Breastfeeding 15 month old multiple food intolerance gotten more sensitive??

[youmakemelaugh]

Hi All

My DS was born with severe reflux it took months to realise it was food related, when i cut dairy out completely the vomitting stopped, however since starting solids we have indentified more problem foods as time gone on so far caffeine(through me)/bananas/dairy/soya/egg/corn and most recently wheat/gluten... my diet is not great i am free from most of these however only limit gluten as only seems bad when eaten directly. since cutting offending food symptoms improved but eating less and breastfeeding more its exhausting and feel like i need more food options, anyone else bf'd on restricted diet and come out the other side re-intolerance/reflux??

[my3girlsjde]

Many jugs to you. I ebf'ed for 13 months and unfortunately never found out what that mystery ingredient was that triggered E's reflux We know for sure dairy and soy. She's gotten new sensitivities since being weaned onto HAF. But we still have that mystery ingredient and it's so hard to figure it out especially once they're eating solids.

We did finally conquer the reflux momater and we are med free finally. But the mystery food is still there. We're heading to the paed next month and hopefully on to the allergist after that.

I guess all I really have is hugs because we haven't figured it out yet. Hopefully soon though.

[Buntybear]

Hi, Yes I BF Olly will he was 14 months old. I was dairy free from 3 weeks old and on and off egg and wheat from about 8 months old. It is VERY hard. Good for you for carrying on.  How old is your LO?

[~Jen~]

Yes, DD is 14months and has been EBF. We are both dairy, soy, gluten and egg free since about 3months old. It has been incredibly hard but we have addded so many more fiods as she is older /stringer. At the lowest point, i was only abe to eat about 10 foods. But she had leaky gut and was very sensitive. Now much better. She seems to be less sensitive now that she is older but we still have set backs especially when she is sick, vaccines or teething cause flares. Luckily reflux has been settled since 9 mos - it has been the food intols/ gut issues that has been our challenge. Have tried to wean her but she refuses any milk from cup (but happily drinks water). She is down to one BF a day but no milk otherwise so I can't drop this last feed as I am concerned she won't take any milk at all.
It is hard but hang in there.how many times a day are you bFing?

[EloysH]

Hi Jen,

Good on you for getting this far... well done and hats off to you

Don't be concerned about her not drinking milk from a cup - seriously they don't need it.  Is it calcium that you are worried about??? - they can get calcium from diet. There are heaps of dairy free kiddies out there and all good calcium levels.  Get her levels tested every 6 motnhs of you are worried.  Both my boys were dairy intolerant and both did not drink milk from a cup at all.. they got their cacium from diet.

Calcium from dairy sources is not as easily abosrbed as calcium from other  food sources, that's a fact.  The most absorbable calcium is fish with bones because there is the right balance of minerals in the eidble bones ( canned red salmon, sardines).

For my first son, he got enough calcium from diet he was EBF dairy free for 14 months.

  My second son was EBF till 13 months dairy free/gluten free/soy free/moderate salicylate/preservative additve free/.  He had severe reflux medicated and just off meds now 4 weeks ago at 22 months old. Man it was hard, I feel your pain love!!!!! Mine and Kais diets were too restricted to get enough calcium as the major non dairy sources are tahini - sesame seeds, (sprinkle ground up sesame seeds over everything..., green leafy vegetables and fish with bones). I was not able to eat any of these foods on the breastfeeding elimination diet.  I weaned Kai 13 months and around 16 months I put him on 300mg of calcium a day to boost his calcium. So easy to add a teensy bit of powder to any hot or cold food for him.   I am about to get bloods done for calcium for him now, he is 2, to check... I am sure it will be fine.


  If you are worried about calcium ... the naturopath would be a great help there.. are you still seeing her love?

My second son - the 2 year old still has ongoing food intolerances I am afraid, but with a closely managed diet he is symptom free and happy as larry.  He doesn't mind being gluten and dairy free at all and his salicylate tolerances are increasing all the time.  He has gone from eating moderates only to now about 1/2 cup of highs sals per day plus 3  small squares of avocado ( a very high).  He eats gee for his good fats and I reguarly see a good naturopath to get  advice on his diet, expanding it and the right supplementation for him. He is on alot of supplements, and he regularly sees a chiropractor well versed in kineasiology, I get her to check his stomach digestive points, whihc have all been good off meds - he has tests strong for stomach acid - yay!, I am glad he has enough after 2 years of none on meds!!!

 He has come along way with his healing and I am in no rush to put him on wheat, it has no place for someone with leaky gut, as gluten causes cell walls to become permeable.  For dairy I would love him to eat organic butter as it is so high in good stuff, and some yoghurt, but that will come in time... as for pasteurised milk - no way I am in no hurry to give him that, it would do alot of damage to his gut if I let him near it.   So all in all, I feel there is no magic cure, but the body can heal with time if you give it the right support and inputs and also try to determine the pathways of their intolerances.  If you can heal her leaky gut, her tolerances will increase with time.

There are alot of great supplements out there for kids - gut healing formula, Metagenics is a brand that comes to mind with combinations of minerals, vitamins, amino acids, and herbs for healing leaky guts. a good naturopath could point you to something.  Gut healing takes so much time though, the body needs months to change its biochemistry, grow good bacteria re-route it's detoxification pathways and so forth.  My little Kai has been on supplements for months now and I can see slowly by slowly his healing.. allergy shiners disapearing, he sleeps more soundly, his food intolerances are improving, he is happier and less irritable, his food reactions are shorter and less pronounced.  I had him off supps for about 6 weeks at one point and he went downhill very quickly, its amazing what his body can do with the right nutritional support.

it mioght be worth looking into testing her for parasites via a 3 sample stool test.  My son turned up with one that can profoundly impact on digestion, we are in the final stages of treating it, it takes 3 months to treat. It would also be worth it if you can afford it to get her gut bacteria analysed for populations of good and bad bacteria, you will get alot of clues  frmo that.  If there are large bad bacterial overgrowths, you can also kill them off with various natural and pharmaceutical treatments. I foudn out that my Kai still had NO good bacteria after months and months on probiotics. It was helpful to tweak his doses and also tellus to lok elsewhere for why he was not responding to probiotics.  We found he had a major zinc deficiency which we have been supplementing for a long time.  So you see there is alot one can do if you want to investigate the gut further !!!     

And so sorry I have waffled, but this is my very favourite topic and newly found passion - yay to nutritional science, where would I be without it?

Eloise