I had a very strong feeling that Merritt was allergic to both peanuts and eggs, so I called an allergist in Birmingham that came highly recommended. Dustin and I took both Merritt and Banks (still wanted to check on his milk protein allergy) in April, and it was confirmed quickly that Merritt was allergic to both.
Since her reaction only affected her skin and not her airway, I felt much more confident about following the doctor’s protocol in order to help her not react to peanuts and eggs anymore. He showed us how to do it in the office, we waited to see if she reacted, and then we were sent home with lots of papers of directions to follow daily.
He told me I could treat both the peanut and egg allergy each day, but that was too much for me (especially starting this at the end of school) so I’m working on her peanut one now and will work on her egg one next.
Here’s what I do each day with Merritt:
I gather all of the supplies that I need.
I started off giving Merritt 1/16 tsp of peanut butter mixed in applesauce. I did that every day for a week before moving to 1/8 tsp. I also did that every day for a week before moving to 1/4 tsp. Then I moved to 1/8 tsp, 1/4 tsp, and 1/2 tsp. Then instead of doubling the amount each week, he had me move it up by 1/4 tsp, so I went to 3/4 tsp. Now Merritt is taking 1 tsp and tomorrow I will move to 1 1/4 tsp. I will do this every day with her until we get to 2 tsp. Once we make it to that amount, I just have to give her 2 tsp of peanut butter about 2-3 times a week until she gets to 18-24 months old when she should be fully over it.
I have to mix the peanut butter with applesauce because the doctor explained that something needs to coat the proteins of the peanut butter. (This looks gross, but I tasted it and it tastes pretty good!). I feed her this mixture (he wants me to feed it to her so it doesn’t get on her skin), wipe her mouth off, and then I give her the rest of the applesauce before she drinks water.
Merritt gets really excited when it’s time to eat her peanut butter, and that’s made this a breeze! Hopefully she will also feel this way when I have to start giving her eggs mixed in applesauce haha! Thankfully her egg allergy wasn’t as severe as the peanut allergy, so I get to start at 1/4 tsp instead of 1/16 tsp. We’ll follow the same protocol until we get to 1 tsp daily of eggs and then she should be good to go as well!
I will be so happy to get all of this past us because if you’re a household with a food allergy, you know how complicated supper can get. Thankfully Dustin and Harrison can eat anything and doctors keep telling me Banks should grow out of his milk protein allergy soon, so all we will have left is gluten 🙂
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