Food Allergies – Baby Care Journals

More Evidence that Early Exposure to Peanuts May Prevent an Allergy

May 10, 2016May 10, 2016 admin

By Lisa Pecos

With food allergies on the rise and peanut allergies in particular affecting approximately 2 percent of U.S. children, it’s natural to be weary of exposing your baby to peanuts. Up until recently, parents were told to not give their babies foods containing peanuts to avoid triggering an allergy. The recommendation was to avoid feeding peanuts to high-risk babies until the age of 3. Two recent studies, however, suggest that feeding babies peanuts and other known allergy-inducing foods is more likely to prevent an allergy.

Safe, Nutritious, Home-Made First Foods for Baby

May 5, 2015 admin

Great, Healthy Home-Made Foods to Start Your Baby on Solids

The recent news report about a small piece of glass having been found in a jar of Beech-Nut baby food is enough to send chills down a new mom’s spine.

What if you want to be sure about the quality control in the food you’ll feed your 6-month-old when that time comes? What if you want to prepare your own baby foods?

Study Finds Link Between Pesticides and Autism, Developmental Delays

July 22, 2014July 29, 2014 admin

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, MIND Institute have found that exposure to certain synthetic pesticides is linked to a higher risk of autism and developmental delays in children whose mothers were exposed to the pesticides while pregnant.

The study team found that the risk for autism increased from 60 to 200 percent, depending on the type of pesticide used, how close the mother had lived to the treated areas, and when in the pregnancy the mother was exposed.

Preventing Food Allergies in Infants by Introducing Solid Foods While Still Breastfeeding

January 10, 2014 admin

The importance of breastfeeding and of introducing solid foods later for preventing food allergies in children has become clearer to health professionals in recent years. Now, a new British study has found that waiting until at least 17 weeks of age to introduce solid foods helps infants avoid food allergies later on. That same study found that babies were more likely to be immune to food allergies if they were also being breastfed when solids were introduced at 17 weeks or later.

Overlapping the start of solid foods with breastfeeding seems to teach the baby’s immune system that solid foods are safe; or it could be that the mother’s breast milk provides the right types and numbers of cells and organisms that will strengthen the baby’s immunity, thereby preventing the infant’s body from developing allergies to different foods.

Newborns & Food Allergies – What Are They & How Do Babies Get Them?

April 12, 2013November 24, 2015 Jesse Fulton

As a new mother, you’ve probably heard that “breast is best” and when it comes to preventing food allergies in your new baby, this is especially so. Though allergies have been on the rise with children (1 out of 5 will usually develop an allergy by the age of 20), it has been shown that those children who were breastfed are less likely to develop allergies.

Babies tend to develop and allergy to those foods which they try first. Since a breastfeed infant is receiving trace amounts of what the mother eats, the likelihood of that baby developing an allergic reaction to solid foods diminishes. However, every baby is different–for example, if a mother eats peanuts and then nurses, the baby could, in extreme cases, go into anaphylactic shock.

It’s important to keep in mind that having an allergic reaction to food and having an irritant due to the food are two separate things. An irritant will cause a temporary reaction, while an allergen (a substance which causes an allergic reaction) will be more severe and longer lasting. For instance, a child may be fussy due to gas which was a result of the mother eating broccoli. This would be considered an irritant, not an allergen. The most common irritants are chocolate, cruciferous vegetables, onions and bell peppers. However, foods that babies can have an allergic reaction to are cow’s milk, soy, wheat, corn, shellfish, citrus fruits, eggs and peanuts. Also be wary in trying foods that other family members are allergic to, as the likelihood that the baby will be allergic to it as well is increased.

When trying to see if a baby is sensitive to a certain food, a mother must keep in mind that fussiness caused by food is different from normal baby fussiness. If it’s a reaction to food, then the baby will be irritable directly after feedings. They may cry non-stop for long periods of time, sleep very little, or, when they do go to sleep, wake and seem very uncomfortable. Other allergy signs are:

Many Babies Are Fed Solid Foods Too Soon, CDC Study Finds

April 12, 2013 admin

A study published in late March, 2013 in the American Academy of Pediatrics journal Pediatrics found that a majority of babies in the United States may be getting introduced to solid foods much too early, often leading to a variety of chronic illnesses.

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed 1,334 new moms nationwide; they found that almost 93 percent had introduced solid foods to their infants before the babies were six months old, 40 percent had introduced solids before four months, and 9 percent had done so before four weeks of age.

Do I Have Infectious or Non-Infectious Mastitis?

March 9, 2012March 15, 2012 admin

If your breast tissue is red, swollen and painful it could be Mastitis. It most commonly occurs in breastfeeding women and is also known as puerperal mastitis or lactation mastitis. You can have the condition and not be breastfeeding but it is rarer and mastitis typically affects just one breast. If you are suffering from this condition you may be experiencing flu-like symptoms like a high temperature, chills and aches. Read More

The Perils of Meconium

February 9, 2012February 11, 2012 admin

Meconium is your baby’s first poo! It has the consistency of treacle, it is odourless and unlike later offerings it is sterile. It is very dark and almost impossible to wipe clean. Meconium consists of water, mucus, amniotic fluid, lanugo which is downy baby hair and also intestinal epithelial cells. For most babies it is just their first poo (one of many!) and means a very gooey first nappy but in some cases it can be a cause for concern. Read More

Have You Heard of Nipple Confusion?!

January 27, 2012January 31, 2012 admin

Nipple confusion, hmm . . . this term can be somewhat misleading. It does not mean that your baby is perplexed as to what your nipple is for. It is a term to explain when babies are hesitant to feed from the breast and seems to prefer or find it easier to bottle feed milk which has been expressed. Read More

Facts About Eczema in Babies

April 21, 2011April 21, 2011 admin

If your baby is going to suffer from eczema, it usually appears before he is two years old and affects 15 to 20 per cent of children at some stage. It is an itchy and dry skin condition.