reflux, gas, eczema - b/f mom, what to eat

[aidenmc]

I was wondering if anyone has any direction for me. My ds has been gassy since birth, has reflux (getting the meds today) and has had eczema on his cheek for a few months now. I have been to my dr who says it is due to an immature digestive system and probably food intolerances and that she has rarely had a patient who could pinpoint the bad food. I took him to a naturopath who identified strong intolerances to wheat, apples, tea, cola, ice cream and some other milder sensitivities. I went off those foods for awhile hard to keep off the wheat) and thought I was seeing a difference but it didn't last long. At the same time I felt bad for eating other things that have been known to cause problems for babies (dairy - just a little, soy - fine on the testing,etc.) I just went to the dr yesterday who prescribed cortisone for his cheek and something else to reduce reflux. She said not to bother avoiding wheat etc. and that he will eventually grow out of it. So now I don't know what to believe, whether to go back to eating whatever I want and relying on the meds to treat the symptoms or to try to pinpoint the cause.

Any advice??

[JennŠ]

Being a bottle feeding mom, all I can say is treating the symptoms is good, avoiding the cause is better.   How old is he?  Any history of allergy in the family?  Also check with the breast feeding and colic/reflux boards for more input on this.   Someone around here will have answers.   

[Cam's Mum]

Hi, how old is your baby?? My dd had ALL these symoptoms from about 6 weeks and all the drs just told
me she'd grow out of it, but by 3 months she was so bad with reflux & excema some one suggested a chiropracter - which I would never have thought of - and after 4 visits her reflux was gone - NO meds at all taken either and her excema is much much better - it also depends on what I eat. As above said its best to find and treat the cause rather than the symptoms!! It turned out my dd had such a misaligned spine & that caused the reflux, coz she couldn't TELL me what was wrong so her body was and we were ignoring it!!!!
The main foods I avoid and found to really help is foods high in preservatives - ie most pre-packaged /pre-made foods in jars/cans. for example fresh ingredients when cooking like tomatoes not tinned tomatoes etc. I also gave up bread -yes it is hard and I will have it occasionally, but there are lots of substitues - rye, rice, corn etc. I'm not much of a milk drinker so I can't say if that effects her in any way. Well I hope this is some kind of help to you, I know every baby is different. Goodluck

[deb]

Something else to consider might be adding some probiotics to your LO's diet fo at least a few days to see if it makes a differerence. Some babies have a hard time digesting things if they've ever had antibiotics in their systems; this includes the antibiotic IV moms get if they're Group B Strep positive! The first few days of her life,  Natallie would fart so much and the smell could clear a room, but after I gave her some probiotics (I think she was 5 days old), that stopped and she's been fine since then.

I would NOT go back to wheat and hope he'll grow out of it; wheat's a pretty common allergen, and no, they DON'T always "grow out of it." (Ask my friend who's been told that while her DD may grow out of her egg and dairy allergies, her nut allergy is very likely lifelong. )

Definitely check out chiropractic; it's worked miracles for some babies. Avoiding the common allergens should also help - wheat, dairy, eggs, nuts, and soy, although it sounds like soy might be OK for you (fermented is better, like tofu or miso, or so I'm led to believe through all my reading, as plain unfermented soy - any legumes - is starch AND protein, which don't alwys digest so well together and so can cause gassiness).

Good luck and keep us posted!

[aidenmc]

Thanks everyone! Sorry so long to reply. I am newish to these boards and lost my post! Anyway, I will definitely try to the chiropractor and continue with the diet (although I have to admit that right now I still don't see a lot of imprvement). Over the last week he has been constipated. On Wednesday it was so bad he couldn't take his afternoon nap - he was tired and almost asleep but he just couldn't fall into a deep sleep. I don't know if it is related to the Zantac he is on? Someone on another post said their lo had trouble with cereals so i am trying to cut down on those to see if that is the problem. The probiotics is another great idea. He's never been on antibiotics (now was I) but it seems like his system just generally has a hard time digesting anything (although he is big and healthy). According to the test yoghurt would be okay (I know it contains god bacteria) but his dad is allergic to dairy so I have been hesitating on that. He is 8 mo. now. I am going to try to bf till 1 year.