Need a sounding board. *poop pics added

[~inbalance~]

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.   

[~Emma~]

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.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

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.

[scarlettsmom]

Oh that sweet little face! 

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))) 

[~inbalance~]

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!   

[shivi]

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

[Roseii]

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

[~ Vik ~]

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

[~Emma~]

 Aw poor Wee Dylan (your one!). 

 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.

[~ Vik ~]

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

[shivi]

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 :-(

[~ Vik ~]

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.

[afeswick]

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

[afeswick]

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!

[shivi]

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...