Allergic diseases often cause skin rashes in a child. They itch a lot, which brings significant discomfort to the baby's body. Combing the red spots, he can easily bring an infection under the skin. In such cases, more severe inflammatory reactions already occur. Such a secondary infection can cause streptoderma or systemic damage to the body with staphylococcus.
What is the danger of skin rashes and what provokes their appearance?
Often the cause of the appearance of red blisters or spots on the skin is various types of allergic reactions. When an allergen product enters the child's body, a whole cascade of inflammatory changes is triggered within a few minutes. Such reactions are called hypersensitivity. They are of the fast and slow type.
When an allergen enters the body for the first time, the protective blood cells are not yet ready to meet it. For this reason, an allergic reaction does not occur with lightning speed, but after a while. This usually happens 6-8 hours after the allergen enters the body.
The cells of the immune system, recognizing the foreign component as allergic, immediately begin to actively fight with it. A large number of different biological substances are released into the bloodstream, which trigger the process of inflammation.
A large number of cells of the immune system are found in the blood and skin. When foreign allergenic substances hit, they are the first to enter the battle. A few hours after the disease, the skin reacts with red itchy elements. These can be papules, vesicles, spots. It all depends on the individual sensitivity and tenderness of the child's skin.
In infants, spots usually appear more often. In most cases, they are localized on the extensor surfaces of the forearms and arms, buttocks, hands and on the delicate skin of the child below the chin, on the neck.
In children aged 2 years, spots are more often formed in combination with bubbles. This is largely due to the structure of the skin and subcutaneous tissue of a child of this age. Kids become restless, capricious. Children of kindergarten age (4-5 years old) during an exacerbation of an allergic reaction should not attend a preschool institution for the entire period of treatment. In the kindergarten, they can easily pick up a secondary infection or bring microorganisms into the wounds, combing itchy spots on the skin.
In severe cases of the development of allergic reactions, not only lesions appear on the skin. In babies, the temperature can even rise to 38-39 degrees. There is redness in the throat, allergic rhinitis, dry cough. With allergic rhinitis and laryngitis, it is imperative to show the child to an immunologist-allergist doctor. He will conduct additional tests for individual sensitivity to specific allergens. After that, the doctor will prescribe a full range of measures and recommend an anti-allergic diet.
Features:
The hypoallergic diet, among others, is quite strict. As the child's body grows older, new hypersensitivity to various products.
- When allergies appear for oranges after some time, intolerance to all citrus fruits is formed.
- For allergies for chicken eggs there is a sensitivity to all products (including baked goods) that contain chicken yolk or melange. In 5% of children, cross-allergy to quail eggs is also possible. In this case, it is required to completely exclude eggs from the child's diet and monitor the composition of all dishes, where any egg components can be added.
If cross-sensitivity was established in your child during allergic tests, the immunologist will definitely recommend that you exclude all combinations in which an allergic reaction may develop.
- For children with allergies on flowering trees any shrub fruits and berries should be completely excluded from the diet. The cells of the immune system, possessing system memory, if any substance from the prohibited list enters the body, they will consider it an allergen. An allergic reaction in a child will be equally acute when pollen blooms or after eating a plum or apple.
Try to exclude contact with the allergen, taking into account the flowering time of the trees.
Recently, doctors have noted that the number of cases of intolerance to dairy products has increased in many children. Such children are assigned a dairy-free diet. It is indicated for all babies with milk allergy. It cannot be called protein-free, it belongs more to the low-protein category.
In the nutrition of babies on a dairy-free diet, you need to carefully monitor the optimal intake of protein in the body. Add more meats and side dishes that contain vegetable protein. It can be lean meat or fish (with good tolerance), poultry.
From vegetable protein, you can choose green beans or regular beans and well-boiled peas. Introduce into the diet green peas: it contains much fewer substances that can cause allergies.
Grocery list
Currently, there are many classifications of allergenic foods. They divide all foods into different categories (depending on the potential for causing allergic reactions).
Scientists add new sources of allergens to the lists every day. This is due to the fact that every year the number of children with allergic pathologies increases several times.
Babies born in the city are many times more likely to suffer from intolerance to various products than village ones. Doctors attribute this to the impact of adverse environmental factors and high levels of pollution in large cities.
Every year at international councils and congresses, all the leading scientists, doctors and nutritionists of the world gather to discuss the nutritional problems of children prone to developing allergic reactions. Special tables were drawn up in which all products are entered taking into account their possible negative effects on the child's immune system:
- Foods with a high potential for causing allergic reactions are called highly allergenic.
- Foods that cause allergies are less likely - medium sensitizing.
- Foods that are practically unable to cause an allergic reaction in a child (or cause in a much smaller number of cases) are called neutral.
Foods that can be safely included in the diet of a baby with food allergies include:
- All fruits and vegetables are green. White fruits and berries. An excellent base for any side dish for children with a tendency to allergic reactions is broccoli, as well as cauliflower. Potatoes are fine too, but they contain a lot of starchy substances. It is better to mix cauliflower with a small amount of potatoes when cooking puree, giving preference to cabbage.
- Protein foods: lean beef, with care - white fish. Red (and especially sea) fish is prohibited! Its use can provoke an allergic reaction. You should not give your baby seafood or seaweed. Adding them to the diet often causes cross-allergies.
- With good tolerance to dairy products - fermented milk with a small percentage of fat (cottage cheese, kefir, yogurt). All types of cheese, sour cream, homemade butter and margarine should be excluded. They can trigger food allergies and adversely affect the liver and gallbladder. Frequent consumption of such products can cause the appearance of chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
- Cereals and cereals. They are selected strictly individually. It should be noted that they may be contraindicated for babies with allergies and gluten intolerance. Buckwheat and rice should be introduced into the diet with caution, since they have an average allergenic potential.
If, after the introduction of cereal complementary foods, the baby's skin remains clean and pink, he almost certainly tolerates these products well. Be sure to monitor the baby's skin condition and mood after the introduction of each new complementary foods. This will allow you to determine if you are allergic to a particular new food.
Tips for parents of babies 3-6 years old
If the baby is prone to developing allergic reactions or you or your close relatives have serious allergic diseases, pay attention to what you are preparing for the child. In any case, you should consult and show the baby to an immunologist-allergist. He will perform a series of simple and painless scarification tests that will identify all cross-allergen variants.
There are even special panels, in which all allergens are taken out according to certain antigenic characteristics. Such a study is very convenient and allows you to accurately identify all prohibited products from several groups at once.
It is important to note that adhering to such a diet is worth a lifetime. The human immune system is very precise. Even after one meeting with an allergen, the memory of it remains for life. With each new meeting with this product, the body reacts more and more strongly.
An allergic reaction starts almost instantly. For a long course of the disease, damage to other organs is already characteristic: most often the respiratory and cardiovascular systems are affected, and in this case more serious treatment by a doctor is already required.
What should parents of preschool children remember?
- Plan and design your child's menu carefully... Eliminate all foods that don't suit him. Keep a diary and write down any changes that your baby has after eating. Reflect on the condition of his skin, as well as the estimated time when manifestations occur. This will make it easier for you to understand which foods are allergenic and can harm the child's body.
- If your child is attending kindergarten, be sure to tell the kindergarten health worker that your baby is allergic. Describe which foods are contraindicated for him. The caregiver and healthcare professional should carefully monitor what the baby eats while outside the home. In the kindergarten, they are responsible for his health. It would be great if there was a choice of dishes in the kindergarten. This principle is often practiced now. If not, the healthcare professional should eliminate the side dish or main meal for allergic babies, replacing it with something else.
- All children with allergic diseases or intolerance to certain foods should be monitored by an immunologist. With a calm course of the disease (without frequent exacerbations and rashes), visit a doctor at least once a year. This is necessary for dynamic monitoring of the state of the child's body.
- Do not indulge the whims of the child! All babies love sweets. However, it should be understood: if the baby has an allergy, then such pampering can even be deadly. In severe cases, after meeting with an allergen, the child's body may react with Quincke's edema or laryngeal spasm. This is a very dangerous complication that requires the immediate provision of qualified medical care.
If suddenly, after a meal or a snack, your baby begins to choke or turns blue, urgently call a baby ambulance. You should act very quickly, since the time to save a child's life goes on for minutes.
Teach your child the rules of healthy eating. At the table it is better to eat about the same food that the baby eats. So you will show him that he is not at all sick or deprived of anything. It's just a healthy diet, and that's how everyone eats. Be sure to praise your baby when he eats the right and healthy foods well.
Watch yourself! If you allow yourself to have a snack or drink tea with chocolates or cakes, do not be surprised later why your little one is reaching out for "tasty". All babies from two years of age are similar in behavior to small monkeys, which is due to the development of their psyche. In their behavior, they accurately copy those around them or their parents. Be a real good example for your little one. His health now and in the future depends on you.
Menu for children over 1 year old with an ado diet
In Soviet times, the famous scientist and pathophysiologist A.D. Ado began to study the problems of allergic diseases and develop special diets that can prevent new exacerbations of the disease.
It was he who first established that there are certain foods that can trigger a number of inflammatory changes in the body and easily cause an allergic reaction. He also noted that there are foods that have opposite properties. They are safer for the body and practically do not cause allergies.
The result of his scientific activity was the system of proper nutrition according to Ado. This is the prototype of a hypoallergenic diet. It excludes all products that can cause skin rashes, with the obligatory inclusion of neutral products. Ado made up his diet so that all incoming substances were selected in an amount sufficient for the active growth and development of the child's body.
The advantages of his method include:
- detailed analysis of all productsthat trigger allergic reactions, and their complete exclusion from the children's menu;
- elimination of all allergens from the diet immediately allows you to quickly relieve inflammation and eliminate all adverse symptoms of the disease;
- possibility of gradual introduction of new products, with the obligatory control of the child's condition after such an introduction.
Of course, there are also disadvantages:
- Diet appointment all children without preliminary examination and laboratory determination of individual sensitivity to different products. Ado composed his diet at the end of the twentieth century, when there was still no large laboratory capacity for such high-precision tests.
- Low specific sensitivity. The diet is used for all children and adolescents without taking into account the individual level of immunity and concomitant chronic diseases.
Among the most frequent allergens of A.D. Ado secretes cow's milk, chicken egg yolk and fish.
Sometimes hypersensitivity is found to gluten or wheat, banana proteins and rice. The body's sensitivity to potatoes, buckwheat, corn, soybeans and legumes is less common.
At the same time A.D. Ado singles out foods that, if you are allergic to them, should be treated with caution with "cross" foods in the diet.
Ado's treatment table can be represented as follows. Please note that on rare occasions, the menu includes products with a moderate allergenic potential.
Carefully monitor the condition of your child, because when drawing up a diet, individual characteristics must be taken into account: there is no universal menu suitable for all children.
First day of the week
- Breakfast: Oat flakes on water. A couple of dry crackers.
- Lunch: Yogurt.
- Dinner: Lean beef soup (no carrots). Cucumber, Chinese cabbage and corn salad, seasoned with vegetable oil.
- Afternoon snack: Pear jelly with dry biscuits.
- Dinner: Lean lamb steamed dumplings with chopped cauliflower. Apple compote.
Second day
- Breakfast: Buckwheat flakes with kefir.
- Lunch: Butter sandwich.
- Dinner: Boiled lean veal with mashed potatoes and cauliflower. Kissel from berries.
- Afternoon snack: Low-fat curd with sugar.
- Dinner: Low-fat lamb stew with vegetables and peas.
Third day
- Breakfast: Millet porridge with dried fruits.
- Lunch: An apple baked in the oven.
- Dinner: Beef meatballs with noodles. Zucchini and greens salad.
- Afternoon snack: Galette cookies with kefir.
- Dinner: Stewed with vegetables and boiled buckwheat.
Fourth day
- Breakfast: Buckwheat pancakes with yogurt.
- Lunch: A glass of kefir.
- Dinner: Cabbage soup with non-sour cabbage and boiled veal. Cucumber and dill salad.
- Afternoon snack: Bun with kefir.
- Dinner: Veal meatballs with vegetable filling.
Fifth day of the week
- Breakfast: Pancakes with curd.
- Lunch: Galette crackers with unsweetened tea.
- Dinner: Horse meat stew. A slice of bran bread.
- Afternoon snack: Unfinished yogurt with a little sugar.
- Dinner: Oven baked lean beef patties with rice.
Sixth day
- Breakfast: Multigrain porridge on the water.
- Lunch: A slice of bread with apple jam. Unsweetened tea.
- Dinner: Vegetable chowder with beef meatballs.
- Afternoon snack: Low-fat cottage cheese with kefir and sugar.
- Dinner: Vegetable ragout with veal.
Seventh day
- Breakfast: Corn porridge with diluted milk.
- Lunch: Baked apple.
- Dinner: Low-fat veal broth with freshly prepared homemade noodles. Cucumber and parsley salad.
- Afternoon snack: Biscuits with pear jelly.
- Dinner: Stewed cabbage and beef meatballs.
Recipes for children 3-7 years old
Oatmeal and raisin biscuits
- Take a glass of fine oatmeal. Add one egg, ½ teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon sugar. Pour in ½ cup rice milk. Instead, you can use regular cow's milk if the child does not have an individual intolerance to dairy products. Mix everything well with a whisk. Let the dough stand 10 minutes for the oatmeal gluten to swell.
- Rinse the raisins with plenty of running water. Pour boiling water over, let stand for 10 minutes. During this time, you will have time to warm up the oven. Set the mode to 200 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet, line it with baking parchment. Brush with a little butter or vegetable oil.
- Put the biscuits dipped in water on a baking sheet. Let them be at a distance of 3-4 cm from each other, so nothing will stick together during baking. Bake for 18-20 minutes. The biscuits are done when they are browned on top. Check the doneness with a wooden skewer or toothpick.
- The cooled biscuits can be served with yogurt or kefir, and they will also be an excellent dessert for tea.
Steamed beef meatballs with cauliflower sauce
- Take 500 g of prepared ground beef. Pay attention to the composition written on the package. Minced meat should not contain chemical additives, dyes and flavor enhancers. If you don't trust store-bought minced meat, you can cook it at home.
- Add some water to the minced meat. Salt. Separately soak a couple of crackers in water and add them to the minced meat, kneading well with your hands. Stir. Cook in a multicooker or double boiler on a steam setting. Cooking time is 20-25 minutes.
- Cook the cauliflower separately until tender. Cool it down. Grind vigorously with a blender until it becomes a thick sauce. Season with salt to taste. Chop the dill and add to the sauce.
- Cook crumbly white rice for a side dish. Serve the meatballs with rice, pour over the sauce.
Compliance with an anti-allergenic diet is an important and necessary condition for the treatment of all allergic diseases. 80% of successful treatment is ensured only by adherence to all the principles of a healthy diet. It can help prevent new flare-ups and improve baby's health.
