Allergy help

cremenn

Anyone have advice on breast feeding baby with a possible allergy?

LO is 3.5 mo old and the ped and I are sure he has an allergy to something I'm eating because his stools are so mucousy, he was so gassy and fussy, he is taking zantac for reflux which could also be from an allergy, and his face continues to break out with little bumps and pimples with pus.

So I went on an elimination diet of dairy, eggs, soy, wheat and nuts to try to find the culprit, I did this for two weeks and his temperament seemed to be better, and the gas went away BUT his face is still severely broken out and tons of mucous in stools again. So I called the ped and she convinced me to put him on nutramgien formula for cows milk allergy for 2 weeks while still pumping and with reluctance I did. He just started it yesterday and hates it, he keeps trying to breast feed which is breaking my heart, not only that he is miserable from gas, he's so gassy and crying again AND his new clay in texture stools has given him a terrible diaper rash, however no mucous.

I really want him to continue to have breast milk I just can't figure out what he's allergic to, it seems when moms have gone on this elimination diet they figure out pretty quickly what was bothering their LO but its not coming so easy for us, can anyone offer help please? What do you think about being on the formula, should I stop, I obviously want to do what is best for him whatever that is. Thank you!

melaport

I would also recommend keeping a food journal of everything you are eating and a journal of his feedings, diapers, gassiness, temperament, etc. 

camedowncrushing

With DD1 it took me a month for all dairy and soy to be out, and her stools to return to normal. 
With DD2 after 3 weeks of dairy soy free she was improving, but not enough.  The pediatrician recommended I remove wheat.  A week later the guaiac cards were still coming back positive.  I gave it another week, and then saw blood again.  I called my pediatrician, and she wasn't there.  The NP told me to come in to get some formula.  The conversation did not go well because I refused.  I then spoke to the pedi the following day (she is a huge supporter of BFing) and removed eggs.  In just a few days DD's stools started looking better.  I still saw blood for a few more days, but within the week they were picture perfect. 
I saw a GI specialist 2 weeks later, and he told me that he is always hesitant to take things out of a mom's diet because he is afraid they will turn to formula.  He said often times formula will not help, and the mom has already lost her good supply.  He actually encouraged me to add wheat back in (I haven't yet because I am too nervous) since we saw the greatest improvement with the removal of eggs. 
Anyways--if it were me I would eliminate dairy/soy, and give it a bit...3-4 weeks.  Did your pedi send you home with guaiac cards?  After that I would think about eliminating more foods. 

cremenn

Thank you for your help, we will def go back to breast milk asap! My supply seems to still be going strong with pumping, my freezer has never been more full. It's nice to hear others went through the same and pushed through with breast feeding, I feel like others push formula on you so quickly and almost make you feel guilty about it.

 His poop has no mucous in it now which confirms to me that it was something I was eating and not a bigger problem. I have had dairy and eggs out of my diet for about a month now and after 2 weeks of it not helping too much I eliminated soy and dairy hidden ingredients, nuts and wheat... so 2 weeks later came rolling around and he had a huge episode again of mucous for 5 days, I got overwhelmed and felt like I needed to do what was best for him. Now that I've asked, I see it took some moms 4-even 7 weeks to see good results.

No they didn't give me any guaiac cards, what are those for exactly?

camedowncrushing

cremenn said:

Thank you for your help, we will def go back to breast milk asap! My supply seems to still be going strong with pumping, my freezer has never been more full. It's nice to hear others went through the same and pushed through with breast feeding, I feel like others push formula on you so quickly and almost make you feel guilty about it.

 His poop has no mucous in it now which confirms to me that it was something I was eating and not a bigger problem. I have had dairy and eggs out of my diet for about a month now and after 2 weeks of it not helping too much I eliminated soy and dairy hidden ingredients, nuts and wheat... so 2 weeks later came rolling around and he had a huge episode again of mucous for 5 days, I got overwhelmed and felt like I needed to do what was best for him. Now that I've asked, I see it took some moms 4-even 7 weeks to see good results.

No they didn't give me any guaiac cards, what are those for exactly?

They are for testing stool for microscopic blood.  Our pedi would give me a few days supply every week.  Then I would swing by her office so she could test them.  She could see less and less as I was eliminating foods until there wasn't any blood at all. 

cremenn

O that's great to know thank you!