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In early childhood, the skin is significantly different in structure from an adult. The epidermis is thinner and more delicate, the underlying layers of the skin are looser, which makes the skin of babies more sensitive and prone to irritation and rashes. But not every rash or redness, peeling of the skin and its dryness are manifestations of an allergy. Therefore, you should not rush into a diagnosis, especially one made on your own, and even more so with treatment and changes in the nutrition of a nursing mother or the child himself. It is important to determine whether the skin problems that have actually arisen are allergic rashes, and not prickly heat or signs of any infections, irritation of the epidermis.
Causes of allergies in babies
Determining whether a baby has an allergy is not easy even for an experienced doctor, especially when it is a baby in the first months of life. The most expected reactions are in babies with unfavorable heredity, that is, if the parents themselves suffer from any form of allergic reactions. If one of the parents (mom or dad) is allergic, the risks are up to 30-40%, but if both parents suffer from different forms of allergies, then the risk reaches 80%. However, it should be understood that this is not like the color of the skin or eyes, which is transmitted from the parents. Parents pass on a predisposition to allergies, but not allergies as a disease. For example, a father or mother with asthma does not pass asthma on to a child at birth.
The ecological situation in the region of residence plays a certain role, it affects the expectant mother, and then the baby. But scientists often say that the cause of allergies is the excessive care and guardianship of the parents themselves, the creation of an almost sterile environment around the child, because of which his immune system cannot get acquainted with microbes and viruses, receive adequate incentives and is looking for a “new victim” developing allergic reactions to harmless substances.
Pathologies during pregnancy can become additional provoking factors – hypoxia, premature birth, smoking by the mother at any time, taking excess drugs and a poor diet, which did not allow the baby’s immunity to get acquainted with certain substances even in utero.
How does an allergy manifest in a baby? Allergy is a general term for many different reactions that occur in a particular system (respiratory, digestive, skin), and sometimes it is a generalized (general) reaction of the body. Fortunately, in infants, reactions such as anaphylactic shock, generalized urticaria, or angioedema are rare. Basically, these are reactions of the skin, the digestive system, in children a little older – respiratory allergies are added – hay fever.
Depending on the allergens involved, reactions can take slightly different forms. Among the most common allergens in infants are:
Food
Formula-fed children are more likely to suffer from allergies, especially if they are mixtures based on cow’s milk. More rarely, reactions give mixtures based on partial or highly hydrolyzed milk protein, as well as on the basis of amino acids. For gluten allergies, soy protein isolates. As complementary foods are introduced, both vegetable and animal proteins can cause reactions, so it is important to follow a certain pattern, introduce new foods in doses and starting with the safest.
Medicinal
Often, parents make one serious mistake – they practice self-medication, giving various drugs to their children. In this case, the immune system may react negatively to chemicals that are foreign to it.
Household
These are various substances that surround the child in the house, including dust, various cleaning products, powders, animal dander.
Contact
These are various allergens that get on the skin or come into contact with it (clothing dyes, diaper impregnations, various cosmetics, metals).
Reactions can occur within a few hours of exposure to the allergen, or they can be cumulative, concentrating in the body over several days or weeks. Depending on what form the allergic reaction has, the manifestations differ. But how does an allergy manifest itself in a baby, if these are reactions to food? Usually there is a skin rash that itches, weeping, erosion, crusts can form. In addition, digestive reactions are also typical – bloating, diarrhea, discoloration of the stool, regurgitation. The child worries, often screams, sleeps and eats poorly, the skin can be very dry and flaky, crusts, red spots are possible in the area of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbhairs on the head.
Less commonly, the baby may experience sneezing or watery nasal discharge, coughing, wheezing, or watery eyes with red eyes. Possible manifestations of urticaria. Especially dangerous is swelling in the face, neck, upper chest, although such reactions are extremely rare.
How to treat allergies in babies
In order to determine how to treat allergies in infants, it is important to correctly diagnose and, if possible, identify a specific allergen. In infancy, this is not the easiest task.
Diagnostics
The first thing you need if you suspect an allergy is to contact a pediatrician, or better, an allergist or dermatologist. The doctor will examine and exclude parasitic, infectious diseases and other non-allergic types of rash. Specific skin tests that determine the allergen are not performed in infants. Therefore, a blood test for the presence of specific antibodies can be performed.
Also, the determination of the allergen is carried out by observation – parents need to keep a food diary, as well as monitor the child’s reactions to certain substances (cosmetics, diapers, washing powders). In some cases, even the pedantic implementation of all recommendations does not allow us to accurately determine a specific allergen, which complicates the task.
Modern treatments
The most effective treatment for any form of allergy is to separate the child from the allergenic substance. In this case, the immune system is not stimulated and does not form dangerous reactions. It is good if the allergen is accurately identified, in which case it is relatively easy to eliminate it from the child’s food or environment.
In other cases, keeping a food diary will help, in which all new foods that are introduced to the baby are indicated, and reactions to them are noted. If this is a baby, his nursing mother should not go on a rigid hypoallergenic diet, this method does not bring proven effectiveness. No allergens can get to the baby with breast milk, they are broken down in the mother’s intestines and only the nutritional components necessary for the baby get into the milk.
It is important to choose hypoallergenic cosmetics and care products for the baby, change the brand of diapers, wash his clothes only with special baby products.
Medical treatment, if necessary, is selected only by a doctor. These can be antihistamines, as well as local remedies with hormonal, anti-inflammatory components. In addition, enzyme preparations can be prescribed that improve the breakdown of food, probiotics and sorbents that bind excess allergens in the intestines.
Prevention of allergies in infants at home
The basis of allergy prevention is breastfeeding from the first days of life and for as long as possible, at least up to a year. As the baby grows from six months of age, he needs to introduce complementary foods according to the scheme approved by WHO.
In the environment of the child, it is important to eliminate potential allergens, but not to create sterile cleanliness – the baby must come into contact with various microorganisms in order to train his immune system.
Popular questions and answers
We talked about allergies in infants and the features of its detection with pediatrician-neonatologist Natalya Maykova, doctor of the Maternity Hospital named after. K.N. Samoilova.