Food Allergies among Children

Dealing with an adult or even an older child with food allergies is not hard, but have you ever tried telling a two-year child that he cannot have a certain food because it will make him sick? Ryan (not his real name) was almost two years old when he discovered he was allergic to most of the things he liked the most - milk, cheese, ice cream, and apple juice.

From the time he was born, Ryan had not been able to sleep through the night. His mom knew something was wrong, but the pediatrician did not agree with her, claimed he was lactose intolerant, and told her to keep him away from dairy products. Ryan still woke up continually during the night, and his mom knew something was not right with her son. He had constant diarrhea, diarrhea that was so bad it would leave red blotches on his bottom. He would cry when his mom used baby wipes to clean him so she learned to use a plain wet washcloth. He would pass gas; sometimes his gas was so severe he would cry as he passed it. Other family members thought Ryan was a colicky baby, but, again, his mom's instinct told her that wasn't his problem.

One and a half years later, Ryan was tested for food allergies. Sure enough, just as his mom thought, Ryan was allergic to casein, which is a milk protein, egg whites, apples, oat and peanut. Ryan's mom used the avoidance diet. She took away all of the foods he ate and gradually put him back on one food for two or three days to see if he reacted to that particular food. If he did react, then he would have to avoid that food. If he did not react, then he was free to eat that food as he normally would.

As it turned out, Ryan was not able to eat any dairy products and any products with apple so his mom bought soy products and avoided anything with apple as an ingredient. She was constantly reading labels because she discovered casein was not only in dairy products but in such items as Ranch Doritos and sausage. She also had to make sure that anyone - daycare, school and other caregivers -, who fed Ryan anything, knew of his food allergies as well. His main reaction was more of a digestive one - stomach aches, gas, and diarrhea - than of a respiratory one. Once the foods were eliminated, Ryan was finally able to sleep through the night, and he no longer had diarrhea and redness on his bottom.

After nearly five years of sticking to that avoidance diet, Ryan is now finally able to eat like a regular child. By avoiding the foods to which he reacted, Ryan outgrew the allergies and is happily able to enjoy the foods he longed to eat.