Next steps in our long long road...

[L76]

Hi

DS is now just over 6 months. Ever since he was a few weeks, we've been battling to work out what is wrong with him. Been down the reflux route for ages and following a ph test on Monday, we have been referred to a dietician next week. The ph test showed prolonged acidity during and after feeds and our paed feels that the next steps for us is to try neocate. Hence the referral.

He was on omeprazole for his reflux - been off it since the ph test and we are going to wait to try the neocate before we put him back on.

So all those BTDT mums, can you give me any pointers for learning more about neocate and allergies? I have started weaning him and now need to understand more about what I should / shouldn't give him...like he has Heinz baby porridge, is there a better alternative? Should I stick to veggies for now? How do I go about introducing things like meat, pasta, grains etc?

Feel a little out of my depth right now so any help would be appreciated  

[EloysH]

hmm...

I use the Royal Prince Alfred (RPAH) Low Chemical diet as my guide for food introductions and only give Kai foods that are calssed "low" on that list.     BUT  a big BUT I aready knew before he went on solids that he was sensitive to food chemicals such as amine and salicylates. 

 You can order their bookelt online at: http://www.sswahs.nsw.gov.au/rpa/allergy/resources/foodintol/handbook.cfm

Here are some basics as recommended by my paediatric dietician  - she specialises in food intolerance and allergy
start with the least problematic foods and introduce everything else carefully and at different stages.
Do veges and rice to start with but if you are dairy/soy free move quickly to an alternative protein source such as chicken.   I know meats are hard to digest so up to you if you feel comfortable doing that early.

Doeach food 3 days at a time. If the reflux gets worse, poos show signs of mucus, and you think they are not toelrating that food, stop and wait 3 clear days before adding a new food.

Have a look through my thread on food allergies board, most of the food introductinos are documented there.

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=175107.0

Basically to start
rice cereal
pear
swede
choko
chicken
potato

Move to gluten free grains and other meats, lentils and beans quickly. Only do a few beans at a time though as they can be gassy for "goopy" guts.
Add green beans, lamb, beef.

Bannana has amines in it so nay problem with bananna  could indicate and amine problem.
Any problems with veges in general is probably going to indicate something is up with salicylates. 

Introduce moderate and high salicylates and amines with caution.  If no problem then go 'all out' with fruits and veg.

[firsttimemummy]

watch with some fruits though - papaya (lots of books say ideal first food - but it is REALLY tough for them to digest and DS and other friends LOs got really sore bottoms with it), and citrus fruits are quite harsh too .....

Hopefully your dietician can advise you?  We have just figured out by doing a totally diary free diet that DS issues are not just with cold cows milk as we though (he is 2 next month) - dietician prescribed neocate but he will only take it when in baking, not to drink ..... I got a leaflet about possible dairy sources in foods - didn't realise lots of cold meats have it in them!!

Lots of hugs - it's tough working it all out.  Slowly and surely is best way, esp when they are still young enough to be having plenty milk

[L76]

Hi

Thanks so much for your replies.

We went to see the dietician today and she has suggested the following:

Slowly wean onto Aptimil Pepti - keep everything else constant for the next two weeks and monitor changes. Remove all dairy from diet (to be honest, the only dairy he is getting is in his porridge). Only re-introduce reflux meds if things get really bad (we are currently off the meds as we stopped due to ph probe)

After 2 weeks, if improving, start to introduce proteins into diet eg chicken, turkey

After 4 weeks, if no improvement, move onto neocate

Keep dairy free for at least 6 months, introduce wheat first, at around 8 months, eggs at 9 and soy at 10 or thereabouts. With dairy at 12 months.

She said we may find some wind issues at first when we start using Aptimil Pepti. She suggested this over nutramigen as the taste is more tolerable given his age.

Any advice on UK alternative wheat, dairy etc free porridge?

Eloise - what is choko? Also what is amines and salicylates?

[EloysH]

choko is a tasteless green vegetable low in salicylates.

Salicyaltes and amines are naturally occurring food chemicals in most foods that make them taste good. Amines are alos in aged and slow cooked meats.  If you bub is sensitive to them you will see reactions when they eat fruit and veges that are high in salicylates. 

For example, after eating 3 days of avocado - very high in salicylates.

[firsttimemummy]

Most supermarkets have a "free from section" that has oats, etc that are gluten free - Ready Brek etc don't contain wheat but I think the factory they are made in uses wheat which is why they don't say wheat free. 

We use oat milk (the one with the red writing, which is harder to find!!) has added calcium, as rice milk contains inorganic arsenic traces (!?!?!) so not recommended for young children.

Hugs

[LizzieN]

Sweetie you can get rice porridge, which is basically rice grains rolled out...you cook it similarly to porridge with your oat milk or rice milk (or coconut milk), add a bit of fruit in and it's quite nice.  I am eating it for brekkie these days as I have gone gluten free to try and help DD...

Glad you ahve had some answers so far, makes you feel like you are not completely insane doesn't it??!! 

Huge hugs to you all lovely!
xx