PREVENTING FOOD SENSITIVITY: KEEPING THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE
None of these preventive measures is foolproof, unfortunately. Some children go on to develop allergies, come what may. So a philosophical outlook is essential – do what you can to protect the child from allergens and irritants but accept that it may sometimes be impossible. Above all, try not to get too anxious. A child needs to see the world as a safe and welcoming place, not one that is fraught with dangers. If your anxiety is obvious it may do a great deal of psychological harm.
Once the child is a year old, the risk of sensitization is far less, and you should be able to sit back and reap the benefits – an allergy-free child. There is no need to continue these stringent preventive measures unless there is a clear need for them – if the child obviously reacts to house dust for example, then you will have to continue being ultra-clean, but if there are no problems then you can allow your standards to slip a little.
If your child develops allergies anyway, then try not to blame yourself or other people – you can never know for sure what went wrong and it is pointless trying. Take comfort from the thought that your child’s allergies might have been much worse if you had not gone to so much trouble – in the Swedish study, described above, it was notable that the different risk factors added up to give an even greater risk. Your preventive measures must have subtracted some aggravating factors and made your child’s illness less severe than it might otherwise have been.
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