Dairy/Soy Free

atcwag

Long story short, my EBF 2 month old was hospitalized x 17 days for severe dehydration and a nearly 2 lb. weight loss due to vomiting and diarrhea. They never did find a cause, but assume it was a really nasty stomach virus. He has been on either IV nutrition via picc line or bottle-fed the most broken down formula you can get (Neocate) for the past month.

I am allowed to attempt to re-introduce BM this week. I have already been doing a modified dairy/soy free diet because the Drs are concerned that the virus could potentially have caused a dairy intolerance, however, upon discharge was told this was really just precautionary (basically eliminating as many variables as possible). Discharge instructions were to f/u x 1 week, if doing ok, re-introduce BM (modified dairy/soy free), then in 2 weeks, re-introduce dairy and see what happens. Today, he saw a different Dr. (same practice) who said 100% dairy/soy free until he's a year old. WHOA WHAT? She wasn't hearing me on the "what about what Dr. X and I discussed @ discharge?". Nope, 100% dairy/soy free until he's a year old. Now, don't get me wrong. If he has a dairy intolerance, sign me up for the diet yesterday, but to ask someone to make that big of a change just "in case" seems like a bit much.

So anyway, I plan to call the Dr. who treated him while he was in the hospital tomorrow to discuss, but preemptively:

I need any and all information, guidance, support, encouragement, wisdom, etc. on dairy/soy free diet. I'm too damn stubborn and bullheaded to stop BFing now.

AnotherPreggo

Being dairy and soy free isn't bad.  The first month or so is terrible... you will make mistakes and get super pissed off. I remember making plenty of meals for the family, all excited they were dairy and soy free, only to stop and think... "I don't think I checked the ingredients in that.... YUP, SOY. $*%&#!" 

A lot of people on this board recommend checking out this woman's blog for recipes.  There are quite a bit, and most are easy to make with a baby around. https://www.mspimama.com/p/recipe-index.html  But really, once you get the hang of it, it isn't hard to adjust your favorite recipes to be dairy and soy free. I found it very helpful to use vegan cookbooks... and then add meat to stuff, because heck no am I vegan (DD needed me to be egg free as well).  This woman has a great cookbook with super easy muffins to make... they were my go-to for breakfast/snacks https://happyherbivore.com/recipes/?qname=muffin

I just finished BFing DD at 14 months old last week, and have opted to stay dairy and soy free since I eat a million times healthier eating stuff from scratch.  Like I said, it is a big adjustment, mainly the soy, but you'll get the hang of it. 

That all being said, I am surprised one of your doctors was so pushy to say you'd have to do it for the first year.  DD tested pretty severely allergic to eggs, dairy and soy, but I was able to add dairy back into my diet at 11 months, and transition her to starting cow's milk at 1 year. I wouldn't go around looking for a doctor to give you the opinion you want to hear, because you WILL find someone who will tell you not to worry about it... but I would probably ask them if the 1 year time frame seems a bit excessive considering it is just a precaution.

Best of luck, HTH.