~*~*MSPI Moms Weekly Check-In*~*~ 5/27

[Deleted User]

~*~*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 morning 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. Any other burning questions you'd like answered or experiences to share?

Jackapatamus

1. We are doing pretty good. I'm still doing fine! J is starting cereal and purees, but had a reaction to the organic earths best- she reacts to the vitamin e.
2. So my burning ? Is where to find MSPI cereal? I've been to all the baby and grocery stores in my area and can't find any- is there someplace to order from online?

RingOfFire11

1. It's been over a week since I re-cut out wheat and nuts again. No change. Diapers are still stinky, green and mucousy. I haven't had dairy, soy, eggs or beef in months (and later corn) so not sure what the issue is exactly. Just giving it more time.

2. Is there a MSPI gum or candy? I'm not a big candy person but I'd love to have the option. Also, dd2 had blood in her diaper the day after her 4m shots. I'm positive it wasn't something I ate. She also had a dose of tylenol the day after because she was running a good fever. Did any other MSPI babies react to vaccines and/or tylenol?

amichelle723

1. We're doing pretty good. DD's diapers have been great the past few weeks, and then we had a day of green mucus on Monday. I've narrowed it down to either contamination at Chipotle (it's happened before) or wheat. I gave DD bread for the first time that morning. It was dairy/soy free, I made it from scratch, but it was the first time she's had wheat directly. So I'm holding off on giving her any for a few weeks then we'll retry it.

2. Have any of you noticed that LO does fine with something in your diet but reacts when eating it directly? I definitely haven't cut out wheat but DD had been doing great until I gave her the bread. I'm wondering if she was reacting to the wheat and not Chipotle, if I should be cutting it out too?

amichelle723

@Jackapatamus I take regular old fashioned oats and grind them in the food processor until they turn into a powder. Then I mix 1 Tbsp of the oat powder with 2 Tbsp water/breastmilk and microwave for 30 seconds. Sometimes I mix in cinnamon and applesauce or another fruit. That's what I give DD for cereal. I haven't found MSPI-cereal, but I didn't look too hard.

@RingofFire11 DD didn't have any problems with vaccines or Tylenol, but did you check your Tylenol for the inactive ingredients? There could be something soy-derived in the inactive ingredients. That's why I had to ditch my prenatal.

chknma

New to the check-in.... DD1 had MSPI that we learned about around 12 weeks when she had blood in her stool. I returned to a really stressful job a few days later and was encouraged to supplement and pump/dump by my pedi. I tried cutting dairy and soy for about a month but my supply tanked and I gave in to the formula.

DD2 is 5 weeks and I started with concerns about her mucus stool about a week ago. I decided in would rather change now and test later then continue to stress about every BM. I'm back to the MSPI plan and glad to have this check-in for more support and info this time around!

1. We're a week into the changes. Im adjusting okay. Our local co-op has some great alternative foods And I've been trying out some new recipes for a lot of baked goods and snacks. I wish I knew last time that it can take such a long time for LO to improve, then I wouldn't have felt so much pressure to keep her in the formula. LO does seem a little more content, but her stool is still pretty slimy.

2. My question is about pumping. I am ordering my pump this week and plan to start in a week or so to get DD used to the bottle by the time I go back to work when she is 10 weeks. I have a plan for pumping but don't know how to build a little stash for that first day or two when I'm back at work without reintroducing "dirty" milk when we're getting close to the 6 week dairy/soy free mark..... Advice appreciated!!

[Deleted User]

@Jackapatamus I found Healthy Times baby cereals at my local co-op, but I think you can order it online: https://www.healthytimes.com/htbabycereal.htm

It is dairy and soy free and DS did fine with it (well he didn't really like it, but he didn't have an MSPI reaction either ).

@RingOfFire11 Yummy Earth is dairy and soy free candy! I think a lot are gluten-free and nut-free as well. I've had the gummy bears, they're delicious! https://www.yummyearth.com/index.html

My DS never had blood in his stool due to vaccines, but I do think he reacted to a medication once.. I think it was baby Tylenol, maybe Little Remedies brand? It had some iffy ingredients and when I called to ask what they were derived from I got the run-around. My DS has done fine with Children's Advil but your DD might not be old enough yet, I think they have to be 6 mo. for that.

@amichelle723 Yes, my DS reacted to foods directly but not through my diet (e.g., chickpeas, citrus, tomatoes). I think if she seems fine with wheat in your diet, just don't give it to her directly.

@chknma Welcome! Building a stash for an MSPI baby is hard. I would wait until you've been dairy (and soy if you're cutting that too) free for a few weeks before starting a stash. If you pump once a day for a week or so and get about 1 oz a day, you'll have a stash for the first day back at work, so you don't need to start super early. I never had much of a stash for DS because I kept eliminating things from my diet, so it wasn't worth it, and it worked out fine for us. HTH!

 

chknma

Thanks @rocknrollfriend‌

Another question for the group...

Just had our first bloody diaper... Planning to call peds office, but worried I'll be pushed towards formula. Any advice/resources that supports continuing to BF while waiting for elimination diet to catch up?? Also the flip side of is there a point when FF is the best?

And of course it happens today since we were just there yesterday for her one month!!

MissusPearson

1) We are not doing so great. I'm not sure LOs mucuosy poops are an MSPI issue anymore. It's been 2 months since cutting dairy, and nearly 3 weeks cutting soy and I'll see improvement in her poops for a couple of days then slimy again and specks of blood again. It seems to me the quickest route to determining what the food issue(s) are is a total elimination diet. Frankly I'm not sure I want to make myself miserable over that. On the other hand I feel I'll have a lot of guilt if I give up and go to a hypoallergenic formula. My DH basically thinks I'm obsessing over this and the easiest thing to do is switch but he says he would be supportive if I decided to do TED and I believe that's true. I told him I wanted to see a different pedi and get a second opinion before deciding.

2) I have two questions. We have had LO on the liquid vitamin D drops since about the same time her symptoms came about and I've read there have been cases of those linked to mucus and/or blood in the stool. We are using the Enfamil ones and the first ingredient is glycerin. So to me that makes sense that the drops might be the culprit. This is the 4th day without them but no change so far. Any thoughts here?

Second question, if a true food intolerance is never figured out is it not still better to keep BFing? Would switching to hypoallergenic formula really be the only other option??...

Sorry so long-feeling pretty frustrated today

Jackapatamus

@MissusPearson‌ I'm not sure about the vitamin drops- but many vitamins can have soy and dairy fillers. On the poop-it kind of sounds like you might be eating hidden dairy/soy. My lo is super sensitive to all soy, including all soybean oil and soy lecithin. Have you cut both of those? I haven't explored the formula feeding, and really don't know much about it (just that the formula can be expensive!)

amichelle723

@MissusPearson I feel like I could've written this myself a month or two ago. I'll tell you what I did, and maybe some of it will apply to you.

I originally only cut out dairy and soy (not soybean oil and soy lecithin). After about 3 months, and also cutting out peanuts and tree nuts, I cut out all traces of soy- soybean oil and soy lecithin (including my prenatal). After about 2 1/2 weeks DD starting having normal diapers. Somewhere in the middle of this I began to suspect beef as well. From my research, it is rare but some babies are so sensitive that ANY cow product affects them. I ate beef sporadically so it wasn't hard to eliminate. I have since done a rechallenge with beef and DD had mucus, so I think that may have been a factor too.

An alternative to the TED to consider is to remove all of the top 8 allergens. I essentially cut out 6 of the 8, and while beef seems to be a problem and is not one of the 8, that may help as well and seems less daunting than the TED. 

For the vitamin D drops, I've heard of babies having problems with them unrelated to MSPI, just general gassiness and abnormal stool. I switched to the Carlson drops and love them. They are just 1 drop and don't have all the unnecessary ingredients the Enfamil drops do. 

NGilmerGirl

1. Still doing pretty good here. I have been dairy free for a month, nut free for 2 weeks and soy free for a week. I feel like I eat the same things over and over so that's not very fun but LO's poops are much better. Only 1-2/day and are very yellow. They are super stinky though and make his booty really red, and we always change him immediately. I didn't think EBF poop was supposed to smell very bad, he's 11weeks and they are awful smelling. Any thoughts on that? He's definitely less gassy but has been spitting up a lot. Not sure if that had anything to do with his MSPI or is just a normal baby thing. He's usually smiling when he spits up so I'm not really worried about it except I feel like spit up is everywhere!

2. I have a food question...What do y'all eat for breakfast? I am a big cereal and milk girl, but obviously that doesn't work too well on a MSPI diet. Plus, I'm not a huge fan of all the weird ingredients in non-dairy milks. I've been having oatmeal, but I need something quicker for when I start back to work in a week. I have to get up really early for work so it needs to be quick and easy.

[Deleted User]

@MissusPearson The glycerin could be derived from soy. I think those are the drops I gave DS at first, but they had Vit E in them at the time, probably derived from soy, and he did much better once I switched to the Carlson D drops. So I would give that some time, and double check your diet for other hidden dairy or soy, and consider eliminating other foods. It's up to whether to do a TED or eliminate the next most likely culprit. Unless your baby is really miserable and bleeding a lot, and the pedi is very concerned, I would stick with BFing. The hypoallergenic formulas are not guaranteed to help, in fact many parents have to try several different brands before they find one that agrees with their LO, and you could lose your supply in the process. I know how frustrating it is, I really do. I had to cut out a lot of different foods and it took until he was 7 mo to figure it out. His pedi and pedi GE both offered formula as an option but were supportive of my desire to continue BFing. So definitely talk to your docs about it. GL and HTH!

[Deleted User]

@chknma See my reply above. Most docs will offer formula as a solution because that is how they are trained, but if they are worth anything they should know that it can take a few weeks for the proteins to clear out of your and LO systems. If LO is thriving otherwise, continuing BFing is probably the best option. Definitely seek a second opinion if you feel like you aren't being heard.

@NGilmerGirl I don't think super stinky poop is really normal for an EBF baby. It seemed like DS' poops were smelly when I ate something he didn't tolerate well. He spit up much less once I cut dairy as well. But if your LO is a happy spitter, it's probably normal. My DS seemed to go through spitty phases that weren't correlated with food.

For breakfast you could do some make-ahead breakfast burritos with eggs and potatoes or sandwiches with eggs and bacon on the weekend and store them in the freezer. Pop in the microwave or toaster oven and go. I think you could probably find recipes to make your own alternative milks at home somewhere online. I make my own almond milk and all it has in it is almonds, water, vanilla, and maple syrup, no funny stuff. So you could probably find something similar for homemade rice milk or hemp milk. Make a batch on the weekend to last you the week. (I know it's a lot of work, especially for a new mom. Preparing and eating food became my 3rd full time job!). Maybe mspimama.com has some good quick breakfast ideas too. HTH!

NGilmerGirl

So of course, after I posted saying LO's diapers have been yellow for quite a while, although super smelly, he just had 2 green poops. So frustrating!! The only thing I ate yesterday that I normally don't eat was beef. Guess that will be the next thing to cut out. I also started taking a new prenatal that's supposed to be allergy friendly, but it does contain bovine gelatin. Any recommendations on allergy free prenatal or multivitamins?

@rocknrollfriend‌ thanks for the breakfast suggestions!! And I will look into making my own non-dairy milk

chknma

Luckily the pedi I had on Tuesday and spoke to the next night didn't push formula yet, but did say that it should be better in a week or we might need to consider it....uh nope... It would be weeks, even I know that from the Internet. I will plan to ride it out until her 2 month apt unless her symptoms worsen. She gained weight and otherwise is doing well so I'm feeling hopeful.

@NGilmerGirl‌

I made these last week. They're pretty good and could be changed a bit for different flavor combos. I'm planning to make some and freeze before I go back to work for busy mornings

https://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/03/insanely-good-blueberry-oatmeal-muffins.html?m=1

I've also done these before and kept them in the fridge for the week and made a breakfast sandwich for the car. I think I read that they freeze well so they could be made ahead and heated in the morning on some MSPI friendly bread

https://www.melissassouthernstylekitchen.com/2011/08/french-eggs.html?m=1

MissusPearson

@Jackapatamus‌ thank you! I have not cut out soy lecithin or soybean oil yet, so I'm thinking that would be an easier immediate step than TED. It's been a week since we stopped the Vitamin D and no change to her poop so I guess that wasn't it. Regardless, I ordered the Carlsons drops as they seem much more natural anyway.

@amichelle723‌ that does help thank you. One by one elimination of allergens does seem less daunting than TED though possibly more time consuming? Sigh. I guess I will get back to square one with cutting soy lecithin and oil and go from there.

@rocknrollfriend‌ that is the thing-she is generally a happy baby, and I've only seen specks of blood a couple of times though the occult test came back positive at the pedi appointment a while back. She is gaining weight fine. Really her only symptoms are occasional tummy discomfort after nursing, very slimy poos and blowouts (those are much less frequent since cutting dairy) I feel like getting a second opinion is vital, and need to make sure the doc is supportive of BF-ing and not just push formula. I've made it 4 months EBF and do not want to stop now-it would make me really upset if we can't get this figured out.

[Deleted User]

@MissusPearson‌ I would definitely cut soy oil and lecithin before trying a TED. I think it's more likely that your DD is super sensitive to soy than intolerant of something else.

chknma

Have a few questions this week so thought I'd just bump the check-in.

I'm into my third week milk/soy free. DD is 6 weeks old.

DD had blood (small strings) in her stool one week ago today (Wednesday) in back to back BMs and then not again until Monday x1.

Is that "normal" when you are still waiting for the m/s to leave her system? Can it randomly pop up for 6ish weeks or is it more likely something I ate around those days? Her stool is consistently mucusy which is why I get confused about the random blood.

Is it recommended to avoid "natural flavors" or made in a facility that processes X ingredient ?

Mostly I've been making everything, but did notice a couple of things that I are had these listed.

Thanks for any info!!

[Deleted User]

@chknma and everyone else, sorry I haven't had time to post the check in this week. It is normal for symptoms to come and go during the elimination period, but once your systems are clear of the proteins those symptoms that pop up are usually correlated with something you ate. Since you're 3 weeks in it could be something specific you ate around that time, or still random, sorry! My DS rarely had blood in his stool, and it seemed very random, throughout our 4 month elimination period.

I do avoid natural flavors because they could be derived from soy or dairy and the company won't tell you (it's proprietary info). They are required to report allergens in their products above a very low percentage - so there could be trace amounts and their not required to report it. Most mamas don't seem to have needed to avoid products made in a facility with dairy or soy, but if the label says "May contain..." that is more likely contaminated and should be avoided.

chknma

Thanks!!! @rocknrollfriend‌

Just didn't want to stress myself out for the next few weeks about possible other allergens if the symptoms can be random until its all out of her system.