Allergies can and do change over time. In some cases, a child will “outgrow” an allergy. In other cases, a child with allergies will proceed from milder to more severe forms of allergic reaction.

The statistics indicate that if your child is allergic to cow’s milk or eggs, then there is an almost 90 percent chance that they will outgrow the allergy. The news is not as positive if your child has a nut allergy. In this case, only 1 or 2 children out of 10 will outgrow this allergy.

With children, even with careful observation, it’s difficult to be sure that a food problem is really an allergy. It could be food intolerance. The very good news is that a child can also outgrow this problem, especially if the offending food is avoided for a long time. Once the food has been out of the diet completely and the child’s body has returned to a non-reactive state, it’s possible that the food can be reintroduced into the diet in small amounts.