Jane Bell is mother to Lilly, born in 1997, who developed multiple allergies in her first few months of life. This is Jane and Lilly’s story.

"Lilly had breathing and feeding difficulties as soon as she was born. She struggled to take anything in, brought up most of it and had extreme colic. Her bowel movements were very loose, yellow and pungent. She only gained 7oz in the first eight weeks. At 10 weeks, I took her to my GP because my instinct told me something was seriously wrong. Over the next 5 months, these visits became quite regular."

"Lilly was diagnosed with gastroenteritis 12 times and received replacement fluids, followed by a re-introduction of milk. When milk was re-introduced, it was barely a few hours before her symptoms re-emerged, each time becoming more aggressive."

"We were referred to the local hospital, where it was suggested that Lilly may be intolerant to milk. She was swapped to soya-based infant formula, but her symptoms didn't improve."

"At nine months, Lilly became seriously ill. Her faeces had turned to jelly, she was pale and clammy, and we couldn't wake her. We rushed her to hospital and the consultant told us our daughter was probably suffering from an allergy to her feed. Over the next few weeks, she was nasally fed with clear fluids and through a drip, until her symptoms subsided."

"Once she was stable, milk and soya were both re-introduced separately and Lilly reacted to both. At this point, she was started on Neocate, an amino-acid-based formula for highly allergic infants. Her gastroenterologist explained that her system would take some time to settle as it had taken so long to reach a diagnosis."

"Over the next three years, Lilly underwent vast amounts of tests, food challenges and scans. She spent long periods in hospital on drips and nasal feeding, as her system was too weak to cope with normal childhood illnesses. It took two years for her system to calm down, and she remains severely allergic to all milk products, soya, eggs, nuts, mango and some antibiotics."

"As she grows up, policing Lilly's every move becomes more difficult each year. We can only hope that, with guidance and an exact understanding of her allergies, she will stay safe."

"When asked now what parents should do if they think their child may have a food allergy, I always tell them to listen to their instincts and I refer them to Allergy UK, which has been an amazing source of support."