If you had to modify your diet for your BF baby... how did you know what the problem was?

lsufan

Thomas has a terrible rash all over his body, although it's worse on his face. ?He's also very gassy and gets really uncomfortable after most of his meals. ?He spits up a fair amount, so I've thought maybe it was reflux, but he's still eating plenty and gaining lots of weight. ?Neither of my other babies seemed at all sensitive to anything I ate, so I don't really know where to start to determine if it's anything in my diet. ?I do eat/drink lots of dairy, so maybe I should start there. ?Any advice? ?The poor kid seems so uncomfortable!

Hooray2005

Dairy and milk products are often a likely culprit.  I'd probably start by cutting out ALL dairy products (including hidden ones that are baked into things - whey, etc.).  Kellymom has a great PDF on hidden dairy:

https://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/food-sensitivity.html

It can take a full two weeks for traces of dairy to leave your system, and then another two out of DCs, so you really have to stick with it for 3-4 weeks, then if he's doing better, gradually start adding dairy back in, one serving at a time.

If he's not better the next culprits:  Soy, egg, wheat, nuts/tree nuts, fish/shellfish.  I'd also probably recommend a GI consult and checking to see if there is trace amounts of blood in DS's diaper (you won't be able to see it necessarily).

If you cut all of that, too, then look into doing a two-week TED (total elimination diet) Hopefully you won't get that far - I'm doing one right now and it's gettin very old to only be able to eat rice, millet, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green/yellow zucchini, turkey, lamb, and pears! If you do, though, I have found some great resources online I'd be happy to share.

GL!

wellfleet04

Dairy is the most likely culprit, so most pedis start there.  I would eliminate it totally, even hidden dairy, for 4 weeks.  It doesn't make sense to me to only do major sources, because then if it doesn't help you don't know if it wasn't the dairy that was the problem, or if it was but you didn't eliminate all of it. 

Then if dairy doesn't fix things, try cutting soy.  And so on with eggs, wheat, nuts, etc.

 As for how we knew, Kate started pooping green mucous.  And then the pedi tested her diapers and there was blood in there (I never saw it).  Ben started with the green mucous so I cut the dairy before it got to the point of blood.  My friend's dairy-sensitive baby spit up a ton.  Another friend's dairy-sensitive baby had loads of excema and congestion.  It presents differently.  

DandelionMom

I was already mostly dairy-free so didn't suspect that.  Instead I kept a food journal and found the patterns.  DD got spitty and rashy when I had chocolate.