Citric Acid Sensitivity

Updated on November 16, 2010
C.M. asks from Baltimore, OH
4 answers

Hello fellow Moms! My daughter who is almost one, is very sensitive to citric acid. We have known this for a while now but each time she accidentally gets citric acid it seems to be getting worse. So much so that she got ahold of a sippy cup with watered down juice and got a couple swallows in before it was taken. The next day she had 5 bm's and had a diaper rash almost instantly. The pedi says her little body just cannot process the acid and that is why she gets such a bad diaper rash. I am wondering if anyone else has gone through this? Are there any non-citrus juices out there? Will she outgrow this, if so approximately when? Is there a preventative medication we could give, like Maalox or something to neutralize the acid? I feel so bad that she cannot eat fruit or drink juice or eat anything with tomatoes. We cannot even use regular diaper wipes on her as most of those contain citric acid. At her year checkup I will ask the pedi all these questions but am just wondering if anyone out there has gone through this and has any recommendations?

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K.D.

answers from Toledo on

My daughter was allergic to things when she was born. The milk allergy went away and the peanut allergy just gets worse. If your daughter was diagnosed with an allergy by the doctor, you want to stay away from that item even if it means she cannot have juice. I was told that each time you expose a person to an allergen, it uspets their GI tract and could do some serious damage. My daughter started out with vomiting, then diarrhea, then it turned into swelling and blood in her stools. The doc said that if I don't keep a close eye on what she takes in, her GI tract could become to sensitive to tolerate my own breast milk. Try to ask your doctor if he can recommend an allergy specialist. My daughter sees one once a year and he tells me how my daughter's condition is and by a blood test he can tell me if it is getting better or worse.

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A.H.

answers from Cleveland on

C.,

Hello!! My son and I both have this problem, I found that it is in my family. Someone in you or your husbands family may have had this problem and probably never knew it. With my son I gave him juicy juice because it is 100% juice and they have a white grape with pear juice that he really liked, they also have just white grape, strawberry banana (this did not seem to bother him even though berries do have citric acid in them, and they have apple banana juice. They are all very good. You can also look at the organic food section as most of the juices there are made naturally without any preservatives. I know it is a pain but you have to experiment with it and see what will bother her and what won't. As for her diaper rash if you have a drug mart close by there is a salve that is called Pink Salve it looks like pink x though ask the pharmacist for it and he should be able to tell you where it is. It is wonderful and I swear by it, it takes away a rash in a matter of hours and makes them feel so much more comfortable. It looks like a paste when you put it on and a little goes a long way. Hope that this helps and look at this web site they have really good information about the citric acid intolerance.

http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~vclarke/citric.html

Good Luck, A.

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R.S.

answers from Cleveland on

My daughter had the same problem with citric acid. It is no longer a concern since she has been potty trained (she is six now). She was able to drink grape juice, apple, and pear. Also, try mandarin oranges in the can. I know it sounds weird but those did not hurt her. I could never figure it out. We found that if she did get some the best way to treat the diaper rash was letting her go naked. We would even put her to bed with a stack of towels under her and let her sleep naked. Fresh air is the best treatment. Good Luck

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T.B.

answers from Bakersfield on

My son (now 11) is sensitive to citric acid, as well as many other things. Certainly ask the doctor, and have her checked for any associated sensitivities as well. One thing to do is remove ALL citric acid from her diet for awhile ( a few months at least), to give her little system time to heal. Then give her a VERY small amount, like one apple slice, and see if there is any reaction.
My son can now eat as many apples as he likes, but cannot do the concentrated vitamin C chewables, or a glass of O.J. or Airborne. Concentrated anything still bothers him, but he gets plenty of vitamin C in the whole fruits he eats. Hope this helps. T. B

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