Do Peanut Allergies Pass to Baby in Breastmilk?
Peanut allergies affect millions of young children. Reactions range from skin rashes and diarrhea to full-blown anaphylaxis. Pregnant women with peanut allergies are warned to stay away from peanuts and peanut-containing products during pregnancy, but there is little information on the effect of peanut allergies on breastfed babies. Will your peanut allergy pass to your infant while breastfeeding?
Breastmilk Supplies Antibodies - Including Harmful Antibodies
Breastfeeding is the healthiest form of nutrition for baby. Antibodies pass from mom to baby in breastmilk. Those antibodies strengthen baby's immune system, but what happens when mom has a peanut allergy and she comes in contact with peanuts? Her body will react to the peanuts as a foreign substance. If she has a food allergy, the antibodies are already present in the body. Eating peanuts while breastfeeding may increase your infant's risk of developing a peanut allergy.
How Will Baby React to a Food Allergy?
If your infant has developed a food allergy they may experience a wide range of symptoms. The most common symptoms of a food allergy reaction in infants include diarrhea, eczema and crankiness. Reactions may be progressive. The first reaction could be a case of diarrhea and the next extreme crankiness. By the third contact your baby could experience anaphylaxis.
My son has a severe peanut allergy. His first contact came at 13 months. About 24 hours after the contact his face swelled to the point where his eyes no longer opened. The second ingestion occurred nearly two years later. This time he started having trouble breathing within 15 minutes of eating a peanut candy. By his third interaction with peanuts, he experienced facial swelling when someone in the room ate a single peanut butter cracker.
Can I Avoid Passing My Peanut Allergy Through Breastmilk?
Some experts believe complete avoidance of peanuts while breastfeeding reduces the risk of passing peanut allergies to infants. Peanut allergies tend to be genetic - passed from parent to child - so complete avoidance is necessary. The fewer antibodies present in breastmilk; the fewer antibodies passed to baby. Read every food label, never eat foods you did not prepare and avoid restaurants that cook with peanut oil.
The number of infants and children with peanut allergies are growing exponentially. The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) and other food allergy groups are a great source of allergy information and support for mothers with food allergies who choose to breastfeed.
More from Summer on Food Allergies
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10 Questions You Should Ask Your Child's School About Food Allergy Safety
Food Allergies and Prenatal Vitamins: Is Your Prenatal Vitamin Harmful to Your Health?
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Published by Summer Banks - Featured Contributor in Health & Wellness
Summer Banks is a medical assistant with four years college nursing education. She is a senior health writer for Dietspotlight.com and Featured Contributor in Women s Health, Parenting and Dating & Relations... View profile
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