"Ellen Penchuk, IBCLC" <[log in to unmask]>

About the new book:
# "If there's a history of allergies in the family, certain foods should
be avoided from the get go. /---/ If you're thinking about children's
respiratory allergies, as much as I hate to say it because we have one,
having an animal around the house, particularly a cat, is not a great
idea. Cats are very allergenic, and they cause a lot of problems in
children who are prone to having allergies." #


I wasn't able to open the link in your later post (yes I copied and pasted
the rest of the link too), but I find it interesting that Dr Ehrlich's
recommendations are quite the opposite to what is recommended here in
Finland these days.

Older recommendations were exactly what Dr Ehrlich says, but the newer
recommendations are that pregnant and/or breastfeeding mothers should  n o
t  avoid any foods "just in case". Research does not support the idea that
avoiding certain foods would prevent allergies, and that limiting mother's
diet for no reason might cause the mother to live on a less than ideal
diet (e.g. missing vitamins, having too much saturated fats, too few
polyunsaturated fats). We used to get lists of "foods to avoid" from the
baby health care clinics, but not anymore. Now the recommendation is that
a breastfeeding mother should avoid certain food(s) only if she notices
her baby reacts to it/them, and even then to avoid  o n l y  that/those
particular food(s).

Also the recommendation about animals and respiratory allergies has
changed here in Finland in the recent years. Now they say it is ok to have
(hairy) domestic animals even in the allergic families - only if any of
the family members reacts to the animal, the family should not have
animals. That is, if a child has tons of food and pollen allergies, but
shows no reaction to animals, her/his family may keep pets, according to
this newer recommendation.

Sanna-Mari, mom to two allergic kids
bf support group leader, Imetyksen tuki ry
Finland, Scandinavia

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