Our Blog

Most children have ‘off’ days when they’re feeling a little under the weather. This is a perfectly normal part of growing up and is rarely cause for concern.

From speaking to parents at Read2Grow’s Nollamara childcare centre, we know that many wonder if such days relate to food allergies. We’ll offer our opinions here and we can also recommend formal, medically qualified sources for further advice if required. Note we’re talking here about cases involving foods ‘not agreeing’ with a child, rather than severe allergic reactions.

Those ‘off days’

Almost all parents will have seen their child ‘not quite themselves’ on a given day.

It may be that they’re unusually subdued or just plain grizzly. Perhaps they’re complaining about a mild tummy ache or feeling tired. Their colour might just be ‘not quite right’ or they lack interest in their favourite toys or playing with friends etc.

In the vast majority of cases, such events can pass within an hour or so or by the latest, after a good night’s sleep. Their causes may be many and varied, including over-tiredness, over-stimulation, early warning symptoms for a cold or other bug, stress and their immune systems sapping energy as they develop and deal with a minor infection.

The causes may never be clearly identified but in some cases, it may be a question of a food allergy.

Food Allergies – still a mystery

Many allergies remain poorly understood. They’re usually an expression of a child’s immune system overreacting to a substance and that can lead to familiar symptoms, including many of those mentioned above.

Why some children can eat ‘x’ and have no effect, whilst others might immediately start sneezing is not clear, though genetics are known to be a major contributory factor.

Food Allergies and ‘off days’

Unfortunately, there’s no one-off allergy detection test that can be applied to a child on a day when they’re just not themselves. It’s also something of a myth that allergies always result in very clear reactions like sneezing or vomiting. Many dieticians suggest that many allergies simply make us feel a little ‘under the weather’ and aren’t dramatic.

Such possible causes need to be first identified, usually by repetitive observation and keeping records. If you suspect allergies might be a factor in a child’s health in such a fashion, it’s necessary to record each occurrence, noting:

• are such days moderately frequent? One or two every few months wouldn’t be classed as such but one a fortnight would be;
• are the symptoms identical or very close to the last such event? If not, allergies might not be a prime candidate;
• can you see any patterns in the calendar of such occurrences? Look for days of the week, always after given events (e.g. picnics or barbeques), visit to other family members and food consumed there;
• as each off-day is recorded, try to remember and document what the child ate the day before (including school meals if appropriate) and the day of their unwellness;
• don’t forget to note down any occasional treats they get. If you, at times, have a special cake or sweeties, note them down if they were taken the day before or the day of the ‘off-day’.

This isn’t easy but it might provide the basis for finding patterns and a common denominator. That is essentially trying to spot if these days tend to happen more frequently if, for example, the child had a cheese sandwich for lunch that day.

Specialist medical advice

Spotting these patterns is by no means easy and it’s often a frustrating process.

If you suspect something your child is eating isn’t agreeing with them, it might be advisable to consult your doctor sooner rather than trying to identify the cause yourself. They may recommend allergic reaction tests, usually involving checking tiny amounts of various allergens against the skin of the child. Such tests are often helpful but they might also be inconclusive.

If you’d like to know more about where further information on allergies can be found, our Nollamara childcare centre will be only too pleased to help.