It soon dawned on me that these doctors either didn't know or didn't really care about what was causing my daughter to suffer so, and that it would be up to me to discover a cause and "cure".   I studied the La Leche League book The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, as well as the Searses' Baby Book for answers.  I found out that my totally breastfed baby was probably reacting to foods that I was eating, and that I should eliminate common food allergens from my diet for about two weeks to see if her symptoms cleared up.  After that, I was to reintroduce each food, one at a time, a few days apart, to see which one(s) were causing her the trouble.

So I got myself started on a dairy-free, wheat-free, egg-free regime.  I went to health food stores and stocked up on alternative foods like rice and soy milk;  oat, millet, rice, spelt, kamut, and other nonwheat grain products;  powdered egg substitute;  and, not long after, alternative nut spreads such as almond butter and cashew butter.  At first it was hard to adjust my eating habits, but I persisted because I was deeply motivated to help my baby, to give her relief from her constant misery.

The change in her was amazing, though some changes happened sooner than others.  After I'd been on the elimination diet for about three days, our baby's colic and fussiness subsided.  She began sleeping longer and more peacefully, and was far less fussy when awake.  Within a week, her excess mucus had cleared up (as had mine... soon afterward, I learned that I myself am allergic to dairy foods).  The eczema took longer to go away - if I remember right, it was a full month before her skin was completely clear everywhere.  No longer was she frantically scratching and rubbing at all those itchy places, or drawing up her knees in colicky pain, or wailing day and night.   And, no longer distressed by so many discomforts, she became a "new baby" - much happier and  calmer than before.  She was still what I would call "high-need" - what others would call "clingy", "particular" or "demanding" - but, on the whole, she was much more content than she had been as a newborn.

When I reintroduced the suspect foods, I found that she reacted to every one of them:  dairy, wheat and egg.  As time went on, I learned there were other foods I had to avoid, or she would react to them, too:  corn, chocolate, citrus fruits, tomatoes and strawberries being among them.  I also eliminated peanut foods from my diet, just to be on the safe side.  Unfortunately, I continued to consume plenty of soy in the form of "soy milk" (soy, a legume, is related to peanut).  And that turned out to be a big mistake, as you will see.

Her Immune System Has a Chance to Rest and Regroup

At our daughter's four month checkup, the pediatrician said, "Okay, you can introduce solids any time now".  I just nodded without saying anything.  I had already decided to delay solids for some months, for I had read that delaying solids can be of great benefit to the very allergic infant, giving her immune system a chance to develop without having to cope with direct exposure to potential food allergens.

I followed our daughter's lead and didn't even try introducing solids until she showed an interest in them, which was about the time she had her first birthday.  I started with baby cereal made from organic rice, then, every week, introduced a new food:  applesauce, then mashed bananas, soft cooked carrots and squash, sweet potatoes, and nonwheat baby crackers.  I soon found that our baby really liked Imagine rice pudding, too.  She didn't like any kind of meat, so we just avoided it, as she was still nursing a lot.  But by the time she was 18 months old, I realized she would need some sort of milk supplement, as she was nursing a lot less.  I didn't feel right about giving her artificial, plant-derived "milks" (soy or rice), so I tried goat milk, very diluted at first, and gradually less diluted until she was drinking it full-strength.  We soon found that different brands of goat milk taste quite differently;  her and my favorite brand was Meyenberg, which has a pleasant, mild flavor that is easy to get used to.  She also really liked Chavrie, an imported, spreadable goat cheese which in taste and appearance is very much like cream cheese.  There are also some tasty hard goat cheeses;  my favorite is Hollandse Chevre, which is sort of like cheddar.

Discovery of Her Peanut Allergy

I kept wheat and dairy completely out of her diet until she was an older toddler, although I must confess I cheated sometimes and ate them myself, especially after she was weaned.  We continued to avoid egg because that had seemed to be an especially reactive food for her.  Though it was expensive to have to rely on so many alternative foods, mostly from health food stores, it was well worth it:  our daughter was relieved of her allergic suffering, and her immune system had about three years to rest and outgrow most of the food allergies.  All but one!  And that one, we didn't find out about until one afternoon when she was around 2 1/2 years old. 

The kids and I were at a neighbor's house.  The neighbor wanted to give all the children a snack, so she made little peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and gave my daughter one.  I was in the adjacent room, chatting with some other moms, when I heard a sort of spluttering, crying sound coming from the kitchen.  It was my daughter.  She'd eaten about three bites of sandwich, and was now coughing and tearing up.  In a few minutes, she vomited.  Her lips began to swell and hives appeared around her eyes, which were swelling and teary.  She was gasping and wheezing, crying, very upset.  I took her and her baby brother home and made a same-day appointment with the pediatrician.  At home, she gradually calmed down as her dramatic symptoms subsided.  By the time we arrived at the doctor's office a couple hours later, she was still a bit shaken but otherwise okay.  I described her symptoms and what had preceded them to the doctor, and he declared, "No more peanuts for her!"

Peanut allergy can be pretty scary, on par with shellfish and other nut allergy (not to mention bee sting allergy) in its potential severity, even deadliness, and also in its being lifelong. 

Study Shows Peanut Allergy Outgrown in Over 20% of Cases A 2001 Johns Hopkins study found that 21.5% of its test subjects had outgrown their peanut allergy by the average age of 6.  Elsewhere, it has been reported that children whose initial reactions to peanut had been skin-only (hives) seemed to stand a better chance of outgrowing their allergy than those whose first reaction had included anaphylactic symptoms.  See Resolution of Childhood Peanut Allergy.  WARNING!!  While this is encouraging news, it does not mean that we parents may informally "test" our peanut-allergic children at home with a bite or two of peanut in order to see if they have outgrown their allergy.  First off, if you feel your child may be allergic to peanut, consult your child's doctor.  If your child does turn out to have peanut allergy, s/he should be under a doctor's care.  And if your child is known to have peanut allergy and you are wondering whether s/he may have outgrown it, the appropriate test must be performed in a medical setting.  Do not attempt an informal "allergy test" at home -- serious or fatal reaction could result.  You should be aware, too, of the recent discovery that some cases of apparently outgrown peanut allergy can recur "years later", and in more severe form;  see Outgrown Peanut Allergy Can Return.

And it is also one that requires great parental vigilance, for peanut products are found in so many processed and even some restaurant foods, particularly Asian dishes.  I learned to read all labels, especially for cookies, candies, and nuts (many nuts are roasted in peanut oil).  We taught our daughter to be aware of peanut and to ask if foods offered to her contained peanut, before accepting any.  She is so allergic that even the smell of peanut makes her feel ill.  I have continued to avoid peanut completely myself, for in recent years it seems I am forever either pregnant or nursing, and thus with a good reason to "stay off peanut".  But my husband and sons are not allergic to peanut, and like to have peanut butter every so often.  We make sure to carefully wipe any dishes and utensils that come in contact with peanut butter before washing them with the other dishes.  It might be even better to use paper plates and disposable plastic utensils for peanut foods, and we will certainly do so if that becomes necessary.  If our daughter were in daycare or public/private school (as opposed to homeschool), we would have to be sure to alert her peers, caregivers and teachers of her allergy, as well.   Fortunately, peanut allergy awareness has greatly increased in recent years, and now food manufacturers print peanut warnings on food labels, and schools and other institutions have adopted measures to protect allergic children from exposure.

How did our daughter develop peanut allergy, anyway?  I think it was from a combination of three things.  First, the tendency was already there, as food allergies run in my side of the family.  Second, I ate a lot of peanut butter while she was still in utero, and for the first few months after she was born (before I figured out about her allergies).  I knew I needed to consume lots of protein, and as I mentioned, peanut butter was a cheap, readily- available protein source (alas, it is also one of my favorite foods!)  Secondly, even though I avoided peanut once I found out she had food allergies, I was still consuming lots of what I thought was a "safe" food -- soy.  I think my consumption of soy may have kept her peanut allergy "activated" in some way, as she was being frequently exposed to soy proteins, which are similar to peanut proteins.  In fact, she is today not only allergic to peanut, but also to peas, soy, and a few other types of beans... all of which are legumes.  So although I usually say she has one food allergy, that being peanut allergy, what she actually has is an allergy to peanut and sensitivity to a number of other legumes.  Actually, dairy foods still bother her somewhat, too (they bring on the mucus), so we try to be sparing of cow's milk, cheese and ice cream.  She gets a daily calcium supplement to make up for it. 

Our daughter's peanut allergy could well have been avoided if I'd only known to competely steer clear of peanut foods while pregnant, to continue to avoid them as long as she was nursing, and to keep them out of her diet until she was at least three years old (these are the general recommendations of allergy experts).  If I had done all those things, maybe she wouldn't be allergic to peanut at all!

Peanut allergy is no joke.  It can be deadly.  At minimum, it is a hassle to have to put up with, especially in this peanut-loving culture of ours.  So, take it from me, do all you can to help protect your baby from developing this allergy, especially if allergies run in your family.

Go on to Part 3 - An Allergy to Rice.