Food allergies & babies

Okay, so not exactly pregnancy related, but since pregnancy ends with baby, I thought it would be worth blogging about. I was thinking about this because I know several women who have had to deal with baby food intolerance and breastfeeding and I also know several people (including my brother) with extensive allergies and food issues. This was something I was very concerned about with #1 and will continue to be with #2.

I'm pretty sure that #1 had silent reflux (no spitting up, but didn't like to lie down flat and general fussiness and lots of gas problems) and I know that he had a soy intolerance. The only times my baby threw up were the two times that he was given soy formula (thanks to his ex-pediatrician). Unfortunately, soy is also in regular dairy formula, although in much lower concentrations. My baby also had very mild eczema, which I'm going to attribute it to the soy since it went away with the formula (I didn't know there was soy in it until he was nearly a year old, a BIG lesson in ALWAYS reading labels!!). Because of this and my brother's allergies and celiac disease, I waited until after he was around a year old for a lot of potential allergens to be introduced. A couple of weeks before #1's first birthday I introduced wheat. I didn't want the birthday cake to be the first try. He was about fourteen months before I tried soy again (he was fine at this point). Eggs were tried about eleven months. Citrus at fourteen or fifteen months. He accidentally received his first peanut exposure the other night when he took a bite of my Asian noodles in a sauce that had ground peanuts (oops!!), and did fine. I'll be talking to his pediatrician at the eighteen month appointment next Friday about nuts in general.

Throughout the anxious testing, I was given a very hard time by my family elders. They have little understanding of my brother's issues and thought I was being ridiculous for waiting so long to introduce problem foods to my baby (of course, they also don't understand what the big deal is with organics or why I won't give my toddler sweets). I anticipate the same problems with #2. But, so what? It was my decision and it made me feel a lot better. There wasn't any harm in waiting, and some harm could have occured if I didn't. These are MY children and I have to do what I feel is right. My point being, that you have to listen to your self and follow your own conscience when it comes to feeding your baby.