So, did I mention, we can now give MyItchyBoy eggs?
Well, when I say eggs, I mean we can bake cakes and buns and things and actually put real egg in. Yes, real egg, from chickens. It may sound like a trivial thing, but when they have been out of his diet for the past three years, it is a major step forward in our family. We removed eggs from his diet a couple of weeks after we first introduced them. He was already suffering eczema by that time and it was quite obvious that after eating eggs his eczema would flare up.
MyItchyBoy did have a scratch test done at the allergy clinic which came out as positive. However, the IgE blood test was negative. Either way, we knew that when he ate eggs, his eczema arrived the following day in all its itchy glory.
Now that MyItchyBoy has reached the grand old age of four, our allergy consultant decided it was worth challenging him with some baked egg. This requires putting one egg into a whole cake (or equivalent) and seeing what happens. Thankfully nothing happened. We have since got up to the equivalent of two eggs per cake and again, thankfully his skin has tolerated it just fine.
Since we started this though, MyItchyBoy has had a cold, random flare ups and chicken pox so we have not progressed any further up the line just yet. But, for now at least, I am certain he is tolerating this new baking regime with no ill effects at all. In fact, he loves it! After all, cakes taste far better with real egg in. As grateful as we are to egg replacers, it has been a blessing to be able to bake a simple batch of muffins for Husband and MyItchyBoy that are light and fluffy and behave according to the original recipe. It has also been great to be able to bake successfully using gluten free flour so that all three of us can enjoy the same thing (exchanging flour, egg and milk in a recipe has always been a tricky one). It makes my life so much easier to only bake one lot of goodies at once!
My hope is that in time, MyItchyBoy will be able to progress up the scale to be able to sit down and enjoy an omelette with us. Or, a traditional English breakfast, egg on toast, egg in a stir fry… I would also like to see my boy enjoy a pancake day with pancakes. Of course, for the moment we still have to replace dairy in recipes, but you never know, maybe one day we can get around to challenging that too. For the moment, I am enjoying baking so much more and glad that we have made a small step towards normality for MyItchyBoy.
Hi,
this is an interesting read and I’m glad that your boy can now tolerate egg in baked products. I’m looking for some advice/experiences regarding allergies, in particular egg I think. My boy is 7 months and exclusively breastfed. We noticed blood in stools from around 1 months and was eventually referred to a paediatrician and dietician, who put me on a wheat, egg, soya & milk free diet. After 4 weeks of the diet we didn’t notice any more blood, thank god. We started to blw at 6 months and were advised to gradually challenge the wheat in to his diet, which we did with no apparent problems. So after 2 weeks of wheat in his diet I then introduced it in to my diet. Next we challenged egg in to his diet, starting with a little egg in baked products, then on day 4 we tried scrambled egg. Around day 3, my boy began to wake in the night (very unusual) and frantically scratch at his ears. The next day I noticed a red bumpy rash on ears and head also on his face, I soon realised this was eczema and it was getting worse. I spoke to our dietician who said that it was most likely the egg and to take it out of his diet (luckily I had not introduced egg in to mine yet). My mind is in overload and questioning the reaction. I’m worrying that the eczema is a delayed reaction to the wheat (now that it’s in my diet in my breast milk) but it would be very delayed reaction, and seen as though the eczema has appeared during the egg challenge then its most likely the egg, right?? Sorry I think I’ve carried on a bit, just feel so sorry for my boy as the eczema is getting worse, just hoping it will disappear as the egg leaves his system.
Thanks for reading
Hi, sorry to hear you’ve been having a terrible time of it. I think it is more likely to be the egg (in my limited knowledge of these things). You can get him tested through a blood test to see for sure. I would keep egg out of his diet for now as there isn’t a need for it the way that wheat can exclude a whole range of ‘normal’ foods. The high temp of baked egg is supposed to affect the protein to make it less allergenic. My son can tolerate baked egg, but not too much. I do notice an increase in his eczema when he has been eating cake for three days (not exclusively!!) that has three eggs in compared to eating fairy cakes that only use one or two. We have never made the leap further to scrambled eggs and so far it’s not too much of a pain. I hope you find some answers soon. Sticking with the dietician and continuing to ask questions will definitely help you. Good luck.