Egg allergy

spring_time · December 2013

I gave DD eggs Saturday morning and her entire body broke out in a rash and hives. She has had egg once or twice before, so I am not sure why she reacted to it this time. She has also had pancakes, french toast, and a few other things baked with egg. There is only one other time that she had a very slight reaction (rash around the mouth), but I didn't register it at the time as anything and can't remember what it was she ate. I called the pedi to just confirm the allergy and find out the Benadryl dosage, but did not get a real chance to talk to him since it was the weekend. He suggested allergy testing. How do they allergy test a 9 month old, is it the whole grid or a blood test? Are there levels of an egg allergy? I just don't understand why there was no reaction before, but this time it was immediate. Also, why hasn't she had a problem with baked goods? I haven't let her eat anything with egg since Saturday, so I do not know if it has changed. We have absolutely no food allergies in my family, so this is new territory for me and I am a little nervous.

If your LO has an egg allergy, does he/she have any other food allergies? I am terrified to try any of the other high allergenic foods.

fancynewbeesly · December 2013

My daughter was diagnosed with an egg allergy at 13 months. Her eczema was horrendous and nothing was working. She was eating baked in egg products including French toast for a month prior as well. We took her in and the allergist did the grid test on her back and sent us for bloodwork. They told me to just avoid ALL eggs and egg products in hopes she'll outgrow it. Since then she has also been diagnosed with seasonal, dog, cats, sesame seed, peanut, and almond allergies. She has outgrown the sesame seed and almond allergy.

goillini823 · December 2013

When DD was 9 months old I gave her eggs. She projectile vomit for a while. She also had bad eczema. We didn't allergy test until she was a year old. They did a scratch test and a blood test. She has both an egg and dairy allergy.
Your LO not reacting the first few time is common. However, the more they are exposed the reaction can worsen.

My DD has always done fine with baked goods and pancakes, but each child is different. She is now 5.5 years, and seems to be outgrowing both the dairy and egg allergy. She gets tested every year, and her levels keep dropping each year. The allergist is hopeful that when she does her next test in April a food challenge may be done at his office.

spring_time · December 2013

That is good to know about allergies not necessarily showing up initially, and also that the reactions worsen with exposure. The pedi told me not to serve anything with egg until getting her tested. Now I know why.

Thank you for all the responses.

Court0026 · December 2013

The protein in eggs cooks down or lessens and that is why they are more tolerated in baked goods for some with allergies. My ds had anaphylaxis to eggs in pancakes at 18 months and they said even though he had tolerated it in cookies the pancakes weren't as processed. His egg allergy shows up as worse every year with his scratch testing, but he has many other food allergies too. I would think they would either test now or have you avoid and test at 1.

fivesecondrule · December 2013

You've already received good answers here but I wanted to add that our dd has an egg allergy along with peanuts and dairy. We've found that using ener-g egg replacer ( in a box in specialty stores) has been a life saver for cooking and especially baking. Good luck!

bingbongsmama · December 2013

LalaMama81 said:
It is very normal for an allergic reaction to show up after several exposures. I also know kids w/ egg allergies that can eat them in baked goods but not alone.

This is my DD. she can eat eggs baked into cakes, cooked in waffles & pancakes, but anything in a wet form (like quiche, cheesecake, scrambled) and she immediately throws up and breaks out. The allergist is optimistic that she'll outgrow it but it may take a number of years. Every now and then under his guidance we feed her a small amount as a test, but so far it's a no go. Many kids have it way worse, at least we don't have to worry about cross contamination in products.

The only way to know for sure is to get tested. You can get a skin test but blood work is supposed to be more accurate.

shotzie · December 2013

Both my DD's are allergic to eggs, as well as a handful of other things. They can tolerate eggs baked into certain things like packaged dinner rolls and Eggo waffles. When I bake, I use substitutions. My go-to is applesauce. 1/4 cup applesauce = 1 egg. It works great!

I would definitely see an allergist for testing. Actually, your pedi can order the RAST blood test. The allergist's office would do the skin test, (and blood test, if your pedi doesn't). They'd just test for the Top 8, unless your LO has reacted to something else as well.

The skin test is where they take small plastic toothpick looking things that have a small amount of each allergen on them. They do a little scratch for each allergen on LO's back. It doesn't hurt too bad, and they do it very quickly. DD2 didn't cry. Then you wait about 15 min, they write down what he reacted to, then you talk with the allergist.

The allergist may prescribe EpiPen juniors for you to have on hand. Our girls each have a set. Thankfully, we've never had to use them.

The FARE website is a very helpful resource. They have a list of ingredients to avoid for each of the Top 8 allergies, since the allergens are often called something other than simply "milk," or "egg" in the ingredients. Food labels are supposed to state if they contain any of the Top 8, but there are often recalls for mislabeling. You can sign up on FARE to receive emails about food recalls. Anyway, the point is, you want to read the entire ingredient list, and not just rely on the allergies declared at the bottom of the list.

Egg allergy

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