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SEATTLE - Tracey Delamarter studies food labels like textbooks, searching for ingredients that could sicken her 10-month-old daughter, Maggie.
Like a rising number of children, Maggie suffers from severe food allergies, a condition that causes her to have an allergic reaction to her mother's milk after her mom has eaten certain foods. So until Maggie is weaned, Delamarter has to be careful what she eats - really, really careful.
Delamarter is among an increasing number of new breastfeeding mothers to discover that their own diets cause symptoms in their babies, everything from eczema and hives to vomiting and diarrhea to potentially fatal breathing problems. And like many in her situation, Delamarter has found the best source of information and guidance is other mothers - a growing community of women in her situation who meet in person and online.
Since birth, Maggie suffered from sleepless nights, constipation and eczema. She also had what seemed to be a never-ending cold.
After nine months of weekly emergency-room visits, consultations with dozens of doctors and months of unanswered questions, Delamarter was both frantic and frustrated over her daughter's chronic ailments.
At first, she trusted Maggie's doctors, even when their advice ("babies just get sick") contradicted her gut feelings. But eventually, determined to find answers, Delamarter pushed for a referral to Northwest Allergy & Asthma.
There, Maggie was diagnosed. She's allergic to eggs, wheat, dairy, soy and peanuts - five of the eight foods that account for all but 10 percent of food-allergic reactions. The other three are tree nuts, fish and shellfish.
Delamarter began an "elimination diet," excluding from her own diet the foods that made Maggie sick. Within a week, Maggie was breathing better and acting like a normal, active baby.
One in every 17 children under the age of 3 - that's 5.8 percent - has a food allergy, according to The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about food allergies.
A study done by Dr. Hugh Sampson puts the number slightly higher, at 6 percent. Sampson is chief of pediatric allergy and immunology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and considered one of the nation's top experts on allergies.
Dr. Gail Shapiro, an allergist and head of Northwest Allergy & Asthma Center, quotes studies that show the number of children with food allergies has doubled in the past decade.
"There is an epidemic," she says. But like other experts, she has found no definitive explanation for the phenomenon.
Some children suffer for months or years before being diagnosed, Shapiro said.
"It's a difficult and challenging situation for parents," Shapiro said.
Everyone from pediatricians to nutritionists to psychologists agrees that breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for babies.
Barbara Orcutt, a registered nurse, is coordinator of breastfeeding services for Great Starts, a Seattle childbirth education organization. She advises mothers to adapt their lives to make breastfeeding a success. In doing so, new mothers may want to start by following Sampson's recommendations to avoid allergens such as peanuts and tree nuts in their own diets when they're breastfeeding. It's best not to introduce solid foods until a baby is at least 6 months old, Sampson says, and to withhold major allergens - peanuts, tree nuts and seafood - until after the child's third birthday.
A number of children eventually outgrow food allergies, Shapiro said. Peanut allergies, however, tend to be lifelong, she said.
While researchers continue to study infant allergies, doctors sometimes have little to offer anxious new parents. Some doctors have never been faced with the condition, Shapiro said.
Others, reportedly, don't consider food allergies a problem.
"It isn't uncommon to have a pediatrician write food allergies off," said Jennifer Truluck, whose daughter, Savannah, now 6, is allergic to all eight of the top food allergens. When Savannah was an infant, Truluck said, doctors did not readily consider food allergies as a diagnosis.
"My first pediatrician was really dismissive. ... It wasn't until I bypassed him that I found out how serious her condition was."
Dissatisfied with vague advice from doctors, more than 30,000 parents around the nation have formed support groups dedicated to dealing with childhood food allergies.
Keri Schurr is a co-leader of the Seattle Chapter of Food Education Allergy Support Team (FEAST), a "nonprofit support group that provides information, education and support to food-allergic individuals and their families."
Allowing parents to share information through an online version of the group and through monthly meetings, FEAST helps parents cope with everyday life, said Schurr, whose son suffers from a severe dairy allergy. Through FEAST, she has learned about effective allergy treatment options, what precautions to take before buying foods and what plans to make to prevent children from being exposed to an allergen at school.
"A lot of pediatricians are hesitant to tell a mother to drop things from her diet, because they're concerned about her nutrition," Schurr said. Mothers should trust their instincts, she said.
In an effort to inform parents, Seattle's FEAST has brought in a number of speakers to group meetings including nutritionists, allergists and dermatologists, said Schurr. Membership in FEAST (www.seattlefoodallergy.org) is free and open to any parent wishing to learn more about food allergies.
FEAST also works to get laws changed.
Currently, the group is working to reduce cross-contamination in restaurants, where safe foods may come in contact with allergens through poor handling, Schurr said. The group is trying to increase outreach to doctors, providing them with information about resources for parents of newly diagnosed children. And FEAST is also working with hospitals to get allergen-free food on their menus, Schurr says.
Some mothers find solutions to their children's allergies in precautions.
For example, Truluck, a FEAST member, advises parents to call ahead to check what foods will be available when traveling. She makes sure that any hotel room her family uses has a kitchenette for food preparation. And she advises parents to make understanding friends who will not be offended by what may seem like a violation of their kitchens, for example, by mothers who wash dishes and wipe down counters in others' homes. To be safe, she said, she sometimes brings her daughter's food and utensils from home.
"It's difficult for people to believe you're not being crazy," Truluck said.
Once she discovered FEAST, Delamarter found other mothers to be her best source of information.
Daily e-mails from FEAST help keep her informed about labeling laws, new treatment options and which safe-looking foods can be dangerous, she said. She also checks kidswithfoodallergies.org daily for recipes such as "Oatmeal Chocolate-Chip Cookies." The site provides a forum for mothers who are still breastfeeding.
Delamarter is happy that the days of emergency-room visits are past. Today she delights in Maggie's chubby cheeks and contagious laughter.
Maggie has made a full recovery and is beginning to crawl.
"Food allergies are on the rise, and people who are supposed to be experts don't understand it," Delamarter says. "I really want to encourage people to push their doctors and get their children checked out."
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COMMON SYMPTOMS OF FOOD ALLERGY OR INTOLERANCE
If you suspect your child is having a problem with food allergies or intolerances, and your pediatrician is dismissive of your concerns, you may want to push for a referral to an allergist. Symptoms that would indicate a problem:
Chronic eczema: Long periods of scaly and itchy skin rashes.
Hives: Often-itchy red welts on the surface of the skin.
Chronic unexplained digestive or respiratory problems.
Colic: chronic, unexplained, excessive crying.
Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that can be fatal. Call 911 immediately if you see signs of anaphylaxis. Symptoms include: Severe hives or hives in conjunction with another reaction, facial swelling, swelling of mouth and throat (the constriction of the throat is especially dangerous because as the throat swells shut, the child will stop breathing - child turns blue with lack of oxygen), vomiting, diarrhea, cramping, drop in blood pressure, fainting, death.
Source: Anna McCartney co-leader of FEAST
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8 MOST COMMON FOOD ALLERGENS
Milk and other dairy
Eggs
Peanuts
Tree nuts (walnuts, cashews, etc.)
Fish
Shellfish
Soy and soy products (tofu, soy milk, soy nuts, etc.)
Wheat
Source: The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network
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ON THE WEB
Kids with food allergies: www.kidswithfoodallergies.org
The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN): www.foodallergy.org
Food Allergy Initiative: www.foodallergyinitiative.org
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology: www.aaaai.org
Source: Anne Munoz-Furlong, Founder and CEO of FAAN; Tracy Delamarter, member of FEAST.
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(c) 2006, The Seattle Times. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.
