Food Sensitivity...Help Please!

sarahellen2010

Hi Ladies,

 For the past week my breastfed daughter has had bright green poop and for the past four days there has been very small amounts of blood tinged mucus in her stools. I spoke with the peditrician's office yesterday and they told me it is most likely being cause by a sensitivity to something in my diet. They suggested that I first try cutting out dairy and then play with other foods if that does not work. My possibly very dumb question is...does this include absoulutely everything with dairy in it? Or is it the basic milk, chese, yogurt, etc? What about eggs?

 Also, does a sensitivity to dairy or other foods now indicate an allergie later in life?

 Any advice/experiences/resources much appreciated! TIA!

MadamePresident

I would cut out all milk and cheese, I don't think eggs count as dairy. But read labels, there are a lot of items that contain milk that you may not realize.

With newborns I think a dairy sensitivity now may not mean they will be allergic their entire life.

MadamePresident

One more thing. It takes a while to get out of  your system, so you may not notice a difference for a while.

CLLDLL

Definitely sounds like sensitivity to me too.  Dairy is usually the culprit, but some kids have issues with soy, nuts, citrus, or all of the above.  It's especially common for kids that have dairy protein sensitivity to also have soy protein sensitivity.

If dairy is the issue, theres even different levels of sensitivity.  Some moms can get away with just cutting out obvious dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt, sour cream, butter, margarine) while others need to get all the hidden dairy out.  That would mean things like chocolate, some breads, most processed treats, etc.  The website www.godairyfree.org is awesome for figuring out what things to look for on labels.  I also like www.mspimama.com  to get recipe ideas and other tips.

 As PP said you do not have to avoid eggs (at least at first), and it can take up to a month (usually 2-3 weeks) for all the dairy to get out of both your system & LOs system. 

A sensitivity now, definitely does not indicate an allergy later in life.  My DS1 had both milk and soy protein intolerance as a baby.  He was allergic to dairy and eggs at age 1, but outgrew it by 18 months.

There's an MSPI check-in over on the Breastfeeding board that I've found really helpful.  One of the mamas (Shotzie I think her name is) has a link in her siggy with an archive of the posts so you can read about other mom's favorite dairy free brands and other helpful topics.

Good luck! Hope you figure out what is bothering LO quickly!!

KraneRN

Ditto what pp have already said. Just wanted to say we are going through this too. So far DS poop looks a lot better and his eczema is clearing up. I have found my new diet to not be too limiting, but I have not had to cut out soy. Good luck!

NapJunkie

As pp said, some babies are really sensitive to the milk protein and others are only mildly sensitive.  My LO is really sensitive.  I eliminated all milk products (milk, cheese, butter, ice cream, anything that said "milk" on the ingredients label) and she was still having bloody mucus in her poop.  I finally cut out the non-dairy lactose free coffee creamer and she cleared right up.  It's important to check the label because milk is hidden in everything it seems.  Seriously, even ramen noodles have milk!

I still eat eggs. 

sarahellen2010

Thank you all! This is very helpful. I am def checking out the MSPI check-in!