Infant Allergies Often Misdiagnosed

When people speak of infant allergies, they usually areMany health professional advise mothers who will
talking about the three main causes of allergies, foods,breast feed their infant to shy away from foods
inhalants and environmental. With an infant, manyknown for causing allergic reactions such as nuts, corn,
allergies may show up quickly, especially when theywheat and seafood, among others. If the infant
are breast feeding.allergies are caused by something in mother's milk, the
Since infants cannot express a feeling of itchinessinfant may suffer from a bloated stomach, constant
typically caused by allergies, uncontrollable crying maygas, throws up often or cries constantly. Many
be the main symptom of suffering from infant allergies.physicians will mistake infant allergies as colic and tell
Depending on the age and mobility of the infant, theyparents to wait for the child to outgrow it, typically
may also roll and struggle attempting to scratch theabout six months. In most cases with infant allergies,
offending area. Dry skin may be visible behind the earseliminating dairy products from the mother's diet will
and on the scalp and may be thought to be cradlegenerally ease the symptoms.
cap. If it appears behind the ears it may look as thoughIf you believe infant allergies are being caused by
the child is not being washed thoroughly, but it will notsources other than food, there are a few things you
wash off.can try to eliminate the causes. Try using laundry
Swelling may also occur in the face or lips and ifdetergent without perfumes or dyes as well as fabric
swelling is seen, the infant's breathing must besofteners without perfumes as well. Do not spray
monitored as with most infant allergies the throat maychemicals in the child's bedroom, such as furniture
also swell and it could lead to anaphylactic shock,polish or air fresheners with perfumes and keep the
leading to possible death. Some infant allergies mayroom as free of dust as possible to avoid the
manifest as breathing problems or a runny nose andpossibility of an Allergy to dust mites.
be treated for colds. They may also show sinusUntil the cause of your infant allergies are identified, do
problems and develop a cough due to nasal drainagenot allow pets into the child's room and, when possible,
into the throat while sleeping.change the child's clothing at nap time and bed time
Breast Feeding Can Exacerbate Allergic Reactionsand always give the infant their bath at bedtime.