Beating The Modern Illness: Helping Your Baby Overcome Food Allergies

Pexels - CC0 Licence

It seems that food allergies are more common than ever before, and this modern illness needs overcoming. It what happens when you have children that find themselves allergic to pretty much everything common and while sensitivity to certain foods can be, to an extent, normal, if you really want your baby to overcome food allergies, what are the best ways to do this?

It All Begins At Pregnancy

The most important thing to find out is that there are various foods to eat in pregnancy that can help you out. Having a rich diet is crucial, and while a lot of people feel that it's something that can be done when the baby's born, in actual fact, it's all about what you consume. Think about improving your gut bacteria, having a wide variety of foods, but also ensuring that you have a good diet with a lot of fiber.

Do Your Best To Breastfeed

As they say, breast is best, but if your child is unable to drink breast milk, or it's too late to try and introduce it, and your child already has an allergy such as a milk allergy you can get a lactose free baby formula to help you out. If it's possible, getting your child into breastfeeding as soon as possible can be beneficial in terms of getting healthy fats and doing everything for the immune system. Breastfeeding can help prevent the development of food allergies, but you have to remember that if you restrict your diet during pregnancy, this can hinder your ability to provide appropriate nutrients to your baby. It's also important to remember that if your baby starts to develop symptoms of allergies, you can use breast milk to limit this, such as by giving them a bath in breast milk. 

Introduce Potential Allergens At 6 Months Of Age

If you want to minimize the risk of developing food allergies in your child it's worth introducing food allergens as soon as possible but primarily you should think about introducing egg and peanuts before any others. As foods like peanuts are one of the main culprits, it's important to introduce them as soon as possible in peanut butter form. Introducing allergens at around 6 months minimizes the risk of developing this later on. After introducing a few solid foods, you need to offer the main food allergens one at a time. And if you are using leftover breast milk this can help in terms of baby-led weaning, and mixing it in with other foods so the baby is still getting nutrients from the breast milk but are still trying new things.

While food allergies are commonplace now, the trick is all about a combination method. You can do a lot to minimize the potential for allergies in pregnancy while at the same time ensuring that as soon as they turn 6-months old, you expose them to the potential allergens right away. And if you have major concerns, it's always worth speaking to a doctor.