Personal Story…
I was a first time mother. With labor a few weeks early, my baby girl was a bit small but healthy. It was only when she turned one years old, that we noticed something was wrong. The red cheeks, dark bags under the eyes, dry skin and cranky child, she just looked sick.
I am not sure how we thought of going to an allergist. Neither my husband nor I have much allergic histories. My husband did have some asthma as a child, but he outgrew it a while ago. I had a sister who was mildly allergic to eggs for a few years of her childhood… that was all. Could my daughter be allergic?
We were shocked but relieved to find the answer. After her first skin test done, she showed positive to eggs, milk, oats and beef. No wonder, she drank 6 bottles of milk a day! We took these results at face value (only later finding out that these tests are not always 100%) and began to learn to read labels and watch what she ate. She did improve, her face and eyes looked healthier…but her skin, it was dry, itchy and red. We discovered she had eczema. Was it a result of what she ate? Or was it a separate condition? The next two years we spent going from pediatric dermatologists, to top pediatric allergists. We did allergy blood work tests followed by skin tests. Results showed positive to tens of foods, including eggs, milk, fish, chicken, potato, banana, sesame, soy, and legumes; and now showed negative to beef and oats that were originally positive.
Just around my daughter’s one and a half year birthday, she became a big sister. This time I had experience. When my baby boy began scratching his face that looked red and itchy at four months old, we took him straight to the allergist. He showed positive to eggs milk and beef. Since I was only nursing him, he was getting these foods directly from me. I went on a strict diet and was off of these foods until he was one years old. He improved dramatically and became a different child. Only after he was one and a half, he began developing extreme eczema (just like his sister at that age). We did more food testing and sure enough, his list of allergies was almost as long as his sister’s (by now she outgrew some, such as potato and banana.)
For both of my children, the time from about 1 ½ to three years old was extremely difficult time for their eczema. I had to keep them in snap down long sleeve shirts and tights (yes my son, and yes, in the summer too!!) so that they wouldn’t scratch. They slept in sleepers that were pinned so that they wouldn’t open them. I tried not bathing too often (not to dry out their skin) and then tried new theory: long lukewarm baths few times a day. It was exhausting, draining, without much result. We kept a strict diet but it wasn’t until each of them turned about three, that their eczema became more under control. Sometimes they are still itchy, when they get sick, their eczema flares up. They still have food allergies, and we are very strict with them. But they are not as sensitive as they used to be. (My son would get red just from smelling fish.)
We learned to manage and created menus to cater to our children. Our children are growing up and becoming less sensitive and more mature about their allergies. It gets easier and more under control. With persistence and patience our children are happy, well adjusted and feel just like their peers.
Sophia is the owner of http://kidsallergy.org.Through personal experience, Sophia tries to help other parents struggling with the challenges of raising children with allergies. kidsallergy.org provides online help for parents with allergic kids. Kids allergy free recipes, educational articles and allergy news for families raising kids with allergies and asthma.