Author Topic: Help - What could this be?  (Read 1837 times)

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Offline HBabyG

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Help - What could this be?
« on: November 29, 2012, 14:28:00 pm »
Just looking for opinions please from those of you that have knowledge/experience of food allergies and digestive problems.

My 6 month old DD is losing weight and currently having up to 6 mucus stools per day.  Many of her stools seem to be almost entirely mucus and vary in colour from green to yellow.  She is exclusively BF and I started her on solids four weeks ago.  When she started solids at 23 weeks she took well to her first foods - banana, sweet potato, parsnip, carrot; after a week she gradually increased to two meals per day.  She had healthy looking solid poos for a while.  I often thinned out some of the puree with formula milk, and then when she was old enough, with full fat cows milk.  She also liked finger food and had some breadsticks and Heinz biscotti things.  She took a reasonable amount of food for an introduction to solids and still BF as normal.  When I got her weighed at 26 weeks she had put on just 2 oz in four weeks (she had been tracking the 75th percentile but dropped to between the 50th and 75th).  She hadn't been ill and there was no obvious reason for this slow weight gain.  The HV advised increasing solid food so I headed out and bought yoghurts and custards etc.  The day after she started these she was poorly - very runny nose, congested chest, and generally under the weather.  My 2 year old was similarly poorly so I assumed they had both caught the same bug.  My DD also had odd nappies though - more frequent, more runny, green, stringy, even white at times, some mucus.  She refused solid food and at times seemed to be in discomfort but BF normally.  The runny nose and congested chest cleared up by itself after four days but the odd nappies continued.  She continued to BF as normal and began having tiny amounts of solid food again, but is not really interested in it like she was before.  I cut out any dairy products as I had suspicions her poorly tummy was linked to this.

I had her weighed again 10 days after the last weigh in and she has lost 6 oz (now between 25th and 50th percentile).  That is where we are now - BF normally, tiny tiny amounts of solid food (maybe a 2 tsp of puree if she can be tempted but no dairy) and frequent mucus poos.  She is basically happy and content in herself and shows no sign of discomfort. 

I obviously took her to the GP after she was weighed and I am being referred to a Pediatrician.  I am really hoping for some advice from other mums out there as I'm obviously concerned and have no idea how long it will be before I get my appointment with a pediatrician.  It seems to me that her tummy is still irritated and the breastmilk is going almost straight through her so she is not having the calories or nutrients she needs.  If it was a tummy bug or food that triggered the mucus poos then surely as her diet is pretty much only breastmilk now things should have returned to normal.

Any advice/comments gratefully received!


Offline ENMS

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Re: Help - What could this be?
« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2012, 17:05:01 pm »
Hey hon,

I think definitely her digestive system is irritated. Now what bugs me a little is that the slow weight gain started before you introduced yogurt and custard... so maybe something was already irritating her (slightly?) and it was made worse with the introduction of dairy.
Have you removed dairy in your diet? The dairy proteins can pass in your breastmilk and irritate her system further.

I'd also consider adding a probiotic, it can help restore the proper balance of good bacteria in her gut. Unfortunately it can take a bit of time for the gut to heal so you may need to be patient.

Elise



Offline HBabyG

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Re: Help - What could this be?
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2012, 18:06:50 pm »
Thank you for your advice. I agree with you that this problem may have started about a month ago without me noticing. I haven't cut dairy out of my diet as it was never a problem before, and my diet doesn't vary much anyway, but I may need to do that. Forgive my ignorance but what is a probiotic and where can I get it from? How long would you expect it to take for the gut to fully heal?

Offline ENMS

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Re: Help - What could this be?
« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2012, 18:42:27 pm »
If dairy may be a problem I'd cut it out of your diet. It could be that she can tolerate the smaller amounts that pass thru your milk usually but that since her system is irritated right now you need to remove it for a period and then you can try to reintroduce later.

Probiotics help maintain and establish a balanced intestinal flora by bringing good bacteria in the gut so that it can properly fight harmful bacteria. It helps a lot of LO's with digestive issues but do keep in mind that sometimes some LO's don't tolerate them so it's trial and error really. I usually get them in natural products stores.
Elise



Offline HBabyG

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Re: Help - What could this be?
« Reply #4 on: December 03, 2012, 13:28:39 pm »
Just to update.  We had our appointment with the pediatrician yesterday and she has diagnosed my DD as having a cow's milk protein allergy.  She said this was most likely triggered by the milk (first formula and then cows milk) I used to thin out her purée's.  Apparently the reason she was still having problems when I cut out dairy from her solid foods was because she was now sensitive to the cow's milk protein in my breastmilk (just like you said Elise).  We have been given Nutramigen to start her on and a dietician will be contacting us today.

She explained the option of continuing to bf if I cut out cow's milk from my diet, but that it would take 2-3 weeks for all traces of the protein to leave my milk and then additional time for her gut to heal.  We decided we are ready to wean her anyway and so have started giving her the Nutrmigen in a sippy cup.  So far she has had 5 oz so fingers crossed she makes the transition easily.

I'm still digesting the information and so will probably be back on this forum scouring for advice/information soon!

Offline Buntybear

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Re: Help - What could this be?
« Reply #5 on: December 03, 2012, 13:32:41 pm »
Sounds like your Pead knows what she is talking about! Great that your LO has taken to Nutramigen so quickly, any LOs don't. X

Offline ENMS

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Re: Help - What could this be?
« Reply #6 on: December 03, 2012, 13:41:11 pm »
Sounds like your Pead knows what she is talking about!

Definitely!

Glad he is taking well to the Nutramgien, hope the symptoms go away quickly! :)

Elise



Offline HBabyG

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Re: Help - What could this be?
« Reply #7 on: December 03, 2012, 18:59:32 pm »
Me too!  I wouldn't say she's taking to it well exactly - the rest of the afternoon she took the odd oz at intervals and wouldn't have any before bed.  I hate that she is probably feeling hungry but I think I can already see a change in her nappies and possibly an improvement in her skin (maybe just wishful thinking..) so I know it's the right thing for her.  It's so hard : (

We are seeing the dietician tomorrow afternoon so I'm going to ask about tips to encourage her to take more milk, and also about when and what to offer for solids.