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Stopping Infant Allergies in the Womb |
 During those nine months of pregnancy, there is a lot of anticipation for the new mom and dad. Much of that anticipation is full of excitement and joy. But there is also anxiety about the future health of your newborn. Along with a myriad of other health worries, the potential of infant allergies can cause some significant concern for parents. That worry is justified because allergies in babies is quite common. So anything you can do while your little one is still in the womb to head off infant allergies is always a good idea.
The good news is the medical community is a major partner with new parents in giving you all the resources you need to plan your pregnancy with an eye toward eliminating allergies in your child before they get a chance to get started. The research that medical experts has been very effective. It reports that one of the best ways to give your newborn the best start on life to ward off infant allergies is to get tobacco out of the house. That means that mom must stop smoking and that she should avoid any situation where second hand smoke could get into her system.
The toxins in cigarette smoke are bad for an adult and terrible for a child in the womb. When a pregnant woman's breathes in those toxins, they are quickly carried to the fetus through the bloodstream. Those toxins weaken your newborn's lungs and immune system making it more difficult for your baby to fight off allergies. So toss out the cigarettes and become a clean air fanatic in the home and you will be giving that baby in your womb a big advantage in avoiding infant allergies.
There is good news that medical research has provided concerning the diet that you consume during pregnancy and your newborn. There is a popular notion that if mom will avoid all foods that could be a potential allergy source such as milk, eggs, bananas, peanuts and shellfish, that will protect your unborn infant from those allergies. While it is wise to eat in a healthy fashion during pregnancy, for the most part, scientific research has not shown any connection between eating foods that could cause allergies and the incidence of allergies in babies.
Many of the foods you might have enjoyed are important to the health of the mother and the growth of the baby. Milk and cheese are tremendous sources of calcium and protein that benefit the growth of the child inside you. The probability that any of the foods you eat causing allergies in your child when he or she is born is very low. This is good news for expectant moms because it is one more level of anxiety and worry you can put aside.
If there were any food group that may be worth considering putting on the hold list during pregnancy, it would be peanuts. But only add this change of diet to your list of things to do for the health of your baby if there is a history of peanut allergies in the family. The reason peanuts is one food that pregnant women sometimes avoid is that in theory peanut allergies could possibly surface in the newborn. Peanuts are also relatively easy to eliminate from the diet. But peanut butter is a great source of folic acid as well as protein for pregnant women and it is a food that many expectant moms crave. So unless your doctor advises you to eliminate peanuts from your diet to protect that unborn child from a future allergy, there is no genuine reason to worry about it.
The important thing to remember is that infant allergies are so common that they could almost be considered normal for young children. Allergies are a result of the immune system reacting to an allergen. In an infant, the very young immune system of the baby needs some time to "learn" how to protect your baby.
So even if your newborn does develop some infant allergies, it is all part of growing up. In the majority of situations, babies outgrow their allergies by the time they are three. So take infant allergies in stride because they don’t mean your child is sick. With proper care, they will go away and your baby will grow up to enjoy a happy and healthy childhood.
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