~*~*MSPI Moms Weekly Check-In*~*~ 07/21

RingOfFire11

~*~*MSPI Moms Weekly Check-In*~*~

Welcome! This is a check-in for moms who are/were on a dairy free and/or soy free diet due to their LO's intolerance. The check-ins will be posted every Monday on the Breastfeeding board and XP'd to the Food Allergy board. If you'd like to join the group, just post an intro here and dive in! To check out the archive of our previous check-ins, please see the MSPI Moms Blog (www.mspimoms.blogspot.com).

1. How are you doing? How is your LO doing?

2. How long have you been on the diet? Are you avoiding any other food(s)?

3. Any other burning questions you'd like answered or experiences to share?

4. Do you or your SO have a history of food allergies in your family?

RingOfFire11

1. How are you doing? How is your LO doing? We are doing good!! Solids are going well so far - avocado, banana, oatmeal, sweet potato and this week she is having green beans. So far, so good. Woot!

2. How long have you been on the diet? Are you avoiding any other food(s)? I've been on the diet for 4.5 months. I'm not eating dairy, soy, eggs, nuts, wheat, corn, beef and black beans.

3. Any other burning questions you'd like answered or experiences to share? Today DD2 is six months old, which means..............we've hit our 6 month milestone!!!! We ran into every obstacle in the beginning so I'm so proud and excited to be here.

4. Do you or your SO have a history of food allergies in your family? Not that I know of. Although, I have always battled minor back acne and my skin is perfect right now. It does make me wonder if my skin issues are due to an intolerance on my end...

thatgirlnicki

. How are you doing? How is your LO doing?
Im honestly pretty miserable. Im hungry all the time and dont have energy to cook. LO is less colicy but doesn't want to nurse often. She still has nights where she's up all night w gas. She also had mucous looking poo for the first time Sunday and Monday. Im hoping it was just from vaccines on Thursday. Have to wait a month to see pediatric GI. I just worry about her not eating all the time!

2. How long have you been on the diet? Are you avoiding any other food(s)?
Im 2.5 weeks dairy free and a few days soy free. Im also avoiding peanuts.


3. Any other burning questions you'd like answered or experiences to share?
tons! But I dont want to take over. Just learned I can't have wine after having some Saturday. When eating out do you worry about how food is prepared? Like musing the big griddle that probably has butter on it?
My LO never had blood in her stool. I wonder if this isn't her issue at all! Also anybody have a baby not want to nurse from mspi or is my baby just not hungry?


4. Do you or your SO have a history of food allergies in your family?

My sister has peanut allergy and MIL is allergic to pine nuts.

amichelle723

1. How are you doing? How is your LO doing?

Hope I don't jinx it, but I think we're doing well! DD and I both had a round of respiratory infections immediately followed by a GI bug, so we've been sick pretty nonstop for the last 2 weeks. I think we're over it now though, I guess it's just part of having a baby in daycare. Because of being sick I've put any new food trials on hold, which is frustrating, but if she has a reaction I'd like to know that it is from the food and not from being sick.

2. How long have you been on the diet? Are you avoiding any other food(s)?

We've been on the diet for a little over 8 months. Also avoiding tree nuts and beef, but after DD did well with a piece of beef a few weeks ago I'm planning to reintroduce it today! Steaks marinating in the fridge right now

3. Any other burning questions you'd like answered or experiences to share?

I have some questions about reintroducing dairy products. I know that milk of course will be last, and not until she's at least 1, but how do you decide between dairy derivatives? I was planning to try baked dairy first, but what's next? Yogurt or cheese? Is one better than the other? I know this will be a long, drawn out process and I'll be extra cautious, but DD will be 10 months Saturday and I'm starting to think she has outgrown some of her intolerances. I'm finally to the point where I'm comfortable considering to try to add some foods back into our diets.

4. Do you or your SO have a history of food allergies in your family?

My father has a shellfish allergy, but that's it. I had a whole slew of drug allergies and a pineapple allergy, but I've been working with an allergist doing testing and drug challenges, and discovering that I've either outgrown the allergies, or never really had them to begin with. All of my allergies are from when I was a toddler, so who knows.

amichelle723

@thatgirlnicki I'm sorry you're feeling so bad, the first few weeks are definitely the worst, but after you get the swing of things it's not so bad. Do you have someone that can help you prepare foods? DH would make me big batches of guacamole that I would snack on. I also ate tons of fruits and veggies, chips and salsa, Larabars; all things that don't really need to be cooked ahead of time. 

Honestly, we don't eat out much. In the beginning, we tried a few times and DD had reactions, but it was also during the time we were trying to figure out what she was reacting to, so it just complicated the picture. I was always trying to figure out if the mucus was from residual milk protein in my system, if something I was still eating was bothering her, or if there was cross-contamination at the restaurant. It got to be too stressful, so we really just stopped eating out. After her symptoms completely cleared up, we started eating out again, but we keep it to a few places that have allergen information readily available. 

amichelle723

@casey78 Thanks for sharing. I've been going back and forth about eating it myself vs. giving directly to DD. From what I've read, it's pretty variable and depends on the severity of the intolerance/allergy. I had planned to give the foods directly to DD, but I guess I don't really know how severe her intolerance is if she's never had the foods. Hmmm more to think about. 

thatgirlnicki

Sorry to be Debbie downer. I love food and eating out. Im just thinking about months of this and im sad. Also I keep losing weight and never thought that would bother me! I dont have a lot of help but my husband is starting to realize how hard this is. We also have a two year old.

I read that some wine has casein?

chknma

1. How are you doing? How is your LO doing?
I would say that we're both having more good then bad days.
We've had a GI bug in our house for a week so I'm hoping the 2 bad diapers last week were related to that because I couldn't think of anything I'd eaten.

I'm struggling with balancing being back to work full time, all the other things that go along with trying to balance work/home life and preparing good food choices. It was so much easier when I was home all day!

I finally made energy bites last night posted on this group or the general BF board. I told DH he better not eat them all!! Because that's about all I have for a snack until I go grocery shopping!

2. How long have you been on the diet? Are you avoiding any other food(s)?
9 weeks dairy and soy free

3. Any other burning questions you'd like answered or experiences to share?

Pedi recommended LO take iron supplement because she was 3 weeks early. Anyone else told this? I already have the Carlson vit D. Any suggestions on a not as nasty iron supplement as the enfamil?

4. Do you or your SO have a history of food allergies in your family?

We don't now, but my mom says that they had a lot of trouble formula feeding me as an infant because I wouldn't tolerate them (she was never told it was a milk issue) but then again she likes to brag that I was such a hungry baby that she started feeding me rice cereal at 6 weeks.. Eek! So who really knows what the issue was!!?!!?

[Deleted User]

@thatgirlnicki I'm sorry you're having such a rough time. It is really hard in the beginning. And to care for a baby and a 2-yr old is hard enough, I'm sure! I lost a lot of weight on the diet too and never thought I'd be worried about losing too much weight. (The bright side is now that I'm off the diet, I'm maintaining a healthy weight I don't think I could've got down to if not for the crazy diet). Try not to be sad about the future months; it really does get easier with time and practice. In the end I actually enjoyed trying out new foods and recipes, and didn't miss a lot of the foods I used to eat.

yes, wine can be processed with casein. I avoided it just to be safe. I've heard other mamas who never bothered to give up wine and LO was fine. I think there are some vegan wines out there that are not processed with casein. And yes, I worry about cross-contamination at restaurants. Sorry. Eating out just generally became a pain in the butt.

How old is your LO and how often is she eating? Does she have plenty of wet diapers? Is she gaining weight well? What are her MSPI symptoms? My DS rarely had blood in his stool, and when he did it was small amounts. He was also gassy until I cut all dairy.

 

thatgirlnicki

@rocknrollfriend‌ thanks. You are all so supportive especially given that you have been doing this much longer than me! Her wet diapers seem fine. She gained about 5 oz last week so low end of normal. Shes getting more content during the day. Symptoms were reflux, rash on face and upper body, gas, and colic. Im still not convinced her improvement is related to giving up dairy or just time. Her rash is much better and she is less colicy (reflux meds helped too) . Gas is still an issue at night sometimes...she just can't sleep unless she's held sometimes. Im going to give it a month and do some trials to see of mspi is really the issue.

[Deleted User]

thatgirlnicki said:

@rocknrollfriend‌ thanks. You are all so supportive especially given that you have been doing this much longer than me! Her wet diapers seem fine. She gained about 5 oz last week so low end of normal. Shes getting more content during the day. Symptoms were reflux, rash on face and upper body, gas, and colic. Im still not convinced her improvement is related to giving up dairy or just time. Her rash is much better and she is less colicy (reflux meds helped too) . Gas is still an issue at night sometimes...she just can't sleep unless she's held sometimes. Im going to give it a month and do some trials to see of mspi is really the issue.

It might help with the gas to let her sleep in a Rock N Play type bassinet that keeps her a bit upright at night. So the mucous in her diapers just started? No green poop?

thatgirlnicki

Yup. Had what I thought might be mucous yesterday. Dont remember that before and none today. She does sleep in the rock n play now too. :-\

giggler25

1. How are you doing? How is your LO doing?
- We are doing okay. I wouldn't say I'm satisfied with my current diet but I'm getting the hang of it. Bought some yummy snacks upon recommendation from this group and other sites. The bread I bought is pretty gross though - tastes stale. The good news is pedi tested 3 poop samples yesterday and they were all clean!

2. How long have you been on the diet? Are you avoiding any other food(s)?
- 3.5 weeks dairy free; 2 weeks soy free (BC I messed up at first and was eating soy lecithin).

3. Any other burning questions you'd like answered or experiences to share? For several weeks I've suspected Emily had silent reflux. Well, beginning last Monday she started eating a LOT less than normal. Saturday I was holding her facing me and she projectile puked a huge stream over my shoulder. By yesterday she was coughing and gagging/choking anytime she was placed on her back. Pedi gave us Zantac yesterday and I can already see a difference. Poor baby. I might be foolish but I'm hoping maybe fixing her reflux will mean we can get off MSPI diet soon. Pedi said in 3 more weeks I can try eating a little dairy for 5 days and then bring a diaper in. It's possible blood was a result of reflux agitating her system.

4. Do you or your SO have a history of food allergies in your family?
- The only thing I've ever reacted badly to us scallops, but I can wait other shellfish no problem. My brother used to get red splotches from eating chocolate.

@RingOfFire11 - Kudos to you! That's great work, mama!

@casey78‌ - Sorry your trial didn't go well... Wish you weren't stuck with us!

@thatgirlnicki‌ - I can sympathize with you. I'm having a hard time too and I don't have a toddler to tend to! Hang in there!

@chknma - I'm home all day and still have trouble with food choices. Today I have yet to eat an actual meal. I don't know how you're managing work on top of everything!

StinaLeigh

I haven't had a chance to do my check in yet, but wanted to pop in and suggest the website barnivore.com @thatgirlnicki‌ and @rocknrollfriend‌. It's a huge database listing confirmed vegan (and not) wines. This diet is tough and wine is a nice treat.

chknma

Always so much good information and support!

A question for those that are also pumping. I tend to pump about one extra bottle a day then LO needs for the next day. I didn't freeze much until we hit about 7 weeks dairy/soy free, so I think my small stash should be okay. but I'm worried that if I accidentally eat something and freeze the bm it could cause an issue later. Am I over thinking this?

@giggler. I just meant it was easier for me to stare at the open fridge and figure something out then having to plan and pack everything. I'm feeling pretty disorganized lately :-) Would be so much easier if we all didn't have to plan so much!

I'm a big baker anyway, but I make all our bread. I actually got a bread maker for Christmas so it worked out well when this all started up. Then I can just dump everything in and let the machine do all the work. I also started making my own buns since we do a lot of grilling and meat smoking. Both aren't hard if you have the time :-)

[Deleted User]

@chknma‌ Yes, if you give LO a bottle of frozen milk tainted with dairy or soy protein it could cause a reaction. I ended up throwing out milk as I was eliminating foods and only ever had a very small stash. It worked out fine for us. I wonder if you might have a bit of an oversupply if you're able to pump a whole bottle extra each day?

chknma

@rocknrollfriend‌

I didn't start a stash until I already had come back to work and we had a few weeks of good diapers. If we identify any other source issues I would certainly get rid of the little bit that I have saved. I guess my concern is how to handle BM from an isolated incident. For example she had one day of mucus last week, but we also had a GI bug and i couldn't recall any new foods that I'd eaten. Now I can't remember what day that was so I think I just need to be more mindful during the week and dump anything extra the day before/of and after if she seems to have a reaction :-) that seems to make more sense to try and avoid reintroducing at a later time. Also since my stash isn't that big I try to rotate it each Monday when she's getting the most frozen bm.

I think the extra bottle a day is a bit of an over estimate on my part since it varies. Right now LO is at day care between 9-10 hours. She usually takes between 9-12 oz during that time (depending on how much she feeds in the morning, if she's there a little bit longer, etc.) I pump just enough for the 4 bottles I send each day, but when she has a 9 oz day, I'm able to send the fourth bottle the second day and then freeze one. I haven't noticed any engorgement/OS issues on the weekend when I feed on demand and ignore my pump ;-)

amichelle723

@chknma I did end up donating about 150 oz of milk that I had pumped the month after eliminating foods. DD did ok with it when given just 2 bottles of frozen milk a week (frozen milk on Mondays), but one week I tried to cycle through the old stuff a little faster and gave her 5 bottles of frozen over the week. She had a definite reaction. So I ended up just donating everything from that whole month just to be on the safe side.

I know that there have been some cross-contamination issues with foods since then, and I have thrown out milk for a few days after an incident that I was sure of, but otherwise, if I'm just suspicious of cross-contamination but not certain, I freeze it anyway and figure she gets such a small amount of frozen milk that she'll be ok. Also, if you're like me and have a hefty freezer stash from oversupply, LO may not be getting that milk for a few months at which time she may have outgrown her intolerance. 

[Deleted User]

chknma said:

@rocknrollfriend‌ I didn't start a stash until I already had come back to work and we had a few weeks of good diapers. If we identify any other source issues I would certainly get rid of the little bit that I have saved. I guess my concern is how to handle BM from an isolated incident. For example she had one day of mucus last week, but we also had a GI bug and i couldn't recall any new foods that I'd eaten. Now I can't remember what day that was so I think I just need to be more mindful during the week and dump anything extra the day before/of and after if she seems to have a reaction :-) that seems to make more sense to try and avoid reintroducing at a later time. Also since my stash isn't that big I try to rotate it each Monday when she's getting the most frozen bm. I think the extra bottle a day is a bit of an over estimate on my part since it varies. Right now LO is at day care between 9-10 hours. She usually takes between 9-12 oz during that time (depending on how much she feeds in the morning, if she's there a little bit longer, etc.) I pump just enough for the 4 bottles I send each day, but when she has a 9 oz day, I'm able to send the fourth bottle the second day and then freeze one. I haven't noticed any engorgement/OS issues on the weekend when I feed on demand and ignore my pump ;-)

@chknma got it, that makes sense. I like AmyG's suggestion of marking any suspicious bottles. You could also keep a food diary to help id any isolated reactions.

camedowncrushing

amichelle723  When I started to reintroduce dairy to DD1 I did so directly to her.  I started with baked goods that contained dairy.  Then I moved on to cheeses that were cooked...so pizza, lasagna, ravioli etc, then to raw cheese and yogurt and finally ice cream and then milk.  We started this process when she was 10 months and it moved smoothly. 

camedowncrushing

1. How are you doing? How is your LO doing? We all have hand foot and mouth! 

2. How long have you been on the diet? Are you avoiding any other food(s)?  This time around almost 7 months.  I am also avoiding wheat and eggs. 

3. Any other burning questions you'd like answered or experiences to share?  I reintroduced soy directly to DD2, and it has gone well.  I was hesitant to do so, but basically I was having such a hard time finding things for her to eat I decided to go for it.  I bought some VANS products, and she is loving them.  The do have soy flour, but it has been fine.  I am itching to reintroduce dairy, but I am going to wait at least a few weeks.  I want her to be over this virus.  

Oh and we went to the allergist last week about her RAST testing positive for peanuts.  The allergist said to continue to eat peanuts since she has never reacted, and that we will do the blood work again at 1 year.

4. Do you or your SO have a history of food allergies in your family?  We don't.  The allergist said that both DDs have these food intolerances because I have a ton of environmental allergies and DH had childhood asthma. 

[Deleted User]

@aggiecyd Welcome! It is difficult at first but will get easier. Start checking the labels of everything you eat. Dairy is hidden in a lot of processed foods. Here is a good list of dairy ingredients: https://www.godairyfree.org/dairy-free-grocery-shopping-guide/dairy-ingredient-list-2

Check out our blog archives for lots of tips on easy to prepare snacks and meals, mspimoms.blogspot.com. MSPI Mama has lots of good recipes on her blog and Pinterest boards.
Don't forget to check vitamins, supplements, medications too for hidden dairy.
It can take 3 to 5 weeks for the proteins to get out of both your systems so try to be patient. GL and ask us questions, we are here to help!

camedowncrushing

aggiecyd said:

I guess this is where I should start? DS is 2 weeks old today & has been having lots of gas and mucousy poops. He's in a lot of discomfort until he can poop. He also has slight reflux so he sleeps mainly on me or in his swing. We saw the pedi today & she said it's most likely dairy & to eliminate that from my diet and see how he does. He's gaining weight fine and there's no blood in his stool. What do I need to know and do you have any references of where to start? I'm a big milk drinker so this is going to suck at first.

Everything rocknroll said!  In the beginning it is really hard.  I had a list of things I could eat, and stuck with that for a long time.  Oreos, cape cod kettle chips, guac and tortilla chips...just make sure you have plenty on hand to eat that is easy to grab.  Chipotle is a great place to eat at if you want to eat out. 
WIth DD1 it took over a month for her stool to get normal, and for her to become less fussy.  Hang in there!