|
Premature Babies and Food Allergies |
 When you are expecting a baby, the mixture of excitement and anxiety is so strong that it is sometimes hard to separate the two. A baby on the way is a promise for the future. It transforms you into a mom and dad if this is your first baby. A lifetime of parenting lies ahead and the months of pregnancy are the beginning of that journey.
But along with the thrill at the coming of a baby come the concerns about health issues. Those concerns are compounded if your baby is born premature. The good news is modern medical resources mean that a baby can be born premature without serious health concerns. But one concern that many parents do continue to worry about even after the youngster is born is whether a premature baby is more likely to develop a food allergy because of their early birth.
The concern lies in the fact that if your baby is born before term, perhaps their digestive tracks are immature and that might lead to a higher likelihood that the infant will become allergic to certain food groups. One reason that this concern is not grounded in fact is that infant allergies are not the result of problems with an immature digestive system in the child.
Like all allergies, baby allergies are the result of the immune system of the little one reacting to a substance as though it were something dangerous to the child. The reaction of the immune system is what produces the allergic reactions in the baby.
The medical community has not overlooked this concern. There has been significant research to determine if babies born prematurely or if infants born with birth weights that are low are at a higher probability of developing infant allergies. This research also took into account that other issues related to the baby could create higher incidence of infant allergies.
These factors include the incidence of allergies in parents or other children in the family. Also, whether the child lived in an urban setting or was the offspring of smokers had to be considered so that there could be a reliable conclusion on whether premature birth did influence the risk of allergies in babies.
The outcome of this research can be of comfort to parents who have a premature baby in the home. Exhaustive studies have shown no connection between infant allergies and the incidence of premature birth or of babies who were born with low birth weights. That is one more thing a new mom and dad can check off their list of things to worry about. But it does not mean that your baby is safe from any incidence of infant allergies.
In fact, allergies in babies is so common that it could almost be considered to be a normal part of the development of the child. Mom and dad do need to be vigilant and if your baby does develop an allergy, do what you need to do to assure your little one can cope with it and outgrow the allergy in due time.
But don't feel any regret or guilt that you somehow let the child down if he or she develops an allergy in infancy. Your baby can have an allergy and you are still good parents because you will do what is necessary to minimize the suffering of your child. That is all any of us can do.
|