My wife and I are not picky eaters. In fact, there are few things we don’t like to eat. I was actually raised on a somewhat restrictive diet growing up. I was born in a Jewish household where we kept kosher. For those of you not familiar with kosher eating, there’s some basic rules to it. For the most part, you’re not allowed to eat meat and milk together (think, no cheese burgers or meat on your pizza) and you’re not allowed to eat any scavenger. A scavenger is considered to be animals such as shell fish (shrimp, crabs, lobster) and pig product. There were also certain cuts of beef you couldn’t eat as well (cuts that come from the rear of the cow). This has more to do with tradition as things have changed from 6,000 years ago. You don’t see people keeling over dying from eating meat and milk. Unless they eat too much meat and milk. I guess you could eat so much that you’d explode. In my younger days drinking hemp milk (no I never smoked it) I got really hungry afterwards. Once I came down from my milk binging (no I never smoked it) only to realize I’d eaten an entire meat and cheese pizza.
Where was I? I have no idea what I was talking about. Must be all those brain cells I killed drinking hemp milk (no I never smoked it).
Anyway, I think the reason I love trying all kinds of foods now, besides the fact that I just like food, is because I was restricted from doing so as a child. I’ve kind of carried that mentality over to my children as well. At least in terms of wanting them to have a wide variety of foods to try. I’ve always wanted them to be able to experience different culinary delights and delicacies from all over. O has a pretty expanded pallette and likes most foods we put in front of her. When Jake was born we were hoping he’d be just as open to trying new things. That was until we found out about his allergies.
Jake had been eating breastmilk and jarred baby food for the first 12 months of his life. Babies are not supposed to eat eggs, milk, and/or nuts before they turn 1. Well, shortly before Jakes first birthday he tried some milk and he broke out, swelled up, and seemed to be breathing heavy. It scared the living crap out of us! After giving him some benadryl prescribed by my Pediatrician cousin, he was fine.
We had determined it’d be best to take him to his own Pediatrician by the house for a full check up. I didn’t mention erlier but Jake also has eczema. From what we’ve been told children who have eczema usually have food allergies associated with them. The good news, from what we were told, is that children often times outgrow both the eczema and the allergies. the Dr. told us to try again when he turned 2.
So, we’ve been avoiding all things milk, eggs, and nuts since we found out.
Well for the most part.
There was that one time I accidentally gave him Egg Nog. Yeah, the kind with milk and raw eggs. Crazy thing was, nothing happened! Then there was that time the other night where we thought, “let’s get all experimental on his ass and give him peanut butter”. By the time the second kid comes along you ask yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen? We’ll just take him to the ER” and you become a little more loosy goosey than you had with the first. Well, his cheeks broke out and back came the Benadryl.
So, now I sit here and hope that he outgrows this thing! I can’t even imagine him going through life not being able to eat these things. It’s only going to get harder once he goes to school and is around other kids. He’ll be tempted to eat things and of course he’ll be uknowingly presented with foods he can’t eat. From a logistical standpoint it’s hard even now at home. We have to think about what we’re making for dinner and when we’re out it’s tough going to that Pizza Joint.
Now might be a good time for us to reconsider our diet as a family too. I’m not saying I want to turn into a Herbivore but there’s a lot of good dairy free diets out there that I’m hearing about. Do you have children with allergies? What are some of your favorite resources for finding recipes, etc.? I may just have to research some and post those here.
Hey Josh –
My oldest son who is now 14, has a loooooooong list of food allergies, starting when he was only about 7 months old. I'd fed him a jar of peas, and he ended up vomiting, unconscious, and in shock. FUN! Anyway, after a visit to the allergist we had a very long list of life threatening things to avoid. It's been interesting. He has to have an Epi pen everywhere he goes, you will get VERY good at reading ingredient lists – I am convinced that's why I now need bi-focals – and never forget to check on things when you go out to eat. The wait staff will have to go to the kitchen to ask questions, but, better that then the alternative. School will be the biggest challenge for you.
Let me know if you have any questions or just need someone to commiserate with, I've totally been there.
Sarah (aka your planet mom, lol)
Gluten intolerance. Gotta read every label, check every list, ask at every restaurant, and ask again. Still get the occasional contamination, and therefore sick, but at least it's not anaphylaxis. But, staying off gluten makes him healthy and we've been doing it for 6 years. Easier at home, although Gluten-free baked goods are eye-poppingly expensive (6 dollars for a loaf of g-f bread, e.g.), so i've learned to bake GF-style.
Remember, that many food allergies are misdiagnosed, and many people grow out of them that do have them, so keep checking (although i don't recommend the method you used with peanut butter; too risky). And, most importantly, see a board-certified allergist, not just an internist/pediatrician — from research i've seen, they over-diagnose food allergies, esp in children.
Well, that makes 2 little ones in my family with allergies! My brother-in-law always asks about ingredients at restaurants because of my nephew's severe allergies. You get used to it. Keep in mind that diagnosing food allergies is very difficult in a child Jake's age. The blood tests can give false positives. I agree that you should see a pediatric allergist. Eventually, he may need skin testing. You should also ask your local pediatrician for an Epi-pen.
Thanks again for the shout out!
ps. Also, Food Allergy Network http://www.foodallergy.org/ has a recipe section and a lot of great resources. (And my son did outgrow a couple, but added new ones, so regular visits to the allergist are very important! )
5 out of the 6 members of our family have food allergies and therefore diet restrictions, most severely #LilO, our youngest. While this is incredibly challenging, its become our “normal” now. Eating outside of the house can be the hardest thing, however, as restaurants don’t provide exact ingredient labels like found on grocery store packaging.
Our best solutions:
Always ask ingredients! Ask other parents at kid parties, ask at school/daycare, ask at family functions, etc. Never assume!
Bring your own substitution(s)
Bring Benadryl/Epi-pen everywhere
Try out all substitutions for Milk, ie Rice Milk, etc and see what Jake likes best, what bakes best, etc. Then stock up.
Research Dairy Allergies for names of dairy derivitives/components that aren’t listed as “milk” in ingredients lists but still may need avoiding.
Even if/when Jake gets to a point when he tolerates a little dairy, YOU & YOUR WIFE be in control of intake and keep everyone else on a No Dairy rule. You can never be too careful with tolerance levels and only parents should be in charge of intake.
Hope this helps. Things really will settle in to just being Jake’s normal, thus your famiy’s normal.
My daughter was 11 months old when we gave her a bite of ice cream and she broke out in hives. We found out she was allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts. It was scary at first, but became surprisingly easy to deal with at home. Eating out is always a challenge. My favorite cook book was “Dairy Free, Egg Free, Kid Pleasing Recipes & tips” by Theresa Kingma. It is a great starter book for learning to bake without milk and eggs.
We got lucky and she actually outgrew the milk, egg and peanut. We avoided those items for years, then when reactions through testing started to diminish, we slowly started introducing the milk and egg back first in baked goods only. All with allergist help and direction of course. NOT A GOOD IDEA FOR NUT ALLERGIES.
The only food allergy we deal with now is tomato. Which has proven to be a more severe allergy than any of the others ever were.
Good luck! If you need to talk or have any questions please ask away!
U can do it! Think of all the veggies & fruits that u all can eat! My son has milk, nuts, peanut, & soy allergy. I’ve got milk, soy, fish & my husband has egg, milk, & tomatoe sensitivity. Crazy thing- our diet looks virtually the same. I LOVED PB&J but u can do sunflower seed butter (if it works 4 u guys) or almond butter if it’s just a peanut allergy. We’ve found the bad stuff we were eating like fried, take-out/fast food, & baked goods arereally alll that we need to be careful w & find substitutes. My favorite recipes are vegan & gluten-free. We’ve been turned on to the slow food & raw food movements because it means lots of yummy healthy variety. Sometimes I get beyond annoyed when going to friends/families houses when all they have is peanut filled food to offer but mostly it’s just meant I always bring a snak bag of fruits/veggies. I hope it will be a great time of food discovery for your fam. Xo-Sarah & kiddos