You know how kids are constantly complaining about sore tummies and sore feet and sore heads until it becomes white noise?
Well … I’m feeling really crap about my mothering skills right now because I ignored the little girl who cried wolf – AKA Sprog 2 – when she was genuinely, nastily ill.
On the weekend, my sister and I took my mum for high tea at a fancy hotel in the city as her belated Christmas present. There were three tiers of evil on the table – one of sandwiches and chicken puffs, one of scones and one of tarts/cakes.
I’m not a tart/cake kind of gal so there were quite a few tasty morsels remaining after we’d gorged ourselves silly, so I stole some brownies to take home to the Sprogs.
To be honest, I was actually quite startled that Sprog 2 ate her brownie. She’s a fussy eater and normally rejects nutty foods, though she’s fond of the odd salted cashew or pistachio.
But she wolfed it down and almost immediately started complaining that it was spicy and glugging down lots of water.
A brownie? Spicy? I gave that short shrift.
Then she came wobbling into the study complaining about a sore stomach. But mummy was busy blogging and told her to go and lie down and leave me in peace.
And then came the excess mucus production – lots of sniffling and snuffling, which I didn’t pay much heed to because husband was the one who’d be at home on Monday to tend to any mildly coldy kiddlywinks.
At 3.30pm, we jumped in the car for an early dinner at a friend’s house. And Sprog 2 started moaning and carrying on and ripping her skin to shreds with scratching.
Sprog 2 has excema and is constantly being reminded to rub rather than scratch, so I hissed at her to quit it and demanded to know whether she’d been playing dress-ups in dusty clothes again.
When we arrived at our friend’s house for dinner, Husband examined Sprog 2 and immediately hustled me over.
She was covered, absolutely covered, in hives. Every square centimetre of her.
So, being the attentive mother I am, I sent Husband and Sprog 2 to the chemist for antihistamines while I had a glass of sav blanc with my friends. When they finally returned, I made Husband call the hotel where I’d enjoyed high tea at to get the recipe for the brownies.
Walnuts. It had to be the walnuts.
And now I want to know: what should we do? The antihistamines settled the hives, but what happens next time? Heaven forbid there is a next time.
Do we get allergy tests to confirm it? Do we need an epi pen?
Allergy advice would be much appreciated at this point.
Meanwhile, I’m just going to sit here feeling like the worst mother in the world. OK?
housegoeshome 
http://www.lookingforalternatives.com.au/preservatives-additives-affecting-eczema-asthma/
http://fedup.com.au/factsheets/symptom-factsheets/eczema
not getting on my high horse about preservatives, just know that zacs asthma totally disappeared & asthma & eczema r related… the 2nd link mentions salycilates… they’re natural food acids in fruit & veges, so basically all you can eat is pears, green apples & potatoes… could be worth just trying removing them for 2 weeks (thats how long it takes to get out of your body) & see if her skin clears up…
The eczema isn’t too bad usually – getting better with age. She has a dust allergy. But walnut allergies set off eczema apparently.
As you know I don’t have an allergic child but an allergic partner. So used to fret about this a lot, the worry with allergic reactions in kids is they can build. So the first reaction can be mild but the third or sixth can be extreme.
As long as her reaction doesn’t get any worse, then antihistamines will do the trick. By worse I mean, faster reaction of hives or if you start to get swelling of the lips and hives around the lips after she eats.
Since she is old enough, I would get her to look out for the reaction and get her to tell you. But use a trigger word, ie ‘Mummy, I am having a reaction’. Paul knows instantly he is having a reaction, he calls it an itchy throat feeling.
I would definitely do the allergy test if you see another reaction within the next month. If you avoid the walnuts and you don’t get another attack, I would put it down to mild reaction.
PS. total sympathy on the whinging child/sick child syndrome. it’s a tough job being a mum.
Unfortunayely the only one who should answer those questioms is you doctor! Food allergies can be really serious and she sounds like she had the works in reactions.
Yes, must get me – and her – to a doctor.
I’d say go to your doctor or an allergist and find out what that cute one is reacting to. All of us moms are guilty of having overlooked a child’s complaint/discomfort, but learn from that and find out where the problem is. That will make life simpler for everyone.
I have an 11-year-old son who is anaphylactic to all nuts, dairy and egg so we have lived with this for quite some time now. Your daughter has had a classic allergic reaction to a food. I don’t want to alarm you however it’s best that you know that the first or second exposure to an allergan can be quite mild. Then subsequent reactions can become quite severe and the danger is that the throat swells and breathing is compromised. My son has had a reaction exactly like your daughter after a picnic (to this day we don’t know exactly what he could have eaten) and we carry an epi-pen wherever we go. I would advise that you get a referral to a reputable immunologist / hospital and get her allergy-tested. An allergy to walnuts is not too bad – they are reasonably easy to avoid but you need to know if it extends to other tree nuts or even peanuts (legumes).
Yes, I would get a referral to get her tested as there might be other things she is allergic to.
Re not believing her, we have all done this. I once sent mine to vacation care with all these ‘mosquito bites’ which turned otu to be chicken pox. Nice little Christmas gift for some of the other families.
A pox on all their houses …
Yes, something like this!