Food Allergies in Babies: How to Identify the Symptoms

How to know if your child has a food allergy...

Posted on

19 November 2017

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Food Allergies in Babies: How to Identify the Symptoms

Mums-to-be and mums-already always wonder about what to feed their babies, and their biggest concern is whether their little ones have any food allergies, and if yes, how to deal with them.

Usually, food allergy concerns start when the baby is finally ready for solid food, that’s around six months for most children. And as children are exposed to a variety of new food, its only normal that some might cause a discomfort for many.

But to Deal With Food Allergies, One Must First Know What Are They?

Our immune system guards the body, and sometimes, it can recognise certain types of food as harmful substances, and hence, triggers a respond to alert us to stop consuming these foods. This response is interpreted as allergy symptoms or reaction, and it can range from mild to severe.

How to tell if your baby has any food allergies?

First and foremost, you need to start presenting different solid foods gradually, and one at a time, so that it doesn’t become a mission linking the allergy to a specific food.

Moving on, each time you introduce a new food to your baby, wait for at least 5 days before adding another one. And of course, if they didn’t develop any reactions towards the first one, you don’t have to eliminate it.

Food Allergy Symptoms

How to tell if you’re baby’s developed a food allergy? Pretty simple, follow the signs and symptoms. As mentioned earlier, symptoms can range from mild to severe, but the most common ones are: hives or red rashes, itchy skin, swelling of the tongue, eyes, face, and lips, paleness or weakness, trouble breathing and swallowing, vomiting and diarrhea.

Your baby may not experience all of the aforementioned symptoms, but if he does show one or more of these signs minutes or up to 2 hours after eating, then he might be allergic to the food presented.
If one of the parents’ families has got a food allergy history, and you’re concerned your baby is at risk of developing the same allergy, delaying him from eating that allergenic foods won’t prevent developing the allergy.