Introducing solids and allergies? What do you think?!
Question: I have been very conservative when introducing solids to my kids because of family history of minor allergies, asthma and eczema problems. Started solids at 6 months, delayed dairy, delayed wheat, delayed egg until 12 months, breastfed until 13 months with first and still feeding second at 7 months. The reasoning behind this is that the earlier you are exposed to something the more likely an allergy will develop. However someone I know recently argued with me about this and she raised a valid point. She said that years ago people always introduced solids earlier and yet allergies were very rare, but these days people are delaying solids and certain foods and allergies are becoming increasingly more common. Do you think she has a point? Why do you think this is happening?
Answers: I have been very conservative when introducing solids to my kids because of family history of minor allergies, asthma and eczema problems. Started solids at 6 months, delayed dairy, delayed wheat, delayed egg until 12 months, breastfed until 13 months with first and still feeding second at 7 months. The reasoning behind this is that the earlier you are exposed to something the more likely an allergy will develop. However someone I know recently argued with me about this and she raised a valid point. She said that years ago people always introduced solids earlier and yet allergies were very rare, but these days people are delaying solids and certain foods and allergies are becoming increasingly more common. Do you think she has a point? Why do you think this is happening?
You are right to slowly add solids food to your baby's diet and starting with the least allergenic makes for good common sense. Even without a history of family food allergy, most peds recommend holding off on the eggs, nuts, etc until after a year.
It is true that allergy is more common today. There are several theories floating around. As you think about it, keep in mind that allergy is a defect in the immune system whereby harmless,benign proteins are misidentified as evil enemy invaders. IgE is produced, causing the mast cells to gen out histamine and that is where the problems start. That said, here are a couple of theories
First, with the advance of modern science, many people with acute allergies live long enough to reproduce and pass on the genetic defect. Used to be that people with asthma and allergies didn't live very long lives. Few made it to adulthood and the ones that did were urged not to have children. Now, we pop pills, keep on living, and keep on making more allergic people like ourselves. (This is not an indictment against you having kids even though you have allergies,,,,I have terrible allergies and have spawned two marvelous kids with allergies)
Second is that we are actually weakening our immune systems by not giving them enough to do. This relates to how people are crazy for using Lysol and bleach to disinfect everything that a kid touches and that young children no longer spend lots of time playing outside in the "gasp" DIRT! This theory follows a line of thinking that says if you don't give the immune system a chance to develop and have some practice on kicking a little germ butt now and again, then it doesn't develop properly and since it rarely sees a germ it thinks everything is a germ.
Lastly is the theory that our environment is increasingly more toxic and these toxins affect our immune systems. Our food is loaded with additives and toxins, our air has petrochemical by-products and ozone, (but at least we don't burn coal the way we used to), and we fill our house with toxic chemicals. While I personally try not to use toxic cleaners, I do remember that once upon a time, people cleaned with lye soap....now how toxic is that?
In my humble opinion, it is probably a mixture of living longer and reproduction by people that carry the allergy defect and that those people may not be allowed to develop their defective immune systems fully and live their lives eating Velveeta and drinking Yahoo (just kidding). Probably is a mixture of all three though
I think parents are using allergies as an excuse for unacceptable behaviour and illnesses. Its unfortunate that this is happening. I had a child in my daycare who always had major sinus infections with cough from drainage and parents refused to get him antibiotics. Blamed it on everything i fed this kid.
Parents need to stop acting like idiots and best friends to their kids and start being parents.
There are alot of food additives that were not in the foods of even 5 years ago, let alone a generation ago. Way too many preservatives, etc.
I can't say that every reaction or behavior of a child is directly linked to allergies to certain foods.
This of course is just my opinion. take it or leave it.