Food allergies and intolerences in babies

Is your child allergic to certain foods or just intolerant? Although they are both types of food hypersensitivity, it is important to make a distinction. Find out more below about how you can safeguard your child and detect any baby allergies.

Baby allergies and intolerances, while having some symptoms in common, have a few clear distinctions that set them apart. It’s important to know the difference as, while an intolerance can be unpleasant, an allergy can be potentially life-threatening. Both allergies and intolerances come under the umbrella term of Food Hypersensitivity.

When it’s time to wean and you begin to introduce your baby to solid foods, it’s a good idea to be on the lookout for any signs of an allergy or intolerance. By taking it slowly and introducing foods one at a time, you’ll be able to pinpoint any reactions and their possible triggers. This article will highlight the common symptoms of an allergy versus an intolerance and explain how you can gradually introduce potentially problematic foods to your baby’s diet.

Problem foods

One of the most common concerns when introducing new foods into a baby or toddler’s diet is the risk of a bad reaction. Although food allergies and intolerances are relatively rare, it’s important to be aware of the signs and to follow certain steps to help identify any potential problems.

Food allergy or intolerance?

It’s easy to confuse these two types of reaction but they are very different things, although they share some of the same symptoms.

A food allergy is an adverse immune reaction to the proteins in a food that are normally harmless to the non-allergic person. It occurs because the immune system believes the allergenic food is harmful, so it mounts an attack which leads to allergic symptoms like swelling, wheezing and itching. These reactions can either be very rapid or delayed over a few hours or days, depending on the type of allergy. The more rapid reactions are easier to diagnose as they it’s simple to trace them back the food recently eaten.

A food intolerance is when unpleasant symptoms occur after eating a substance that your body cannot deal with. An example is lactose intolerance; where some individuals don’t produce any or enough of the enzyme ‘lactase’ which is needed to digest lactose. Undigested lactose can cause unpleasant symptoms like diarrhoea and bloating. An intolerance does not involve the immune system, and the reaction is usually less rapid; happening a few hours or even days after the food was eaten. Other examples of intolerances are pharmacological reactions; tyramine in aged cheese can lead to migraines and caffeine is know to cause jitteriness.

It’s always best to consult your doctor if you’re worried as reactions to food should be diagnosed by a professional.

Take it slowly

Foods with a higher risk of allergy should be introduced gradually. Try new foods every two to three days, so that you can monitor whether your baby reacts to them. Another tip is to introduce new foods during weekday mornings. It may sound a little ridiculous but if you do need to seek help, that’s when it’s most likely to be readily available.

Foods to avoid for babies during the early stages

Some foods are more allergenic than others. For this reason it’s best to wait until your child is a little older until they try them, definitely until they’re at least 6 months old. Take special care when introducing them into your child’s diet and be especially wary of any changes in their health or behaviour. Foods which have a greater potential to cause allergies include:

• Wheat based foods and other foods containing gluten
• Milk
• Eggs
• Fish and shellfish
• Peanuts
• Nuts
• Seeds

The guidelines on introducing peanuts to infants have recently changed. It’s now considered safe to give peanuts and foods containing peanuts to babies over 6 months old, although if there is an immediate (parent or sibling) family history of allergy you are advised to consult a healthcare professional before introducing them. It’s a good idea to introduce any potentially allergenic foods one at a time to allow you to spot any reactions. And remember that feeding whole nuts of any kind to children under 5 years of age is not advised as they can be a choking hazard. If you are worried, ask your doctor for their advice.

It is recommended that cows’ milk isn’t suitable as a main drink for infants under the age of 12 months. This is more to do with the overall composition of cows’ milk (e.g. an insufficient level of iron for infants), rather than the risk of allergy. Learn more about milk allergies in babies.

You may want to check this related article on immunity and allergies in children.

If you have any concerns about introducing a food for the first time, or you’d like to know more about how to spot a reaction, our Careline team can help you find the answers. Give us a call on 800 6458 6262 (UAE)/ +971 4 420 9489 (Other Countries) between the hours of 9am and 6pm Saturday to Thursday.