Suspecting intollerances/allergies but not sure where to go from here?

[nomesp]

Hi:)  My DS is 8 months and i suspect he has allergies or food intollerances and am feeling a bit lost as to what to do now.  We have seen the pedeatrician who has said to just take things slowly and threw a couple of phamplets at me so was really not to much help.  DS was diagnosed with reflux at 3 mnths old and we have found that no medication seems to help.. .so now it has me wondering whether reflux can also be related to intollerance/allergys??

The symptoms we are getting are:  restlessness, sudden bursts of irritability, reflux - at times very severe and at times nearly none and lots of possetting, red rashes on his skin which started at one on his tummy and have now spread to top of arms and back, Very red ring around anus and red little bottom, and pooing 6-7 times a day very loose stringy (sorry if tmi)

The last couple of days has been quiet sever with reflux and loose bowel motions and rashes so i have decided to stop all solids for a week and then go ever so  slow at re-introducing.  Does anyone know what are low allergen foods are and the best foods to start bubs on?  Previously he has not handled any vegies bar beans/peas/corn and zuchini and only pear and apple.  I will start with rice cereal that has also prev seemed ok.  But i am feeling a little lost and confused as to how to proceed and identify "problem foods" as they all seem a problem?  And is Breast feeding only ok for a baby of 8 mnths old?
Thank you

[Jimbob]

First of all it definately sounds like your lo is suffering from food allergies/intollerances. It is very hard when they seem to react to everything. I think it is a good idea to cut out all solids and let your ds get back to baseline that way you may be able to identify a reaction sooner. It would be a good idea to keep a food diary so that you can record what food is given and if there was a reaction to that food. I used to record things like what mood my son was in aswell as that was sometimes the first thing that altered with some of the foods he was allergic to. I know many people that have had a child the same age that has been exclusively breast fed due to allergies whilst they got their child back to baseline and then slowly reintroduced foods. If you feel that the rice cereal went ok then you could start with that using breast mmilk to prepare. I would go with that for the first couple of weeks then you could add in pear for a week as that has seemed ok previosly also. I would only add 1 new food each week and if you have a reaction to a food then I would wait another week befllyore adding another food to be sure that your ds is not still reacting to the same food.

I hope that helps a little.

Kelly

[Mydreamcametrue]

Breastmilk is perfect for him.  The only reason why they want you to start solids at 6 months is because most babies need more food.  The doctors also don't want you to start solids to late because they will not get used to eating food.

It deft. sounds like an intolerance to me.  Has he always had these bad poops?  Or just when you started solids?

You mentioned Corn.  I am almost certain that is a baby food that should be avoided until 1 years old.

Good foods to start with are
Rice Cereal
Pears (Tracy actually recommends this as a babies first baby food over cereal).
Banana's
Apples
Sweet Potatoes
Carrots
Peas
Green Beans

Also if at all possible I would suggest making your own baby food.  Some lo's react to the Absorbic Acid (Vit. C ) that they add to the fruits.  Also with homemade, you know what is in it.

Keep us posted.
Wendy