In the second of the series, I speak to Cassie – AKA @Mamas_little_Squares who shares her sons allergy journey and how she had to make changes to his diet in order to get a diagnosis.
- Mum of two boys | Trained psychotherapist about to return to work after long and wonderful maternity break.
- FOOD ALLERGIES : One child with a dairy allergy
My sons cows milk protein allergy
Cassie, How have allergies effected your life?
My youngest has not received an official diagnosis of allergies – however, after over two years of persistent eczema and ‘bad nappies’, along with relentless sleep issues, we decided to do a little deeper research into how allergies can effect younger children.
How did you go about getting a diagnosis? Was it stressful?
We have received lots of support from our Health Visitor who spoke to an allergy specialist on our behalf during lockdown. As I said we ‘self diagnosed’ our son so to then have it confirmed after sharing the symptoms and changes that occurred when we removed certain foods, was great and such a relief.
What were the tell tail symptoms that made you suspect an allergy?
Eczema, poor sleep patterns, runny and mucousy strong smelling stools, reluctance to drink cows milk (I was interested to learn this was a really common sign of an allergy, early on) and what I suspect was tummy ache.
How do allergies effect your daily life as a family with some having allergies and some not?
We have adapted fairly well to removing dairy from my youngests diet and have quiet enjoyed finding new ways to work with our favourite dishes however, sometimes we have found that my older son struggles to enjoy the meals as much so I have managed to make a gentle balance between the two diets.
How do you find eating out? Food shopping?
Fantastic! There are now great selections in supermarkets and a few of our go-to restaurants for kids have great offerings (Pizza Express and the ‘Lounges’ are great).
Does your son with the allergy know about it? Does he feel different in any way?
Yes he does. He enjoys the fuss I think! He knows to ask if some foods have dairy and only occasionally forgets (like my neighbour handing him a mini milk ice lolly – that was too tempting for a 2 year old to turn down!)
Anything that worries you about having a child with allergies?
Fortunately, his allergy is not severe, which is gradually improving with the slow controlled introduction of dairy to his diet.
Any tips or words of advice you could share to anyone worried about allergies?
Trust your gut instincts of you feel something isn’t right. We spent 2 years questioning what may be happening and were told sleep issues, eczema and runny nappies were common childhood experiences. Our independent research and subtle dietary changes proved that he had been struggling.
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