Moms of kids with severe food allergies

VikingGirl12 · October 2015

Ok so I know this is kind of dumb because I know there's very little research about why people end up being food allergic.

HOWEVER, this hasn't stopped me from being cautious about what I eat with this pregnancy. DS is allergic to peanuts, eggs, chickpeas, and white beans (so far).. I ate a ton of boiled peanuts when I was around 5 weeks pregnant with him. I am not a big egg fan but I also specifically remember eating a lot of scrambled eggs around 5 weeks too (we were on vacation). Again, I know there's little to no research that proves that what you eat while pregnant can cause food allergies, but are any of you other mamas trying to avoid your kids allergies this time around? Any mamas that DID avoid but children still ended up allergic? Are you eating whatever you want because you don't think it will make a difference?

Just curious

b1979s · October 2015

With my daughter I ate eggs and milk- she has an allergy to both but will probably outgrow it. I am allergic to peanuts so never ate those while pregnant and she has that allergy too. I personally don't think it makes much of a difference.

redheadbride15 · October 2015

The newest evidence actually suggests avoiding food exposures actually increases the risk for food allergies. Allergies happen because the baby's immune system hasn't built up a tolerance against the offending food, so introducing small quantities early on is actually helpful because it "trains" the system to accept it. It's a major change in the recommendations but the majority of pediatricians are now recommending against avoiding early introduction of high-allergy-related foods in infants (like nuts, eggs, fish). It's logical to expect the same will apply for pregnancy.

redheadbride15 · October 2015

I should also point out that what you eat at 5 weeks is probably not very relevent because baby's immune system isn't developed yet. I'm mostly referring to 2nd and especially 3rd trimester.

Koalamomma3 · October 2015

My husband is severely allergic to peanuts and my MIL told me she ate a Snickers bar everyday during her first trimester. Even though it is purely off of superstition, I tried to avoid eating huge quantities of peanuts during any of my pregnancies (could not stay away from the pad Thai though ;-)) Anyway, none of my children are allergic to peanuts but that does not necessarily prove anything. I will also add my brother was very allergic to peanuts but ended up growing out of it so I was just a little paranoid. Like I mentioned though, I did not avoid them completely, just made sure not to go overboard like my MIL.

goldie987 · October 2015

There has been no scientific evidence to tie maternal diet to allergies. There is weak evidence that exposing the child to potential allergens in utero or through breast milk may be beneficial in preventing allergies (ie you eat an allergen and there's a chance some of the proteins could make their way into your milk or the amniotic fluid). DH is allergic to all tree nuts and basically every available antibiotic so preventing allergies is pretty high on my list but there isn't a ton that has been shown to do much of anything.

PressLove · October 2015

From my research, avoiding foods during pregnancy is not advised. DH is allergic to shell fish. I ate a ton of shell fish while pregnant. Luckily, DD's allergies do not include shell fish. She is allergic to things I don't consume or rarely eat, peanuts and coconut. Her egg allergy came out of left field because I ate all sorts of eggs while pregnant. With this pregnancy, I'm trying to eat EVERYTHING! Hopefully, Baby #2 won't have these issues.

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