The Peanut Diaries: A Parent’s Journey to Uncovering their Child’s Allergy

“Our discovery of our son’s allergies was during weaning, much like, I imagine, how most parent’s first discover their child’s allergies. The rather unmistakeable clue was the hives that broke out over his whole face when he first tried a plain yogurt. It didn’t help matters when, as most babies do, he smeared the yogurt all over his face!

A trip to the doctor led to a referral to the allergy clinic at Leeds General Infirmary where he was tested for many allergens by the skin prick method. It was during his test that we had his dairy allergy confirmed, and also learned that he was allergic soya, kiwi and peanuts.

I think the biggest impact of his allergies in early life was the toll they took on us before we even realised what was going on. The first months of our son’s life were difficult for us and for him. He was a very unsettled baby with various skin complaints, he struggled to feed and was generally a rather ‘unhappy chappy’, putting it lightly. The lack of sleep was pretty tough too. If our son slept for more than an hour at night in one stretch that was pretty good going, but mostly he would spend as much time awake and upset at night as he would asleep, and that meant at least one of us was awake with him too.

Besides the crippling sleep deprivation, the main thing that sticks with me about this time was how isolating the whole experience became, and sadly how little our family and friends seemed to understand. I guess others just thought we were exaggerating. When apologising for our tiredness in social situations, I don’t think many people close to us really understood when we’d explain we were up all night, that we quite literally meant we were up all night! We we’re so sleep deprived we didn’t have the energy to do anything beyond just functioning, and all the joy of what for many people is a wonderful time in their lives was sucked out of the whole experience of having a newborn. I can only say I’m glad it was out first and not our second child with which we had this experience because we’d have really struggled if it was the other way round.

All that changed though, when we discovered his allergies. Whilst we were embarking on a new and different allergy journey, the upside was that once we cut out his allergies from his and my wife’s diet, he settled down in a few weeks. He slept better and his skin was much improved too. Every cloud has a silver lining.

Long story short, our son outgrew his soy allergy at age 2 and has almost fully outgrown his dairy allergy at age 5. But he will almost certainly carry his peanut and kiwi allergies for life.

In the years since our first discovery of his peanut allergy, studies have been released that show avoidance may not be the right approach and suggest that early introduction of peanuts in a child’s diet from 4 months of age can dramatically reduce their allergy risk.

In addition, the risk of development of an allergy can be increased if the allergen is first introduced to the child through broken skin, such as those that suffer from eczema. This is to do with the way that the body is first introduced to the allergen. On first contact with the allergen, the immune system will either categorise it as friendly and yummy food if first introduced orally, or as an outside threat if it is first introduced through broken skin, and this first encounter can establish the relationship for life.

This was especially disheartening for us, as in his early months we would regularly eat peanut butter on toast, and then unwittingly kiss our son on his broken skin with our peanut buttery lips. My wife and I really struggle with the thought that we gave him his allergy in this way.”

If you or your loved ones are living with food allergies, please know you’re not alone. The Natasha Allergen Research Foundation website offers valuable guidance, practical tips and support to help you navigate any challenge you may face along the way.