7 Tips For Preventing High-Risk Infants From Developing Allergies

One of the scariest things to deal with is when your high-risk infant has a serious allergic reaction. Not only can this be terrifying, but it can cause some pretty permanent damage.

The good thing is that there are some things you can do to help prevent your infant from developing allergies, as told by professionals like Premier Allergy & Asthma.

1. Look at Family Members

One of the biggest things that can give you an idea of what kind of allergies your child might experience is looking at other family members, such as siblings or grandparents.

Often times, people in the same family will have some of the same allergies.

For example, if your older child is allergic to things like nuts or eggs, then there’s a higher chance that your new baby will have these allergies too. With that said, though, it doesn’t automatically mean that your child will have every single allergy that their family members have.

It’s just a good idea to know which ones are common in the family!

2. Reduce Contact With Allergens

You could also reduce contact with allergens, like dust mites.

By minimizing how much contact you have with these things, you’ll be able to reduce the chances that allergies happen.

While it isn’t much you can do about outside allergens, like pollen, besides not taking your child out when the content is high, you can do a lot of cleaning and wiping things down to reduce the number of allergens is around your child.

Remember, though, just because you do all of these things, it doesn’t mean they won’t still have some kind of reaction to them. It can just help reduce that chance.

3. Have a Good Diet While Pregnant

There are many infants that deal with some kind of food allergy and there’s a chance that they’ll have a lower chance of developing them if the mother eats a healthy diet while pregnant with them.

Not only should the expectant mother try and eat what they’re supposed to, but it would also be a good idea to try and stay away from things that are common allergens, like nuts or eggs.

While having a healthy diet during pregnancy might not do a whole lot, it’s worth a shot if it means your child might have fewer allergies, especially if food allergies are common in your family.

4. Try Breastfeeding

We all know that fed is best, but breastfeeding has a lot of great benefits that your child can’t get from a formula.

Not only can they get some great nutrients from your body, but they can also get antibodies that fight off illnesses. These extra benefits could make it possible that your infant will have fewer allergies because their bodies have a better chance of fighting things off.

Since you aren’t really sure what might cause allergic reactions and everything you have passes through your milk, you might want to be careful when ingesting things that usually cause allergies.

5. Watch for Symptoms

It might come as a surprise, but other conditions can make the chances of allergies be increased.

This includes things like eczema, asthma and stomach issues.

The best way to watch for allergies with these conditions is to pay attention to symptoms and try and keep everything under control. When your body experiences a flare-up, you’re more likely to have reactions or develop allergies to things you might not have had before.

In addition, to watching symptoms, you also want to make sure you’re taking any medication correctly and having regular appointments with your doctor to keep everything where it’s supposed to be.

6. Slow Introduction

You’ll also want to make sure you do a slow introduction of foods.

Many children are ready to start trying solid foods around 6 months of age. Since this is the time the food type changes for them, it’s the most common time when food allergies start popping up.

The best thing to do is to introduce single-ingredient foods one at a time. Not only will this make sure they don’t have a bad reaction, but it will also let you know if they can tolerate it.

You shouldn’t start introducing foods with multiple ingredients until later because it could be hard to pinpoint where allergies might be coming from.

7. Talk to Your Child’s Doctor First

Finally, you want to talk to your doctor before you try any new foods or plan on taking them into environments that might cause allergic reactions. This is even more true for those that have families with extensive allergy history.

While it might seem like a hassle, it doesn’t take to much to have a quick talk with the doctor to see what they recommend. If they give the green light, you should still watch for any adverse symptoms or reactions and take them out of the environment immediately if you see anything!

Conclusion: Prevent High-Risk Infants From Developing Allergies With These Tips

As you can see, using the tips that come from professionals like Premier Allergy & Asthma can help you make sure your child doesn’t develop allergies that could lead to serious consequences.

If you’re still worried, you should talk with your doctor or your child’s doctor to see what can be done to decrease the chances of allergies.