Latex nipples

Pediatrics for Parents, April, 2002

Latex allergies are somewhat rare in children. They usually occur in children who have had many exposures to latex-containing medical devices. Most of these children suffer from congenital defects of the spine (neural tube defects) or chronic genitourinary problems.

A recent case reminds us that children with no known history of such latex exposure may have a latex allergy. In this case, a two month old bottle fed infant was brought to the emergency room because of stridor (an abnormal, high-pitched, musical breathing sound caused by a partial blockage in the throat or larynx). The infant had a history of eczema. He was on a soy-based formula as it was thought he was allergic to cow's milk.

It turned out the problem wasn't the formula but the nipple. Many bottle nipples contain latex. Once the baby was switched to a latex-flee, silicon nipple the episodes of stridor disappeared.

Annals of Emergency Medicine, 4/02.