what does an allergic reaction look like?

Question

no one has really explained this to me; just said look out for difficulty breathing, swelling tongue, or a rash.
since starting ariana on solids shes had this little rash/breakout under her mouth on her chin. she's had it since starting brocolli i believe, but still has it and has moved on to carrots. thing is, it comes and goes. its not there constantly. it looks like little pimples, but i wouldn't think pimples would come and go.
could it be an allergic reaction? what do they look like?

Ashelen · Answer

well is she teething at all? excessive drool can make the face stay wet to the point where the skin becomes irritated and/or can get a yeast infection from the moistness.....so if she's teething, combined with the acidity of the new foods added to her saliva, it could easily cause a rash.

smjmekg · Answer

vacuumprincess~~~I agree. I just wanted to point out that it CAN start in the face, because I have first hand experience seeing it, and that no matter what, rashes/welts shouldn't be taken too lightly with an infant.

julianovak · Answer

*Just stated what my childs pediatric Doc said. She knows more then i do obviously, Bc i thought it was a allergic reaction. If an allergic reaction startd on the face then you are on the rare side of things... thats all.

vacuumprincess · Answer

I know kids that are allergic to peanuts.  first their face swells up, then they start puking & then the airways close... so it starts in the face for them too.  

I also have a friend whos kids are allergic to milk & lactose products.  Their stomach cant tolerate it. This friend discovered it by seing blood in their diapers.  how scary.

sooo...  I think it can show up in different places, depending on the allergy & how the body handles it.

smjmekg · Answer

Not to start an argument, but I have to disagree on the face being unusual to see an allergic reaction. 

Elijah is allergic to peas, he ate them all the time, and out of the blue he got welts on his face that spread down his front to the top of his diaper, started dry heaving and puked, and was having trouble breathing. The FIRST thing I notice was the welts on his face. Same thing with certain foods that contain yeast, except with those he gets a yeast rash on his rear too.

We found out just a couple months ago he's allergic to amoxicillin....first place of the reaction, his FACE, then his neck, and it slowly spread over the rest of his body from the top of his head to his toes he was covered in welts. 

I would keep an eye on it and if she has any other kind of reaction, take her to the dr to see what they say about it. Even if it's a food she's had more than a few times, she could develop an allergy to it.

julianovak · Answer

It could be irritated from wipeing her face, or if she is drooling.... the face is very unusual for an allergic reaction.... so i doubt its that... it MIGHT be just from skin-to-broccoli contact, My daughter LOVES tomatoes, BUT gets red spots on her chin from the tomatoes themselves/the juice. =) dont worry i doubt its a true "allergic reaction"..... Its VERY RARE to get a true "allergic reaction" on the face... Most likely from what i said... Check with your doc.... Hell prolly tell you what i just did, cuz My bella had the same ol thing from tomatoes.

mom2ariana · Answer

i guess i should clarify when she finished all of the brocolli i had frozen i started carrots and we haven't revisited brocolli yet. im doing strictly one veggie at a time.

mom2ariana · Answer

shes acting perfectly fine and her tongue seems fine; it comes and goes no matter what i feed her. we've already finished the brocolli and finished carrots and it has come and gone over the course of those two vegetables.

vacuumprincess · Answer

I alway heard that when you introduce a new food to smear some on their lip, face area first & see what happens.  

could be a rash, or could be that you are wiping that area a lot (from drooling & eating) it could just be irritated from all the wiping & dabbing.  My daughter would get pimples that come & go... at least I thought they were.

how does her tounge look?  how does she act?

smjmekg · Answer

Elijah gets little welts. Try giving her the broccoli by itself and see if it happens, or any of the other foods you have given her and find out which one is doing it. I would wait a while and try her on it again when she's older, but avoid it now.