Food trials - Finding the courage

One of Monkey's best friends is Little Hercules. The other night Little Hercules had poached egg for his tea.

I get it, it doesn't sound like news. Why on earth am I blogging about it? While like Monkey, little Hercules has allergies and this was a sign that he was doing well on the egg ladder - a plan for gradual reintroduction of egg back into the diet.

I'm really pleased for Little Hercules as it will open up so many more food options for him. I'm also incredibly proud of Mummy Hercules for being brave enough to do the egg ladder with him.

As a parent of a child with food allergies, ladders and trials are a bit of a nightmare. Obviously I don't want to unnecessarily restrict Monkey's diet but now she's generally happy and healthy the thought of giving her something that could make her poorly again terrifies me.

At Monkey's dietitian appointment at the start of July we agreed not to reintroduce any of the major allergens until she was at least 18 months. We'd had a disasterous wheat trial and accidental exposure to milk and it was decided that her reactions were still too severe to try the ladders. We did say we'd try apples and pears though. These had made Monkey very sick when weaning but she didn't have any of her other reaction types. We thought maybe her problems with these were more reflux related rather than true allergies.

I've still not given Monkey an apple. Or a pear.

I've found every excuse possible - waiting for a wheeze to clear, waiting until I'm off work, until her eczema clears up, until she's had her injections, until she's not teething - the list goes on and on. I know that now is a good time to try though. I also know that apple especially will give us so many more options when it comes to feeding Monkey.

But I'm terrified.

I can't get the picture of Monkey in that hospital cot out of my mind. She was so poorly and it was such a horrible time. The thought of giving her something that could potentially send her back there makes me feel sick.

I had a chat with Mummy Hercules about how she'd found the courage. She said that she'd been quite confident about egg but was worried about the next step which for them is the bottom of the milk ladder. We're going to hold each others hand through it though and be brave for our babies.

So today Monkey is having stewed apple - wish us luck!