If your child has an allergy...?

did you eat peanuts during your pregnancy?

do you have a family history of allergies?


I know this can be a sensitive topic - so I made it a poll if you don't feel comfortable answering.

TIA

Re: If your child has an allergy...?

We thought one of our daughters had an allergy b/c she was breaking out in hives, however, after going to an allergist we found out that she just gets them for no reason. So is it an allergy, we don't know.
I ate peanut while I was preggo until 6 months, but not when I was nursing.

Re: If your child has an allergy...?

So far we've been told Andy definatley has a milk protein allergy, I suspect there are other food allergies as well based on his reaction to some foods. I ate peanuts while pregnant. I also have a few food allergies - mushrooms and fake cinnamon like in gum or candy.

I was told by my OB and my best friend's BIL, who is a pediatrician, that allergies, including food allergies, can not be passed on to your child. I don't really believe it, Sarah sneezes an awful lot on the same days that my allergies are driving me nuts.

Re: If your child has an allergy...?

brendan has a milk allergy and i lived on pbj sandwiches when i was pregnant. my dh is also allergic to shellfish. i don't really buy into the theory that what you eat during pregnancy can cause allergies in your child though. but who knows?

Re: If your child has an allergy...?

well, my 2nd born had a severe milk allergy and as soon as I got pregnant with my 3rd my OB instructed me to be off of ALL dairy starting the 3rd trimester, and until my son was 6 months old, so I indeed beleive that if you have a dominate gene for a food allergy and you expose your child while inutero, you can exacerbate an allergy.

Message edited 3/18/2007 8:19:43 PM.

Re: If your child has an allergy...?

thanks for everyone's experiences.

Re: If your child has an allergy...?

I answered the poll - my dd has severe milk and egg allergies and I ate both during PG, as well as PB but she doesn't have nut allergies.

We have since found out that my uncle had a milk allergy when he was an infant that he outgrew and there are other issues on both sides of our family.

I am PG again now and asked my dd's allergist what, if anything, i should avoid during PG and she said just nuts during my last trimester.

I wondered about dairy but it's really hard to avoid it completely and you really need the calcium for the fetal development. I considered soy as an alternative for calcium but then can't the baby just develop a potential soy allergy?! Which is worse? Know what I mean? We can go crazy with this stuff. So I'm eating it all in moderation, except for the peanuts because they are easily avoidable to me right now, and we'll keep our fingers crossed that baby #2 doesn't have any FAs.

Sorry for my long winded answer, it's just been something I've been thinking about lately.

Re: If your child has an allergy...?

Since you posted this I was just thinking about a friend of mine who has twins. One has severe food allergies and the other has none. I'm not sure if she ate pb during pregnancy, but I think it shows that what you eat during pregnancy isn't the only factor in whether or not your child gets food allergies.

Re: If your child has an allergy...?

My DD has/had milk and soy allergy and I ate both everyday during pregnancy. I was a by the book follower so I never ate tuna, cold cuts, hot dogs etc. So if someone had told me that because of the seasonal allergies in my family I could expose my child to food allergies I would have cut them out.

I did not eat peanuts. But I did eat almonds...not sure if you are supposed to avoid all nuts or just peanuts