Avoiding foods in pregnancy?

[grahamsmama]

Hi everyone!  We might be starting to TTC soon and I'm wondering if I'll need to avoid any foods if I get pregnant.  Dd had a lot of problems while I was nursing her.  We cut out pretty much everything and she still had blood in her stools, fussiness, gas, and reflux.  All of her problems went away when I started her on Alimentum, hypoallergenic formula.  Ds had no problems and was fed regular formula when he was tiny.  The GI doc said it was possible that she was just allergic to my breastmilk for some reason.  We had her allergy tested and she is negative for everything they tested for (milk, soy, egg), but I still can't give her whole milk because she is so fussy if I do and won't sleep.  Cheese, yogurt, etc. are fine.  What would you all advise?
Thanks!

[Mom to M&M]

Some people avoid common allergens (dairy, soy, nuts) in third trimester only - but the jury is still out whether this has any effect.

Whole milk may just be hard for your daughter to digest - have you tried 2% milk?

[grahamsmama]

thanks Karen.  I went out and bought some 2% milk and I'm going to try it with her today. 

[~tess~]

when pregnant my aunt sent an article about not eating peanut butter when pregnant.  i laughed and thought nothing of it.  I found peanut butter to be the only thing i could eat most my pregnancy!  i ate peanut butter toast twice a day.

well my son had milk and egg allergies as a baby(diagnosed 9 mo)!!!  the dr wasn't sure of the connection but i remember that article my aunt sent me....so next pregnancy i had NO peanut butter at all.  my daughter had no food allergies.

could be coincidence but if i ever got pregnant again i would avoid peanut butter again just to be sure.

[grahamsmama]

What about the milk and eggs, Tess?  Did you avoid those too in your second pregnancy or just the peanut butter? 
It's hard because before #1 I ate everything, including peanut butter, milk, soy, all the allergens.  Ds has no problems.  With dd I had a lot more morning sickness and I'm sure I ate a lot more peanut butter and tofu because I could keep them down.  I wondered if there was a connection. 
Thanks for your input, ladies.

[Mom to M&M]

If you are concerned, I would avoid peanut butter and maybe also dairy in the third trimester only - but be sure then to get enough calcium from other sources... Good luck!

[grahamsmama]

What about soy and other nuts? 
Thanks!

[Mom to M&M]

Other nuts maybe the third trimester. I'd probably only avoid dairy and soy in the last 3-4 weeks (while your milk is coming in).

[~tess~]

yes, i ate tons of dairy first pregnancy.  didn't the second b/c of my son's allergies and we just stopped eating dairy/egg products until years later.  so hmmmm, perhaps a connection there.  i would certainly avoid the major allergens if family history during your third trimester....but even if you limit i think it couldn't hurt.  i mean, have some milk with cereal.  or cheese.  but don't put away a gallon of milk every few days, ice cream daily and PB toast 2 times daily, lol. 

i think limiting allergen foods is the key.  my son did not have peanut allergies.....but the article i read(out of the UK) was that the pb in pregnancy can trigger other allergies!  so what to avoid?  for me i stayed away from the pb and know allergens from the first child...and second has no allergies!!!

good luck.