BabyWhispererForums.com
EAT => Food Allergies => Topic started by: ~Emma~ on November 30, 2010, 22:49:31 pm
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OK. Need some help here with DD. Thinking about the possibility of MSPI or the ilk. I know nothing about this so thought I would start by coming here and listing all the things the things with her and perhaps some BTDT Mamas can see of it might be a possibility.
-The last 2 or 3 days she has had sort of stringy poos. More greenish in colour. She has been prone to be on the more runny side of poos but I thought that perhaps more to do with my over active letdown.
- Always sounds congested. Always has.
- Fussy feeder. Again I thought more due to OAL (which has calmed down somewhat recently). She can go from refusing feeds one minute to wanting to eat all the time the next. When she does feed she os jerking all over the shop, arms flailing.
- Constantly sticking fists in mouth even after just being fed.
- Does NOT nap. Ever. 20 mins at a time if she does, very rarely naps longer.
- Hiccups quite alot
- Very gassy. Farts in her sleep!
- Fidgety, never quite relaxed. Even when asleep. Cranial osteopath commented on this alot at her appointment on Monday. Very jerky.
- She does spit up during/after feeds and doesn't like it but doesn't scream the house down either
- Bad skin on face (spotty and bumpy) and patches of eczema, GP checked eczema and said not uncommon in babies.
The poops are obviously what are bringing this all together for me right now but she is just getting over a bout of cold too so dont know if thats related to the nappies. The nap situation has always been worrisome of course. The thing is over and above all of this is that she isn't a baby that cries alot. Although saying that as the weeks go on she does cry alot more in the day, I was assuming OT due to the lack of sleep. Night sleep is generally fine although the last 3 nights she has 3 nw instead of 1.
I just dont know what to think, everything seems so vague. Like I said I dont know the first thing about any of this stuff just thought I'd put it out there after posting on the BF boards about the poop.
Thoughts? :)
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Since I've already given my thoughts I'm just here for some hand holding. :-* Sounds so much like how F was at that age too. :-\
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(((hugs))) Emma. Sounds like you and your poor wee girl are really going through it.
Dylan never had any intolerances so I can't really speak to the mucousy poops, but he does have a dairy allergy (among others) and eczema which was quite severe when he was young, and I did a dairy elimination when he was younger. His sleep was garbage - he woke up every 45m-1h, from all naps and all night long - and we attributed that to his skin, but could easily have been tummy discomfort too... My dairy elimination did not improve things as much as I would have hoped, but we didn't know at the time that he had multiple food allergies and I was still eating his other allergens almost daily.
TBH, reading what you have written, I would suspect that *something* is bothering her. Although OALD could cause some of the symptoms you're describing (greenish poops, though not the mucous, gas, fussing during feeds, even the hiccups), it wouldn't contribute to mucousy poops or eczema. If it is something in your diet, dairy and/or soy are the most likely culprits, though it could be anything really :P
Have you thought about doing a dairy/soy elimination? It's daunting to think about - I LOVE milk, cheese, ice cream - but it is possible. It takes a lot of label reading, and finding substitutions for things that you usually use, but once you get used to it it really becomes habit. You can use rice/oat/almond milk for cooking or drinking, I use a vegan margarine for all of Dylan's foods, you can use coconut oil (a solid) as a substitute for butter in baking. I have to make just about everything from scratch, but TBH we're all eating healthier for it anyway. I could give you brands but they'd probably be useless to you as I don't know if you'd have them in Scotland. I'm sure other moms will pop on with more thoughts and hopefully some more concrete advice for you too!
xxxx
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At this point from many of your posts I know that you've got your hands full already, so the idea of an elimination diet might well be daunting, BUT if it helps with her symptoms, and if it helps her SLEEP, then at least you'll know, KWIM? IMO you have more to gain from trying it for even 2-3 weeks than you do to lose. Many of the symptoms you're describing sound like textbook MPI or MPSI. (BTW, when Nat's poops were green, it turned out to be carageenan in the rice milk I was drinking. I had to switch brands for a couple months. It might be something that simple.)
My two cents, worth what ya paid for it. :-* :-*
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The eczema is just a patch on her forehead. Its always dry but flares up now and again. She has red pimply spots all around her neck and chin and on her chest too. So really not too sure if the eczema is that bad to warrant thinking an intolerance of some kind.
I'm all over the shop with this. I cant make a bloody simple decision these days never mind something like this. I'll wait for her next poop and examine more closely!
I am feeling very daunted by it all. I am a dairy kinda gal. I drink full fat milk and take cream in my coffee. Cheese of any kind is my ultimate favourite food, as are eggs. I just dont know what the hell i'd eat!
Do I need to speak to my doc about this do you think? Or just go ahead and take out dairy? Do I just start with the pbvious culprits like cheese and milk ir go all out on everything?
I'm very confused. :-\ Easily done these days I tell ya! ;)
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So she done a poop.It was on the greener side of yellow iykwim( she done one yesterday that was almost grey!). No seedy bit and bits of snot-like stuff in it that was quite stringy.
Thing is she actually is napping this morning, this is the 1st time in about 2 weeks she's napped longer than 20 mins. Resettled at 30 but she's still going. Difference today is she's on her left side and swaddled differently with the MB. ie arms not directly at her side. She sleeps on her back all night with the MB done up real tight though. She's also a mega escape artist from the swaddle!
Bleurgh. Dont know what to think. I'm in no doubt she's a touch refluxy, nothing too major I dont think. Just kinda baby growing onto themselves sort of stuff but then again maybe not.
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hun I was in your exact position a few months ago, all the same symptoms except DD was terribly constipated, it took 4 days of a dairy free diet to see an improvement. If you could cope with it for 1 week I really, really would try. It took me 10 weeks to concede I needed to try it, wish I had done it sooner ::)
Tbh my Dr was very scathing when I mentioned possible dairy intolerance, I would just go ahead and try it and make sure you get calcium from other sources. I avoided dairy completely, I don't see the point in avoiding obvious but not hidden, just prolongs the process of finding out if she is intolerant. If she is she will more than likely grow out of it :)
(((hugs))) and good luck, it is SO hard (cheese is actually my favourite food in the world) but worth it to continue bf for a bit. That said, if you do find it is helping but too difficult for you to do there are options such as nutramigen :)
xxx
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I would really, really like to continue to BF if at all possible. It was always my intention to mix feed though but I guess if I want to give her a bottle then the pump will have to come out for the time being until I get to the bottom of this.
I'm going to start in a few days I think. Our meals are all planned and it heavy snow here so I cant get out of the house with the kids to find alternatives just now. Would also like to do a bit more research first. She's got her immunisations today anyways so no doubt today she'll be off anyway. Exactly how much more procrastination can I do you think?
Am I likely to see a difference in a week?
LIke I said she's not an unhappy baby for the most part and thats whats holding me back really.
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Adding some {{{hugs}}}
Good luck with the jabs today. R had hers yesterday and slept for ages after. Hope D is ok xx
I mentioned to my doctor yesterday that R is very windy and it disturbs her sleep etc. he said the usual...gripe water or infacol used consistently for a week each. He did mention food intolerances actually (cows milk in particular) and said its worth cutting them if you think its an issue. He said a lot of digestive issues iron themselves out by 3/4 months but not sure i'd wait that long if I thought it was an issue and an actual allergy. We don't have a lot of the other symptoms other than the wind and i'm still guessing thats to do with OAL so am going to monitor for now. I'd keep an eye on D's nappies and if the green mucousy ones persist it may very well be worth doing a trial. As pp say, nothing to lose, tonnes to gain.
More {{{hugs}}}
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Cheese of any kind is my ultimate favourite food
Me too Emma, and I mean my FAVORITE food in the whole wide world! It was so depressing for me to give it up. Honestly though, I could have written your post, I really could of. But I was so not willing to give up BFding at any cost. I think you should try it. I know it's not what you want to hear, but if it helps then it's worth it. (((hugs)))
I saw a difference within days of getting rid of the big stuff, so I think you are likely to notice some differences in a week. But overall it took awhile for his poops to be normal again. And we still struggled for quite some time, mainly because of the difficulty of staying dairy free on my part! Don't forget to watch out for hidden dairy too.
Good luck, we are all here to go through it with you!!
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Well, if you want to take out the dairy for a trial, it really IS best to take it ALL out, including the hidden dairy. That said, if you take out *most* of the dairy and see a difference, then you have a direction to go. It does take about 2 weeks for all the dairy to get out of your system and thus out of your breast milk in order to give her milk that has no dairy proteins in it at all. If you started today you could give it till Christmas and see how it goes.
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Hi there,
You've gotten some great advice. Just wanted to say that it sounds similar to what we went through with my dd2...even with the OALD. We did end up with blood in her diapers though too, which was a clear tip off.
Just wanted to offer some (((hugs))). I would drop the dairy if you could, as Deb said, even if you drop. Just obvious dairy first see some sort of improvement then you could decide whether to drop all. I went full force, but G was SOOOO intolerant to almost everything. I think you would see some change in a week. We saw improvement right away. Although rule of thumb is thAt it can take 2 weeks to get out of your system Nd then an additional 2 weeks to get completely out of your LOs.
:-*
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Argh. Even more confused now. Just been to the Docs with her for her 6 week check ( even though she's 8!). I brought it up with him and he was great actually. Seemed reasonably knowledgable on the topic and even mentioned that a friend of his did an elimination diet. He advised to hold off. He said the eczema patch is too small to warrant an allergy/intolerance and that the other blotches on her skin are just over active sebacious glands. He said at the moment I should put the icky nappies down to her bout of illness a few days ago and it should clear up. Obviously though he had no input on the lack of naps around the place! ;)
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Another two cents from me then: Unlike meds, which really go best with a doctor's OK, there's no real need to ask a doctor before deciding to go off dairy. It's something you can do on your own. And if it helps her settle and finally nap properly, that'd be a nice benefit.
You could watch the nappies for another day or two before making a decision, and then if no change by the time there really should have been one, this can be Plan B. :)
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I decided to drop obvious dairy before Spencer was even born (Masyn was intolerant, figured #2 might be as well) but never did a total elimination. She always had a few ezcema patches on her body and would get super consitpated all the time. At around 6 months I stopped BF and switched to soy formula and realized what a difference it made, no ezcema, normal poops...and when I tried to intro dairy (yogurt) it started up again. We still try dairy every few months just to see, so far no go, but she has been able to tolerate some hidden dairy.
I had never made the connection between consitpation and MPI, but discovered that for some kids that is just the way they go instead of loose stools. Her other intolerances cause that though, so we just can't win!
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So intersesting regarding the constipation. Brodie was ALWAYS constipate as a wee infant regardless of what formula he was on. Still has bouts these days. Makes me think about him in those early days and how refluxy and unsettled he was.
Just going to keep an eye on these poops until the weekend then decide from then. We do our weekly food shop on a Saturday or Sunday anyways so that gives me time to see if these stringy poops clear and then see what on earth I'm actually going to feed myself!
I've said ot before and I'll say it again. You Ladies are awesome. :-*
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just to give you a different take Emma -
I also LOVE LOVE LOVE dairy and was convinced (or rather convincing myself) that neither of mine could have allergies (Every bfing woman I know here in Polska goes on Ediet regardless....so I just didn't want to be like them LOL). Even in hospital they only serve you boiled rice and boiled apples "just in case" the baby has allergies and when I asked for milk for my tea they treated me like a criminal.
One thing I will say is that if Ds nights improve again then she is very, very like my two. IMHO a baby with milk intolerance CANNOT sleep that well night time and that badly daytime. Also, if she settles easily and happily alone for the most part after night feeds etc I would really suspect a fore/hind milk imbalance. I had it with my two, more marked with Emma who didn't cope as well as Oz in the early days and their nights were SO much better than their days.....
She sounds spirited for sure. And this may mean that she is coping with the fm/hm imbalance only when tired/in the dark/in the night and doesn't have the patience during the day. With Emma, on days when I was home (best of all, alone without oscar) and fed in the dark, after naps etc her poops were almost normal. But if we were out and about and she was nipping on and off or distracted I would be guaranteed green poops by the end of the day. Hers were MAJORLY explosive to the extent that once (tmi) a fart burst out beyond a well-fitting nappy and down my leg while I was feeding her....
Just a take from another dairy-addict who "got away with" not going dairy free.
To ask the mums who had to go dairy-free....did your LOs have the same tummy issues day and nighttime?
S x
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http://breastfeeding.hypermart.net/toomuchmilk.html
a link - my issues EXACTLY
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Hi Shiv! So nice to see you!! ;D. :-*
Awesome perspective below, thanks for chiming in.
Regarding your question about night time, DD2 was definitely worse at night. :(
Emma, how is it going??
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To ask the mums who had to go dairy-free....did your LOs have the same tummy issues day and nighttime?
Day sleep, night sleep, all sleep horrible for us. :( But I can't say that eliminating dairy directly improved sleep in general, it just improved F's behaviour and fussiness and eliminated mucous in his poop.
Thinking of you Emma
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OK, well nappies are still icky. :( Poops are still explosive. :(
Thing is she sttn last night. ;D 11 hours. ;D So her night sleep is def not affected, she has now started to take a morning nap too. Well for the last 3 days anyways. They are short but she still does it.
She sounds spirited for sure. And this may mean that she is coping with the fm/hm imbalance only when tired/in the dark/in the night and doesn't have the patience during the day.
Sounds right on the money Shiv. My supply has calmed down though. I dont wake in the night soaked through anymore and wake feeling like I want to burst, although if I dont get on the breast fairly quicly in the morning it does start to pour out!
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I don't know then, lovey....
I really think that a baby with allergies/food issues COULDN'T have such a good night and maybe Ds nights are better if the last feed is more relaxed, your supply is lower/more settled (mine was always so low at the 7/8pm stage after running around with the two all day).....
She sounds SO SO much like my two.....and Emma had the WORST nappies - I was almost at the stage of going to see the paed about them until I found info on the fore/hind milk imbalance and the steps I took to sort this (dark room, block nursing, no distractions, feeding while she was semi-conscious at the end of a nap etc) really helped me move to 4 HR EASY (and great naps- this is when everything fell into place with both of mine) very easily as she was taking GREAT, relaxed and nourishing feeds by then.
I am trying to think back to when and how the explosiveness stopped....def by around 3 mths both of them started the poop every few days business and by 4 mths it was once a week or even 10/11 days. The day before would be farty and gassy but the poops themselves were less explosive and better formed (though nowhere near as formed as FF babies)....but I think till around 12 weeks or even 14 they were quite explosive....
Emma's green and mucousy ones were few and far between once I took the steps I mentioned above - but I HAD to be consistent with them and the daytime feeds were hard for this one with Oscar around. I would get him doing some playdough, aquadraws or smth just before a feed/at the end of a nap and then leave him strapped in the highchair with tv on and a snack close to him as well (not that I needed to leave for that long as start to finish Emma was always a fast eater - 10 or 15 mins max) and that was it.
The results though with getting the f/h milk imbalance sorted SHOULD be a lot quicker than what it would take to see if it is a dairy or other intolerance....a few days was all it took to get rid of the very green yucky poops and then just a one or two bad feeds in a day (usually the weekend when we were out and about and feeds were more distracted) and we would have the yuck and the wind back again.
if I were you, I would try this first and then go down the elim route if you see no improvement after good feeds...
as for OS - by 8 weeks mine had settled in that I wasn't waking soaked but the left ALWAYS leaked loads if I started from the right and I had numerous blocked ducts etc.....
had a very strong tingly letdown as well.
http://www.llli.org/FAQ/oversupply.html
more info for you and biggest HUGS }}}{{{
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More (((hugs))) Emma. Shiv's advice does sound like that might be a problem, I agree the fact that D sleeps so well at night is curious. What about giving it until the end of the month? Holidays coming up and it's going to be so so hard to stick to an ED, even if you want to you will probably slip up with all the holiday food and TBH starting now is not enough time to psyche yourself up to missing out! If you make it through the holidays and see little or no improvement, or if things get worse, then you can try in January. Which really isn't that far away! :o
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I agree!
The feeding issues for have never really settled completely y'know and I guess I need to give for that to happen. She has actually taken 2 good naps today in her crib and settled well for both so I think we may be turning a corner here ( I hate even saying it as I know then it wont last!). She has had a ton of gas today but no poop whatsoever!
I really hope these good nights stick around. Last night was just a one off i think, I cant be that lucky!
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, I agree the fact that D sleeps so well at night is curious.
this is what gets me....
and speaking from experience, it CAN and DOES happen - mine STTN at 14 weeks consistently (Oz) and 10 weeks with another few NWs during 3 mth GS (Emma) and then ever since....
But, in saying that, had I not pushed them to eat better, in the quiet of a darkened bedroom and had my supply not been as it was, well then I am sure I would still have had issues.
More huggles, Emmusia (if you don't mind me Polish-izing your name xxx).
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More huggles, Emmusia (if you don't mind me Polish-izing your name xxx).
Love it!
When/if the naps start to get better I will definatley be trying the more sleepy sort of feeding uppn waking. Manages this morning after her 1st nap and she fed really well.
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Best of luck Emma, I am so rooting for you that you don't have to eliminate anything! I got lucky with T, he never had a problem with anything and I think I took that for granted! Even still, I'm hoping that F will be able to tolerate some dairy soon, he certainly doesn't seem as affected by things I eat as he used to. Come back for more support whenever!!! :-*
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Thankyou Lovely. :-*
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I got lucky with T, he never had a problem with anything and I think I took that for granted!
I also was much luckier with Oscar than Emma in terms of early issues and am thankful it was this way as I may have given up bfeeding her a lot earlier only I KNEW my body could do it if I could just get her to take those decent, non-distracted feeds. Of course the tongue tie was one of Emmusia's :-) main issues but this wasn't even noticed by me till around 3 mths UGH!
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Basically ditto to everything Martina says!! Her and I lead parallel lives across the world with opposite sexed children ;) All sleep crap here, dairy ED didn't really improve sleep but massively improved gas, screaming, fussiness with feeding and most of all constipation
Hugs, I don't wish an ED on anyone, I struggle every day with it but of course not so much that I want to give up bf!
Mwah xxx
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Sorry to drag this thread up again but her poops are just the worst. She didn't go at all yesterday and today they have just been so watery and very smelly and green. One had 2 x dark flecks in it - not sure whether it was blood or not but there certainly wasnt alot of whatever it was.
Shivi - When you say Emma's nappies were bad well how bad is bad? What were they like? Spare no info!!
Still inclined to think its more to do with the foremilk/hindmilk thing but geez these nappies have been awful. So stinky too. I have been having issues with her clamping very heavily on my right breast too.
Sleep has improved tenfold. Taking ok naps and has sttn the last 2 out of 3 nights but most of all she is HAPPY. Smiles all day, even in her sleep! I'm just worried about these nappies, should I let it go or get it looked in to?
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Aw, ((((((hugs))))))) sorry to hear that about the diapers. :(. But YAY on the great sleep!!!
Just a note though, that's how Gwynnie's diapers started, with the black specks. :(. For us it turned out to be blood. What you can do is take a full diaper, even if you don't see the specks again, and take it to the ped to test. They can test for microscopic blood, and it only takes a few minutes.
I would do that right away. Simply because if it IS blood in the stool the intestines need to heal. If there is blood in stool I'll say you must have quite the angel baby though!!
Hoping for the best! :-*
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Thanks honey. Hasn't pooped today so I'll wait until next poop and see whats in there! I'm just so confused as she is such a happy wee thing, really is an angel. The nappies are just so watery and icky though that it has me worried.
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Emma this is exactly what DD's nappies are like, often murky green in colour and if they're not like water they're like jelly :( And I am on an ED! I am seeing the paed today, I will report back in case it's anything that might help you too! :-* xxx
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Thanks Charli. That would be awesome. :-*
Pooped last night and this morning. Very, very watery again but no flecks in again. Although it was dark in the room for lasts nights nappy change so not 100% sure. They are so foul smelling too. When she was younger they smelled ok. I hate to admit it but I dont mind the smell of baby poop but these are just awful. DH came into the bedroom last night and thought the dog had an accident it was that bad. :o
Good Luck today, I hope you get to the bottom of things.
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Added some pics of the poop. You can see some dark flecks on some of the pics and the mucous bits are quite whitish in colour. Sorry the pics aren't too good. The poops is not as runny as 'normal' though and def not as green.
Also added a pic of her wee face so you have a look at her skin. Must be itchy as her hands are up at it all the time.
Got a doc sppt on Friday.
What do you think?
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Meant to say *poop pics not lics!
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Poor wee thing!
I really think you would have everything to gain by eliminating dairy at the least. See what happens if you cut way back - if you see a change in the symptoms from that, you have a cause-effect relationship you can go on. Do any particular allergies or intolerances run in your family?
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No allergies that I know of. ???
Thing is she's happy as a clam and thats what keeping me back here. She's a great sleeper at night and over the last few days she has started napping like a trooper, really great days. (Well yesterday was a disaster but you have to takew the rough with the smooth eh?) SJe is not a fussy baby at all. Rarely cries, and I mean for whole days at a time. Sometimes when she does cry though its for no reason and it can be lengthy.
Do those poops look like allergy poops?
I guess I just have to bite the bullet. Its a but selfish of me to be putting it off but seriously food is my thing. It really is. Thats what DH and I do, we eat good food together! I dont drink or go out, I just eat good food!
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If she's not digesting her food properly, she's not going to get all the nutrition out of it. My kids can be happy as clams eating pizza, but the methane produced by them the next 2 days is a clear sign they can't digest the cheese, and J in particular gets a rash from something or other we still haven't worked out but some thing aggravate it so we still have to avoid some things. :(
Don't get me wrong, we still eat good food - we just had to change what good food we could eat. :) Frankly, we probably eat better food now than we did before we made any changes, and it wasn't "bad" before, either. ;)
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I guess I just have to bite the bullet. Its a but selfish of me to be putting it off but seriously food is my thing. It really is. Thats what DH and I do, we eat good food together! I dont drink or go out, I just eat good food!
This is so us too Emma. And I tend to comfort eat too, which made it really hard getting through the miserable days with F when I couldn't even indulge in my favorites to make me happy! :P
Those poops look intolerance related to me. :( It's the mucous that gives it away I think. Green poops can be other things but I really think mucous is because of something she is eating.
About the rash, well it could be related for sure to something you are eating. But I do remember with T (who had no food intolerances that I ever knew of), he had really bad baby acne and it lasted forever it seemed, probably until he was like 3mos. Looked a lot like that. So maybe it's just taking awhile to clear up. At least I hope so.
But Emma, IF you do have to go the ED diet, you really can enjoy lots of great things still. It's not like you're giving up every yummy thing you love. And you might be surprised and find some new favs. If you do decide to eliminate, when Liz comes back from her trip (lucky lucky girl!), talk to her!! She can help so much as she has just been through it all.
(((hugs))), I can totally see your dilemma!!! :-*
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(((hugs))) Emma. I can't speak to the poops, but her skin looks a lot like Dylan's did. I'm just on my iPod now but I will get on the computer properly and post a pic.
I know it's hard, but I really would try an ED. If it doesn't work you've done no harm and can go back to normal. But if you DO see improvement that will be all the motivation to keep it up :-* :-*
Will be back
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{{{hugs Emma}}}
R has had a few nappies with mucous in them but they seem to have cleared up. She has had a cold and has been really congested so the doctor said it was due to her swallowing all the mucous she was producing and that it could take a while to clear out of her system. He was saying about babies not knowing to breath through their mouths or blow their noses that all that congestion goes into their stomachs. Hasn't D been sick recently?
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Yes she was sick a couple of weeks bck and when I brought it up with the GP he said pretty much the same. It has been a while now and the nappies are getting worse if anything.
Things is too is that she is always congested too. Always has been since birth, I just put it down to the birth but its been a while since that now. I thought it should be clearing up.
Ach, I dont know what to think anymore. ??? The only way I'm going to know for sure is via ED. I cant take a miserable Christmas watching everyone drinking and eating good food. I know there are good options available food-wise but I'm a whole milk kinds gal and lashings of butter on everything. I guess I want to the doc to give me some other reason for these poops so I dont have to do it.
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I would prob plan to do the ED after the holidays if the nappies keep up. In the meantime that gives the congestion a bit more time to clear.
Is it possible to have an intolerance and for nappies to be the only symptom?
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I am all for doing the ED just to see if it makes a difference Emma, but I have to agree with you that I would not be able to start it around the holidays. :-[ It's one thing that I've been doing it for 6mos now, so I myself am prepared to not eat a lot of my favorites, but I couldn't give dairy up only weeks before. I think you should do the ED, but I think you should wait until January unless you are really determined now. If she is happy and sleeping well, then there's no reason to rush. That's just my opinion though. Maybe cut out what you can, don't go overboard or anything, but give it a few more weeks. :-*
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Is it possible to have an intolerance and for nappies to be the only symptom?
I dunno Shiv. I guess this is the ultimate question for me really. The poops are the only symptom that sticks out to me. Yep she has a wee patch of excema on her face that does get worse and then better, she's congested but its not affecting her sleep (yet). If it wasnt for the poops then I guess I owuldnt be concerned about anything kwim?
I agree Martina! I just couldn't start any time now. It would be a different ball game of it was disrupting her sleep and making her miserable but its not so I guess that buys me some time.
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I am all for doing the ED just to see if it makes a difference Emma, but I have to agree with you that I would not be able to start it around the holidays.
I would have a hard time with that too, we are avoiding getting Spencer gluten free til next year for just that reason. When she was a baby it never got so bad that I thought I needed to cut absolutely all dairy (and other allergens), in hindsight it may have helped her, but nothing was so bad that I was desperate to find a solution.
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Oh that sweet little face! ;D
The diaper looks very similar to how Gwynnie's started out. For us those dark specks were blood, but we had way more. Also, by that time she had an awful time sleeping, was in pain and it was clear there was something wrong. For sure no long nights and naps!
Perhaps you could just start cutting back a little, not a full out ED, in order to enjoy the holidays........ maybe just not tons of milk, kwim? If she isn't hurting, then it could be that such a small elimination will make a huge difference for her intestines and it's not a huge sacrifice for you?
Go with your gut....you know your baby! If it seems to be not worth it to go down an eliminAtion road right now, follow your instinct!
(((hugs)))
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What about a compromise Emma. Stay away from as much of the big stuff as you can - no drinking milk, avoid cheese and yogurt, and no icecream (it's too cold for that anyway isn't it? ;)). But don't worry about hidden stuff, stuff in desserts, butter in mashed potatoes, etc. You can cut back and still enjoy the holidays. :)
Another thing that helps me with the ED - helps get rid of that baby weight! ;D ;)
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have been MIA sorry....
have crazy work days - 14 hour day with work and parents evenings....
anyway, Emma's were this bad and WORSE and seriously ONLY when the fm/hm imbalance was at its worst.
Emma was also an angel, self soothing, STTN consistently from 10 weeks and even earlier 4/7 nights so again, I HAD to find another reason, other than intolerance, as I just KNEW it wasn't possible.
So so many bfed babies have fm/hm imbalance and its all chalked up to intolerance and allergy here in Polska and almost EVERY bfeeding mum I know here is on ED so I was DETERMINED even more so to prove the docs wrong.
tmi - emma's poop was a khaki green, wine bottle green colour with stringy snots in it... at its very worst....I probably saw about 5 or 6 of these nappies EVER and they were all btw 8 and 12 weeks old....once we hit 12 weeks we were on one poop per few days, they were still very gassy and explosive and continued like this till BLW was going very well at 7-8 mths....
In saying that, E never had any rashes etc...
biggest huggles and sorry for not being around...
S x
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I must agree with Shivi on the fm/hm imbalance, I think it sounds v probable in D's case, especially as she is fine otherwise.
Also agree with the ED if you want to try it, just cut down a bit. I ate SO much cheese (hands down my fave food in the world) Had about a pint of milk a day in cereal and copious amounts of tea, not to mention the hidden stuff in everything. Unfortunately for us just cutting down wasn't enough but that was very, very evident by D's age, I was tearing my hair out for a solution to fix my poor baby-it really doesn't sound like you're at that point and hopefully never will be!
As hard as it is to do an ED look at it this way-if you try it and it makes no difference at least you've ruled it out and don't have to feel guilty everytime you scoff down a cheese and pickle sarnie! xxx
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Sorry I didn't get back on last night :-\ Here is a picture of Dylan's skin from when he was younger. Sometimes it was better than this, sometimes worse, but this is kind of middle of the road. It was/is definitely itchy, he used to scratch and scratch at it. My very first post on BW is actually about his eczema and poor sleep!
I did a total dairy elimination for 1 month (including trace and hidden) and didn't really see a change in his skin so I reintroduced. However, hindsight being 20/20, we now know that he has multiple food allergies, so even though I eliminated dairy, I was still eating eggs, peanut butter (and much more than usual!), mustard, etc, which is likely why his skin didn't improve.
EDs really are a process of trial and error, and only you can decide if it's worth a try. If she's sleeping well, feeding and gaining weight well, and generally happy and content, then maybe an ED isn't worth the bother. But you might do it and see results in days, with better diapers and improved skin. (((hugs))) it is a tough decision :-*
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Aw poor Wee Dylan (your one!). :P
Going to wait and see what the gp thinks. He seems to be fairly knowledgable on the subject and quite approachable about it i.e. doesn't just think I'm a mother thats over reacting!
If I'm honest I dont feel its worth it at this point. But then she gets a bed bout of gas and icky nappies and I rethink but for the most part my gut tells me its not worth it.
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It's great that you have a supportive gp - makes life so much easier! elimination diets are tough (I thought so anyway, and all I did was dairy!), and you may or may not see results, so I understand why you're hesitant :) Will be watching for updates :-*
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But then she gets a bed bout of gas and icky nappies
if you eat a lot of dairy on a daily basis, she probably SHOULD be having bad nappies and gas etc as a norm...
Emma's was always much, much worse after distracted feeds :-(
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if you eat a lot of dairy on a daily basis, she probably SHOULD be having bad nappies and gas etc as a norm...
Before I eliminated dairy I was eating a TON - roughly a litre of milk/day plus cheese daily, yogurt every other day, ice cream a few days a week, butter on/in just about everything, plus whatever trace/hidden dairy was in packaged foods. Dylan's poo was always "typical" breastfed :-\ He was gassy for sure, but nothing that we couldn't help by bicycling his legs or giving gas drops.
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Elimination diets are tough but I think-no, I KNOW you can do it if you want to go that route. Like others said, it takes about 2 weeks for the dairy to get out of your lo's system. In my case, I tried for two weeks and didn't see an improvement, so I also cut out soy, and then after no improvement, cut out vegetable oil (found out it had soybean oil) and religiously read every food label, wouldn't eat at restaurants/fast food places, no spices (those often have soy too) and after those failed, eliminated eggs, nuts, fish (not a huge fan anyways), wheat, then had to stop nursing and put my lo on Neocate (he was even reacting to Alimentum!). He had some eczema, but the most troublesome sign was bloody diarrhea. Sometimes it would be very obvious, sometimes it was just very stringy with some faint blood traces. ALL times it was very scary. One suggestion I have is to keep a food diary-what you ate that day, and then record how she sleeps that night, and what her diapers look like that night/the following day. Maybe you'll find the culprit?!
Keep up the good work trying to solve your lo's issues! Big hugs :)
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Oops, I am overtired....I meant two weeks to get out of YOUR system. Also, I didn't see the picture or the link to the picture...I must be missing something obvious, lol!
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as a norm...
I mean as a "norm" if she is oversensitive or has an allergy. I also live on dairy and didn't give it up even a smidgen...
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Poor little mite - it's so hard to see your LO lke this and not be sure if you can help to avoid it. Hugs :-*
My LO was intolerant to me eating egg! Being veggie, I loved eggs, but finally cut them out and the difference was immediate! She had really gassy nappies (until she started having only one nappy every 10 days! and shot up to the 95th percentile in height and weight!!) and a really itchy rash all over her head and face - it appeared first at 6wks old and she would be rubbing her little face up an down us as we were giving her a cuddle, or on her cot sheets :'( We tried various creams, and finally I listed what I was eating (quite easy for me as I was already on an ED as she couldn't tolerate onion or garlic or coffee - screamed following a BF for hours!) The only difficulty was that her rash only showed up 3 days after eating egg (even a pie crust glazing of egg would trigger the rash). We reintroduced egg to her at around 18mth old (after we had her tested before doing the MMR) and she was on the lower end of intolerant so built her up slowly and ow she is fine. Sorry for waffling, just wanted to say that sometimes things will show up later than others (ours was a 3 day period) and hugs if you go down the ED route - it's so not easy when I had to stop my fav foods!! But as Martina said, it really helped with my baby weight!!!
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All you ladies that do ED are just awesome in my book. :) Such a wonderful thing to do for your babies.
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only read the first few posts - so apologies if I am repeating anything.
Here are a couple of thoughts:
the dry skin may be too much chlorine in the water (DS had that as a baby and then it got better - recently spoke to someone from Scottish Water who said our old reservoir was being over-chlorinated for a while, before they changed it to a different one). When we were at my parents DS's skin got a bit better, which confirmed it was our water. We just moistured and didn't use any other products.
The spots, again DS got, are often caused by the heat of their face against your skin when feeding. DS finally outgrew them.
You can eat eggs on a dairy free diet as they are from hens!
Also, go with your instinct. I always thought DS was bothered by some foods and probably dairy, and only now (he is almost 2!) are we confirming this. When he was a baby noone agreed with me, until he got ear infections and I stopped his cows milk and only gave breast milk and his nose cleared completely!! It's not as bad as I though making DS dairy-free although I know I would find it hard going without cheese :(
DS never had issues with sleeping (when I managed to get him down, once perfected BW techniques he was a different baby) but was definitely uncomfortable at times. Baby massage helped - our local community nursery offered free classes, worth checking if Glasgow do similar ...
Hugs.
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I dont know what others said i skimmed through but i saw the poo pics
Thats EXACTLY what Alyssas poo is like if she has formula or I drink/eat dairy I think your looking at mpi
wind too I had milk and cheese other day and we are on day 2 of it going through her system and my god the girl is farting...
I'm on dairy free now for her (the milk and cheese was total brain fart i made lasagne ate it and THEN thought omg thats milk and cheese my excuse is baby brain)
but if i forget and eat dairy I get sooooooo windy so if you think what she would be like iykwim (and it can be as simple as eat a bar of chocolate that small amount of milk makes my stomach bad)
The thing is you need to realise the amount of milk that passes through, if I drink a single glass of milk it goes into my milk and we get those poo's like you showed and bad faciel excema.
She also is very sick, she has reflux but it is alot worse and the sick is mucousy she was once sick after having a formula top up and it was so mucousy a bit landed on my hand and was like a blob of jelly... really grossed me out