Feeding peanut to your infant may lower their chance of developing a peanut allergy. Before you start giving your child peanut-containing foods, you need to know when and how to do it. You should discuss any concerns you have with your doctor before starting. (source)
In recent years, Peanut allergy has become a common occurrence in breastfed babies.
Even for 1 – 3 year old baby, it’s important for families to closely monitor everything the child eats both inside and outside the home when your child is allergic to peanuts because accidentally your child can consume peanut and it can be fatal.
Peanut allergy is a serious concern.
- Vomiting
- Lip swelling
- Face or tongue swelling
- Wheeze
- A new rash
- A few hives around the face or mouth
- Repetitive coughing
- Welts over the body
- Pale-skin color
- Sudden tiredness
- Any difficulty breathing
Nowadays, many airlines avoid peanut food items as they fear that an allergic passenger may often inhale peanut dust and also can suffer a life-threatening reaction at 30,000 feet.
For the people or children having a severe allergy attack, they also suffer from a peanut allergy.
The symptoms of peanut allergy can be often anaphylaxis — that means it can be life-threatening.
For some children, even a little quantity of peanut can cause a serious reaction.
Peanut allergy is increasing these days in children. It’s very important to consult your doctor if your child is suffering from a mild allergic reaction to peanuts. If not treated, your child may lead to a more serious risk for future reactions.
What causes Peanut allergies?
This allergy to peanut is diagnosed among children or people in early childhood.
This allergy usually remains for a lifetime, but in about one in five children it does outgrow, this is usually observed after a few years of baby’s birth.
It’s not yet clear what the main cause behind some people who are allergic to peanut is, while others are not but it is obvious, that it usually happens to many people.
The first time when a baby comes in contact with peanut, if he is allergic to peanut as well, his immune system will produce antibodies that will remain in your child’s body.
This whole process is known as sensitization. If your child gets exposed with peanut the next time so these antibodies react and it will cause allergic symptoms this time.
It has been observed that when the babies eat peanut products for the first time they show some signs of allergy to peanut products.
These babies are very much sensitized by being in contact with peanuts in every way.
Research has been made and it is suggested that while mothers eating peanut products in pregnancy or during the phase of breastfeeding, their babies are usually sensitized to peanuts. It is more often to occur when you have peanuts in your home.
For instance, by getting a bit of peanut butter on their skin your baby may get their first contact with peanuts.
This peanut allergy is often seen with some allergic conditions. It is linked with other food allergies as well.
For example, if your child is having eczema or an egg allergy so it is likely he will be suffering from peanut allergy too.
Just a little amount of peanuts in food or just handling peanut products can often be deadly to children and adults containing severe peanut allergy.
In recent years, the people who are affected by peanut allergy have increased dramatically.
Those children, who at birth or in their childhood are allergic to peanut, are likely to be allergic lifelong peanut allergies.
There is no such cure for nut allergies; some studies have been made that suggest that it may be possible to control a reaction to peanut with immunotherapy.
Usually, this peanut allergy occurs when in your immune system there are some changes and it identifies peanut protein as something harmful for your body.
Whether it is direct contact or it is in direct contact with peanut, it releases symptoms that cause chemicals into your bloodstream.
There are different ways due to which there is exposure to peanuts, these includes:
- Direct contact: The most common cause in children is to directly eat peanut or peanut products. This can usually trigger an allergic reaction in either adult or even in children.
- Cross-contact: This is supposed to be an unintended introduction of peanuts in any product. This is due to the result of any food that is exposed to peanuts while handling or processing.
- Inhalation: If you inhale dust or aerosols that include peanut or peanut products like peanut flour or peanut oil cooking spray can also cause an allergic reaction.
Risk factors
This is not yet identified as the exact cause of peanut allergies. However, people with risk factors have a chance of getting allergic to peanut and its products.
Risk factors to Peanut allergy include:
- Previous allergies to peanut: There are some allergies to a peanut that outgrow it. It may recur anytime you get in contact with peanut.
- Age: Usually food allergies are observed in toddlers and infants. Your digestive system matures as you grow older and your body is less likely to react to those food products which trigger allergies.
- Other allergies: It’s observed that if people are allergic to any food item, they would be allergic to some other food product as well. Likewise, a person suffering from hay fever increases the risk of having allergies to other food products as well.
- Family members with allergies: Often, allergies are also associated with a family history of allergies; you are at great risk of food allergies if some of the allergies are common in your family.
- Atopic dermatitis: People suffering from eczema are also allergic to many food products that too include peanut and its products.
Some people realize it in later life that they are allergic to any of the food items and that is linked to childhood hyperactivity and arthritis as well.
Complications:
Anaphylaxis is the major complication of peanut allergy. Those adults or children who have a serious allergy to peanuts are at high risk of having this reaction of life-threatening.
Symptoms and signs of peanut allergy in breastfed baby
Usually, it has been noted that an allergic response to peanuts occurs within minutes after exposure to peanut or its products.
There are many signs but the most important peanut allergy signs in a breastfed baby are discussed below:
- Runny nose:
With the intake of peanut, babies will have a runny nose or blocked nose often and they will be irritable too with watery eyes.
- Weak pulse
- Pale or blue coloring of the skin:
You may find difference in the skin of your baby.
- Repetitive cough:
If your baby is coughing repeatedly then this is an early sign that he is suffering from peanut allergy.
- Unconsciousness:
Your baby becomes unconscious
- Skin reactions:
Babies that are on breastfed will suffer from skin reactions that include hives, redness or swelling on their skin.
- Itching:
You may see babies suffering from itching or tingling in or around their throat and mouth part when they are allergic to peanuts.
- Shortness of breath:
It is the sign of peanut allergy in breastfed babies is that they will be suffering from shortness of breath or wheezing.
- Tightening of the throat:
One of the sign of peanut allergy is tightening of the throat among breastfed babies
- Digestive issues:
You may find digestive problems that include diarrhoea, cramps in the stomach, nausea or even vomiting.
- Anaphylaxis:
It’s considered one of the life-threatening reaction among babies and adults both.
Peanut allergy is known to be the most common cause of food-induced anaphylaxis, this is a medical emergency that needs to be treated with the help of epinephrine ( that is adrenaline) or injector (EpiPen, Symjepi, and others) and it is important to consult a doctor.
If your child is suffering from a mild peanut allergy, you may see symptoms of it just a few minutes after consuming peanut or by inhaling dust that may contain peanut smell.
Often it may take a few hours to show the symptoms. Symptoms of a peanut allergy can include
- an itchy, or raised rash (hives)
- mild swelling that can be seen on lips, eyes or face
- runny or blocked nose, or sneezing
Signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis include:
- restriction of airways
- difficulty in breathing due to swelling of the throat
- pulse rapidness
- Blood pressure is also affected. It drops immediately (shock)
- Light-headedness or even loss of consciousness often
- Dizziness and fatigue.
Conclusion
It is seen in the Non-Asian population, there is prevention for breastfeeding — to consume peanuts in the diet of a mother and also to add peanut to the infants before 12 months.
It also recommended that the introduction of peanut and both the diet of a mother are necessary.
For individual recommendations, parents must seek help from doctors or consultants with their health care providers to ask more about peanut and its product whether to include in baby’s diet or not.
Follow up research has not shown any of the early introduction of peanut with any allergic reactions or diseases such as asthma, eczema or any allergies that tell that factors for any other allergic diseases are genetic either or just environmental and are usually from a peanut allergy.
Usually, this peanut allergy occurs when in your immune system there are some changes and it identifies peanut protein as something harmful for your body.
Whether it is direct contact or it is in direct contact with peanut, it releases symptoms that cause chemicals into your bloodstream.
It’s observed that peanut allergy is less likely to be outgrown with other allergies. It is studied that only 22% of the children that are confirmed that are allergic to peanut outgrew it by the age of four.
It was considered in the past for mothers to avoid peanut products during pregnancy that could be the best way to avoid any peanut allergy in children once they’re grown.
However, this is not the way to completely finish allergies to peanut but it can somehow decrease this allergy.
