4.01.2009

So Help Me!

Post subtitles:
So Help me God
aka Nursing a baby with food allergies
aka Works for me Wednesday Backward Edition hosted be We are THAT Family

Let's just cut straight to it today...no funny business.

I have a 7month old baby boy and I am nursing him. I hope to continue to his first birthday. He has food allergies. I have already eliminated dairy from my diet because his older brother had a dairy allergy. For the past two weeks, I have also eliminated wheat and eggs. In the past week, I have also eliminated corn. Over the weekend, I consumed much too much corn tortillas and black beans and he seemed to worsen. And, I eliminated oats, because I guess they are contaminated with wheat gluten. But, he is still breaking out in little splotchy rashes which dry up and cause flaky skin. We use allergen free detergent.

Help me! Should I give up? What can I eat? Thanks for stopping by and thanks for your comments!

9 comments:

Ericka said...

Hi Charlotte,
I found your blog from Christine's...
If you are enjoying breastfeeding - don't give up!
I may be projecting here - sorry.
BUT if you switch to formula, he may be allergic to it also, right?
I remember my middle guy was allergic to the orange juice I was drinking.....
Good luck - you're doing a great job :)

Unknown said...

I had to do the same thing when my oldest was 6 months. I had to give up egg, dairy, nuts and fish. We were able to have him tested at 9 months.

I ate sunflower butter and jam sandwiches, beans and rice, pasta with red sauce and veggies, Amy's products, soy/rice milk, burgers (no bun) with potato/sweet potato fries, veggies, it can be done.

Wheat gluten is the hardest one, I think. I would test and figure out if that makes him flare up or not so you can possibly add it back in.

I have a food allergy post on my blog (though it's more for kids, but it might help) and some recipes that might help. Many of my recipes are allergen free since my son still can't have nuts/fish and doesn't like cheese.

I know it sucks, hang in there!

suzannah | the smitten word said...

don't give up! a child with allergies will probably have a harder time with formula.

i'd get on the le leche league website, and find a local person to call. they'll have tons of great ideas and support.

could any of his break-outs be skin cleansers or laundry detergents?

good luck!

Charlotte said...

Interesting and helpful comments so far. Thank you!!

Have any of the others noticed it starting around 6 months? Interesting.

Pretty sure it is wheat and eggs. Not sure what else.

And the encouragement to not give up- cause I wanted to. But I don't think I will.

Unknown said...

I dealt with this with my second. My dr. is skeptical with the elimination diet with BF and feels it would not make a remarkable difference. I doubted allergies and kept at it knowing formula would be worse. many babies outgrow this and some have a slight intolerance that tney just need to get used to, their systems are just a little immature (that is how he explained it anyway) Turns out he had exzema and was not an allergy after all.

Erica said...

I am so sorry. I had to cut stuff out of my diet too and it was rough. We weren't living in America which made it harder to read labels. I hope you find some answers!

Thanks for the post on my blog. I am glad Sam's Club works for you. I was disappointed I couldn't find vinegar. I've been going through it like crazy since I started cleaning with it.

I really hope you find the culprit to your son's problems.

Mrs. T said...

I can't provide much advice, because I didn't experience any allergy problems while nursing my two youngest. I had more problems with my one formula fed baby. I just wanted to encourage you not to give up. God's blessings.

Unknown said...

Has your dr. seen the rash yet? If there aren't any other symptoms, sounds like eczema from your description.

Switching to formula will probably make it worse, as cow's milk is an eczema trigger and breastmilk has actually been proven to reduce the risk of eczema. If your baby's allergy is caused by your milk and not something else that causes dermatitis, you're probably missing something in your diet that has milk in it.

Your dr. will prescribe a hydrocortizone cream for eczema, but I didn't think that it helped my kids at all. This may sound odd, but what really "worked for me" was to apply breastmilk topically to the rash. I could feel the difference as it dried and the rash was gone within a few days. (Obviously, this won't keep it from coming back. )

Boy, after giving all that information, I sure hope that I didn't read into your description wrong and bore you with useless garbage. :-)

MDiskin said...

We had this too! Our daughter (now 14mos) has definite sensitivities or even full-blown allergies to dairy, eggs, strawberries, and acidic foods like oranges and tomatoes. Can you cut these last few out and see if there is improvement?

We had to get a topical prescription cream to get rid of the hives and eczema, and then we could keep most of it in check with diet and a good slathering of Aquaphor. The doc told us to keep baths to a minimum and to use an oily wash made by Eucerin (it's in a gold bottle), and these have really helped as well. But the foods are the culprits, and the other stuff just keeps her skin hydrated and less prone to breakouts. Good luck!!
- Melissa at dropthebabyweight.com