSE on either side of her family has allergies (except my brother, but he's weird.)... My other 2 kids have NO allergies, but she has some pretty major ones. It's always better to be safe than sorry. I would definately get him tested if this persists by his 2nd birthday. Hope all is well!!
My kids and I all have that too! It is a contact allergy. The best I have figured out is that it is to vinegar. The dr said not to limit it or even forbid it, just to wipe it off their faces during the meal as opposed to waiting until the end. It is not dangerous, and they can barely even feel it. But, if left on there for 10-15 minutes, the result will be red raised hive like patch that looks like the skin is sloughing off.
Things that will cause this reaction are; pickle juice, ketchup, tartar sauce, thousand island dressing, ranch dressing, etc...
My son had a similar thing with fake cheese. Anything like Cheetos, Goldfish, Cheese-its, etc would make him red around the mouth. We simply stopped giving him those all together (real cheese didn't bother him). He's now 4 1/2 and has no food allergies and can eat these foods without a problem now. From my experience it seems more like a sensitivity that they will out-grow. Avoid the food for a while. Good luck!
OMG my 20 month old daughter also gets allergies (redness around the mouth) when she eats tomatoes, also when she eats eggs. I don't feed her eggs anymore because the rash is worse with eggs than with tomatoes, I suppose she is allergic to these products.
Maybe wait until a little older to reintroduce him to them.
