About 6 percent of young children in the United States have a food allergy, according to BabyCenter. Food allergy symptoms can range from mild to severe and are different from child to child. Learning to recognize infant food allergy symptoms can help parents determine when to see a doctor and develop strategies to help minimize reactions.
The Allergic Response Battle
An infant's body will create a protein known as an IgE antibody, BabyCenter notes, in response to certain foods. The antibody prompts the immune system to "attack" the food, much as an army would fight a foreign invader. The body fights these foods with "histamines," substances that trigger allergy symptoms when released.
Life-Threatening Symptoms
Parents should seek emergency medical attention if their baby has trouble breathing, has swelling in the lips, tongue or face, or develops severe vomiting and/or diarrhea shortly after eating. These symptoms are signs of anaphylaxis, or anaphylactic shock, and can cause a baby's airway to close up. Symptoms usually appear within minutes but may begin as late as two hours after eating.
Delayed Symptoms
Food allergies are often known as the "eat now, pay later" phenomenon, according to Ask Dr. Sears. Babies with food allergies may be irritable or fussy, according to the Dr. Greene Pediatrics website, in part because of gastrointestinal discomfort after ingesting particular foods. Gastrointestinal symptoms related to food allergies can include loose stools or diarrhea, gassiness and vomiting. Stools streaked with blood or mucus also may indicate a food allergy. These symptoms may appear several hours or even a day after eating.
Delayed symptoms that resemble a head cold or seasonal allergies can appear in response to a food allergy, according to Dr. Greene Pediatrics. A stuffy or runny nose, watery or red eyes, and eczema may disappear when parents eliminate the offending food from the diet.
Common Culprits
While it is possible to be allergic to almost any food, Ask Dr. Sears reports that 90 percent of all allergies are the result of eggs, milk, nuts, wheat soy, fish and shellfish. Many children outgrow allergies to soy and wheat by the time they head to school, according to BabyCenter. Allergies to tree nuts, fish, milk, egg and shellfish are more likely to last a lifetime. Babies allergic to one food in a food group are more likely to be allergic to others in that same food category.
Food Allergy vs. Food Intolerance
Almost 80 percent of adverse reactions to foods are not food allergies, BabyCenter reports, but are in fact food intolerances. The immune system does not react to a food tolerance, although difficulty digesting a particular food can cause similar symptoms, such as gas or diarrhea. Only pediatric allergy testing can tell definitively if a symptom is because of an allergy or food intolerance, according to Ask Dr. Sears. A skin test will look for the presence of IgE antibodies, which will indicate the presence of a food allergy.
Preparation
Parents can prepare for an allergic food reaction once it has occurred before. Proactive planning is particularly wise, because future reactions are often more severe than the first. Many doctors recommend parents carry an epinephrine auto-injector, or epi-pen, which can stop an allergic reaction in its tracks. BabyCenter advises parents to notify all caretakers about food allergies and to instruct them in what to do in the event of an allergic reaction.
Prevention
Parents can take several measures to reduce the chances of infant allergic food reactions and symptoms, according to Ask Dr. Sears. Breastfeeding through the first year of life, delaying common allergen culprits, such as peanuts or shellfish, until the age of 18 months, and introducing a variety of foods into the infant's diet, will lessen the likelihood of a child becoming allergic to any one particular food.
